This Week @ Farmlab
November 28-December 4, 2007


Farmlab Public Salons

Friday, November 30, 2007 @ Noon
A Reading From the Book: Not A Cornfield: History / Site / Document
Join anthology authors Lauren Bon, Michael Dear, Michael Ned Holte, Ruben Mendoza, and Janet Owen Driggs for a reading from Not A Cornfield: History / Site / Document. This book tells the story and history of an art project that -- among much more -- grew a cornfield in Downtown Los Angeles ..... full text

Friday, December 7, 2007 @ Noon
Robert Gottlieb | Reinventing L.A.: Nature and Community in the Global City
Join Robert Gottlieb as he draws from the recently published book of the same name and speaks about how a handful of imaginative and innovative social movements have coalescaed. ..... full text

News + Projects

Farmlab Gallery Goes Dark in Support of A Day Without Art
This Saturday the Farmlab Exhibiion Cetner will be closed in support of Day Without Art. Begun in 1989, this project serves to promote public awareness of the AIDS crisis and to inspire positive action ..... ffull text

Community Marigold Harvest in Full Bloom at Cornhenge
Bring the Family as Hundreds of Flowers Are Ready For the Picking
This Saturday, from 9am – 3pm, help yourself to the many marigolds at the metabolic sculpture across from Farmlab. Make it a picnic, or just pop in for a quick snip, but be sure to bring your own tools. ..... full text

Farmlab Exhibition Center

November 9 – December 28, 2007
Crystal Ship: A Family of Artists Looking For Arcadia
"One midnight we were woken by the sound of thunder. A distant storm was coming in across the sea and the lightning stood out in prolonged relief against the moonless sky. Suddenly a ship, lit up like a crystal" ..... full text

Photo courtesy Not A Cornfield

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'Day Without Art' -- Farmlab Closed Saturday


In honor of the upcoming international Day Without Art, the Farmlab gallery will be dark on December 1, 2007.

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Community Marigold Harvest -- This Saturday at Cornhenge


On Saturday, December 1, from 9am-3pm**, anyone who would like to receive a locally-grown marigold is invited to come down to Cornhenge, the metabolic sculpture located on the grounds of the Los Angeles State Historic Park.

Please bring your own clippers. There is no charge for the flowers.


**updated

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Farmlab Public Salon
Reading from Not A Cornfield: History / Site / Document
Friday, November 30, 2007 @ Noon
Free-of-Charge


Lauren Bon, Michael Dear, Michael Ned Holte, Ruben Mendoza, Janet Owen Driggs


About the Salon

Join the editor and a quartet of the writers whose essays appear in the book, Not A Cornfield: History / Site / Document. The book tells the story and the history of an art project that grew a cornfield in Downtown Los Angeles from June 15, 2005 through March 31, 2006.

Both an object (the cornfield) and a meaningful social and ecological space (not a cornfield), this work of cultural activism transformed 32-acres of barren post-industrial land into fertile earth. In addition to detailing the project's logistics and events in sounds and images, Not A Cornfield: History / Site / Document also relates the often controversial histories that intersect at the project site and articulates the many contemporary questions that it raise. Questions concerning, for example, such pressing issues as the nature of urban public space and public art, the 'ownership' of history, the politics of land uses and collective and individual responsibilities in relation to the various 'ecologies' that make up the context of daily life are addressed in essays by Not A Cornfield artist Lauren Bon and other prominent writers and commentators.

About the Presenters

Michael Dear is a professor and chair at the USC Department of Geography; Michael Ned Holte is an arts and culture writer; Ruben Mendoza a writer, activist, and educator. Janet Owen Driggs is a writer, educator, and Farmlab and Not A Cornfield team member.

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Happy Thanksgiving
Farmlab Closed From Thursday-Sunday

Farmlab will be closed from Thursday, Nov. 22-Sunday, Nov. 25.

We'll be reopening on Monday, Nov. 26.

