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Elisabeth Higgins O’Connor at MOAH, "blame/thirst," 2018. Los Angeles, being what it is—a big, sprawling desert grid with almost as many art galleries these days as there are Starbucks—can seem overwhelming when it comes to actually hopping in the car and making the point to go and see some art. Let’s face it, we sometimes spend more time on the freeway getting to the gallery or museum than we do actually viewing the work itself! That said, the amount of good work being made in this city necessitates that we go the proverbial distance. MOAH, the Museum of Art and History located in Lancaster, is one such destination, set within the hot and arid backdrop of the desert landscape. At the helm is Andi Campognone, whose program over the last several years has reflected both a keen eye and a decisive awareness of new art made and exhibited today. The exhibitions at MOAH are always imaginative and intellectually stimulating, often merging science, history and art. Current exhibition Woven Stories charts the narrative structure of art-making as it relates to fiber and the history of storytelling through visual form. The results are visually arresting, the stories familiar, yet fresh. Installation view of Ray Blender at MOAH, 2019. Photo by Mido Lee In the opposite direction way down south lies the Laguna Art Museum, where shows span a variety of cultural disciplines. Most of the exhibitions feature an inherent narrative structure that ties the work into a broader social consciousness. This is true of the current exhibition, Self-Help Graphics, 1983–1991, which celebrates the East Los Angeles printmaking workshop and arts center that emerged from the pivotal and groundbreaking Chicano Art movement of the 1960s. Helmed by Executive Director Malcolm Warner, the Laguna Art Museum continues to mine the rich cultural heritage that exists in Laguna Beach while also expanding the museum’s program to include other modalities and ways of seeing. Elisabeth Higgins O’Connor at MOAH, “hate stayed the ending” (detail), 2018. Still, some venues are closer to home for some of us. Such is the case with Cal State Northridge’s Mike Curb College of Arts, Media and Communication gallery, which (lucky for me) is located a few hundred yards from my CSUN classroom. Again, as with the other two venues I mentioned, the Northridge galleries are committed to socially conscious art that reflects the ever-changing culture in and around the Northridge area, and the surrounding metropolis. Many exhibitions endeavor to support former alumnae including Judy Baca and Jeffrey Vallance, who both had solo shows on the campus last year. Again, these artists’ work speaks to issues of identity and personal responsibility, engendering a deeper awareness of our past and present political climate. In Los Angeles, “going the distance” can sometimes be challenging given the city’s vast expanses, but if you have a reliable set of wheels and a will to see some really good art, go ahead—burn some rubber!

Snezana Saraswati Petrovic’s current show, “Collateral Damage” is on view at MOAH:CEDAR through August 18. The immersive installation speaks of the harm humans do to nature unintentionally. In this Q&A Snezana shares her connection to nature, her first impressions of the Prime Desert Woodland Preserve, and why art matters. Q: Snezana, when did you first become interested in looking at nature from the perspective of an artist? A: This is hard question. I believe that we are the nature. We might be separated superficially by the urban boundaries, but we all experience the day/night rhythms and respond to changes in weather. The most of art production is happening in the cities. The disconnection with the nature is resulting in the need to create arts. While in art school I learned about Andrew Goldsworthy works, his “collaboration with nature” and Earthworks art. I came to realization that I was doing the same since my childhood. Snezana Saraswati Petrovic within her exhibition Collateral Damage I was occasionally spending summer at my grandparent’s property that was secluded and not accessible by the cars. I would go into the forest where the path would take you down to the roads collecting on the way the leaves, twigs, corn “hair,” grass, rocks and wild snail shells. On the pathway to where my parents would eventually climb up on the weekends to see me, I was making dolls, “things” with unknown and mystical purpose while placing them inside of marked spaces that now, I see it as some form of shrines. I always felt to be a part or one with the nature and not separate from it. Artist are in some ways echoing an image of a Creator, while creating instead of imitating. This was a common stance in Renaissance. Titian painting “St. Sebastian” was described as “the hand that emulates the hand of the Creator” or “la mano imitratice de la man creatrice”. Life, nature, creation are all one. Artist is just a vessel. I think I knew this since my childhood days sitting in the forest and creating by the rhythm of the spring water and winds. Q: