JIA-CHI

Biked down to LACMA with Kevin Biggers at 10:30pm in hopes of catching the  midnight passage of Christian Marclay’s 24 movie The Clock.  ”It is in effect a clock, but it is made of a 24-hour montage of thousands of time-related scenes from movies and some TV shows, meticulously edited to be shown in “real time”: each scene contains an indication of time (for instance, a timepiece, or a piece of dialogue) that is synchronized to show the actual time.”

Unfortunately, we didn’t arrive until 11:15pm, and by then, the line was all the way onto Wilshire Blvd.  We were still standing in line when midnight struck.  Within 5 minutes there was a large exodus of spectators.  So we stayed and caught the passing of 1am.  Needless, we got a lot of scenes from horror movies, bedside nightstand clocks, late night phone calls, etc.  What a treat.  I was in a trance watching the movie.  I highly recommend it to all those who are as deficient of attention as I am.

Around 1:15am, Kevin, Avishay, Marya, Tommy and I walked over to ForYourArt’s new LA gallery space for Around the Clock: 24 Hour Donut City, “a 24-hour pop up donut shop, giving away donuts from LA’s best known donut shops.  Donut and Clock: two round but seemingly unrelated objects that will be synchronized for this 24-hour event.”

They quickly ran out.  I only ate half a donut.  

This tube came in the mail the other day.  Pleasantly surprised to find Michelle and Jordan’s Save-The-Date tucked inside.

The poster is appropriately and delightfully designed for them.  Can’t wait for the real invitation to arrive.  I’m expecting someone to pop up out of a cake.  A chocolate truffle cake.  With bacon on top.

It all started on August 5th, 2010, when Glen Phillips (organizer of the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time’s Performance and Public Art Festival) and I exchanged correspondences about having Materials & Applications (M&A) submit a proposal to the Getty for a grant to perform Judy Chicago, Lloyd Hemrol, and Eric Orr’s 1968 dry-ice installation “Disappearing Environments”.  On January 19th, 2012, after 3 planning sesions, M&A, 40+ participants, Judy Chicago, and Donald Woodman collaborated to create “Sublime Environments” at Barkar Hanger at the Santa Monica Airport.

The day started with some bagels from Brooklyn Bagels in Historic Filipino Town.

Then we started getting prepped up for the big performance.  This included white jump suits, white spray-painted hair, and work gloves.

The dry-ice came in 12”x12” blocks, and delivered in big bins.  We were building 9 ziggurats, with 91 blocks each.

The participants were divided into 4 groups, each group building one ziggurat at a time.  Tthe first half of the day consisted of building 4 ziggurats.  After lunch, the 4 groups proceeded to do another 4 ziggurats.  Then, all the participants helped to build the final ziggurat.

Judy Chicago.

Marya Villarin

Nick Rodrigues.

Charlie Peel.

The sublimation of the dry-ice blocks changed throughout the day.  As the day got warmer, and the air more moist from the ocean, the fog got thicker.  Notice the photos as the day progressed.

The final piece being placed by Judy Chicago and Donald Woodman.

At 5:30PM (sunset), participants lit 30-minute road flares, 10 to each ziggurat, to create a red, glowing, emanating environment.

And to think, I had no idea who Judy Chicago was when I first spoke with her on the phone back in August, 2010.  She had fans who dressed up like her at the opening.  No big deal.

As the night wore on, the ziggurats slowly began to crumble as the blocks sublimated and shrank.  And much like the products and monumental things in our lives we treasure, the block will also disappear, without a trace.

i hosted a figure drawing class at Really Awesome Great Experiments.  But instead of spending lots of money on a professional nude model, we just all took turns drawing each other, clothed, and swapping public transportation stories, drinking mulled wine and hot toddies.

Really Awesome Great Experiments open with 8 1/2 x 11.

cards by Isis

screen-printed Furoshiki cloth

Donna, the dress-form, showcasing Graham Keegan’s hand-dyed Kikko indigo scarves.

paper lamp shades by Isis.

Tyvek ceiling.

Then off to the Annual Midnight Ridazz All-City Toy Ride from East Hollywood to Downtown.  Then Downtown to a warehouse.  with Ben, Marya, and Avishay.

Spent 4 hours at LACMA, 2 of which were spent at the Tim Burton exhibit, which closes on Oct. 31. Go see it.

Renzo Piano Building Workshop _ Resnick Pavilion and Broad Contemporary

As part of Pacific Standard Time, LACMA had an exibit called  California Design, 1930-1965: “Living In A Modern Way”  by Hodgetts + Fung.

They built the Eames House INSIDE the Resnick.   Just like I remembered, when I visited it in 2001

Pavilion for Japanese Art

‘Bad Things That Could Happen’
A film using giant props made out of cardboard about bad things that could happen.

‘Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared’

THIS IS IT are a collective of illustrators, animators, artists and designers based in London.

Although each artist works individually and in a variety of different ways, collectively THIS IS IT aim to create simple, direct pieces with one clear voice.

THIS IS IT are Andy Baker, Laura Bird, Rose Blake, Thomas Bolwell, Daniel Britt, Hugo Donkin, Chan An Gee, Michael Knight, Nicos Livesey, Tom McCaughan, Azusa Nakagawa, Joseph Pelling and Becky Sloan.

exploring the creative spaces and studios of architects and artists on the westside.  part of Materials & Applications’ summer studio tours.

LAYER _ Emily White & Lisa Little

Office of Mobile Design _ Jennifer Siegal

Stephen Glassman Studio

Predock Frane Architects _ Hadrian Predock & John Frane

As some of you might know, I’m a huge proponent of livable streets, and improving the landscape and beauty of our greatest community asset and public space - sidewalks.  I even took part in Mulching trees up and down Sunset Blvd in Echo Park. I found this really great project in Toronto that I would love to meld into our own little project here in LA.

“Public planter boxes are great in theory. They’re a refuge for nature in the city. A way of cleaning our air and beautifying our streets. But in practice, many public planters are untended or empty, too big or too small for the plants they’re meant to contain, or simply falling apart.

Last month, Sean Martindale decided to do something about it in his home city of Toronto. With a grant from the arts organization Toronto FEAST, Martindale organized a project called Outside the Planter Boxes. He rounded up a group of local “artists, designers, gardeners and urbanites” to execute “planter interventions” in sites across the city. In the end, 17 participants made more than 30 projects in a single 24-hour period during the weekend of May 20.”

Beer Box Origami Flowers by Karen Abel

Grass Spills by Sean Martindale.

Snake Tail by Hyein Lee

Airport planter by Martin Reis.

“We all have stakes in our shared environments, and this public project directly engages with Toronto’s urban fabric. One of the primary intents of the Outside the Planter Boxes project is to encourage more direct participation and interest in our shared public spaces – to demonstrate that the public can play a more consciously active role in how our city is shaped. Hopefully you will find the project reveals possibilities for alternatives and perhaps more biodiversity, creative gestures, and better city infrastructure.” - Sean Martindale