From all of us to all of you, have a great holiday and weekend!

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This Week @ Farmlab
November 14-November 20, 2007


Farmlab Public Salons

Friday, November 16, 2007 @ Noon
Judith Lewis + Friends | From Bioneers to Burning Man to Bunnies that Glow Green
Join Judith Lewis, Simone White, Laurie Kaufman, Jason Keehn, and David Newsom as they ask the questions: "Are we heralding a new communion among art, popular culture, and fringe technology?" and, "How can we continue to harness progressive art to halt the squandering of our resources?" ..... full text coming soon

Friday, November 30, 2007 @ Noon
A Reading From the Book: Not A Cornfield: History / Site / Document
Join anthology authors Lauren Bon, Michael Dear, Michael Ned Holte, Ruben Mendoza, and Janet Owen Driggs for a reading from Not A Cornfield: History / Site / Document. This book tells the story and history of an art project that -- among much more -- grew a cornfield in Downtown Los Angeles ..... full text coming soon

News + Projects

Farmlab to Participate in Liberty / Ancestor Pole Project
Beachfront Sand Scultpture to be Errected in Long Beach
On November 17, from Sunrise to Sunset, join the Farmlab Team in building a Toroovetaam -- a living sand sculpture -- right on the beach. Bring your buckets, your shovels, and the whole family. .... full text coming soon

Farmlab Making Friends on MySpace
View Photos and Videos, Leave Coments, or Just Keep in Touch With the Team
Socialy Yours: Our MySpace page keeps users up-to-date on all the happenings of Farmlab + Under Spring.
View our myspace page here and become our friend ..... http://www.myspace.com/farmlab

Farmlab Exhibition Center

November 9 – December 28, 2007
Crystal Ship: A Family of Artists Looking For Arcadia
"One midnight we were woken by the sound of thunder. A distant storm was coming in across the sea and the lightning stood out in prolonged relief against the moonless sky. Suddenly a ship, lit up like a crystal" ..... full text coming soon

Photo: Guardian of Eden, by Nightshade
(Courtesy the photographer)

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Farmlab to Host 'Transitory Publico' Program

Farmlab will play host tonight to one program in the weeklong, cross-cultural Transitory Publico / Public Transitorio conference.

According to the conference's daily schedule, the line-up for the Wednesday, November 14 @ 7pm Farmlab session includes the following three groups: Frente 3 Fevereiro, from Sao Paolo, Braqzil; La Lleca, from Mexico City; and Ultra-Red, from Los Angeles.

Tonight's program is free-of-charge, and translations to English, Spanish, and Portuguese, are said to be available.

Please direct any questions to the conference organizers.

 



 

Herms' Jazz Opera, Workshopped with Farmlab, at Getty This Week



George Herms, a Farmlab artist-in-residence, is giving his jazz opera-in-progress a rare public airing this week.

The work is titled, "Fifty Years of Sitting in the Front Row at a Jazz Club, or The Artist's Life: A Salute to West Coast Jazz."

Herms and musicians Ramon Banda, David Dahlsten, Azar Lawrence, Roberto Miranda, and Theo Saunders will perform selections of the piece on Wednesday, November 14 @ 5pm, at the Getty's Harold M. Williams auditorium. The tunes are part of the Getty conference, "Côte à Côte—Coast to Coast: Art and Jazz in France and California."

Herms and those esteemed jazz cats previously workshopped "The Artist's Life" as part of AMAZE, the Farmlab-Herms collaboration held last summer at the Phantom Gallery, Beverly Hills.

The photo, above, is from one of the AMAZE evenings. Herms is on the left.

