Create someone's Lost Childhood Object. | Lenka Clayton | The Art Assignment

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This week we visit Lenka Clayton, another Pittsburgh based artist whose work finds meaning in ordinary, everyday objects. For her assignment, she asks you to partner with someone and recreate a lost childhood object, using their memory of the object and the materials you have around you.
INSTRUCTIONS - Lost Childhood Object
1. Ask someone to describe an object they made or cherished as a child. Make a mental image of that object
2. Create the object
3. Give the object back to the person (Ideally, you'd do this project in tandem)
4. Document and upload using #theartassignment
5. Fame and glory (your work might be in a future episode)
Sarah then connects this assignment to contemporary artist Roman Ondak.
Find out more about The Art Assignment and how to submit your response: theartassignment.com/

[@DearestClaudio]

I just have to say, "The Distance I Can Be From My Son" is absolutely ingenious. All of her works shown in this video totally blew me away.

[@lenkaclayton1634]

+DearestClaudio thanks dearest, dearestclaudio ;) Lenka

[@DearestClaudio]

***** *fangirls*

[@mol5761]

I definitely tested this out when my son was little but it hadn't occurred to me to considerate it an artistic process. I love that it places value on the quotidian of motherhood.

[@KannikCat]

"But of course everybody's clear image is completely different." Wow, what a deliciously profound reminder. Brilliant, my new favourite phrase of the week. Plus "I can't think of any reason it's not worth doing." A wonderful assignment!

[@lenkaclayton1634]

+Oliver Bollmann thanks Oliver! Please do the assignment, I;d love to see what you make x Lenka

[@KannikCat]

Hi Lenka, I finally got a chance to do the assignment as part of our VidCon meetup! :) I posted the result here: lynxthoughts.wordpress.com/2016/07/10/art-assignment-incoming-2/ I really enjoyed doing the assignment, it was really touching on many levels. Thank you for assigning it to us. :)

[@onetimestories]

I am so struck with One Brown Shoe. Completely obsessed. I found the gallery of photos of shoes on the website, and I'm downloading them as a folder and making it my screensaver. I really really really need to think about each pair for a long period of time.

[@lenkaclayton1634]

+One Time Stories So glad you like it. That was one of the best periods of my life, receiving 100 pairs of shoes in the mail over a few weeks. Life doesn't get better. Glad the images are keeping you company. There's a portable exhibition version if you get tired of staring a screen ;)

[@Xenolilly]

This artist is brilliant! By far my most favorite artist featured yet.

[@elijahherrell6282]

I love this project and Lenka is awesome. The only thing I'm sad about is the fact that we didn't get to see both of your reactions to your objects. :(

[@lenkaclayton1634]

+Elijah Herrell I agree, oh well. I can tell you from my side that my reaction was a delighted gasp and happy, slightly confused sense of deja-vu. Also was very happy to have the excuse to play with Lego for "work" as I told my four year old son x Lenka

[@hastasay]

I loved 43 wishes. I think it highlights both the fragility and the beauty of human hope :)

[@shortneyx]

I actually did a very similar assignment for one of my intro art classes last year. I find it really fascinating how she gave this assignment to college students a couple years ago, and it somehow found it's way to my class last year. Very cool project.

[@emilyann5928]

Wow, this artist is amazing! I LOVE the way she sees beauty in everyday objects... Each piece made me think, which I loved.

[@quixiiify]

Wow, I loved hearing her talk about One Brown Shoe. How interesting! This also reminds me of a past Art Assignment, the one which talked about depicting a place you've never been or an animal you've never seen.

[@indubitablyzara]

That's interesting, because it reminded me of a completely different one (Movement Telephone)!

[@taylormurray9417]

Sometimes when I go to an art museum with my friend, one of us will turn our back to the art and the other will try to describe what it looks like. It is really fun to have the mental image first and then the actual work!

[@welchertmaw]

Art is expression--memory, object, old, new. Nothing is really lost, changed, but not lost. Growth from courage to share, complete. It is a Saturday feat. ~Mary

[@indubitablyzara]

I got so excited when you started talking about Lenka Clayton's work, because while her name didn't ring a bell, I immediately remembered 63 Objects Taken From My Son's Mouth and The Distance I Can Be From My Son, which I saw and was fascinated by at the Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas. I also love this assignment, and because I was with my mom on that museum visit, I'd like to do the assignment with her - but I honestly can't think of a lost childhood object she wouldn't also remember.

[@lenkaclayton1634]

+Indubitably Zara hi Zara, great that you saw the Crystal Bridges show! It would be very interesting for your mum to make something based on listening to you remember it rather than to her own memory of it. Hard to do, but very interesting for her I bet. And imagine making something from her childhood. I hope you do it, I'd love to see. Lenka x

[@KathyTrithardt]

Sarah, this must be the project we were talking about at VidCon; this is very interesting/adorable.

