Emily Lacy and Carmina Escobar, “The Voice Precedes the Word,” Bronson Caves, June 13, 2016

Hey y’all what’s up. Been a while since I wrote in here. Yesterday I made my way up to our Bronson Caves to catch Emily Lacy and Carmina Escobar doing an experimental vocal recital. It was site-specific, in the most beautiful and sensuous way; the two of them felt their way up from the floors and walls of the caves, uttering small sounds that seemed to emit from the rock and earth around them, slowly and steadily building in frequency and volume and then moving from separate tunnels toward each other and improvising and bouncing off each other and gaining momentum and weaving in and out of one another until finally they crescendoed together, their voices bouncing off one other like sonar bats and ascending into the skyline, thick and ragged and free. Few performances have taken me to into another state of mind and I am happy to say that this one did. Enjoy the final five minutes in the video above! xo Carol

The Voice Precedes the Word was part of Dogstar 12, an annual festival of experimental music around LA.

Distant Lands, Blowups, Quiet Whispers: the First Five Days of the Pacific Standard Time Performance and Public Art Festival

The first five days of the jam-packed Pacific Standard Time Performance and Public Art Festival have passed, and I’ve survived, albeit barely. Since Thursday, it seems like I’ve spent a lot of time driving to the farthest reaches of Greater Los Angeles to watch stuff get blown up, lit up, and shot at. Crowd-pleasing spectacles have definitely dominated the game.

On Saturday, hundreds of people came out to Pomona College to see a trio of “performances” (the pieces by Judy Chicago and James Turrell would be more accurately described as temporary public art installations) that took place at strategic locations on campus. They were all nice, although not exactly mind-blowing. I didn’t quite see what was so nifty about John White’s Preparation F, which made a spectacle out of college football players getting dressed and scrimmaging; modern dance works have done this sort of thing better. Chicago’s ejaculatory fireworks in A Butterfly for Pomona were certainly entertaining, and Turrell’s Burning Bridges was a nostalgic and humorous evocation of his then-developing interest in light and the framing of environments. The most remarkable thing about the whole event, however, was seeing so many people turn out for performance—the most I’ve ever seen in one sitting.

Sprechen Sie Hi Fashion?

I’m on a writing deadline but I can’t stop watching these videos. The latest uploads are footage from Hi Fashion’s EP release party, which happened at Mustache Mondays nearly a month ago (and that I missed due to the fact that my friends and I are officially too old for shows that begin at midnight).

I can’t get over how AH-MAZ-ING these guys are—and continue to be, in spite of the tragic loss of the brilliant “$9.99” price tag from their name (boo!). You can download their new EP on iTunes.

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.

Renée van Trier, A LITTLE BIT OF TASTY CHINA, OH MY GOSH!!!, California State University, Long Beach, April 10, 2011

The amazing Renée van Trier gave her final West Coast performance (for now) this past Sunday at Cal State Long Beach. If you missed it, treat yourself to complete video footage below, as well as some great still photographs after the jump.

On YouTube, you can watch all of her Spring 2011 California performances—at HiLite, at Pieter PASD, at Human Resources, at CSULB, and at two venues in San Francisco—along with others she’s done all over the world.

Renée returns to her native Holland today. She will be missed!

The Invincible Winner, and You Know that You Were Born to Be….

Photo: Shinichi Ono

2010 U.S. Air Guitar Championships, Los Angeles Regionals, Saturday night, April 24, at the Troubadour. WON BY THE BRIDE OF ROCK (aka Janice Gomez-Hoang). Words won’t do this justice. Just watch the videos.