Have you always been drawn to nature? Img:Snezana Saraswati Petrovic, Collateral Damage A: Yes, and in unexpected ways. I grew up in an urban environment surrounded by bricks and concrete with occasional trees and parks. My US friends refer to Belgrade, the city of my youth, as “low budget New York” with over one million population. In this high concentration of people, cars, and buildings, magic happened every early spring when the trees blossomed. The white petals and light green leaf cheered up the gray streets and in early summer this all turns into the saturated scent of linden trees blossoms and deep green shadows. I wanted to experience more of this verve and tingling energy and as a child I asked to spend summers at my grandparent’s property that was not in use for decades. Beside my walks through the forests while hearing inner music and stories, I was talking to the trees, spring water, and winds. I would spend half of a day laying on the top of the walnut tree learning how to be a branch and moving with the wind. This experience is something that I was trying to evoke in my recent installation at MOAH Cedar with a focus on the oceans, balancing the dry desert hot weather with coolness of the blues and serenity that water brings. Q: You recently visited the Prime Desert Woodland Preserve. What were your thoughts? Img:Snezana Saraswati Petrovic, Collateral Damage A: I was visiting on the early morning the preserve, before installing my work at MOAH. It is place of contemplation and beauty. The morning breeze, the bright but not hot sun, intensified the green and vigor of Joshua trees. I was hiking happy, knowing that bikes, noise, any wheels are banned from this space. Similarly to this preserve, the idea of having community-based conservancy is of the essence in my current piece ”Collateral Damage” at MOAH Cedar. The Prime Desert Woodland Preserve exemplifies the idea of grass-root community care for the nature. It also shows that determination, care and respect for our habitat can rejuvenate and flourish. By having more examples like this perhaps, there is hope for the Earth? Q: Do you feel that you saw the Preserve differently through the eyes of an artist? How? ImgSnezana Saraswati Petrovic, Collateral Damage A: We all have ability to connect to nature as we are nature. An artist way of seeing it is perhaps, ”larger then life”? The experience of walking down the Preserve’s path of sand and small rocks, while listening to your own footsteps, hearing birds and buzz of life can inspire an artist to create. I can imagine that feeling of rejuvenation and cleansing might be shared experience with everyone else. I contemplated for a long time Pablo Picasso’s statement that “Through art we express our conception of what nature is not.” I could not find any evidence in my practice for it. Artists do have unique perspectives individually, even from each other, but we are the creators. Nature is of the same essence. Creating in disconnect from the nature may be the reason for Picasso’s statement? Hegel was of the opinion that art “cannot stand in competition with nature…and if it tries it looks like a worm trying to crawl after an elephant.” My position is the middle ground. My morning inner dialogues in Prime Desert Woodland Preserve reassured me that my choice of topic in my MOAH CEDAR exhibition is of relevance to the current moment and all of us. Img: Snezana Saraswati Petrovic, Collateral Damage Q: Why does art matter? A: In this time and age, globally and nationally, art might be the only voice of serenity and wisdom. Art heals, encourages us to be better humans, proposes questions and helps us find the answers. Art is necessity of humanity since the dawn of civilization. The return of tattoos and graffiti art shows the need to visually communicate and express our existence, even without art training or knowledge of art history. I agree with statement by John F. Kennedy: "We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth." Q: Your exhibition at MOAH:CEDAR is stunning. Do you know what your next project will be? A: I will have to continue with different incarnations of this project and in multiple locations. The dedication of saving and preserving our habitat and humanity is life-long project. After my yogic studies in India and upon receiving my spiritual name Saraswati (Indian goddess of knowledge and art), I was not very clear on my goals. The “Collateral Damage” installation clarified the direction to me as an artist that brings the knowledge of science and art to the benefit of all. Q: What is your artistic background? A: I have BFA degree in painting and scenography from University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. The five years program embodied the Renaissance artistic training where the artist emulates the nature and works of Master of Art, while discovering unique perspective in the process of growth. I was trained to replicate any style of drawing or painting from Durrer to Van Gogh to Picasso. My first job in LA was making the exact replicas of Van Gogh such as “Night Café,” “Starry