Farmlab photo by Kate Balug

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This Week @ Farmlab
November 7-November 13, 2007



Exhibitions

Friday, November 9 @ 7:30 pm
Opening Reception

Crystal Ship: A Family of Artists Looking For Arcadia
"One midnight we were woken by the sound of thunder. A distant storm was coming in across the sea and the lightning stood out in prolonged relief against the moonless sky. Suddenly a ship, lit up like a crystal" ..... full text

November 2 – November 10
La Ofrenda Viewing Continues at Under Spring
Under Spring has been transformed to honor the ancestors. La Ofrenda alters, crafted by community members and complete with hundreds of marigolds, are currently on display .... full text

Farmlab Public Salons

Friday, November 9, 2007 @ Noon
Gallery Talk: Felicity Powell & Ansel Krut
Crystal Ship: A Family of Artists Looking For Arcadia
Join this pair of Crystal Ship artists for an advance gallery talk about the exhibition opening later this same
day ..... full text

Friday, November 16, 2007 @ Noon
Judith Lewis + Friends
From Bioneers to Burning Man to Bunnies that Glow Green
Join Judith Lewis, Simone White, Laurie Kaufman, Jason Keehn and David Newsom as they ask the question: "Are we heralding a new communion among art, popular culture and fringe technology" ..... full text

News + Projects

Summit Draws Observations From Farmlab Trio
Attendees of Recent PUBLIC SPACE LA! Return With Much To Say
"The best speaker I heard was Ed Uhlir, Project Director of Millennium Park in Chicago," says Farmlab's Mike Woo, "Millennium Park is a spectacular downtown space combining public art and" .... full text

Farmlab Four Among Bioneers Visitors
Quartet joins the curious, motivated throngs in San Rafael, Calif.
Our colleagues report: "As always, the topics of discussion ranged widely from green science to environmental justice; from art to indigenous movements" .... full text

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La Ofrenda Viewing Remains Open Through Nov. 10 @ Sunset



Farmlab and Under Spring's La Ofrenda altars remain open for public viewing through the evening of Saturday, November 10, 2007.

More information about this year's La Ofrenda ceremonies -- including the Nov. 3 public opening -- may be viewed here.



Farmlab photos by Colton Stenke (top) and Sarah McCabe (bottom)

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La Ofrenda Preparations Continuing;
Viewing -- with music, dance, spoken work -- opens Saturday night



Above, an image from the ongoing Under Spring La Ofrenda set-up.

Farmlab's annual Day of the Dead-related happening opens for public viewing and participation on Saturday, November 3 @ 7:30pm. Admission, as always, is free.

For more information, and a list of the performers scheduled to participate, please click here.

Farmlab Photo by Sarah McCabe

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'Open Space' Summit Draws Observations from Farmlab Attendees

A trio of Farmlab team members attended last week's PUBLIC SPACE LA! -- The 1st AIA Los Angeles Urban Open Space Summit.

Held at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, panelists include past and upcoming Farmlab and Not A Cornfield salon presenters Lewis MacAdams, Jennifer Wolch, and Robert Gottlieb.

Copies of the Farmlab report, "The Cornfield: New Ideas for a Sustainable Park," were distributed, as well.

Farmlab consultant Mike Woo wrote the above report; below, he passes along to this blog a few of his 'Summit' observations:

"The best speaker I heard was Ed Uhlir, project director of Millennium Park in Chicago. Millennium Park is a spectacular downtown space combining public art and performance venues on a former railroad property. Maybe there was a certain inevitability to it being in Chicago, because according to Uhlir, creating the park required an enormous political and fundraising effort which may be easier to pull together in Chicago than in L.A.

"What I personally missed in the day's proceedings was some fundamental re-thinking about the role of an urban park, especially from an 'L.A.' perspective. In other words, instead of waiting for the right political moment for a grand gesture leading to our local version of Central Park, Golden Gate Park, or Millennium Park, maybe there needs to be a radical rethinking of what 'greening the city' means in a city like Los Angeles.

