Machine Project

Machine Project recently invited over 20 artists to create performances that respond to notable architectural sites throughout Los Angeles, collectively creating The Machine Project Field Guide to L.A. Architecture. The project was part of the larger Getty initiative, Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A., which celebrated Southern California's modern architectural heritage through exhibitions and programs at area cultural institutions from April - September 2013. With grant funding from the Getty Foundation, Machine Project asked artists to take on the whole environment of Los Angeles -- the streets, the freeways, swimming pools, anonymous industrial buildings, churches and tract homes -- and create performances shot on video and edited into short experimental films. The following essays, interviews, and videos chronicle this alternative guide to L.A.'s architectural history.

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Homer's Odyssey Performed in a Honda Odyssey

"Odyssey Odyssey" is a performance adapted from a segment in Homer's "The Odyssey," that takes place in a Honda Odyssey driving the freeways of Los Angeles.

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A Brief History of Los Angeles' Tallest Buildings

In conjunction with artist Kamau Patton's helicopter performance art, Machine Project compiles a history of the tallest buildings throughout the history of Los Angeles.

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Carmina Escobar's Massagem Sonora

At the Korean Friendship Bell in San Pedro artist Carmina Escobar led "Massagem Sonora," a performance exploring the personal geography of the body.

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Asher Hartman's Glass Bang

Asher Hartman's "Glass Bang" is an a experimental musical performance staged in L.A. at an R. M. Schindler-built modernist home on Mulholland Drive in Laurel Canyon.

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Sara Roberts' Clump and Whistle

Clump is an experiment in group/crowd behavior, a participatory performance based on a simple rule set but without fixed outcome or direction.

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Cliff Hengst's Semi-Fictionalized, Drag Double-Decker Bus Tour

Artist Cliff Hengst embarked from The Beverly Hilton to perform "It's Not Right But It's OK," perhaps the first ever historic autobiographical semi-fictionalized disembodied drag double decker bus tour.

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The HafoSafo Chorus and the Sunset Foot Clinic Sign Online

Machine Project leads a singalong underneath the spinning "Happy Foot/Sad Foot" sign on Sunset Blvd.

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Jacqueline Gordon's L.A. Food Center Soundscapes

"Everyone Will Be Here Now But Me" is an immersive sound installation where the public explores endless hallways, windowless offices, and stairwells of a mixed-use building.

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17 Weird Pool Performances Your Swim Coach Doesn't Want You To Know About

In "Wash," an audience was encouraged to swim and explore an underwater viewing room over the course of a slowly shifting three-hour pool performance.

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Jmy James Kidd and the Sunland Dancers on Flat Top Hill

Choreographer Jmy James Kidd's group, The Sunland Dancers, performed "Welcome," on Montecito Heights' Flat Top Hill at sunset in June 2013.

Rediscovering SoCal

L.A.’s Olympic Aspirations

KCET Cinema Series

Rediscovering SoCal

L.A.’s Olympic Aspirations

KCET Cinema Series

Machine Project