Night” and Picasso’s “Portrait of a Harlequin,” for the galleries abroad represented by Platinum American Express My MFA is from the University of California, Irvine with double emphasis in video/digital arts and theater design. I continue to wear multiple hats as studio artist, designer and emerita art professor. My video/installation practice is inspiring my theater design practice and vice versa. I am recipient of numerous awards both in US and Europe, such as “Golden Arena” for Production Design in feature movie “Harms Case” or “Ovation 2010, Los Angeles” for the costume design in Large Theatre category. I was awarded UC Regents Grant and National Endowment for the Arts. I have exhibited my work nationally and internationally in Amsterdam, Singapore, Tokyo, Prague, Los Angeles and Belgrade, at the venues such as Los Angeles MOCA and Stedijilk Museum, Amsterdam. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Collateral Damage By Snezana Saraswati Petrovic at MOAH:CEDAR July 6 - August 18, 2019 Artist talk from 4-6 p.m. August 17. 44857 Cedar Ave, Lancaster, California 93534 Hours: 2 to 8 p.m. Thursday to Sunday ------------------- Los Angeles artist Dani Dodge is the 2019 artist in residence for the Prime Desert Woodland Preserve in Lancaster, Calif. In this blog, she documents her journey, art activations, highlights of activities at the preserve and the Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH).

SPACE STUDIES —Artist Shana Mabari stands in front of the 100-inch-diameter infrared telescope at the heart of NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, when she took part in a recent science flight on board the world-class flying telescope. She plans to use her observations during the flight for a 2020 exhibit at the Museum of Art and History in Lancaster. NASA’s Stratospheric Ob­ser­vatory for Infrared As­tron­omy, or SOFIA, reg­u­larly carries international astronomers on board its night­time flights to study the far reaches of the galaxy. The flying telescope also is employed to bring its sci­ence to life for ed­u­ca­tors and others, including most recently an artist as­so­ciated with the Museum of Art and History in Lancaster. Shana Mabari joined a flight from the ob­ser­va­tory’s home base at NASA Armstrong Flight Re­search Center’s facility in Palmdale on Dec. 11, where she gathered information to further her goal of communicating aerospace science through art. “Shana Mabari was given the opportunity to fly on a SOFIA mission to observe science being con­duct­ed first-hand. Her observations and inter­ac­tions with SOFIA’s in­ter­national team of as­tron­omers will become part of her interpretation of light along the magnetic spectrum for Antelope Val­ley’s Museum of Art and History,” USRA Manager of SOFIA Communications Nick Veronico said. SOFIA is a highly modified 747 airliner that carries a 100-inch-diameter infrared telescope. By fly­ing at altitudes above 41,000 feet, the world-class telescope is above most of the atmospheric water vapor that blocks in­fra­red rays, which as­tron­omers use to study such cosmic phenomena as the formation of stars and the building blocks of the universe. Throughout the course of her 10-hour flight aboard SOFIA, Mabari observed astronomers at work, and intends to use what she saw as inspiration for an upcoming museum exhibit in 2020, which will examine light in space. Mabari is known in the Antelope Valley for her mon­u­mental sculpture “As­tral Challenger” at Chal­len­ger Way and Avenue L. “It was an honor and a privilege to experience the elegant complexities of infrared astronomy, as­tro­physics, and as­tro­chem­istry with the NASA team,” Mabari said. As an extension of Mab­ari’s project, the artist and the museum will part­ner with publisher Grif­fith Moon to create a book dedicated to the in­ter­pre­tations of the term “space” through text and images. This exhibit will also include the spatial in­stal­lation work of Laddie John Dill and photographs by artist Jay Mark Johnson. “This exhibit will forge an important connection between the arts and sci­ence, especially given the region’s deep history with aerospace and its creative innovation,” Lancaster As­sistant City Manager Ronda Perez said. “It is due to historic expeditions such as the one taken by NASA and Mabari earlier this month, that our community has become synonymous with the aerospace industry,” Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris said. “A new space race is underway, as so many in this ever-evolving field work to make civilian space tourism a reality. Our city champions innovation; this partnership between NASA and MOAH is yet another ‘first’ for the city of Lancaster.” SOFIA regularly hosts ed­ucators on board its flights as part of the Air­borne Astronomy Am­bas­sadors program, including several from the Antelope Valley over the years. Additionally, actress Nich­elle Nichols, best known for her role as Lt. Uhura on “Star Trek,” took part in a SOFIA mission in 2015, part of her longtime work as an ambassador for NASA’s programs and to educate and inspire future generations.

