Kick out the jams!

The RockNess Monster, performing in tandem with The Bride of Rock at PØST, July 14

Three not-to-be missed events happening over the next week:

Friday, July 9, 7–9pm: Mannlicher CarcanoPlex Mach 01. In which irrepressible curator Doug Harvey will somehow cram some 40-odd artists and/or their work into the 12’ x 10’ space known as PØST. Mannlicher Carcano is the collaborative improv audiovisual collage group that Harvey has been performing with since 1984. For one night only, the band will expand itself to the third dimension via this no-holds-barred happening that will include “sound, performance, didactic elements, food and drink, sexy projections, and all manner of art objects.” Not to mention some “Anne Frank karaoke.” (??)

Saturday, July 10, 12–5pm: Love Letters To A Surrogate. This is the final event in the Torrance Art Museum’s ZOOM2 performance series. Seventeen ongoing performances will occur simultaneously at random places throughout the museum grounds, encouraging “simultaneous engagements with a wandering and nomadic audience.” Again, over 40 artists are involved in this enterprise, so perhaps that’s the magic number for this weekend. Following the performances, there will be a panel discussion at 6pm with co-curators Marco Schindelmann, Robert Crouch, and Warren Neidich.

Wednesday, July 14, 7–10pm: You Don’t Bring Me Flowers: An Evening of Re-Performances. Full disclosure, this event is curated by yours truly for the PØST series of one-night kamikaze exhibitions, of which Harvey’s show is also a part. I am incredibly excited to bring together six (or eight if you count the individual members of two duos) of my favorite local artists for an exploratory evening in which each artist re-performs a work by another artist, of their own choosing. Rather than focusing on the accuracy of re-enactment, however, the emphasis here is on opening up and activating the relationship between performer and performed. Already confirmed are a George Brecht adaptation by Elana Mann, a conceptual air guitar blowout by two champions of the genre, and Lucas Michael performing his own No, u didn’t, by special request of the curator. Other artists are still working on their pieces and updates will be added to the Facebook page as the event gets closer.