"Maybe a viable alternative would be to embrace the 'privatized urbanism' of L.A. and decentralize efforts to integrate nature with the urban environment. For example, an urban farming version of letting a thousand flowers bloom could mean teaching apartment renters how to grow herbs, or tomatoes, or zucchini out of pots on their balconies, or on their roofs, or on small scraps of land scattered around the metropolis -- instead of waiting for city government to create large urban parks. Maybe the future of open space in L.A. will be many thousands of vertical balcony and rooftop gardens instead of a large horizontal space called a park."


Farmlab consultant, Autumn Rooney, likewise attended 'Open Space.' She, too, shared her post-conference analysis with farmlab.org:

"L.A. is an independent city, that values its privacy and it was built to preserve it. Now L.A needs to come out of it’s shell and live collaboratively. More Public transit would help a lot. Even if we do get more public space we will have to sit in traffic to get there. Many of L.A.’s parks end up neglected and crime-ridden. Improving access through bike paths and buses and trains would help and also provide programming like they do in Chicago & NY, and the way it was at Not A Cornfield. I think L.A. wants more public space, but it still lacks the will to collaborate in order to get it. We can rescue the city from unhealthy development if we decide to do it together.

"I like Mike [Woo]’s idea of inspiring people to make their own parks in pots on their balconies. The Farmlab Agbins are an example of that.

"I also like the Theodore Roosevelt quote that [architecture critic] Robert Campbell offered at the closing of Public Space LA: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”


***Sidebar: Quotes from PUBLIC SPACE LA!***
(as compiled by Autumn Rooney)

The Special Problem of Los Angeles

  • “The Private backyards of L.A. are equal to 41 Central Parks.”
    Richard Weinstein / Vice Chair, Architecture & Urban Design UCLA

  • “A culture designed for commercial consumption is not designed to value public space.”
    Richard Weinstein / Vice Chair, Architecture & Urban Design UCLA

  • “L.A. is a city of individuals. The American Dream, single family detached house.”
    Richard Weinstein / Vice Chair, Architecture & Urban Design UCLA

  • “The average city spends $89 per person per year on parks. L.A. spends $30 per person per year.”
    Elva Yañez / Executive Director, Audubon Center at Debs Park

  • “Making public space a priority starts with the youth.”
    David McNeill / Executive Director, Baldwin Hills Conservancy

  • “Any idea worth pursuing will take more than one lifetime.”
    Citing someone else -- Lewis MacAdams / Founder, Friends of the Los Angeles River

  • “If it isn’t impossible, I’m not interested anymore.”
    Lewis MacAdams / Founder, Friends of the Los Angeles River

  • "Go to the river and imagine what it could be, make pictures. Out of images is knowing.”
    Lewis MacAdams / Founder, Friends of the Los Angeles River

    The City Perspective

  • “There has been an open space awakening in L.A.”
    Eric Garcetti / City Councilmember

    What is open Space and who owns it?

  • “L.A. was founded on development speculation.”
    Larry Smith / Executive Director, North East Trees

  • “Obstacles for Public space are operations and maintenance”
    Larry Smith / Executive Director, North East Trees

    Sustaining Greatness in Public Spaces; what can L.A. learn from other cities?

  • “Programming is essential for parks to be used.”
    Tupper Thomas / President, Prospect Park Alliance

    Note: Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY is 580 acres. It is funded as a public/ private partnership. The Prospect Park Alliance is a non-profit that manages maintenance. They also have a community committee made up of representatives from community/cultural organizations.

  • Millennium Park, Chicago, IL
    Ed Uhlir, FAIA

    Note: Millennium Park in Chicago, IL is 24.5 acres. The Frank Geary band shell and the public sculptures such as Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate, are major tourist attractions that generate revenue for the park and the city. The Park was also funded by a public/private partnership. The parking garage underneath the park also generates funds for operations. McDonalds sponsored a Cycle Center. A 300 spot bike parking facility with lockers, showers, bike repair and rental services. McDonalds was not allowed to have the Golden arches on the building in order to preserve the integrity of the park aesthetic.
    http://www.millenniumpark.org/artandarchitecture/bicycle_parking.html

    -- Autumn Rooney

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