LANCASTER — POW! WOW! AV 2018 concludes today with a block party along Lancaster Boulevard and the chance for the public to meet the artists of POW! WOW! AV and The New Vanguard II exhibition. The New Vanguard II opening is scheduled from 2 to 6 p.m. to celebrate the culmination of POW! WOW! AV 2018, and the addition of 19 new murals to the BLVD Cultural District and immediate surrounding areas. POW! WOW! AV artists including Tina Dille of Tehachapi, Nuri Amanatullah of Quartz Hill, Mikey Kelly, and Scott Listfield, painted their murals last week. “I think it’s so cool because everybody can see the artwork and it’s all different types of artwork; it’s not all one type,” Dille said. Dille’s raven’s head is on the side of a building at 759 Lancaster Blvd., in the rear off Fern Avenue. “It goes fast when you spray paint,” Dille said during a break in painting. Dille is a contemporary animal artists who has worked with watercolors and fluid acrylics on synthetic paper and canvases. Her husband Mike filmed the progress of Dille’s work for a time-lapse video. “We’ve been like fast-forward filming, like the whole three hours is like five minutes,” Mike Dille said. Dille took the opportunity to watch how other artists painted their murals. “I guess everybody’s painting differently; I’ve been talking to a lot of the mural artists. They’re all doing it differently,” Dille said. The POW! WOW! Block Party festivities will include workshops such as the POW! WOW! Print Lab hosted by this year’s artist-in-residence, Amy Kaps, at MOAH:CEDAR; an additional workshop which will take place at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center; special tours held at the Western Hotel Museum; a car show along Lancaster BLVD; and musical performances on the museum’s outdoor stage, by Vultures of Vinyl, Lazy Beam, Thanks, Weird Puppy, Jimini Picasso, New Character, and Witchin Alleys; as well as delicious tacos from 1800. Additionally, attendees will have the opportunity to meet the artists of POW!WOW! AV and The New Vanguard II. The 2018 artist line up for POW!WOW! AV includes artists Hueman (Cal­if­or­nia); Super A (Netherlands); Lauren YS (Cal­if­or­nia); Ekundayo (Cal­if­or­nia); Jeff Soto (Cal­if­or­nia); Christopher Konecki (Cal­if­or­nia); Emily Ding (Texas); Amir Fallah (Cal­if­or­nia); Mikey Kelly (Cal­if­or­nia); Scott Listfield (Massachusetts); Carly Ealey (Cal­if­or­nia); Nuri Amanatullah (Cal­if­or­nia); Andrew Hem (Cal­if­or­nia); Tina Dille (Cal­if­or­nia); Aaron de la Cruz (Cal­if­or­nia); Amy Sol (Nevada); Tran Nguyen (Vietnam); Julius Eastman (Cal­if­or­nia); Dan Witz (New York); Jaune (Belgium); Slinkachu (Great Britain); Spenser Little (Cal­if­or­nia); Darcy Yates (Cal­if­or­nia); Craig “Skibs” Barker (Cal­if­or­nia); and MOUF (Texas). The exhibition, The New Vanguard II, is curated by Andrew Hosner of Thinkspace Projects in Los Angeles. The exhibit will include four solo shows by artists Sandra Chevrier, Brooks Salzwedel, Seth Armstrong, and Craig “Skibs” Barker. Additionally, the exhibition will feature site specific installations by HOTXTEA, Laurence Vallieres, Andrew Hem, Dan Witz, Jaune, Isaac Cordal and Spenser Little, along with a group exhibit in the main gallery of more than 40 international, new contemporary artists. The Lancaster Museum of Art and History is dedicated to strengthening awareness, enhancing accessibility, and igniting the appreciation of art, history, and culture in the Antelope Valley through dynamic exhibitions, innovative educational programs, creative community engagement, and a vibrant collection that celebrates the richness of the region. The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday with extended hours until 8 p.m. Thursday.

