Upholstered Stone

Artist: Elizabeth Demaray

Filmmakers: Owen Donavan, Takeshi Fukunaga

Inventor: L.B. McGuffage, 1950 Adjustable Pillow Block, US Patent no. 2,521,530

Upholstered Stone is part of a series of items that have been upholstered, including discarded shoes, bricks, tin cans, and 10-ton Nike Hercules Missile. The stone was measured, thinly padded, and then upholstered. The upholstery pieces are affixed to the stone without direct attachment, with each seam stressing the object inside. Viewers are invited to consider for themselves if it is really possible to make a stone any softer

Pillow Cake

Artist:  Vadis Turner

Filmmaker: Thomas Dudley

Inventor: E.G. Sevier, 1926 Boudoir Pillow, U.S. Patent no. Des. 71,533

There is a transformative legacy in handmade objects historically made by women. Over time ancestral forms of crafts appreciate in value, maturing into heirlooms that function as cultural currency and which later, as artifacts, serve as a documentation of the artist and her origins. Turner’s work engages this progression in a current cultural context by turning the Boudoir Pillow into a cake.

Emergency Pillow

Artist: Chrissy Connant

Inventor: C.K. Longletz, 1932 Combination Pillow and Coverlet, U.S. Patent no. 1,871,003

Night Terror, pairing the Azz pillows with the Emergency Blanket, is a response to the inner battle between security and anxiety, real or imagined, and evokes a nostalgic longing for serenity. The project also alludes to a solution outside oneself and the possibility of being exploited or controlled by the marketing of fear. These are causes for conversation. However uncomfortable the chatter may be, it can be therapeutic.

La Vie en Rose

Artist: Anne Ferrer

Filmmaker: Theodora Johnson

Inventor: L.F. Doellinger,1905 Pneumatic Pillow, US Patent no. 796,108

This inflatable work references several categories of colossal pillows typically found in public spectacles such as parades, festivals and carnivals as well as large scale pillows used in a variety of industries. La Vie en Rose, or life in pink, evokes the French chanteuse whose breath can fill or deflate a gargantuan space.

Infinite Pillow

Artist: Lauren Kogod

Filmmaker: Takeshi Fukunaga

Inventor: C.W. Rector,1966 Mortician's Block, U.S. patent no. 3,234,623

Alluding to a U.S. patent for a “device by the use of which the mortician can maintain limp body elements of a corpse–head, arms, and feet, in particular–in a desired attitude,” The Infinite Pillow is constructed of a succession of supportive pods with alternating valleys. These pods can be fabricated to any desired length, and can be arranged in a plurality of positions for the maximum of corporeal comfort.

Orieller: Listening Pillow

Artist/Filmmaker: Alyce Santoro

Inventor: C.L. McLean, 1925 Listening Pillow, U.S. Patent no. 3,141,179

Inspired by a patent filed in 1964 for a Listening Pillow, an apparatus to facilitate listening to music in stereo while lying on one’s side, this design has been updated considerably to appeal to modern, nature-deprived audiences. Worn as a headpiece with a tuft of copper wool, the pillow serves as a conductor between the ear of the wearer and natural objects.

Plant Press Pillow

Artist/Filmmaker: James Walsh

Inventor:  E. A. Eiband, 1925 Combination Automobile Cushion and Pillow, U.S. patent no. 1,540,685

This pillow is designed to further the field work and relaxation of the amateur or professional botanist. It functions as a plant press for the collection of botanical specimens and a pillow for the napping of the weary botanist. 

AfterShock

Artist/Filmmaker: Jennifer Zackin

Sound: Adolfo Ibanez Ayerve

Inventor: M.M. Dessau, 1923 Marine Life Saving Pillow, U.S. Patent no.1,470,598

The AfterShock pillow references a 1923 US patent, entitled Marine Life Saving Pillow, conceived to raise awareness of our dependence on fossil fuels and to oil spills effecting delicate marine life. Ultimately functioning as a giant hair boom, the AfterShock pillow deploys the same construction techniques for booms used in the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon gulf coast oil spill clean up efforts. Zackin’s outdoor site-specific installation is made from 400 pairs of brightly colored tights, stuffed with alpaca fleece, sheep wool, and covered in orange mesh. The resultant pillow becomes an extravaganza of color reminiscent of the sea life being lost in an oil disaster. 

