“Tiempo de Morir” (1966) (via fordtheatres.org)
LOS ANGELES — This week, a group show only visible through peepholes opens, the Hammer Museum screens Margaret Honda’s abstract color films, a limited edition box of Surrealist-inspired art goes on view for sale, and more.
Artists on Artists: Wu Tsang on Hito Steyerl
When: Thursday, August 4, 7pm
Where: Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) (250 S. Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles)
Through performance, film, and installation, Wu Tsang’s work focuses on often marginalized groups, especially trans and queer communities. As part of its Artists on Artists series, the Museum of Contemporary Art invites Tsang to discuss the work of Hito Steyerl, whose Factory of the Sun exhibition is currently on view. In the midst of a glowing, Tron-inspired installation, Steyerl’s film is a parable of class struggle set in a not-so-distant future characterized by motion-capture gulags and internet infamy.
Wu Tsang (via moca.org)
History Keepers: Traversing Los Angeles
Copter Tested as Traffic Director, 1953 (via californiahistoricalsociety.blogspot.com)
When: Friday, August 5, 6–8pm
Where: El Tranquilo Gallery & Visitor Center (634 N. Main St., Downtown, Los Angeles)
Los Angeles is a city defined and confined by transportation. The automobile’s dominance provides a certain freedom on the freeways, but can overshadow the myriad other forms of transit used by millions of residents: from bus and metro, to bike, horse, and the formerly ubiquitous streetcar. The exhibition Traversing Los Angeles includes photographs, drawings, maps, film, books, and street signs that tell the story of the city by exploring how we move through it.
Tiempo de Morir
When: Friday, August 5, 7:30pm
Where: Ford Theatres (2580 Cahuenga Blvd East, Hollywood, Los Angeles)
Presented by Boyle Heights lending library Libros Schmibros, classic Mexican Western Tiempo de Morir (Time to Die) tells the story of a cowboy who returns to his pueblo after a prison stint, only to find that leaving a life of violence behind is harder than he thought. The script was adapted from an original story by Gabriel García Márquez, and marked the directorial debut of Mexican-Jewish filmmaker Arturo Ripstein, who made the film in 1966 while still in his early 20s. Before the screening, there will be a discussion with the son of García Márquez, Rodrigo García, a director himself, as well as other guests. Tickets available here.
Work by David DiMichele in Cabinet of Curiosities (via metro.net)
Cabinet of Curiosities
When: Opens Sunday, August 7
Where: Union Station (800 N. Alameda St., Downtown, Los Angeles)
Taking inspiration from the 16th-century phenomenon of the Wunderkammer — encyclopedic collections of disparate objects that could be considered proto-museums — Cabinet of Curiosities features works by Los Angeles artists that are meant to inspire wonder. Each artist has created their own immersive world which can be experienced through a series of peepholes by only one viewer at a time. Participating artists include Tanya Brodsky, David DiMichele, Ashley Hagen, Noel Korten, Keith Lord, Cecilia Miniucchi, and Andre Yi.
Margaret Honda, Cases and Reels for “Color Correction” (2015) (via hammer.ucla.edu)
Margaret Honda’s Abstract Color Films
When: Sunday, August 7, 2pm
Where: Hammer Museum (10899 Wilshire Boulevard, Westwood, Los Angeles)
In conjunction with their current Los Angeles Biennial Made in LA, the Hammer Museum will be screening two works by Margaret Honda that employ the mechanics of Hollywood moviemaking to create beautifully abstract films. “Spectrum Reverse Spectrum” was made without a camera, simply by exposing film stock to colored light, producing a gradual transition through the spectrum, from violet to red and back. “Color Correction” also presents a succession of different colors; however these are based on color correction timing tapes for an unknown film, echoing the structure of the original without the narrative.
Pleasure Principle (via gold-la.com)
Pleasure Principle Edition Release
When: Sunday, August 7, 5–8pm
Where: Actual Size Los Angeles (741 New High St., Chinatown, Los Angeles)
Produced by publication studio Gold Los Angeles, “Pleasure Principle” is a limited edition box of eight Surrealist inspired artworks. The project picks up on ideas first espoused by Freud and later developed by Foucault that stress the radical nature of desire. These works suggests that the erotic can perhaps point the way out of our current political and social morass. Participating artists include Sam Bloch, Hailey Loman, Nicolas G Miller, Benjamin Reiss, Ellen Schafer, Mark So, Tom Trudgeon, and Gray Wielebinski.
