Feb 272025
 

“Liquid Crystal Environment” (1966)

Last year Hauser & Wirth presented several works by artist and activist Gustav Metzger for And Then Came the Environment at their downtown Los Angeles location. Metzger was an artist and an activist with strong concerns about environmental issues, ones that continue to this day. Works that address these issues are mixed with others that are explorations of science and technology including his use of liquid crystals before they became a common part of our technology, and the delightful energy of Dancing Tubes (videos of both below).

The press release provides more information on the exhibition and the artist’s history-

And Then Came the Environment presents a range of Metzger’s scientific works merging art and science from 1961 onward, highlighting his advocacy for environmental awareness and the possibilities for the transformation of society, as well as his latest experimental works, created in 2014. The exhibition title comes from Metzger’s groundbreaking 1992 essay Nature Demised wherein he proclaims an urgent need to redefine our understanding of nature in relation to the environment. Metzger explains that the politicized term ‘environment’ creates a disconnect from the natural world, manipulating public perception to obscure pollution and exploitation caused by wars and industrialization, and that it should be renamed Damaged Nature.

An early proponent of the ecology movement and an ardent activist, Gustav Metzger (1926–2017) was born in Nuremberg to Polish-Jewish parents, and fled Nazi Germany to England when he was 12 with his brother via the Kindertransport. While working as a gardener, he began his art studies in 1945 in war-embroiled Cambridge, a nexus for scientific experimentation and debate as the Atomic Age was dawning. By the late 1950s, Metzger was deeply involved in anti-nuclear protests and developed his manifestos on “auto-destructive” and “auto-creative” art. These powerful statements were aimed at “the integration of art with the advances of science and technology,” a synthesis that gained wide recognition in Europe in the 1960s through his exhibitions, lecture-demonstrations and writing.

Metzger’s quenchless curiosity about new materials and gadgets—from projectors and electronics to cholesteric liquid crystals and silicate minerals such as ‘mica’—led him to conduct experiments in and out of laboratories in collaboration with leading scientists in an effort to amplify the unpredictable beauty and uncertainty of materials in transformation: ‘the art of change, of movement, of growth.’ By the 1970s, increasingly concerned with ethical ramifications, Metzger became closely involved with the British Society for Social Responsibility in Science, raising awareness of ‘grotesque’ environmental degradation and social alienation and arguing for ‘old attitudes and new skills’ to bring science, technology, society and nature into harmony. He initiated itinerant projects to draw attention to the immense pollution caused by car emissions, a pursuit that gained momentum with his proposal for the first UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972 and was later partially realized in 2007 at the Sharjah Biennial.

The artworks on view in And Then Came the Environment reveal Metzger’s lifelong interest in drawing and gesture, presenting works on paper from the mid-1950s alongside models, installations and later, Light Drawings that underpin the artist’s desire for human interaction amidst the reliance on technology that continues to this day. Following his death, The Gustav Metzger Foundation was established to further Metzger’s work and carry on his legacy.

Exhibited for the first time in Los Angeles, works here include the earliest film documentation of Metzger’s bold chemical experiments on the South Bank in London (Auto-Destructive Art: The Activities of G. Metzger, directed by H. Liversidge, 1963); his first mechanized sculpture with Liquid Crystals—Earth from Space (1966)—and the stunning, large-scale projection, Liquid Crystal Environment (1966), one of the earliest public demonstrations of the material that makes Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs), now omnipresent in our computer, telephone and watch screens.

And Then Came the Environment also presents Dancing Tubes (1968), an early kinetic project Metzger developed in the Filtration Laboratory of the University College of Swansea; various iterations of his projects against car pollution including the model Earth Minus Environment (1992); and the Light Drawing series (2014), using a plotter machine, a technology he first used in 1970, with fiber-optic light directed by air or hand.

