If you love me, you'll go to Tom Neely's art show and buy me this print:


I've had my eye on it ever since his Secret Headquarters show. I think I'm finally ready to start investing in some art. My walls aren't ready, though - don't nearly have enough space in the studio...A girl can dream... Doesn't it look like what Marc Chagall would do if he had a comic?

The show is called Self Indulgent Werewolf and it opens at the Black Maria Gallery this Saturday. Tom's put up some fantastic sneak peek shots on his blog iwilldestroyyou. He's wrapped the gallery in a black werewolf and even made a 6 1/2 foot vinyl toy of the main character from his graphic novel The Blot. There's 3 of the toys if it strikes your fancy and you want to take one home. Go ahead, become a local art investor. Everyone's doing it.




Saturday, Sep. 15 7:00-10:30pm
Tom Neely: Self Indulgent Werewolf Opening Reception
Black Maria Gallery
3137 Glendale Blvd
Atwater Village, 90039

Labels: art, comics, events

In case you missed it, like I did - yes, I am in the bastard friend hall of fame - Pedra Furmall painted live at the Roxy last week to The Apex Theory's new song. Everyone was quite impressed. The YouTube sensation is impressive as well. Nice editing guys.

Labels: art, music, videos

The hipsters know no bounds to the lengths they will go to prove the LA art and music scene is the place to be. This Thursday kicks off the Indie 103.1 sponsored free summer concerts at the Hammer Museum. More than just a place to schmooze up the cuties and the caterers these events bring out the spirit of a city in the summer - warm nights, free concerts, and courtyard canoodling. This year's lineup each Thursday night features some of LA's favorites and rising indie stars. Inaugurating the night is one of my new faves Great Northern. The boy-girl-boy-girl band evokes the moody melodious rock that's so popular today standing apart with sophisticated lyrics and indie bread simplicity. I play their single "Home" all day long. The breathy vocals, gentle orchestration and rocky drums that chime in at all the right parts equal one great summer anthem. Great Northern shares the bill with Foreign Born, another LA rock band who's gaining quite the UK following. On the walls of the Hammer is Eden's Edge, an exhibit of 15 LA artists' work from the past decade. The work can all be categorized as highly personal, mixed media fantasies.

Thursday, Jul. 8th 8:00-11:00pm
Also I Like to Rock at The Hammer with Foreign Born and Great Northern
Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Blvd.
Westwood, 90024
310.443.7000
FREE

Museum Parking $3 after 6:30pm on Thursdays.


Upcoming lineups:

Jul. 12th
The Pity Party & The Little Ones

Jul. 19th
Castledoor & Fields

Jul. 26th
Sea Wolf & Midnight Movies

Labels: art, events, freebies, music

Night Hawks presents it's monthly late night art extravaganza this Monday, June 18th. This month the theme involves technology and experimentations with artificial and/or mechanical elements. Like always, Night Hawks showcases its theme across genres and art. Basically this Monday will be a techno dance party like none other. And there will be video games. Don't miss these emerging artists:


Night Hawks is honored to bring to the party Laura Escude (Los Angeles) - A classically trained violinist who works with a variety of software, all controlled by MIDI devices such as the UC-33e and a MIDI glove. Found sounds, sampling, and the violin affected by different types of hardware all make up her body of work going back 20 years.


Organ Music of the Organ Corporation (San Francisco) - The music collective takes their name from a 1970s organ manufacturer and draws from the traditions of free jazz and musique concrete. Night Hawks' plan to showcase their noise elements and abstractions of frequencies in the unique Bootleg ambiance.


DSS Improv (Los Angeles) is a trio of improvisational electro-acoustic musicians. FM transmitters tie together their mixer feedback sessions, DIY circuitry, amplified viola and audience involvement all "to diffuse the notion of control amongst the group and audience". I can't picture a better setting for this experimentation than the high-caliber crowds Night Hawks draws in.

[image from art-rash.com]


Orgone Resonator by Samuel Partal and Damien Johanson (San Francisco) is an installation in which audience members may be inserted into the resonating chamber to experience the musical performance as part of the sculpture. Partal and Johanson both multimedia artists explore the controversial theories of Wilhelm Reich. (I had to wikipedia that one.) The notion of Orgones - a theorized energy source responsible for neuroses, rain and sexuality - is quite intriguing.


"Burlap I-IV" by Philip Stearns - Another Cal Arts alumni makes his mark on the circuit-bending community by continuing his installation. Burlap combines sculpture and circuitry where each piece produces tones, sequencers, and dynamically behaving oscillators. The natural element of the burlap material is a beautiful contradiction to the notion of circuitry as something cold and calculated.


