Inspired by the children’s exploration in creating houses and what makes something a house, we brought small groups to visit Saul Melman’s Best of All Possible Worlds. This sculpture consisting of doors in the exact configuration of the artists’ own home in Brooklyn, NY led our imagination to wonder and envision what would be behind each door should we be in his house?
“This is the door and these are the pieces of wood stuck to it and these are the actual glass pieces of the door. It’s like a closet. It will look like this. It will look like a square with clothing in it.”
-Spencer
“It’s a playroom. This is a toy helicopter and this is a toy truck. Yeah, it’s a baby playroom. It’s my old house.”
-Eleanor
“So he might have monkey bars in his house. That’s the kitchen and this is the grass outside.”
-Maddy
“Behind my door is a bedroom. This is a bed and this is a door. This is the handle to open the door. It’s not bedtime so there’s no people in it right now.”
-Sylvie
“This is the thing with the paint that I saw there and this is a person sticking his head out through that door. There was windows (behind the door).”
-Milo
“This is the door. The living room. And this is the couch bed. And this is also a couch. But mine is the living room cause it has a couch that turns into a bed. Why is there wood on the door?”
-Henry
“First this is the door but in the front there is a house. First I’m drawing a couch then first I gotta draw stairs. And a bed and a pillow and then you can go sidewards. Even if on the couch too. It leads you to a big, big table. The food is there, chicken, yum. The plates. There’s apple slices and roast beef and even the best thing ever, ice cream and cake!”
-Madeline P.R.
“The bed. I’m making the bed and this is the table. I mean this is a bookshelf and this is the books on the top. I’m going to put a secret spot. I have a secret spot in my room. I’m go to put windows. Window. This is the something that makes the wind. It’s a radiator. I’m going to make a table. That’s the table.”
-Liam
“That’s that part and that’s that part. That’s the door. I think the bedroom is behind there. That’s the pillow. That’s the blanket. This is the bed and that’s the pillow. A stuffy teddy bear. That’s the shelf. And there’s a guy he cuddles with. This is two eyes. These are it’s arms and it’s eyes. And that’s the person’s head, the arm is holding the teddy bear.”
-Quinn