[@kathiarodriguez8963]

This must be my favorite so far. Her unique projects really speak to me. I love how the art assignment introduces me to these incredible artists that I may never stumble upon otherwise

[@SomeoneCalledDana]

Wow, I LOVE Lenka Clayton's work. Definitely going to have to check her out more.

[@firewordsparkler]

I am in love with this assignment. As someone who wants to tell stories for a living, it's all about translation from what's in my mind to the paper, and then from the paper to the reader's mind. And I love that this makes the entire process tangible. I need to do this assignment asap. (Which means it'll probably take me a month)

[@drunklandlord]

How have I not been in love with this artist's work all along?:) An incredibly, incredibly lovely assignment.

[@leoking938]

Man this makes me think of my childhood. I used to have a lot of different toys, and I always got new ones (kinda spoiled maybe). But I don't have as much sentimental value as my Gameboy Advanced SP. Kinda feel sad that a video game console is one of the most memorable objects of my childhood. Not that it's a bad thing, but makes me feel that the whole world changed drastically on a decade or so.

[@sirenumscopuli9754]

I think this is completely valid! Some of my fondest childhood memories were made while playing games on my dad’s PlayStation.

[@sabadee4]

I just love the music. So upbeat! Also, such a cool idea. I wish i'd come across this in high school, when I was starved for artwork ideas.

[@erinwhite2350]

Her art is REALLY cool.

[@pat06732]

this make me see the things diferent now, awesome.

[@danielwhite0911]

Amazing works !!!! Love her !!!

[@theclubhouse644]

this is such a great show!

[@kathleendeshotel]

Lovely means of understanding yourself through another's experience.

[@allluckyseven]

That is an absolutely marvelous idea.

[@Nhoj31neirbo47]

Lenka is a delightful guest artist. Roman Ondak's self portrait by proxy brought to mind how we have learned that human cognition, even of something primal like faces, is very flawed. Eyewitness testimony in court previously was highly valued. Now it is given much less consideration.

[@TwinkTwinkle]

I love this assignment! I also think the other art projects Lenka made are really interesting and awesome. :-)

[@TylerMayMedia]

This is great! Very interesting assignment!

[@MicheleBloodphd]

This is ridiculously awesome. I love the idea and can hardly wait to give it a go! #theartassignment

[@lenkaclayton1634]

+Michele Blood hi Michele! So glad you are excited - can't wait to see what you make! x Lenka

[@charliefaulkner1402]

this is a super interesting assignment and it seems like it is going to be really fun to do!

[@corhydron111]

I have a question for the commenters and possibly for another episode to answer: How am I supposed to enjoy a stay in a modern art gallery if information or context is not supplied next to the piece of art? I mean, in my city there is an art gallery in which you only get the author's name, the year of creation and the title of the painting / piece. I know the interpretation has to be mine, but how am I supposed to know all the meanders of political, biographical and philosophical contexts of a piece of art if the gallery doesn't supply it? I don't want to walk around the gallery frantically googling every name and title to get some background info.

[@Kram1032]

Neat, I think this could be next VidCon's group art assignment. :)

[@sakurasam420]

That "how far from my son can I be" video made me laugh so hard.

[@AlthenaLuna]

As soon as she started talking about it, I had an object come to mind, and how I would describe it to someone...now I just have to find someone to collab with.

[@lenkaclayton1634]

+AlthenaLuna +artassignment perhaps there is a way to match individuals who want to work with someone else?

[@AlthenaLuna]

That'd be nice, for this as well as other assignments.

[@xc1971pp]

Lovelly!

[@LittleOxfordSt]

I'd really love to do this with my sister, with the added rule of it has to be a thing that the other of us didn't know about, I think it could really add something since we have been so close for so long ...

[@ARTiculations]

Multiple layers of memory? Childhood object inception!

[@SciJoy]

If anyone wants to do this assignment as a group and exchange them during VidCon this year, you can fill out this survey. We did it last year with the Make a Thing prompt. goo.gl/forms/9z2vsiF1xl

[@kungpowchou]

Having now discovered hitRECord, I have to wonder, was The Art Assignment influenced by said company?

[@NeilSonOfNorbert]

what sort of age range are we calling childhood in this case?

[@stan_dinghere]

one brown shoe is just an emojo to me now

[@KaraShadows95]

Can the object be returned as a drawing? I don't have the actual materials to make the object and neither does my friend. Money is scarce for uni students.

[@CandleAshes]

I've made that bear!

[@NecromediaNetwork]

For extra points do the assignment with someone you hate and create a twisted version of their childhood memory. Ruin the other person's day with art and try to pretend you're not actually horrible :p

[@yanamorim5747]

i should have slept nine hours ago