Electroacoustic Installation by Cooper Baker - Straight from the Cal Arts faculty, Baker currently manages the school's Music Technology department. Circuit Bending fans have probably seen his work at REDCAT and the LA Circuit Bending Festival. Cooper brings his diverse background and knowledge from software writing to photography to the Bootleg for this one night only where he'll creates a sound-art installation/ multimedia work of art.


Aaron Myers, a recent USC grad, has always been fascinated with video games, including information visualization, artificial life and generative image-making. TorrentRaiders was his MFA project - an arcade stylization of bit-torrent waves. You can also go play his live action video game Mobzombies before the arcade madness hits Monday. He'll be showing a new 2-D piece with light patterns that react and self-generate.

[image from Flickr]





Volum (UK, Berlin, Detroit, Los Angeles) of the world renowned electro duo Volsoc brings his proclaimed "breakdance music for aliens". Playing the night's DJ will be Jean-Paul Bondy rocking robot beats and a slew of surprises. See jbondy.com - the man's also quite the accomplished animator.

[image from properlychilled.com]


Night Hawks presents Hawktronics
Monday, Jun. 18th 10:00pm
Bootleg Theater
2220 Beverly (Just West of Alvarado)
Echo Park, 90057
$10 cash only

Labels: art, events, music, Nighthawks, performances

In the book tour tradition, a very special lady graces cities across the country telling anecdotes and promoting the acheivement of her new book. Miranda July is indeed one special lady. Long before she was grabbing up indie film awards for Me And You And Everyone We Know she was holding unique lectures as part of her personal credo project to create art everywhere all the time. She pretty much does everything that requires any creativity and does it with open arms for the world to share. Her stop at the Hammer this evening to share her collection of short stories should be sweet and special. If you can't make it early for a good seat just peruse her new website for the book No one belongs here more than you. You'll get a taste of her wacky exuberance and like me you'll begin to wonder, why haven't I used my refrigerator for a white board before?

Tuesday, May 15 7:00pm
Miranda July reading
Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Blvd.
Westwood, 90024
310.443.7000
Free

Labels: art, books, events, freebies

Sunday evening Night Hawks alum Pedra Furmall shows her colorful figurative and plant studies along with photographer Yoshihiro Makino and painter Eszter Csaki in a mellow coffee house. Pedra and I cased the joint a couple weeks ago. I can finally say I've had a decent cup of espresso on the East Side. Atwater Village's Kaldi Coffee roasts all their own organic beans on the premises. The quiet easy-going vibe makes me think the laptop workers could actually get some work done in here too. With a couple small shops to the side and an authentic Cuban cafe a couple doors down, the old strip of Glendale Blvd. is finally living up to its Boho potential.

A reception with wine cheese and DJs will be held in Kaldi's courtyard. The art will adorn the walls until May 27th.

Sunday, May 6 6:00-10:00pm
GREEN art opening and reception
Kaldi Coffee
3147 Glendale Blvd.
Atwater Village, 90039

Labels: art, events, food, freebies

I was going to spend the weekend pouting that I didn't get Coachella tix and watching the recently released Twin Peaks Vol. 2 DVD but then my Friday took a turn for the more social with these three happening events.

Enlightened Development + Crosswired - A & D Museum
6:00-10:00pm
Not even my architect buddies knew there was an Architecture & Design Museum in LA. But there is, a small gallery with a lovely courtyard space near Wilshire's museum row. Friday nights until May 21 DJ's take over the courtyard for vodka fueled mingling over new architecture models. Even if pre-fab is not in your vocab, free drinks and techno beats is not a bad way to kick-start your weekend. Like any gallery reception, show up on time. Shop promptly closes up @ 10pm.

A&D Museum
5900 Wilshire
Miracle Mile, 90036
323.932.9393


Not For Tourists Party - Footsie's Bar
6:00-9:00pm
Another FREE party with beer - print out the invite for a complimentary PBR. This time the folks at NFT (Not For Tourists) City Guides opens up Footsie's Bar in Highland Park to celebrate their new 2007 Los Angeles edition. I'm a big fan of their pocket city guides. The New York City guide really saved my bootie when I was in desperate need of the closest subway or latte in Manhattan. Their neighborhood maps of LA's burroughs make attractive and informative office decor too. Giveaways at the door while supplies last.