POW! WOW! AV is coming back to the city of Lancaster. POW! WOW! originated in Hawaii, in 2011, as a week-long event. The festival has since inspired similar street art festivals in cities and countries around the world, such as Taiwan, Long Beach, Israel, Singapore, Jamaica, Washington D.C., Guam, New Zealand, Netherlands and Germany. Lancaster did its first POW! WOW! in 2016, curated by POW! WOW! Hawaii. “We were excited because we were allowed to incorporate a couple of Antelope Valley artists, which turned out to be a great project,” Andi Campognone, operations manager for the Museum of Art and History said. POW! WOW! AV will celebrate its second year in Lancaster, from 2 to 6 p.m., Oct. 21. Antelope Valley artists contributed to this year’s POW! WOW! as well: Tina Dille from Tehachapi and Nuri Amanatullah. “We had more walls than artists in 2016 and so this year, everyone came out of the woodwork and said ‘We want a wall,’” Campognone said. The original 12 murals will be joined by an additional 18. The 2018 POW! WOW! AV artist line-up includes: Hueman (California), Super A (Netherlands), Lauren YS (California), Ekundayo (California), Jeff Soto (California), Christopher Konecki (California), Emily Ding (Texas), Amir Fallah (California), Mikey Kelly (California), Scott Listfield (Massachusetts), Carly Ealey (California), Andrew Hem (California), Aaron de la Cruz (California), Amy Sol (Nevada), Tran Nguyen (Vietnam), Julius Eastman (California), Dan Witz (New York), Jaune (Belgium), Slinkachu (Great Britain), Spenser Little (California), Darcy Yates (California), Craig “Skibs” Barker (California) and MOUF (Texas). Only one of the murals from 2016 will be painted over — a graffiti-style “Lancaster” mural near the Arco gas station at 10th Street West and Lancaster Boulevard, that was the only mural from 2016 to be tagged. By 2020 POW! WOW! AV will expand outside of the city’s downtown area, into residential neighborhoods. POW! WOW! AV comes together with a block party on Oct. 21, that is free to the community. “All the artists will be in attendance to sign autographs and we’ll have special merchandise. It’s a really fun day,” Campognone said. There will be a car show along Lancaster BLVD, workshops including the POW! WOW! AV Print Lab hosted by this year’s artist-in-residence Amy Kaps, at MOAH: CEDAR, a workshop at Lancaster Performing Arts Center and special tours at the Western Hotel Museum. Six bands are scheduled to perform on the MOAH stage: Vultures of Vinyl, from 2 to 2:30 p.m.; Lazy Beam, from 2:45 to 3:15 p.m.; Thanks, Weird Puppy, from 3:30 to 4 p.m.; Jimini Picasso, from 4:15 to 4:45 p.m.; New Character, from 5 to 5:30 p,m.; and Witchin Alleys, from 5:45 to 6 p.m. In addition to the murals, the 2018 POW! WOW! will include temporary public art by artists who will hand-wire sculptures from telephone poles. Slinkachu, a London-based street installation and photographic artist “abandoned” little people on Lancaster Boulevard. “He’ll be setting up these little vignettes everywhere on the boulevard.” Campognone said. The whole project is curated like an exhibition between MOAH, Thinkspace Projects in Los Angeles and POW! WOW! Hawaii. “The artists all know that we need to be positive in sending messages and family friendly, celebrating life in a positive way,” Campognone said. Oakland-based artist Hueman (Allison Torneros) painted, on the Burns Pharmacy building on Genoa Avenue, off Lancaster Boulevard, a figurative and abstract mural inspired by renaissance drapery studies. She has contributed murals to POW! WOW! Hawaii previously and Long Beach. “The street art community is really small, so when I do get together for these mural festivals, I end up seeing a lot of my friends,” Hueman said. “And it’s really cool because all these murals are going up at the same time and you get to go down the street and see just so much creativity happening at once it’s really cool.” L.A-based artist Andrew Hem painted a mural of the giant robot Gundam on an Elm Avenue building, south of Lancaster Boulevard. “I always wanted to paint a Gundam, so this is a perfect opportunity,” he said during a break from painting. Hem grew up watching Gundam as a young boy. “He’s like a hero in Japan, so if you go to Japan there’s like a three-story figurine of a robot, it’s pretty incredible,” Hem said. “While I’m doing this, there’s kids that will ride their bike by, or walk by and it’s pretty awesome that they know about it, too.” He also has work featured in “The New Vanguard II” exhibition at MOAH, curated by Andrew Hosner of Thinkspace Projects in Los Angeles. The highly anticipated follow up to 2016’s successful first iteration of The New Vanguard, on view in tandem with this year’s POW WOW! Antelope Valley, will feature special solo projects by artists Chevrier, Barker and Brooks Salzwedel. A sequel to what was, in 2016, the most extensive presentation of work from the New Contemporary movement in a Southern Californian museum venue to date, The New Vanguard II, in keeping with the first, will present a diverse and expansive group of curated new works. Additionally, the exhibition will feature site specific installations by HOTTEA, Lawrence Vallieres and Hem, along with a group exhibit in the main gallery of more than 40 international, new contemporary artists. For details, visit www.lancastermoah.org or call 661-723-6250.

