5 design things to do this week

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This week: See a new public artwork waving in the sea breeze by Patrick Shearn, say Yes to ADUs, find out how Luis Barragán’s ashes became a diamond ring, follow artists as they make “place” in four unincorporated LA County neighborhoods, and check out the work of 200 zine-makers in Pasadena.

1) Sunset Vestige by Poetic Kinetics

Remember the cloud of holographic mylar and monofilament that ululated over Pershing Square in the summer of 2016 called Liquid Shard? Now the designer Patrick Shearn and his company Poetic Kinetics have brought this mobile artwork made of more than 40,000 vibrant streamers to Marina del Rey.

Shearn’s Sunset Vestige resulted from a collaboration between the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors (DBH), the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. The vibrant artwork emulates the glow of a California sunset, contrasting with the serene, coastal ambiance of Marina del Rey. And it has an interactive, social media piece: As part of the project, visitors are being asked to respond — with videos of the artwork cut to their favorite music — to the question: “If this artwork could dance, what song would it dance to?”

When: Through July 1; Burton Chace Park is open 6 am – 10 pm.

Where: 13650 Mindanao Way in Marina del Rey.

Tickets: Free; click here for more information, or call the Marina del Rey Visitors Center at (424) 526-7900.

2) The Proposal: Screening and Q&A with Jill Magid

Luis Barragán’s buildings could be described as exquisite diamonds in chaotic urban settings. But no one ever expected Barragán himself to become a diamond. It’s an extremely complicated and bizarre conceptual art project: an American artist named Jill Magid attempted to retrieve half of the Barragán archives held underground and out of sight by the Vitra furniture company in Switzerland. Out of this quest came  a blue diamond made out of the late Mexican Modernist’s ashes. The Proposal (2018, dir. Jill Magid, 83 min.) is a documentary about Magid and the quest, explained in this New Yorker article, to trade the archives for a ring. The screening of the movie will be followed by a Q&A with Magid.

When: Thursday, May 24, 7:30pm

Where: Billy Wilder Theater, 10899 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90024

Tickets: Free; click here for more information.

3) Yes to ADU: Panel Discussion and Exhibition

As a result of new state laws that took effect last year, it has become much easier to get permits in Los Angeles for accessory dwelling units (ADUs), commonly known as granny flats.  The eased regulations were intended to encourage development of badly needed new affordable housing units – and it’s working: 2,343 ADUs were permitted in Los Angeles in 2017, up from only 120 in 2016.

This week, the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design, in conjunction with the LA Arts Commission, will facilitate a panel discussion on innovative solutions to building ADUs.  The panel will consider current building codes and share design, engineering and construction best practices.  The event will include presentations from the architectural design competition Part of the Solution: YES to ADU, which reimagines the ‘granny flat’ as a means to relaxing the housing crises.

Participants include Elizabeth Timme, co-founder of LA Más; Linda Taalman, founder of IT HOUSE INC; Jon Sanabria, Deputy Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning; Liz Mahlow, NOUS Engineering; and Derek Leavitt, co-founder of Modative.

When: Thursday, May 24, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Where: Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 1717 East 7th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90021

Tickets: Free; click here or here for more information.

4) I Read Your Book And….: A Conversation with Thomas Lawson, Jeannene Przyblyski, Harry Gamboa Jr.

East Rancho Dominguez, Florence-Firestone, Lennox, and Ladera Heights/View Park/Windsor Hills are all communities within unincorporated Los Angeles County. They got the attention of artists/authors Thomas Lawson, Jeannene Przyblyski and Harry Gamboa Jr. and Studio 75, who each set about on an art project around the notion of creative placemaking, asking the question: “What space of possibility opens up when a particular artist encounters a particular place and the people who live and work there?”

See the results in Some Place Chronicles four unique books that contain explorations, documentation, and pragmatic and poetic testimonies of what has been and dreams of what might yet be. As part of his author interview series I Read Your Book And…., journalist Rex Weiner sits down this Saturday at Beyond Baroque with Lawson, Przyblyski and Gamboa, Jr. to talk about their work on this project.

When: Saturday, May 26, 8 – 10 pm

Where: Beyond Baroque, 681 N. Venice Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90291

Tickets: General Admission $10.  You can get tickets here.

If you can print it or read it, you can zine it.(The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

5) L.A. Zine Fest

This year’s Zine Fest will feature 200 zinesters – self published writers, illustrators, comics creators, photographers – selling, trading and sharing their work, plus readings, talks, and workshops; zine libraries; the Wonderspace (free hands-on activities); Playdate (independent arcade games); rad book bikes from F.L.O.W and AntenaMóvil, exhibitor art curated by Pengu Labs; a photo booth by The Kitty Cult; and more.  This year’s event will be at the Pasadena Convention Center, a more intimate venue than the huge exhibit halls of past years (though organizers note you can’t bring in outside food or drinks.)

When: Sunday May 27, 11 am – 6 pm

Where: Pasadena Convention Center, 300 E Green St, Pasadena, CA 91101.  Parking is available under the building for $13 or alternatively, the Metro Gold Line stations at Memorial Park and Del Mar are only a short walk from the venue.

Tickets: Free; click here for more information.

Finally. . . student talent alert! Also, Tuesday night at Helms Bakery Walk, AIA|LA will announce winners of its Student Competition, 2×8: Interlaced. Friends of the students and the general public are invited to witness the selection of emerging talents, and enjoy at reception, starting at 5:30pm. Click here for more information.