Footsie's
2640 N. Figueroa
Highland Park, 90065
323.221.6900


Dirty Found - Steve Allen Theater
8:00 & 10:00pm
The adorable Davy, Jason and the gang of FOUND Magazine reach new heights off the grounds of decency and privacy with a very special DIRTY FOUND Outreach Show. Pulled from the pages of the 'zine, which collects found objects of the risque nature (homemade cartoon porn and pervy Polaroids never meant to see the light of day) the multimedia show will feature slide shows, readings, songs and more. Tickets are still available for $12 at the box office or add on $3 for an online ordering charge.

Steve Allen Theater
4773 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Feliz, 90027
323.666.4268

Labels: art, bars, books, design, events, freebies

As of today these three paintings were seen by 16,000 people. 30 days after the art opening this Saturday this art will be viewed 7 million times.

Those are the stats from the 3rd "Off The Wall" show of original works on reclaimed billboard vinyl. And this year for the first time 5 actual billboards will hang around the city in the usual places you find billboards. It's a win-win situation: new artist's work gets seen and one gallery makes an environmental statement. They've reclaimed 10,000 square feet of billboard vinyl that would normally end up decomposing in a landfill. Peter Schulberg, creator of the Non-profit Eco-Logical Art group, refers to the billboard waste as "heavy, ink impregnated material.. an environmental nightmare". He calls the billboards LA's first "drive-through art gallery".

[From the Eco-Logical Art website]:
By definition Eco-LogicalART works are cutting edge and provocative. With original billboard elements peeking through, then artist re-envisioned, the pieces recalibrate the old question with a new eco-answer-- offering neither art nor commerce, but art from commerce. Dynamic and aesthetically pleasing as they are, the works offer something more-- the feel good satisfaction of knowing that a landfill, somewhere, is a little less full because of the art hanging on your wall.

Over 40 artists with brand new works will be there, including Maximillian Buschman who showed his colorful paintings at Night Hawks last Monday.

The opening takes place Earth Day Eve.
Saturday, Apr. 16
Off The Wall 3
6:00-11:00pm
Eco-Logical Art Gallery
4829 West Pico Blvd.
LA 90019
310.525.0676

Exhibition and billboards will be up 'til May 20th.


Details of the three paintings seen on above billboard:

Labels: art, environmental, events

Favorite local art listing/website A Little Birdy Told Me celebrates its first year at favorite Chinatown dig Mountain Bar this Saturday Night.

Labels: art, bars, events

The flier for Thinkspace Gallery's art show is so lovely I must archive it. The show runs 'til April 27.

Picks of The Harvest Opening Reception
Friday, Apr. 13 7:00pm
Thinkspace Gallery
4210 Santa Monica Blvd.
Silver Lake
323.913.3375

Labels: art, design, events

Local gallery and purveyor of all things hipster-y, Ghetto Gloss hosts another Kraftworks flea market on Sunday. If you were a fool like me and dragged yourself over there too late in the day last weekend and realized all the vendors were gone well, now's our round two.

From 11am -5pm local artisans hawk their homemade wares in the Ghetto Gloss parking lot along with hot dogs and cocktails. There will even be a linoleum print blocking workshop for the crafty at 12noon. They're calling it a New York City style flea market. Being a patron of both coasts, I'm not sure how NYC flea markets differ greatly from LA ones. Is it the hot dogs? Is this an obtuse April fool's joke? Better go find out.

Sunday, Apr. 1 11:00am - 5:00pm
Kraftworks Flea Market
Ghetto Gloss
2380 Glendale Blvd.
Silverlake

Labels: art, DIY, events, shopping

It's official. Monday is the new Saturday night. To celebrate all things up and coming, worth seeing, mind expanding, and unique, Pudgy Girl is producing a brand new night of performance art and experimental music. For the next week I'll be showcasing the artists you'll see at Night Hawks. This night is not to be missed. It's not your basic warehouse show, it's not your basic theater. Night Hawks is a new forum for emerging artists, not to mention the best party Monday night has to offer.

Night Hawks on myspace.com
Night Hawks Blog
email: nighthawksla@yahoo.com

Live Music by
The Late Severa Wires
Fish Circus
Her Big Hard Jungle Monkey Presents
The Regulators of ASV-WEWONK
Sing Along with Anarchy Jordan
DJ Jason McCabe of Club Stutter

Live performances by
Artel
Ten West
Illuminati Fire
Rawn Erickson II

Paintings by
Pedra Furmall
Alex Zakari

Photography by
Eric Cousineau


Monday, Mar. 19
Bootleg Theater
2220 Beverly Blvd.
10:00pm

Labels: art, events, music, Nighthawks

Two major artists hit two major venues this weekend. As if the MOCA show wasn't enough, get in line to be among the first Angelenos to sample two of the most talked about shows.

