According to the Fowler Museum’s press release a cup of tea is had three billion times a day. I think I consume about ten of those. As a serious tea devotee I have been tickled about the opening of the Fowler’s new exhibit, “Steeped in History: The Art of Tea.” Bringing together rare Chinese & Japanese ceramics, tea paraphernalia, Colonial American paintings, historical documents and more, the exhibit dares to capture the political, social and spiritual impact of this almighty drink.
HOURS: Wed-Sun 12noon-5:00pm; closed Mon-Tues
ADMISSION: Free
WHERE: The Fowler Museum
ADDRESS: UCLA campus
WEBSITE: www.fowler.ucla.edu
EXHIBIT DATES: August 16-November 29, 2009
Meet up with Ari Kletzky, creator of the Islands of LA project, and enjoy a picnic on the traffic island at San Vincente & Del Valle Drive near Beverly Hills. I think this is a good “starter” island for me, sounds posh. I love that Ari is pushing us to rearrange our notions about public space and rediscover the easily missed “in-between” spaces. A post-picnic stroll through the other islands on San Vincente will follow an early streetcar route laid down in 1906.
With a hand-held Leica and an outsider’s take on American society, photographer Robert Frank took over 20,000 photos, chose 83 of them to be published in “The Americans” and forever changed our national self-image. The L.A. Film Forum, in conjunction with MOCA’s current Robert Frank exhibit, presents four short films by and about this great photographer. Beginning with the documentary “Fire in the East: A Portrait of Robert Frank,” which includes interviews with collaborators Allen Ginsberg and Jonas Mekas, the series ends with three of Frank’s own works about intimacy, art and anonymity.
Graffiti artists, DJs and B-boys unite for the “Hard in Da Paint!” workshop and celebration of hip hop culture at Self Help Graphics & Art. Featuring silk screening demos, live aerosol art, dance battles, MC battles and poetry readings, this insane synthesis of emerging local talent is not to be missed. Dedicated to serving the artistic voices of the Chicano/ Mexicano community, Self Help Graphics & Art is once again keeping it real by kicking off the “Hard in Da Paint” series with so many exciting young voices.
With her 1979 Chevy Van in tow, artist Carolina Caycedo has arrived in L.A. to barter “knowledge, commodities and services as a daily exercise of anarchy.” Stemming from a 2002 stint in London where she bartered her way through the city in a 1963 Ford Van, Caycedo is in L.A. until August 5th to create a network of personal exchanges. Check out her list of what she provides, i.e. video editing, babysitting, discussing Columbian politics & haircuts; and what she needs, i.e. a tattoo, theater tickets, fresh fruit & surfing lessons. Email her to schedule a time to start your own economy.
Fallen Fruit, the artist collective known for teaching Angelinos how to enjoy fruit grown in public spaces, debuts its first solo exhibition, “United Fruit.” Juxtaposing the seductive pop imagery of the banana with the corrupt South American banana corporations, Fallen Fruit unearths the complexities of this ubiquitous fruit with a series of photographs and video installations. The opening reception, complete with bananas for eating and playing around with, will feature a participatory performance “Are You Happy to See Me?” Exploring the social significance of the world’s most popular fruit could not be tastier.
A marriage of fantasy, sculpture and the natural world, architect John Lautner’s visionary structures are icons of 20th c. SoCal architecture. The Hammer Museum presents the first major exhibition of his work in “Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner.” With specially built large-scale models, digital animations and never-before- seen drawings, one can experience the internal spaces, project scale and construction processes of such modernist residences as the octagonal “Chemosphere” house.
