The Plastic Bag Store @ Mass MoCA

Date/Time

10/17/2024 11:00am–4:00pm

Location

Mass MoCA (1040 Mass MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247, North Adams MA)

Mass MoCA and the Williamstown Theatre Festival present The Plastic Bag Store, an immersive, multimedia experience by Brooklyn-based artist Robin Frohardt that uses humor, craft, and a critical lens to question our culture of consumption and convenience — specifically, the enduring effects of single-use plastics.

The shelves are stocked with thousands of original, hand-sculpted items — produce and meat, dry goods and toiletries, cakes and sushi rolls — all made from discarded, single-use plastics in an endless cacophony of packaging.

The work is created, written, designed and directed by Brooklyn artist, performer and puppeteer Robin Frohardt with music by Freddi Price, produced by Pomegranate Arts.

Performance Monday, Thursday, and Friday at 1 p.m. — Performances Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m., and each viewing lasts about an hour — you’ll need to save your ahead, and space is limited.

A cake made of bags and bottle caps sits brightly in the bakery at the Plastic Bag Store, Brooklyn artist Robin Frohardt's immersive art and theater experience at Mass MoCA. Press photo by Kate Abbott, courtesy of the museum — A cake made of bags and bottle caps sits brightly in the bakery at the Plastic Bag Store, Brooklyn artist Robin Frohardt’s immersive art and theater experience at Mass MoCA. Press photo by Kate Abbott, courtesy of the museum

The audience walks through the Plastic Bag Store, Brooklyn artist Robin Frohardt's immersive art and theater experience at Mass MoCA. Press photo by Kate Abbott, courtesy of the museum — The audience walks through the Plastic Bag Store, Brooklyn artist Robin Frohardt’s immersive art and theater experience at Mass MoCA. Press photo by Kate Abbott, courtesy of the museum

Flowers made of shopping bags bloom in the Plastic Bag Store, Brooklyn artist Robin Frohardt's immersive art and theater experience at Mass MoCA. Press photo by Kate Abbott, courtesy of the museum — Flowers made of shopping bags bloom in the Plastic Bag Store, Brooklyn artist Robin Frohardt’s immersive art and theater experience at Mass MoCA. Press photo by Kate Abbott, courtesy of the museum

Performers guide the audience through the Plastic Bag Store, Brooklyn artist Robin Frohardt's immersive art and theater experience at Mass MoCA. Press photo by Kate Abbott, courtesy of the museum — Performers guide the audience through the Plastic Bag Store, Brooklyn artist Robin Frohardt’s immersive art and theater experience at Mass MoCA. Press photo by Kate Abbott, courtesy of the museum

Robin Frohardt is an award-winning theater and film director known for her rich aesthetic and highly detailed constructions. Her narrative-based film, puppetry and sculpture, use recognizable materials, often trash, to create richly detailed worlds that make magic of the mundane and highlight the trivialities of daily life.

Her theatrical work has earned her a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Creative Capital Award, and multiple Jim Henson Foundation Grants. Her play The Pigeoning hailed by The New York Times as “a tender, fantastical symphony of the imagination,” debuted in 2013 and continues to tour at home and abroad.

Her follow-up project The Plastic Bag Store premiered in Times Square in 2020 and has since toured to Los Angeles, Chicago, Adelaide, and Austin. Her films have been official selections at The Telluride Film Festival, Aspen Shortsfest, The One Earth Film Festival, and BAM.

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