Tuesday Mar. 6 thru Sep. 9
Zoopsia: New Works by Tim Hawkinson
The Getty
1200 Getty Center Drive
W. Los Angeles

Hawkinson is one of those rare humans who we are fortunate enough to have walking this planet. An LA native, you've probably caught his mind-blowing work at any Guggenheim Biennial or his solo show last year at LACMA. Now the Getty has caught up to the buzz and commissioned brand spanking new pieces. Also on display will be Hawkinson's infamous Uberorgan - a giant self-playing reed organ that's really a 250 foot long motion detecting, computerized sound loop. Like most of Hawkinson's works The Uberorgan is an installation that changes and grows in every space it inhabits. I can't wait to see that gorgeous Getty canyon view from behind one of the organ pipes.


Now thru April 5
Damien Hirst: New Works
Gogosian Gallery
456 North Camden Dr.
Beverly Hills

Hirst hasn't shown new work in LA in over a decade. The Gogosian simultaneously opened two shows here and in Hirst's home turf, London. The rave reviews expect to not disappoint as seeing the man's steined glass-esque paintings up close is a chance all modern art lovers should experience. Most remember his Turner award winning formaldehyde pieces, where he suspended animal carcasses in their rotting states. Now new heights of complexity comment on the fragility of life when butterfly wings spectacularly take on the motifs of kaleidoscopes and church windows.

Labels: art

Didn't think LA was the place for the most extravagantly modern art openings? Think again. MOCA has already proved itself a hot spot in town thanks to their DJ'd openings and summer parties. The Getty and the Gogosian prove themselves also to be less stuffy with some fabulous openings next week.

WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution
MOCA
152 N. Central Ave.
Downtown

The Museum of Contemporary Art claims this is the first show of its kind to comprehensively document and reflecting the Feminist movement from 1965-1980. Paintings, photographs, sculpture, video, film and performance art by an international scattering of artists will be on display. The list is too long to even get started, but rest assured you'll see some stuff from the big names and some lesser known voices of the "revolution". MOCA hosts a sort of kick off party all weekend long. The show itself will run 'til July 16.


Saturday Mar. 3
2:00-4:00pm Judy Chicago book signing

Revolutionary performance artist Judy Chicago will be at the MOCA store to sign copies of her biography and any other books she can get her hands on.


7:00-11:00pm Member's Night party with Le Tigre

of Le It won't be too late to sign up for a membership. A starting amount at $65 gets you access to all the future member events not to mention 2 for 1 admission for all museum shows plus an subscription to Dwell magazine. You can show up that night, sign up, then cut in line to the front. 'Cuz that's what members do. JD Samson and Johanna FatemanTigre will be the guest DJs for the night along with a giant outside cash bar just like the summer shows. Event organizer Vanessa Gonzalez promised to show up in a couple Feminist inspired outfits. I suggest you do the same, but burning bras will be looked down upon as passe.

Sunday Mar. 4
WACK! show officially opens. Guided walks will be going on 11:00am & 4:00pm hosted by the museum's lovely curators.

Don't miss Andrea Zittel's installation Critical Space. Zittel is one of my favorite new artists, hands down creating some of the most environmental and thought-provoking installations. It is a dream of mine to one day visit her desert compound in 29 Palms, CA where she felts her own clothes and creates building material out of sun dried paper. She's saving us the drive and bringing her unique aesthetic to the city where she'll once again explore the concepts of personal domesticity in contemporary space.

Labels: art, events, newsworthy

If you go to Betalevel's website for their next event you'll find a bunch of psycho-babble and obscure expressions in German. If you go to Betalevel's next event, Late Night Snack, you'll find an eclectic group of intellectuals and artists showing off in a basement in Chinatown. The good news is, you are encouraged to show off too. There will be new forms of performance art and discussion as well as snacks.

Tuesday Mar. 6 9:30pm
Late Night Snack
Betalevel
Chinatown

Directions:
1. Find yourself in front of FULL HOUSE RESTAURANT located at 963 N. Hill Street in Chinatown.
2. Locate the alley on the left hand side of Full House.
3. Walk about 20 feet down the alley (away from the street).
4. Stop.
5. Notice dumpster on your right hand side.
6. Take a right and continue down the alley.
7. Exercise caution so as not trip on the wobbly cement blocks underfoot
8. The entrance to Betalevel is located 10 yards down on left side, behind a red door, down a black staircase.


Image from betalevel.com.

