What can an unusable toilet teach us about home? It turns out, kind of a lot.
The first thing you see when stepping into the “Looks Like Home” exhibit at Mingei International Museum is a toilet — woven from reed in the style of traditional basketry.
For her first solo show, contemporary craft artist India Thompson has created a replica of her apartment's bathroom, right down to the rug and a roll of toilet paper.
"It's an old craft that has mostly been for making functional objects. I think that's what kind of brings in the humor of the show. It's funny, you know, to look at a woven toilet," Thompson said.
But her woven bathroom is not functional.
Thompson has also woven a microwave and a fridge, packed with a sandwich, a carton of almond milk and a bottle of hot sauce, all made from thin strips of reed.
Curator Ariana Torres said the work whimsically turns a centuries-old domestic craft on its head.
"Thinking about a microwave or fridge, the toilet at one time was a really revolutionary thing. But because of time and these habits that you form around these spaces, you kind of lose that vision. So I liked how she, in using a very slow craft to create these objects, kind of refocuses your attention to their actual beauty and form and use," Torres said.
The exhibit explores what it means to feel at home, especially in a place you don't own. Torres said the art also speaks to today's housing reality.
"With renting, there are very few people other than like my parents' generation who really own their homes. Thinking about moving from place to place, thinking about the attachments that you have to the spaces around you, the objects around you," Torres said.
Thompson moved around a lot as a kid, which resulted in her collecting smaller things.
"So, through moving and leaving things, and also how my parents always took care of their objects as well — I think that has influenced how I look at objects and how they're not necessarily just things, but there are these things that we interact with and we have memories with and we grow with," Thompson said.
She said there's something at odds with a more anti-materialistic mindset — how privilege and plenty can make possessions feel more disposable. But when people have less, or when a living situation feels temporary, those objects we do have — and the way we form attachments to them — become more significant.
"It is like, I think, we've almost been raised to not value earthly things, but I think there is importance to that — to care for what we own and what we value," Thompson said.
Visitors are invited to write their own thoughts on home, objects and attachments — yes, even toilets. One prompt asks, "What's the first thing you unpack when you move?" Another asks: "What's the object you'd never leave behind?"
And while Mingei staff enjoy seeing visitors giggle, Torres said toilets actually have a long tradition in museums.
"I also like thinking about how the toilet has had a moment in art history. You know, you think of Marcel Duchamp's toilet. You think about these golden toilets that have become art pieces by themselves. And I like to think of India's toilet in that line of famous toilets. That's a really funny thing. But it is interesting to see how central the toilet and these fixtures, these home fixtures have been in art history," Torres said.
The exhibit is designed to make people think: about craft, about the things they surround themselves with and what it means to make a home.
