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Exhibition on view: October 27, 2010 – February 19, 2011 in Bergamot Station Art Center's G-Hallway

Santa Monica Museum of Art
2525 Michigan Avenue, G-1
Santa Monica, CA

SMMoA’s biannual Wall Works program pairs up with artist Bari Ziperstein to transform an ordinary hallway into a site-specific installation of an imaginary store called Zippy's Nicknacks, Tonics, and Magical Gadgets. Local K-12 students use such materials as boxes, string, markers, and collaged paper to create a fantastical inventory - various magical gadgets solve social issues, tonics cure rainy day blues, and nicknacks embody whimsical stories. Zippy's Nicknacks, Tonics, and Magical Gadgets reinterprets the retail setting to cause a delightful disorientation.

Ziperstein’s inspiration comes from Claes Oldenburg’s iconic The Store, from 1961, where the artist made sculptures inspired by everyday commodities and sold them to the public in a specially conceived shop. For Wall Works, a forced perspective wall painting by Ziperstein and shelving unit will showcase the students’ 3-D handmade products.

Project design by Bari Ziperstein in collaboration with MN-based architect Wade Ziperstein, LEED AP.

Wall Works
Wall Works is best described in one word - synergy. Developed by Asuka Hisa, director of education at the SMMoA, it involves students from Kindergarten through 12th grade in collaborative art-making projects that connect them with important local artists during the academic school year.

For more information, www.smmoa.org

Support for this program is generously provided by the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Commission, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and Sony Pictures Entertainment.