Labels: art, events, performances

From the man that brought you the Cremaster cycle and the woman who brought swan dresses to the public eye - Art superstar couple Matthew Barney and Bjork teamed up in 2005 to make Drawing Restraint 9. Like Barney's Cremaster films, this exists as a part of a whole art installation (#9 of 12). The Drawing Restraint series focus on the concept of athlete as artist. Barney was influenced by Houdini and continues his quest into human body manipulation, also reminiscent of Cremaster. The only cinematic part in the series, Drawing Restraint the film explores Japanese traditions at an extreme-mundane pace.

Barney's passion for petroleum jelly and fetish exploration are here along with elaborate costumes as he uniquely depicts whale hunting, pearl diving and tea ceremonies. Bjork provides the soundtrack. Fans of the Icelandic princess will not be disappointed. Her haunting melodies go hand in hand with Barney's disturbing behavior. Bjork and Barney take center stage also as the film's protagonists. Simply known as the Occidental couple, they are the audience's portal to the strange Eastern ceremonies and fall in love through precise choreography aboard a whaling ship. The ship ultimately swallows the couple when it becomes a giant teacup. Should one need explanation, the making-of documentary, No Restraint, plays along with the feature all weekend.

American Cinemateque Egyptian Theater
6712 Hollywood Blvd.

Thurs. & Fri. Feb. 15/16 Spielberg Theatre
No Restraint (documentary) 7:30 & 9:30pm
2006, 72 min.

Sat.& Sun. Feb. 17/18 Spielberg Theater
No Restraint 5:00 & 9:30pm

Drawing Restraint (feature) 7:00pm
2005, 135 min.

Labels: art, events, film

Thursday is the new Friday and Monday is the new Saturday. Get with the program and expand your weekend already. All dates 2/9-2/12.

* I dig the short and sweet interview LA Weekly held with Great Northern. The Silver Lake darlings play Spaceland Monday night 10:00pm.

* Ultraluxx is at it again at Mountain Bar. Saturday night is an early Valentine's Day FREE heart-themed bash with DJ's and dancing all night.

* The 15th Annual Art of Motion Picture Design showcases over 100 costumes from this year's Oscar Nominees all week starting this Saturday. FIDM Museum Galleries, Downtown. Viewings daily 10:00am-4:00pm.

* Hip-hop influenced indie dudes The Height perform with their homey Raw Bear at The Smell Saturday night just in time for curfew. 8:00pm in the eclectic line-up of Shelley Short, Alexis Gideon and Tanks.

* Courtesy of my new favorite art site SourHarvest.com : their nicely layed-out schedule may be a little behind the week, but scroll down to find Saturday's listings which include a benefit art auction in Culver City. Everyone's favorite street artists turned industry debutantes will be selling their interpretations of vintage paint by numbers to benefit LA's own The Alliance for Children's Rights including: Paul Frank, Shepard Fairey, Gary Baseman, Camille Rose Garcia, Isabel Samaras, Shag, Gary Panter, Tim Biskup and more more more. @ Corey Helford Gallery, Culver City. Public viewing begins 10:00pm.

Labels: art, design, events, music

Hey kids. Get your drinking and drawing on this Saturday. Designated drawers need not apply.

Labels: art, comics, events

Courtesy of apartmenttherapy.com LA, I sampled this new project in which photographer Patrick Ecclesine attempts to capture the many lives on the entire 25 mile strip of Sunset Boulevard. Faces of Sunset Blvd. is an online photo essay broken up by neighborhood. You can slickly travel the website from Downtown to the Palisades and meet a couple residents. The people Ecclesine captured are stereotypical on a grandiose scale. You kind of have to expect it from a project that set out to recreate a cinematic feel in a city built by the entertainment industry. Ecclesine calls Los Angeles "the city best known for the manufacturing and packaging of fiction" but what his highly photoshopped images document is everyday people in what he assumes is the everyman's dream - starring in the opening credit sequence of some action flick on Sunset Blvd.

The movies and effects on Ecclesine's site drive home this simple metaphor even more. Titles pop at you as if you're in the back room of a seedy trailer and effects house. Every neighborhood is given a soundtrack you can listen to as you glance the photos and read the individual's testimonials. Echo Park gets an urban groove (we know it's urban because there are cop car sirens in the background) while Palisades goes for a groovy surfer vibe. The only unique moments in this whole online experience come in a couple of quotes from the participants. Henry Winkler and his son Max are adorable. The doctors of Kaiser Permanente are a little disturbing. The only new information I took away from the experience is seeing the vast indiscrepancies of per capita income. Silverlake: $17 thousand versus Bel Air: $107,412.

