Author Archives: Rachael Morrison

LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF

‘Los Angeles Plays Itself’ is Thom Anderson’s epic 2003 documentary about the depiction of the city of Los Angeles in film. The entire film is a collage of found footage from films set in L.A. accompanied by Anderson’s narration. The three hour film has had a strong underground following, but because it would have cost Anderson tons of money to clear the rights to all of the footage he used, it was not released. But, on September 30th, the film will finally be officially released for home entertainment by the Cinema Guild. Entertainment lawyers were able to argue fair use for all of the clips Anderson used to insure it against any lawsuits. This is exciting news for those who have been waiting to finally see this amazing film. If you are in Los Angels and you can’t wait until Sept 30th and you want to see the film projected on the big screen, Cinefamily has been playing the film all week with final showings tonight at 7:20pm and 10:50pm. I can’t wait!

YES AT THE GREEK THEATER

CTTE-800On Sunday night, the British prog rock band Yes, played albums Close to the Edge and Fragile in their entirety at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. For a fan who wasn’t around during Yes’s heyday in the early 1970s this was the next best thing. 67 year old guitarist Steve Howe held two guitars in his arms, and played a third steel guitar on a stand in front of him – Amazing! Geoff Downes, who was once entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for performing with the most keyboards on stage, was equally amazing to watch.

(photo by Scott Feinblatt blogs.ocweekly.com/)

Yes guitarist Steve Howe (photo by Scott Feinblatt blogs.ocweekly.com/)

(photo by Scott Feinblatt blogs.ocweekly.com/)

(photo by Scott Feinblatt blogs.ocweekly.com/)

 

THE CORPSE FLOWER

photo

This weekend, Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum), one of the largest flowering plants in the world, bloomed at the Huntington Library & Gardens. Titan Arum is also known by the nickname “The Corpse Flower,” for the awful scent it gives off. The plant only flowers every couple of years, for about two days at a time, and it is hard to predict when it will happen. This bloom is a rare and special occurrence. If you have the chance, head to the Huntington today before the flower shrivels up. They are open from 10am-4:30pm. The lines were long this weekend, but it was worth the wait to glimpse this giant magical flower.

 

 

WEEKLY WRAP UP | AUG. 18-22, 2014

1961 photograph by Ralph Crane documenting “Black Cat Auditions in Hollywood.”   For Tales of Terror (1962) by Roger Corman

1961 photograph by Ralph Crane documenting “Black Cat Auditions in Hollywood”
For Tales of Terror (1962) by Roger Corman

This week we started off with some documentation of Another Cats Show at 356 Mission, Los Angeles, announced an evening of powerpoint presentations at Machine Project by the Los Angeles Seminary for Civic and Embodied Art (LASECA), shared photographs from the Peter Hujar exhibition at Maureen Paley in London, watched the 1959 film The Savage Eye, shared images of the Lucio Fontana exhibition at MAM, announced Margaret Lee’s exhibition at The Green Gallery in Chicago, and announced the performance building: a simulacrum of power at Clockshop this weekend.

 

BUILDING : A SIMULACRUM OF POWER

Photo Credit: Jeny Amaya and Mackenzie Hoffman  Courtesy of Clockshop

Photo Credit: Jeny Amaya and Mackenzie Hoffman
Courtesy of Clockshop

This Sunday August 24th at 6:45pm, Clockshop presents building: a simulacrum of power on the site of The Unfinished.

The performance takes place at Bowtie Project, 2800 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039 (see map)

Please join us for building: a simulacrum of power, a performance by Rafa Esparza with artist Rebeca Hernandez on the site of Michael Parker’s The Unfinished. For this new work Esparza has held with his parents and siblings a collaborative, labor intensive residency prompted by the historical precedents of power and labor dynamics referenced in Parker’s The Unfinished.

In a continuation of working both with his family and with adobe brick making, Esparza invited his 4 brothers, his sister, and his parents to assist in making enough adobe bricks to cover the entire 137’ long obelisk. For apprx. 3 weeks the bricks have been molded and dried onsite using water from the L.A. river and resources made available by the Esparza family, Clockshop, California State Parks and Michael Parker. Once completed the bricks will be laid atop The Unfinished, where Esparza and Hernandez will stage movement-based performances engaging the bricked surface, the LA River and the sun.

Photo Credit: Jeny Amaya and Mackenzie Hoffman  Courtesy of Clockshop

Photo Credit: Jeny Amaya and Mackenzie Hoffman
Courtesy of Clockshop

Photo Credit: Jeny Amaya and Mackenzie Hoffman  Courtesy of Clockshop

Photo Credit: Jeny Amaya and Mackenzie Hoffman
Courtesy of Clockshop

Photo Credit: Jeny Amaya and Mackenzie Hoffman  Courtesy of Clockshop

Photo Credit: Jeny Amaya and Mackenzie Hoffman
Courtesy of Clockshop

Photo Credit: Jeny Amaya and Mackenzie Hoffman  Courtesy of Clockshop

Photo Credit: Jeny Amaya and Mackenzie Hoffman
Courtesy of Clockshop

Photo Credit: Jeny Amaya and Mackenzie Hoffman  Courtesy of Clockshop

Photo Credit: Jeny Amaya and Mackenzie Hoffman
Courtesy of Clockshop