Kristin's List: A Guide to Cultivated Los Angeles

The new installation “Screen Deaths: Visitation” at the Pasadena Museum of California Art questions the narcotic emotional escapism of movies, as well as the unreal notions about living and dying as adopted by popular culture.

Los Angeles-based artist Dane Picard brings together a multitude of “screen deaths” within the installation. Picard creates a consciously constructed database of responses to the natural condition of death.

WHEN: 12pm-5pm Wed-Sun
ADMISSION: $6 General Admission/$4 Seniors & Students/Free Members
FREE ADMISSION: 1st Friday of every month
WHERE: Pasadena Museum of California Art
ADDRESS: 490 East Union Street, Pasadena, CA 91101
PHONE: (626) 568-3665
WEBSITE: www.pmcaonline.org
ADDITIONAL INFO: The installation is on view until April 13

The Farmlab Public Salon series features critic, curator and art historian Joshua Decter to discuss the notion of ’situational’ art practices and curatorial projects, in relation to contradictions of place and placelessness, location and dislocation.

A contributor to Artforum and Afterall, Decter has been writing about art since the late 1980’s, and has curated exhibitions at PS1 in New York, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, The Santa Monica Museum of Art, and The Kunsthalle Vienna.

WHEN: 12noon
ADMISSION: Free
WHERE: Farmlab
ADDRESS: 1745 N. Spring St, Unit 4, Los Angeles, CA 90012
PHONE: (323) 226-1158
WEBSITE: www.farmlab.org

Gen Art presents “The New Garde: Kicking Off Los Angeles Fashion Week” fashion show, which will feature the Fall ’08 collections of three emerging LA designers – JMary, Jesse Kamm, and Les Sang Des Betes.

Each collection will be showcased in separate customized installations with live models. The Gen Art Fashion Program has launched the careers of such avant-garde designers as Jeffrey Sebelia and Kit Pistol, Geren Ford, and FORM by Jerry Tam.

Gen Art and the Silver-Lake based design store A+R are teaming up to present The New Garde Pop-Up Shop. Current collections from the featured “New Garde” designers will be available to purchase from Saturday, March 8th through Sunday, March 30th.

WHEN: 7pm pre-reception, 8pm model presentations, 10pm after-party
ADMISSION: $50-$90
TICKETS: To purchase tickets visit www.genart.org
WHERE: Park Plaza Hotel
ADDRESS: 607 S. Park View St, Los Angeles, CA 90057
GEN ART WEBSITE: www.genart.org
A + R WEBSITE: www.aplusrstore.com
WEBSITES FOR FEATURED FASHION DESIGNERS: www.jmary.com, www.jessekamm.com, www.lesangdesbetes.com

The Geffen Playhouse presents Neil LaBute’s “Some Girl(s),” which stars Mark Feuerstein as the ambiguous romantic lead, Guy, who before getting married decides to make amends with some girls he loved and left.

Traveling between non-descript hotel rooms in various cities, Guy tries to reconcile his past with the high school sweetheart that he dumped just before prom night in Seattle, the savvy yet scarred older woman in Boston, the free-spirited sexual plaything in Chicago, and the woman he really loved in Los Angeles.

Despite Guy’s attempts to right wrongs with his old flames, he keeps getting burned, and as often is the case, LaBute’s men refuse to learn from experience.

WHEN: 7:30pm
TICKET SPECIAL: Mention code ACT25 and get 2 tickets for $25, call box office at (310) 208-5454 for special promotion
REGULAR ADMISSION: $74 Fri/Sat evenings, $64 all other shows
TICKETS: Call (310) 208-5454, or visit www.ticketmaster.com
WHERE: Geffen Playhouse
ADDRESS: 10886 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90024
WEBSITE: www.geffenplayhouse.com
ADDITIONAL INFO: The play closes March 16, 2008