Lately I've been walking into the LA vs. NY debate where every self-righteous Manhattanite is at a loss when they encounter someone who actually prefers Los Angeles over their precious island. While this photo essay could easily be another 9/11 memorial piece (there's that epic slice-of-life quality) it also enforces all the stereotypes an outsider sees - Hollywood is full of actors; people get shot downtown; old Asian men are amusing. But the photographer is Angeleno born and raised. Maybe he really is a product of his environment.

Labels: art, reviews

The iconic design on the movie poster for Hitchcock's Vertigo is instantly recognizable. What's not so widely known, outside of certain circles, is the man behind the graphics was a talented filmmaker himself and responsible for the striking and iconic look of 1950s cinema. Saul Bass still influences the graphic designers of opening title sequences and one sheets everywhere. Bass started in advertising design concepts, moved on to animation, and soon entered every design aspect of the film industry and directing, encouraged by his contemporary Otto Preminger. With the partnership of his wife Elaine, the Basses made over 50 opening title sequences. The Skirball Cultural Center is proudly displaying Bass' original posters, as well as hosting film nights for more of his iconic works. Patrons will have the chance to see rare artifacts, like the story boards for Psycho's infamous shower scene (conceived by Bass and Hitchcock) as well as Bass' feature film Phase IV, where with the help of some clever special effects, giant ants declare war on a small town.

Film Schedule
Tuesday 2/6
Anatomy of A Murder 1:30pm
Free

Thursday 2/22
Phase IV 7:30pm
$5

Tuesday 2/27
Bonjour Tristesse 1:30pm
Free

Skirball Cultural Center
2701 N. Sepulveda
(310) 440-4500
Museum admission free on Thursdays 12:00-9:00pm
Saul Bass Exhibition runs to April 1.

Labels: art, events, film

Tonight Fantagraphics books hosts the release of BEASTS! A large gold collection of mythological and folkloric beasts throughout time by 100 illustrators. Artists will be attendance with their work on display.

Friday, Jan. 19
7:00-10:00pm
ThinkSpace Gallery
4210 Santa Monica Blvd.
323.913.3375

Labels: art, books, events

Three great things about Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Monday, Jan. 15):

1. Honoring the man and trailblazers for freedom

2. LA DWP will be off for the day so that means a break from the traffic due to construction on Toland Way. Be extra thankful when they start re-piping underneath Glendale Blvd. next week.

3. Play hookie and go get cultured.

LACMA museum Admission after 5pm on weekdays is free. Gallery stays open 'til 8:00 so there's time to take in the latest Magritte show. Don't neglect the costume gallery either in the permanent collection.

Labels: art, freebies

I can't remember a time when I wasn't fascinated with pinhole photography. Anyone who has taken a photo class knows the wonder of ultra long exposures. Some of the first cameras were actually dark chambers (Camera Obscuras) with one hole to let the light in, thus casting a real perspective of an image. Duh, you might be saying, but what you may not know is you can make a pinhole camera from practically any light safe object. A step by step guide courtesy of ikea hacker takes some wooden plant holders and develops these beauties:

Even more impressive and inspiring is Ralph Howell's pinhole kitchen, which contains 46 individual pinhole cameras made out of pretty much any common household item and food. Link to the video from EGG The Arts show, originally aired on PBS in 2000.

I love this thorough how-to guide from Fecal Face. And I love that he calls himself Capt. Awesome and decorates the camera with stickers.


My next step is to find someone with ample access to a darkroom. Any takers for a pinhole camera collaboration? I might buy the paper model from Dirkon.

Labels: art, DIY, shopping

Just as many craft bloggers inspire each other, I too have been inspired by Ann Wood, an artist out of Brooklyn. She did the paintings for one of my more favorite recent films, Junebug. She also makes a lot of beautiful little things like paper mache ships and vintage fabric birds. She also recently completed the task of creating 100 horses. Each day she sat down and made at at least one out of cardboard, buttons and scraps. She opened up some odd creative channels and even named each one. I experienced the same joy when making my Christmas cards this year, promising myself that like a snowflake, no two would be exactly alike. I've compiled a list of each of her horses' precious names.

