Museum of the Living worker: Lay me down to sleep
THE MUSEUM OF THE LIVING WORKER is a (literal) window into the creative process. Every now and then, we set up a life-size, active diorama in our Pine Street window of a real live Living Worker in Residence for you to come witness and enjoy. Our inaugural "living worker" was the wonderful actor, writer and comedian, SHAWNA STOLTZFOOS, with her project: "Lay Me Down to Sleep: An exploration of bedtime thoughts." Shawna worked in the diorama with a cast of plastic dolls in July 2018.
Photo by Michelle Johnsen
Tell me your bedtime thoughts:
Passers-by are invited to come on in, watch Shawna work, ask her questions, and record voiceovers to a selection of dolls as you lay them down to bed (they will be very tired). The result will be a short film that compiles these images (video-recordings of the dolls lying still in their beds, with the accompanying voiceovers). In this way, we might all shine a nightlight on our most restful (or restless) thoughts.
"Sometimes in this life I feel like a plastic doll--not awake, not asleep, full of fantasy, devoid of activity. This feeling can haunt me hardest as I'm falling asleep at night, as though I've been laid down to rest by some unseen giant child, and now there is nothing to do but lie here and think thoughts."