Come Along Cushion

Artist/Filmmaker : Gay Brown

Inventor:  Everhart, 2002 Support Pillow, U.S. patent no. 6,360,387

Referencing a number of fertility pillows catalogued in the U.S. Patent Office, and explicitly ministering to post-menopausal sex and comfort, Come Along Cushion is ultimately functional and life-improving, addressing a basic component and neglected phase of life.

BP Beauty Pillows

Artist: Meghan Keane

Filmmaker: Michael Keane

Sound: Barry Paul Clark

Inventor:  E. F. Eller, 1967 Curler Pillow, U.S. patent no. 3, 319,272

Inspired by a pillow patent that strives to keep the curled heads of women in static perfection, these pillows interpret notions of vanity and comfort with a formal playfulness, oscillating between the beautiful and the strange.

Pillow Walk

Artist: Daria Dorosh

Αrt and Video assistant  Ellie Conrad

Inventor:  W. Beehler, 1938 Combination Pillow and Dressing Case, U.S. patent no.2,293,530

W. Beehler’s 1938 pillow patent coincides with WWII, when refugees fled with their possessions that could only be carried by hand. Pillow Walk has both a sad and celebratory reference of precious objects and memories carried, left behind or lost. Carried like a handbag or fashion accessory without overt functionality, Pillow Walk metaphorically alludes to the interior of the mind whose content is spilled out onto the surface of the cushion. Pillow Walk’s outside “skin” is a story told in textures:  fake fur, braided handles, decorative buttons, photographs, and pompoms are sewn into the surface, to chronicle a nomadic narrative.

Pinus Strobus Pillow

Artist:  Barbara Siegel

Filmmaker:  Augusta Palmer

Inventor: P.J. O’Leary, 1927 Sleeping Pillow, U.S. patent no. 1,617,822

Pinus Strobus Pillow is based on a patent filed in 1927 by Edward M. Murphy for a sleep-inducing pillow “with an aromatic pocket to be sewn on the surface thereof.”  The particular concept and design of the pillow was inspired by the work of horticulturist Sidney Waxman (1923-2005), who dedicated a lifetime to propagating at least 40 varieties of beautiful and aromatic dwarf conifers.  The scent of pine oil embedded in green pine cone pockets on the surface of the pillow is meant to induce sweet dreams.

Lola Almohada

Artist: Paula Barragan

Filmmaker: Fritz Boonzaier

Inventor: N. Arnold, 1932 Pillow, US Patent no. 86,345

In Spanish, Lola is a diminutive for Dolores, meaning grief and pain. This pillow has a name but not an identity. It is like a guardian angel for all seasons. A tender body pillow for night, comfortable when loneliness and regret float in the darkness, its warm texture carries one safely into the morning light, fullfilling the need for love, company, and caresses. Sometimes, Lola must comfort the sleeping person or wipe an occasional tear.

Flotation Pillow

Artist/Filmmaker: Natalie Fizer

Inventor: Frances Hayes, 1960 Slumber Pillow, U.S. patent no. 2,961,668

Flotation Pillow references a 1960 patent for a slumber pillow intended to comfort children susceptible to nervousness upon bedtime.  Constructed of recycled Styrofoam, rubber, and foam, it is offered as a buoyancy device to enhance dreaming while floating in water.

HaPiBo Pillow

Artist: Helene Renard

Filmmaker: Ben Berlin

Inventor: S. Young, 1970 Combination Pillow and Crash Helmet, U.S. patent no. 3,538,508

HaPiBo is a multi-functional object made of felt. Smash your face into it, wear it on your head, or pop it into a Priority Mail box and mail it to a friend. This pillow is from a line of works tailored to shipping containers and reconfigurable for a number of uses. The pillow can be transformed into another object through a series of folds or simple repositioning.

Combination Pillow and Crash Helmet

Artist: Melissa Stern

Inventor: S. Young, 1970 Combination Pillow and Crash Helmet,  U.S. patent no. 3,538,508

The pillow crash helmet, originally conceived for use on airplanes, unites notions of comfort and danger into one object.  At once a soft headrest and a protective device, the crash helmet pillow is the accessory of choice whether sleeping soundly after a long business trip or hurtling to earth.

Refraction Pillow

Artist: Yoko Ishikawa 

Filmmaker: Emily Stevenson

Inventor: C.M. O’Brian, 1951 Pillow for Prone Posture Sleeping, U.S. patent no. 2,556,629

Less of a pillow that cushions or bolsters a part of the body, this piece, when suspended, casts a series of ever-changing shadows and can be used to promote a state of contemplation leading to sleep. In this capacity, it falls into the extensive patent category of sleep-aids.