The first 11 didn't have names.
12. Betty
13. Giselle
14. Dell
15. Darger
16. Finn
17. Jek
18. Nola
19. Nell
20. Lincoln
21. Betsy (daughter of Betty)
22. Lorraine
23. Patrice
24. Folly
25. Picnic
26. Apple
27. Bitty (daughter of Apple and Picnic)
28. Paddy
29. Poor Walter
30. Mangus
31. Roulette
32. Roca
33. Cormac
34. Forest
35. Michal
36. Parham
37. Willa
38. Elise
39. Jane
40. Baby
41. Telly
42. Adrianne
43. Alice
44. Lawrence
45. Colin (son of Mills)
46. Doe
47. Ada
48. Clark
49. Lewis
50. Becky
51. Roman
52. Walton
53. Ford
54. Otto
55. Beckett
56. Eva
57. Elliot
58. Montgomery
59. Kos
60. Melchior
61. Antonia
62. Wheeler
63. Orn
64. Hudson
65. Elaine
66. Amundsen
67. Roan
68. Lafayette
69. Madison
70. Billy
71. Winston
72. Meg
73. Christopher
74. Pilot
75. Jefferson
76. Poppea
78. Owen
79. Chase
80. Belin
81. Spaulding
82. Salem
83. Charne
84. Sabine
85. Jasper
86. Zal
87. Raymie
88. Folsom
89. Perce
90. Perminder
91. Topal
92. Albert
93. Pelham
94. Dorrit
95. Nevins
96. Pinkerton
97. Sackett
98. Gem
99. Rand
100. Quilty

You can buy her wares in her online store or bid on her ships in the craft auction to benefit the family of James Kim.

Labels: art, DIY, shopping

Haunting and beautiful. Kitschy and wonderful. Snowglobes may be more associated with tourist gifts than actual snow but Walter Martin & Paloma Munoz bring the holidays back to us in a unique way. They've been showing their exquisitely detailed snowglobes around the world for the last few years. They even had a diorama gallery in the Hollywood/Highland subway terminal in 2005. Enjoy the scenes below. If you're in Miami over the holidays the snowglobes will be on display at PULSE.

Labels: art, random

This Saturday and Sunday marks the closing weekend of Takeshi Murata's strange and hypnotic video installation "Untitled (Silver)". Murata takes the 1960 Italian horror film, Mask of Satan and deconstructs it pixel by pixel with an original soundtrack by Robert Beatty and Ellen Mollé. Already a hit in San Francisco and New York the pixels swarm, morph and swirl before your very eyes with amazing affects. Art Forum described the experience as trippy and compared it to the Old Masters' melting paintings with the random computer connectedness of John Cage pieces.

"Untitled (Silver)" by Takeshi Murata
b&w single channel video on DVD
10 minutes
at The Machine Project
1200 D N. Alvarado
213-483-8761

Sat & Sun open 12 - 5pm

Labels: art, film, videos

Once upon a time in the 1960s frogs hopped out of the LA river and invaded a small neighborhood. The 'hood in the Elysian Valley tucked between the I-5 and 2-North freeways has been nicknamed Frogtown ever since.
Tomorrow night the galleries, warehouses and shops off Riverside open their doors. Lovecraft Biofuels will hold a conversion demonstration at their new second headquarters. An entire loft building hosts original photography and art. Famed LA artists Sharon & Frank Romero open the Lil Frogtown Gallery. There's also a couple emerging architecture firms extending Frogtown hospitality.

Frogtown Artwalk
Friday, Nov. 17
1 mile of Blake Drive
7:00-10:00pm

Labels: art, design, events

I am always so relieved when art gallery openings happen on the weekends. More people show up and I can stay out late! These two receptions this Saturday in Silver Lake would be the perfect pre-party stop.
Metro Gallery hosts a dual opening for Sonia Romero and Connie Gregory. Romero's folk art inspired paintings and prints will echo her family's rich influence on the LA art scene - her parents are renowned Chicano artists Nancy & Frank Romero. Gregory's pieces verge on the spooky side with elephant boys, wide eyed cats in little girl dresses, and tiny deer showing up in her paintings. She calls the collection "Tales From The Root Cellar".

The gallery known as Junc throws an opening for two image designer/illustrators. Justin Wood throws linear and non-linear storytelling into his technology inspired illustrations and gets quite a bit of magazine work. Highly recognized Oksana Badrak's illustrations explore otherworldly elements and get a little naughty. You can buy her prints through Thumbtack Press, a great online art resource.

Saturday Nov. 11

"When I Close My Eyes" & "Tales From The Root Cellar"
6:00-10:00pm
Metro Gallery
1835 Hyperion

Untitled: Justin Wood & Oksana Badrak Illustrations
7:00-10:00pm
Junc
4017 Sunset Blvd.