The exhibition will be complemented by a new short film created by artist Justin Richburg, who animated Childish Gambino’s 2018 hit Feels like Summer, which references climate change. Richburg’s piece was inspired by and responds to Metzger’s 1992 essay Damaged Nature. The film represents the first time Metzger’s ideas have been directly expressed through a new medium, thus reflecting his interests in ongoing transformation and his conviction that younger generations were the most essential, urgent audiences for his work. In 2012, five years before his death at the age of 90, Metzger wrote:

“The future of the world is what we are after. We start with the young and then when the young are twelve, fifteen, and then twenty-one, they can enter politics, and if they have got this initiation/introduction to key issues … it will make an enormous difference to the future of the world.”

Below are videos from two of the most engaging works- Dancing Tubes and Liquid Crystal Environment.

For Gustav Metzger’s Liquid Crystal Environment (1966/2024), five projectors each contain a single slide with liquid crystals that is projected through a heating and cooling system causing them to change form.

Also worth a read is Forbes’ article on the exhibition which provides additional background including Metzger’s influence on The Who’s Pete Townshend.

This exhibition was also part of The Getty’s PST ART: Art and Science Collide programming. On Saturday, 3/1, The Getty is hosting Open House at The Ebell in Los Angeles- “a free day-to-night exploration of science and art” that will include a pop-up art book fair from Printed Matter; panel discussions; a Doug Aitken multi-screen installation with a live performance by Icelandic musician Bjarki; a performance by Julianna Barwick, and more.

Jul 122024
 

The painting above is 3 Oracles, 2022, by Sayre Gomez, on view at Columbus Museum of Art. It is part of the exhibition New Encounters: Reframing the Contemporary Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art .

From the museum about the work-

Based in Los Angeles, Sayre Gomez often employs techniques borrowed from Hollywood set painting and commercial advertising to heighten the sense of lifelikeness in his paintings. In 3 Oracles, Gomez’s depiction of a vacant big-box store renders the shifting forces of the consumer economy in exacting, photo-realistic detail. The three appliance brands represented on the store’s façade, DieHard, Craftsman, and Kenmore, were all formerly owned by Sears Corporation, a retail giant that filed for bankruptcy in 2018.

Gomez recently co-curated the Feed the Streets Benefit Show at Sebastian Gladstone in Los Angeles. The opening is tomorrow evening (7/13) from 6-9pm and the exhibition will be on view until 8/3/24.

The group exhibition includes work by- Alfonso Gonzalez Jr. , Andrew Park, Bennet Schlesinger, Bryan Ruiz, Calvin Marcus, Chad Murray, Eddie Martinez, Emma McMillan, Evan Holloway, Greg Ito, G.V. Rodriguez, Jaime Muñoz, Jake Longstreth, Jonas Wood, Josh Smith, JPW3, Julia Yerger, Juliana Halpert, Justin Caguiat, Kalan Strauss, Mario Ayala, Max Hooper Schneider, Mungo Thomson, Nick Angelo, Nick Clark, Nihura Montiel, Richard Tinkler, Ryan Preciado, Sam Moyer, Sayre Gomez, Sterling Ruby, timo fahler, and Tristan Unrau.

All proceeds benefit Feed the Streets and their ongoing mission of colecting donated food, hygiene products, clothing, and educational items for hand to hand distribution in Los Angeles and New York. Feed the Streets also provides athletic and creative resources for underserved youth.

Oct 302023
 

Madison Cunningham- Hospital

This song is from Madison Cunningham’s 2022 album Revealer, which also won a Grammy award for Best Folk Album in 2023.

She is currently on tour and playing in Los Angeles twice this week, Thursday (11/2/23) at Teragram Ballroom and opening for Hozier on Saturday (11/4) at the Hollywood Bowl.

Dec 302022
 

tstewart- isle of the blest

This song is from Elysian, the 2022 ambient album from Machinedrum, released using his alias tstewart. The album draws its inspiration from Elysian Park in Los Angeles.

For New Year’s Eve, Machinedrum will be playing a less relaxing set in Los Angeles at The Echo with Jimmy Edgar, DJ Bianca Oblivion, and Jubilee

 

Sep 192022
 

De Lux- Morning Misses Me

This song is from De Lux’s upcoming album, Do You Need A Release?, coming out 9/23/22.

