You See LA: May 2020
Things to see and do in a time of physical distancing, selected by UCLA Arts faculty
We've asked several UCLA Arts faculty members to offer suggestions of what to watch, read, listen to, or otherwise explore during this time of physical distancing. You can also stream their interviews on the UCLA Arts podcast Works In Progress, which is linked below each selection.
Peter Sellars, distinguished professor, World Arts and Cultures/Dance
To check out: Climate Change: Climates of Inequality
Stories of environmental injustices detail how the virus and climate change are equal opportunity phenomena respecting neither persons nor borders, and meanwhile unmasking the obscene and unprecedented levels of inequality that the human race has achieved in our lifetimes.
To consider: This economist has a plan to fix capitalism. It's time we all listened
Mariana Mazzucato takes the long view of value, what it means to invest in our children, our creativity, our environment, and our longterm goals of peace, equity, justice, and pleasure.
To be inspired by: JACK
Step 1: If you see a need, try and meet it. Again, a tiny, energized, creative community art space in Brooklyn is now also a food hub for people in need; the arts are about feeding people in every way that we can imagine.
Kevin Kane, director, Visual and Performing Arts Education (VAPAE)
Despite the many restrictions due to coronavirus quarantining, and most days being jam-packed with zoom meetings and teaching, it’s also been a good time to reconnect with familiar activities and hobbies that feel simple, grounding, and nostalgic - in all the best ways.
Things like hiking a favorite path of mine, the East Griffith Observatory trail near The Greek Theatre, or nurturing the roses and hibiscus in my backyard garden. Also, doing some reading for pleasure again. I enjoyed Sally Rooney’s Conversation with Friends, and was startled by History of Violence by Edouard Louis. Documentary films seem to be a good fit for my limited evening attention span and I loved the Michelle Obama documentary, Becoming; A Secret Love, which left me weepy, and Circus of Books was fascinating. I highly recommend Andrew Scott’s brilliant interpretation of the monologue Sea Wall.
Oh, and during these uncertain days, I’m completely drawn to musicians and songs that make me feel all the feels. If anyone else enjoys a healthy dose of melancholia and existentialism in their music, I’d recommend the Swedish sister duo First Aid Kit (those harmonies!); the new Fiona Apple album Fetch the Bolt Cutters; and just about any traditional Irish song will trigger bittersweet longing, but I’d suggest going back and revisiting Sinead O’Connor’s Universal Mother.
Gracie Whyte, adjunct professor, World Arts and Cultures/Dance
My suggestion is to get up and move (of course!) -- there are so many offerings for dancers and non-dancers alike, sparking creativity and spiking those endorphins we're all lacking during this time. A few favorites for non-dancers:
And if moving and grooving isn't quite your style, let me recommend MarqueeTV, the Netflix of dance, theatre, and opera. My all-time favorite is Betroffenheit.
Jake Matatyaou, lecturer, Architecture and Urban Design
Read
Reading Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, assistant professor of African-American studies at Princeton University and author of Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership, is an absolute must right now. There is an urgency to Taylor's analysis of race and class, which she documents through a real-time history of how the COVID-19 virus, exacerbated by a legacy of disinvestment and institutional neglect, is disproportionately affecting black health care workers and black communities across the country. These four essays, published over the past 9 weeks, are essential reading.
"Cancel the Rent," The New Yorker, May 20, 2020
"The Black Plague," The New Yorker, April 16, 2020
"Reality Has Endorsed Bernie Sanders," The New Yorker, March 30, 2020
Watch
This April marked the thirtieth anniversary of David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks. After a 25 year hiatus, the series returned in 2017 with the same beauty, mystery, humor, and horror, inviting us to be like the dreamer who dreams, then lives inside the dream. Season 3, Twin Peaks: The Return is one of the most brutally haunting and visually arresting works of art that I have seen in recent memory (Part 8, in particular). The commitment of actors Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern, amongst other incredible performances, is not to be missed. Submit to the world of Lynch and Frost and you will not be disappointed.
Julia Koerner, assistant adjunct professor, Architecture and Urban Design
Recently I was invited to participate in the project "No-Place like the Future - Artists evoke a world after corona". The Austrian Embassy and the Austrian Cultural Forum in Washington DC, the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York, the Austrian Consulate General in Los Angeles and Open Austria, Austria’s innovation office in Silicon Valley, have created this project “No-Place Like the Future” with the aim to bring Austrian and American artists (back) together during the corona pandemic and invite them to jointly work on a new piece of art – and thereby create a brighter future for all of us. I decided to collaborate with the American artist, Austin Fields, who is a glassblower. We are remotely creating the project "Virtual Bloom" together with 3D printing and glass. The video can be watched on the website.
Red Bull TV has recently published a new series of clips as part of the "Innovator Magazine." In one of them they feature my work in innovation in fashion. Other clips feature research about a diving capsule and taxi drones.
Casey Reas, professor, Design Media Arts
Reabracadabra, Eduardo Kac, 1985
While some artists are thinking about exhibiting their work online for the first time right now, others have created online works going back decades. This history is thoughtfully covered by Rhizome's Net Art Anthology, a deep website and print publication.
The "Net Art Anthology aims to address the shortage of historical perspectives on a field in which even the most prominent artworks are often inaccessible. The series takes on the complex task of identifying, preserving, and presenting 100 exemplary works in a field characterized by broad participation, diverse practices, promiscuous collaboration, and rapidly shifting formal and aesthetic standards, sketching a possible net art canon."
Victoria Vesna, professor, Design Media Arts
Drive-By-Art (Public Art in This Moment of Social Distancing) is an outdoor public art exhibition that is experienced from the safety and intimacy of one’s own automobile. Organized by Warren Neidich, Renee Petropoulos, Michael Slenske and Anuradha Vikram, the exhibition will be presented in two locations—divided East and West of Western Avenue—over two weekends. More than 120 artists created work for the exhibition, including Design Media Arts professor Victoria Vesna.
DRIVE-BY-ART (Public Art in This Moment of Social Distancing), Los Angeles: WEST of Western takes place May 30–31.
Stay engaged. Use #UCLAarts to stay connected.