Labels: art, events

No too long ago, an innocent looking driveway right in the middle of Silver Lake Blvd. sprouted an art installation. A larger than life golden orange cornocopia web occupied the space of an otherwise sparse modern design firm. Each weekend on my stroll to the dog park I watched the progress. And then I watched them disassemble it - weaving out the strands as carefully as they had gone in. I knew something was up about a month ago when the large gates outside got a facelift and the grounds directly inside started to be groomed for an environmental canvas once more. An new installation was on the horizon for sure. Last night it took me by surprise. After a delicious meal at Leela Thai, we walked into the open gates to touch the giant air sacs and tubes. These baloons are giant glowing urban jellyfish.

The hip hip architecture and landscape firm Materials&Applications(M&A) bring you Bubbles: an Open-Air Interactive Installation by FOXlin and NONDesigns. I like these guys. They support green roof gardens and give us something to play with after a Thai dinner or Spaceland jaunt. The bubbles are actually connected inflated parachutes, gently weighted and held with a constant stream of air through a highway of large flexible tubes. The baloons react to the people who enter the space. If you touch one, it starts to deflate, slowly inflating another one. When no one is near the air sacs they counteract each other and remain the same size. The idea is to create a spatially adaptable pneumatic environment at an urban scale reaching equilibirum at a state of rest. M&A claims there are sensors that know when one is touching the air sacs. But after playing and poking them, the pattern feels more random. Sensors or not, it's lit so prettily, you can't help it but stop to investigate on a warm autumn night.

1619 Silver Lake Blvd.
Silver Lake, 90026

Labels: art, reviews

More Banksy show madness: The closing day found long lines, no elephant, but we did see Jason Lee with wifey Beth Riesgraf and their toddler in tow. Lee's moustache blended him in with the other hipster daddys quite convincingly. As well as Jared Leto, sporting petite goth and Hill Harper looking confused in front of the line to get into the video portion of the overwhelmingly cool event.

Labels: art, celeb sighting

Last night hosted the opening party with celebs galore including Bradgelina (gasp!). Catch the live elephant while you can.

Labels: art, events

LA Weekly, LA Bloggers, Daily Candy - what do they all have in common? - they're all privy to guerilla artist Banksy and his new warehouse installation this Saturday 9/16. And now, so are you. Check back here for details, as location and time will be announced the day of the show.

Unfamiliar with Banksy's work? He's British and he does some amazing political art. Going beyond the usual stencil statements, he's hung his own art in major museums, reimagined flea market paintings, and beautified the walls of Palestine's West Bank. More than a grafitti artist or prankster, his art addresses the taboo and the controversial with humour we all can appreciate in these dark times. His recent hits on LA include breaking into Disneyland's Grand Thunder Railroad ride and placing a mannequin dressed as a Guantanamo prisoner. He also replaced the shelves of Paris Hilton's new CD with his own remixes that had titles like "What Am I For?" and "Why Am I Famous?".

Sneak-peek photos of Saturday's installation party available at the Wooster Collective. That's a live elephant!

Labels: art, events

Ever since I saw the trailer I've been awaiting Michel Gondry's new film The Science Of Sleep with fist-clenching anticipation. Will it be another sentimental Amelie or will Gondry bring to the silver screen the magic he's previously created in Bjork's music videos? Gael Garcia Bernal plays Stephane, a worker at a calendar factory and vivid daydreamer. He comes up with the wacky idea to create a calendar of disasters - one for each month. Gondry called on his Nanny's brother, Baptiste Ibar, to create these "disastrology" paintings. So when you've overloaded on Bernal's cute face you can puruse Ibar's gallery, like the earthquake painting (above). Look familiar? Limited release start its run Sep. 22.

Labels: art, film

Thank heavens for the cool summer breezes we've been having lately. With a heat wave back on its way Sunday, enjoy the cool nights while you can. This Friday evening two musuems host FREE parties -- A great excuse for art viewing while under the guise of drinking and flirting.

Getty Center
Friday Nights Off the 405
Detroit DJ's Matthew Dear and Ryan Elliott set the mood in the courtyard. On the museum walls: Italian Futurist visual poetry. Outdoor multimedia installation also rumored.
Fri. August 18 6:00-9:00pm
getty map

UCLA Hammer Museum
Hammer Bash
I've been to the Hammer's end of season party for the last two years. Unlike MOCA there are plenty of cash bars so the line situation is not horrible. Pull up to the dancefloors, where yes, there is dancing, and take in some awesome people watching. On the walls: rare Picasso works on paper.
Fri. August 18 7:00-11:00pm
hammer map

Labels: art, events