loud paper

a little batty

Judy Fiskin, Untitled, Dingbat 1982-1983

Sara: Roland thinks L.A. is a place for the brain-dead. He says, if you turned off the sprinklers, it would turn into a desert. But I think - I don't know, it's not what I expected. It's a place where they've taken a desert and turned it into their dreams. I've seen a lot of L.A. and I think it's also a place of secrets: secret houses, secret lives, secret pleasures. And no one is looking to the outside for verification that what they're doing is all right. So what do you say, Roland? 

Roland: I still say it's a place for the brain-dead.

-LA Story, 1991

This endless east coast heatwave is working my last frayed nerve, so I am jumping on a plane and heading to Los Angeles, where I can eat all the sprout and avocado sandwiches I want. Wheat germ and wheat grass, bring it. You can find me either at Intelligentsia Coffee or Vegan Glory.

While I'm in town I have the pleasure to sit on a panel hosted by the LA Forum entitled Dingbat as Cultural Icon, as part of the LA Forum’s recently completed Dingbat 2.0 Design Competition. (You can view the winners of the competition here.)

The event is moderated by Michael Osman and I'm excited to join panelists Barbara Bestor, Alan Hess, and Christopher Hawthorne. Hopefully, there will be a lively debate about the role of the dingbat as a cultural symbol for LA and the future of housing.

When: Saturday, July 17, 3-6 pm

Where: Woodbury Hollywood Exhibitions, 6518 Hollywood Boulevard

super fun

Superfront is a tiny storefront gallery on Atlantic Avenue tucked under the LIRR tracks. Wander past the ramshackle laundromat, a few car repair garages, and look for the Seven-11 across the street and you'll find its unassuming entrance. Inside, big things are happening. Superfront director Mitch McEwen's put together a whole host of summer programming for the backyard to take place under a canopy of hula hoops and the gallery is home to works by four artists with ties to architects. The show, Artists Who Play Well With Architects, opens on July 17 and includes:  Kim Holleman, Grant Guilliams , Michael Gaillard, and Eve Mosher. Holleman is also working on a project for Terrafarm at Terraform ONE and her Trailer Park will be parked outside the Metropolitan Exchange on Flatbush next week.

 
 

17 July –  13 August, 2010
Opening Saturday July 17th 6:00pm – 8:00pm

SUPERFRONT is proud to present ARTISTS WHO PLAY WELL WITH OTHERS ARCHITECTS, a summer group show on view at the Brooklyn gallery through August 13th.  The exhibition brings together 4 artists of disparate backgrounds who, nonetheless, share a common familiarity with practicing architects in New York City.

Curated by Mitch McEwen, Director of SUPERFRONT, with input from Lee Ping Kwan, architect at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, and Mimi Zeiger, editor and publisher of loud paper, the exhibit emphasizes playful and tactile investigations of landscape, site selection, authority, and scale.  The resulting exhibit mixes astute games of narrative, word play, and humor with an irreverence for architectural gravitas.  Sculptures, drawings, physical models, and instrument-like objects are on display.

  

Join SUPERFRONT, KIT, and the NY City Explorers to celebrate the opening of this project with a reception (for grown ups) on Saturday July 17th 6pm – 9pm. Also opening the same evening in the gallery is the group exhibit Artists Who Play Well With Architects. The reception will feature live music and beverages for sale.  No cover.

The first annual Public Summer program, developed from the theme of Temporary Publics, features a jury-selected installation designed by KIT, a young New York collective of designers.  This outdoor installation for the local community group NYC Explorers has been constructed by KIT with support from SUPERFRONT and volunteers.  The installation incorporates over 400 hula hoops, as well as found and discarded materials.

KIT’s scheme, which features hundreds of hula hoops forming a connected canopy, was selected by the Sketch 120: Temporary Publics jury comprised of DJ /rupture, nArchitects, and Slade Architecture.  The Sketch 120: Temporary Publics charrette was produced in partnership with Design in 5, a program of the Architectural League NY, with additional support from Brooklyn Arts Council and SuckerPunchDaily.com

Childrens’ activities throughout Public Summer are free and coordinated by NY City Explorers Carnival, a project by NY City Explorers, a local small business that offers a wide variety of family programs and services throughout NYC.

KIT is comprised of designers Lauren Page, Phil Kuehne, Justin Foster, and Read Langworthy. The quartet, a combination of academic and professional associations, has a passion for public design and social infrastructure. All are recent graduates from Bachelors of Architecture programs and they currently live, work, and play in New York City.

NY City Explorers (NYCE) is a Brooklyn-based family enrichment center created by Kisha Edwards-Gandsy & Keyanna Murrill that provides classes, camps, childcare, two indoor play spaces, and party planning for families throughout NYC. The NYCE Carnival at SUPERFRONT aims to provide safe, carnival style atmosphere complete with scheduled films, games, contests, healthy food vendor sampling, and creative family programming.

The PUBLIC SUMMER project has been achieved with the funding and/or materials support of the following organizations and individuals:

Design in 5/The Architectural League of New York (competition sponsors), Mark Gardner, Betty Webb, Shinique Smith, Sarah Millsaps, and suckerPUNCHdaily.

SUPERFRONT’s mission is to support, promote, and produce radically contemporary art and architecture, while fostering creative interdisciplinary exchange. This mission is achieved through exhibits, publications, panels, and projects that, while focused on architecture, also concern art, performance, media and social science. Since January 2008, SUPERFRONT has invited students, emerging architects, designers, visual artists, and performance artists to engage in a public forum that raises awareness of contemporary architectural practice and theory.