Shatter Party – 465 Collective

Hi, I’m Midori. I’m creating Dining Room, an art installation that comes alive through something I call the Shatter Party—and I’m inviting you to be part of it.

This happens at 465 Art Collective in the Mission, with help from QueerlyComplex.

 

 

Here’s how it works: each person steps forward one at a time, takes a dish in hand, and with focus and intention—smash! The sound rings out, shards scatter, and suddenly there’s a bit of lightness in the room. Breaking dishes together can feel surprising, even joyful. It’s a way of letting go of unspoken experiences tied to family, culture, or the stress of surviving in today’s terrifying world.

I collect these fragments, transforming them into Dining Room, a communal artwork built from what you and I released.

I’ve invited mental health specialists to be present at the Shatter Party, offering grounding, support, and resources.

So what are you being invited to? A chance to take intentional action. To smash, release, laugh, cry, and add your mark to a shared artwork.

Oh—and there will be donuts.

I hope you’ll join me.

 

—Midori


 

P.S. I’m collecting plates for the Shatter Party—if you have any old dishes, I’d love to give them a smashing new life.

 
Dining Room, is a participatory installation that explores intergenerational, familial, and cultural trauma through symbolic action and community engagement. I invite participants to take part in a Shatter Party, a facilitated event in which ceramic dishes are broken, one by one, as an act of emotional release. These fragments—each a material trace of pain, grief, rage, or catharsis—are then gathered by me and used to construct the centerpiece of the final installation: a stylized domestic dining room, where the carpet is composed entirely of broken dishes, and the table is set with white plates long ago cracked and imperfectly repaired.

Casually viewed, the Dining Room appears unremarkable—a diorama of domesticity. But closer inspection reveals the underlying fractures. The viewer peers through a suspended window and sees herself reflected in a vintage mirror across the table, placing her inside the scene. This is not just one family’s table—it’s everyone’s.
What we share across backgrounds, cultures, and identities are the quiet wounds carried from our families of origin. For many of us, the dining table—an object associated with connection—is a site of pain, silence, and pressure. In today’s world, as we all carry the weight of daily overwhelm, social fragmentation, and collective grief, we’re expected to hold it together. But many of us feel like we’re going to shatter.

We are living through a time of profound social and political upheaval in the United States—a period marked by uncertainty, fear, and systemic breakdown. This project is my response. I want to offer a space where people can come together in their fragility—not to be fixed, but to be seen. Where we can rage, grieve, and release alongside others. Where we can access support and community. And where, from the fragments of our individual experiences, we build something shared.

This project is not about resolution. It’s about recognition. It’s about honoring the emotional truth we carry, and inviting moments of connection and compassion through visceral, creative acts. That’s my vision—and why I’m making this work now.

 

• • •

WHEN

Shatter Party

Thursday, Dec 4, 2025
4:00 – 8:00 pm 

 

Exhibit Dates

December 5-20


WHERE

465 Collective
465 South Van Ness
San Francisco, CA USA 

Support Midori’s new work
“Dining Room”
with a tax-deductible donation!

ACCESSIBILITY

 

465 Collective Space has limited accessibility, and accommodations can be made to ensure those with limited mobility or mobility devices can easily enter the space. A portable ramp will be available for this event. The bathroom currently has a door that opens inward and a small step down. This makes accessibility difficult.

Tags: ,
Date
Dec 04 2025
Expired!
Time
4:00 PM - 8:00 PM
More Info
Learn More
Location
465 Collective
465 South Van Ness, San Francisco, CA
Website https://www.queerlycomplex.com/465-collective
Category
Organizer
465 Collective
Website https://www.queerlycomplex.com/465-collective

The 465 Collective is a coalition of Bay Area artists based around the cooperatively run space 465 South Van Ness. Run by Collective members Madison Young, Beth Stephens, Maria Judice, Scott Sessions, Ginger Yifan Chen, and Jason Wyman.

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