Queering Sex showcases Sphinx, Jack Smith, and much more at Human Resources

Sphinx performs at Human Resources, accompanied by imagery from Jack Smith's Normal Love

If you’re not spending time at Human Resources these days, you’re really missing out. Since reincarnating themselves at their new space on Cottage Home in Chinatown, their programming has become noticeably more ambitious, dynamic, and diverse. I’ve been seeing an imaginative cross-section of experimental/underground music, good performance art by people I’ve never heard of, cool dance acts, screenings of important film and video works (like Chris Kraus’ entire, rarely seen oeuvre, shown a few weeks ago with Kraus and Sylvère Lotringer in attendance), and interesting guest curators, like Kathryn Garcia and Sarvia Jasso, who had the infamous Brooklyn Is Burning on their resumes before moving on to Queering Sex. Perhaps the improved feng shui of their new digs has helped to take HR to the next level; that huge, single, open gallery on the ground floor of an old kung fu theater is a spectacular space that never gets old.

Last night, the third night of Queering Sex, was a fun time that started with a screening of Jack Smith’s pioneering film Normal Love; moved through a selection of video work by Martha Wilson, Benjamin Alexander Huseby and Lars Laumann, Bruce La Bruce, and Gordon Flores; and finished off with a stunning set from the goth-fetish-metal band Sphinx. Below is a bit of crappy video footage that I took; hopefully better versions will appear on the webs soon.

Even though they’re a ragtag little collective that doesn’t have either nonprofit or gallery status, Human Resources’ savvy programming choices are making them an important force in the LA art scene. Be sure to Facebook them or join their mailing list. The final Queering Sex event will be a performance by Dawn Kasper on July 2. HR also has a project with Outfest lined up for mid-July and plans to bring in performance artists from all over the world later in the year.