The band are playing an album release show at Lodge Room in Los Angeles on Thursday, 9/22, with James The Fifth.

Sep 162022
 

Started above a Detroit record store in 1969, CREEM magazine would go on to cover the music scene until 1989. Now, 33 years later, it’s back. The first new issue of “America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine” is now in print and online- with a cover by artist Raymond Pettibon.

CREEM magazine gained a loyal following for both its unique writing and format. It also covered the punk, new wave, and heavy metal scenes in a time still dominated primarily by pop and rock music. Lester Bangs, who became more widely known after his portrayal by Philip Seymour Hoffman in Almost Famous, was editor of the magazine for five years. Cameron Crowe, who wrote and directed that film, also contributed articles for CREEM.

The premiere issue of the magazine has something for every music fan, while keeping the feel of the original. Special Interest, Mac DeMarco, Amyl and the Sniffers, Warthog, and KeiyaA are among the current artists covered. There’s an article on an album by The Osmonds and an excerpt from an unreleased book on The Who. Features from the original magazine like “Stars Cars” and their letters section also make a return.

This Wednesday (9/21/22) at The Grammy Museum, there will be a screening of the 2020 documentary  CREEM: America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine. The film will be followed by a conversation with JJ Kramer (CREEM Chairman and son of CREEM founder Barry Kramer), Jaan Uhelszki (Editor at the original CREEM and Editor Emeritus today), and Dave Carnie (CREEM Editorial Director), moderated by journalist Scott Sterling.

CREEM also just released a special David Bowie edition of the magazine. It includes articles from past issues, as well as an interview with Brett Morgen, director of Moonage Daydream, the new Bowie documentary which opens in theaters today, 9/16/22.

There are digital and print subscription options for the quarterly magazine and all subscriptions give you access to the digital archives- all 224 of the past issues.

 

Nov 012020
 

The sad news is that because of the pandemic Hollywood Forever Cemetery’s grounds are closed for its annual Día de Los Muertos Festival.

The good news is that they are having a Día de los Muertos event online today at noon! It’s hosted by Fernanda Kelly and includes performances by David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez of Los Lobos, Buyepongo, and Tropa Magica.

Mar 122020
 

Dan Deacon- Become A Mountain

So…a lot of events have been canceled already for this weekend due to coronavirus, including Pasadena’s ArtNight. I am listing events currently (as of this writing) still happening but please follow the links below to the event (and Twitter page if available) to confirm that it is taking place.

Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (3/12-3/15/20)-

Thursday

Zebulon is showing Silver Jew Documentary, a film by Michael Tully documenting two shows by the Silver Jews in Tel Aviv and an afternoon in Jerusalem during their first-ever tour in 2006, 15 years after its founder David Berman began recording under that name.  Berman passed away in August of 2019. The film is short but there will also be a selection of Silver Jews and Purple Mountains (his later band) videos. It’s a free event but donations and proceeds from this screening will benefit MusiCares, a nonprofit that has provided more than $60 million in health, financial, and rehabilitation resources to musicians in times of need.

Tamino is playing with Matt Holubowski at The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever

Dry Cleaning are playing at El Cid

USA Fellow and five-time Grammy-winning trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard will be at California African American Museum (CAAM) to discuss his legendary career and his nearly three-decades-long collaboration with director Spike Lee, with Hamza Walker, executive director of the Los Angeles nonprofit art space LAXART, moderating the conversation. (free but register)

Heart Attack Man and Better Love are opening for Knuckle Puck at The Echo

Downtown Los Angeles Artwalk returns for its monthly event with various galleries staying open late

 

Friday

Dan Deacon is playing at The Regent Theater with Ed Schrader’s Musical Beat, R. Clown, and Sarah Squirm

Pussy Riot are playing at 1720 with special guest Deli Girls

Yves Tumor is performing at the Fonda Theatre with Theophilus London, ECCO2K & Diana Gordon

The New Beverly has a double feature of Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz and Hong Kong action film Big Bullet

