Mattress Factory

I understand this place is supposed to be a place for experimental art and for local artists, something I can totally get behind, but the experience made both me and my friend disappointed and mad at the end of it. We are not art majors - I'm a tourist and my friend is a Pittsburgh resident/student. Altogether I paid I think $40 for us, after his discount. A lot of the exhibits simply did not make sense to us. The 2nd building seemed historic and a lot of the building seemed WORN down -- we questioned if it was safe to be in there. Some stuff was disturbing... one of the floors is dim, and there are some pitch black (albeit short) hallways to see a few exhibits that we found underwhelming; we found the hallways could have been a hazard. 3rd floor of the 2nd building was pretty much a haunted house with no theme. Wanted to get out of there quick at that point. I understand if some of the art is meant to illicit emotions, even if it's disturbing ones. But it's not what I thought I'd see and I tend to dislike horror so it really wasn't for me.

I did enjoy the Yayoi Kusama piece, she consistently does excellent work. The workers here are all friendly, hands down. But that was not worth the price of admission or time spent here. Me and my friend felt horribly ripped off. I wish these artists the best, but for Mattress Factory itself, I would recommend skipping it... at least with these current exhibits. Not sure when the next rotation is.