Here’s what DnA recommends you check out this week in Los Angeles.
One of Britain’s leading designers comes to LA’s Twentieth Showroom this Thursday, for a launch of his book Tom Dixon: Dixonary. Dixon got his start building chairs out of salvaged industrial materials and objects while still playing in punk-era bands, and went on to become Head of Design at Habitat before re-establishing his own brand, Tom Dixon. His book is a digest of bite-size essays on the ideas and influences throughout his career, along with some very savvy insights about what’s involved in manufacturing furniture.
When: Thursday, February 27, 6-8pm
Where: Twentieth Gallery, 7470 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Tickets: Free to public; rsvp@artbook.com
2. L.A. [Ten]: Interviews on Los Angeles Architecture book signing and panel discussion with Annie Chu, Joe Day, Neil Denari, Ming Fung, and Craig Hodgetts.
Stephen Phillips’s new book takes a look at the so-called L.A. Ten, a group of ten architects that had a huge impact on L.A.’s architectural discourse from the 1970’s to the 1990’s. Many of those ten architects, including Neil Denari and Ming Fung, will be present at a discussion and book signing at Hennessey Ingalls Bookstore in Hollywood.
When: Thursday February 27th at 6:00 PM
Where: Hennessey Ingalls Bookstore; 1520 N Cahuenga Blvd #8, Los Angeles
Tickets: Free and open to the public.
3. The Wind Rises
Highly acclaimed, Oscar-nominated movie by Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoko) about the life of aviation engineer Jiro Horikoshi, who helped design the Zero fighter plane that was used by kamikaze pilots in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Some critics have complained that the film glosses over the deadly legacy of his inventions, but the Washington Post writes that Miyazaki “manages to cast a mesmerizing spell. . . capturing and conveying Horikoshi’s own passion for industrial design, as well as his dawning dread as to their end use.”
When: February 21-27 at El Capitan Theater; Wide Release begins February 28.
Where: El Capitan Theater; 6838 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood
Tickets: Click here for tickets.
4. Jacob Hashimoto Gas Giant
Jacob Hashimoto combines traditional kite-making techniques and collage to create what MOCA describes as “massive space-altering installations with thousands of thin paper sheets.” This exhibition, at MOCA Pacific Design Center, will be the first L.A. presentation of Gas Giant, previously exhibited in Venice, Italy in 2013 Fondazione Querini Stampalia, and in Chicago in 2012 at Rhona Hoffman Gallery, and will mark Hashimoto’s first solo museum exhibition in California.
When: Open to the public March 1; Members Opening Friday, February 28, 2014, 7.00-9.00PM; Info: 213 621-1794 or membership1@moca.org
Where: MOCA Pacific Design Center
Tickets: FREE admission; no reservations necessary
5. Ray Eames in the Spotlight
In celebration of Ray Eames’ centennial, Art Center College of Design will show the prolific designer’s work in the years prior to her collaboration with Charles Eames. The exhibit boasts rare never before seen sketches of her work, including some of her fashion designs, in an attempt to “trace the ways in which Ray’s earliest interests and skills connect to the work she passionately explored throughout her life.”
When: Public opening reception Friday February 28, 7:00-10:00 PM, exhibition runs until May 4, 2014
Where: Williamson Gallery, Art Center College of Design, 1700 Lida Street, Pasadena CA 91103
Tickets: Click here for more information.