The Aero Theatre has a double feature of American Graffiti and The Outsiders

Telefon Tel Aviv is playing with Chasms at Lodge Room

 

Saturday

Shannon Lay is playing with Boy Scouts at Zebulon

The Strokes are playing at The Forum with King Princess and Alvvays

Burgerama 2020 is taking place at The Echo/Echoplex with a huge lineup of Burger Records bands including The Mummies, Tomorrow’s Tulips, Cosmonauts, Healing Gems, Reckling, Psychic Bloom, The Premonitions,  and many more

A bit further afield at Fox Theater Pomona is Minor League Music Spring Fest with a ton of Southern California bands including Sad Park, The High Curbs, Kicked Off The Streets, Makeout Reef, Ignant Benches and more

Love is Gay Fest 2020 is taking place at the Bootleg Theater featuring Polartropica, Lucy & La Mer, WASI, Guppy and Rat Fancy

Double features continue at the Aero Theatre with Out of Sight and Jackie Brown

 

Sunday

HTRK are playing at the Echoplex with Dry Cleaning and OTZI opening

The Egyptian Theatre has Disarm the Right to Violence!: Recent Mexican Experimental Short Films, a selection of films produced between 2018-2020 in intensive filmmaking workshops at Catedra Ingmar Bergman and Filmoteca UNAM, in collaboration with DocsMX. There will be a conversation to follow with filmmaker Andrea Rodea.

Jazz artist Cécile McLorin Salvant is performing at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with “her most ambitious project yet, combining jazz and bluegrass in the poignant fairytale Ogresse, a wickedly delicious work about a human-eating monster who lives in the woods”.

Screaming Females are playing at the Bootleg Theater with Alice Bag and Generación Suicida

Mar 052020
 

Young Guv- Every Flower I See

Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (3/5-3/8/20)-

Thursday

The Paranoyds are playing at the free premiere of the skateboarding/surfing/roadtrip film This Way- A Western Film at 2027 E. 7th Street

Patrick Jagoda, Professor of English and Cinema & Media Studies at the University of Chicago, and Weston Game Lab director Ashlyn Sparrow will discuss a series of the lab’s innovative digital and analog game projects- including games with implications for learning and social justice at Hammer Museum

Black Violin, led by classically trained string players Wil B. (viola) and Kev Marcus (violin), blend classical music with hip hop and will be performing at the Theatre at Ace Hotel

MOCA Senior Curator Bennett Simpson is leading a walkthrough of Seven Stations: Selections from MOCA’s Collection at the Grand Avenue location

The Sea and Cake are playing at Zebulon with L.A. Takedown

The Aero Theatre is showing Ingmar Bergman’s Persona

 

Friday

No Win are playing at Gold Diggers with On Drugs and Criminal Hygiene

Smokescreens, Venetian Blinds, Massage, and Dummy are playing at Permanent Records Roadhouse

First Fridays is back at the Natural History Museum with performances by Wajatta (featuring Reggie Watts and John Tejada), French Vanilla, and Café Molly; DJ Novena Carmel is joined by Guest DJ Josh Peace in the DJ Lounge; as well as a discussion on the Future of Medicine, and more.

Residency in Inglewood is having an Open House Party with a project by Devon Tsuno in the main gallery and work from Texas Isaiah, Devin Reynolds, Bradley Ward and Yasmine Diaz in the annex, as well as a burger pop up, a DJ, and more

Healing Gems are playing a free rush hour concert (4-6pm) at Union Station

Seratones are performing at the Bootleg Theater with Pet Dress opening

Gold Cage, No Swoon, LMI and Nico Turner are playing at The Smell

 

Saturday

Artist T. Kim-Trang Tran will be discussing her exhibition at LAMAG

Shannon Lay is opening for Jonathan Wilson at The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever (he is also playing Friday with Valley Queen opening)

As part of the Egyptian Theatre’s programming for Noir City: Hollywood – The 22nd Annual Los Angeles Festival of Film Noir, they are showing a triple feature tonight of M (1931), M (1951), and El Vampiro Negro

Thundercat is performing at The Wiltern

Gus Seyffert & Friends are performing at the Bootleg Theater

Boan and Dancing Tongues are opening for Bambara at The Echo

 

Sunday

The LA Marathon is taking place and the route runs from downtown to Santa Monica, adjust your travel plans accordingly or cheer the runners on

The Annual Festival of the Kite is happening in Redondo Beach

The Aero Theatre is having a free screening of Yung Chang’s documentary This Is Not A Movie about British journalist Robert Fisk’s dangerous career covering conflicts around the world over several decades. A discussion with the director will follow.

Young Guv is playing at Zebulon with Spiritual Cramp

Palehound is playing with Adult Mom after teaching a free workshop on writing a pop song at Junior High

 

Feb 272020
 

Prism Tats- Big Blue

Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (2/27-3/1/20)-

Thursday

Lower Dens are playing at The Roxy Theatre with Ami Dang

Bootleg Theater is hosting Los Angeles College Radio Night with musical guests É Arenas, Fell Runner, Carter Ace, Your Angel, Ryan Pollie and Dylan Meek and Q& A panels with radio DJs

For Freedoms Congress (FFCON) is happening around Los Angeles starting tonight and running through this weekend with artist led town halls re-imagining Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms project: Freedom from Fear, Freedom From Want, Freedom of Worship, and Freedom of Speech. Tonight MOCA is hosting Freedom from Fear- facilitated by Brent Blair with Aloe Blacc, Donna Hylton, and Skipp Townsend, with attendees invited to explore the inequities of privilege and access through an interactive Theatre of the Oppressed performance.

Reckling, Shutups, Niis, and Gustaf are playing at The Factory

Dr. Dog are playing at The Novo with special guest Michael Nau

The first gay country band Lavender Country are playing at Zebulon with Sam Buck opening

 

Friday

Prism Tats is playing a free early show at Gold Diggers with Dumb Thumbs

Actress Rachel Redleaf (Mama Cass) will be in person to discuss Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood after its screening at the Beverly Cinema

Imperial Teen are playing at Zebulon with The Ballet opening

Anamanaguchi are playing at the Fonda Theatre with Saint Pepsi, HANA, and Cowgirl Clue

Best Coast are playing with Mannequin Pussy at The Novo

 

Saturday

Artist Farrah Karapetian is hosting An Infrequent Day: Readings on time, timing, loss, and memory at 12pm at Diane Rosenstein Gallery with readings by Martha Ronk, Janet Sarbanes, Gabrielle Civil, Nylsa Martinez, and Anthony Seidman

Artists Catherine Opie and Lawrence Weiner will be in conversation at Regen Projects at 2pm, moderated by Dagny Corcoran (free but RSVP)

The 6th Annual All Day Carnival Celebration for Bob Baker Day is free and taking place at Los Angeles State Historic Park with musical performances, puppet shows, workshops, games, and more

Zebulon is hosting a free night of Live Readings and Music with Keith Morris (Black Flag, Circle Jerks), Patty Schemel (Hole), and Rob Zabrecky (Possum Dixon) and accompanying music by Midget Handjob, Matt Devine and special guests

Raphael Saadiq is performing at The Wiltern with Jamila Woods

Vacationer is performing at the Bootleg Theater with Foisey. opening

Death Lens and The War Toys are playing at The Smell

Gold Diggers is hosting the Music Videos and Shorts Night Vol 4 (free but RSVP)

 

Sunday

Public Enemy are playing as part of the Bernie Sanders rally at the Los Angeles Convention Center

Paul Reubens will be telling stories about the making of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure following a screening of the film for its 35th Anniversary at The Wiltern (also Thursday)

Froth are opening for Duster at The Regent Theater

Zebulon is hosting a free screening at 3pm of the music documentary 40 Bands/ 80 Minutes! and the documentary featurette Sean Carnage Parking Lot. There will also be a DJ and a Q&A led by Voyager’s Bret Berg.

Later in the evening Kim Gordon will be playing at Zebulon with Sam Rowell

iLe is playing at the Echoplex with Francisca Valenzuela