Local artist Tina Dille, who is best known for her stunning Raven watercolor and acrylic creations, has been invited to participate in POW! WOW! Antelope Valley by painting a 16 feet by 25 feet mural during the event. The public is invited to come and watch Dille paint a mural featuring her raven muse, Penut, during the week-long event from Oct. 14 through 21. "I am so excited and honored to be among 24 top-notch contemporary artists, most flown in from across the nation, for a festive week of creating murals where everyone can watch the process from start to finish," Dille said. Dille's mural will be located near the Lancaster Museum of Art & History, at 767 W. Lancaster Blvd. Hosted by MOAH, the POW! WOW! will conclude with a block party from 2 to 6 p.m. Oct. 21. Dille said she typically creates her watercolors using 26 inch by 40 inch synthetic paper. Her participation in the mural event will stretch upon her talents, including size, working vertically and by using spray paints in addition to acrylics. The cultural event originated in Hawaii, but has since grown into a global network of artists, gallery shows, lecture series, mural projects and more. According to the MOAH website, founder Jasper Wong described the event as POW!, for the impact art has on a person, and WOW!, as the reaction that art has on a viewer. "Together, they form POW WOW, which is a Native American term that describes a gathering that celebrates culture, music and art," writes Wong. Dille explained her inspiration. "That little Penut sure did open up a door for me," Dille said. "I had the extraordinary experience of sharing my home and studio with Penut back in 2014. I am still painting ravens and proud to be a part of this event." By participating in the POW! WOW! event, Dille said she will be switching gears as an artist. "I want to continue on with this public art," she said. "Museum and gallerias are wonderful venues, but public, outdoor art is a great concept." The event will include a car show, live music and new exhibit opening at MOAH. For more information, visit www.lancastermoah.org.

Environmental artist Cristopher Cichocki stands near the Anza Ditch in Salton City, Calif. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) When Cristopher Cichocki was a kid in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., he’d brave minus 70 degree wind-chill temperatures to explore nearby forests for natural material like sticks and leaves so he could make things out of them. When he moved to Southern California's Palm Desert at age 10, he found himself doing the same — only with plants that thrived in temperatures nearly 200 degrees hotter. For Cichocki, there were striking similarities between underwater life and the curious flora that continues to occupy the yawning swath of seemingly barren California desert. Cichocki's observation evolved into an investigation that formed the basis of his art practice, bringing him from the receding shorelines of the Salton Sea in his own backyard to Lancaster’s Museum of Art and History (MOAH), where the artist's latest solo show, "Divisions of Land and Sea," serves as a culmination of his exploration into the connectedness between earth and water. After studying at CalArts and living in Los Angeles, Cichocki moved back to the desert in 2005. He currently resides in the Coachella Valley, where he often makes art out of found materials like old irrigation hosing, which he discovered at an abandoned citrus orchard in Indio Hills. That hosing appears at the museum as part of an evolving installation called “Sea Change (2016-2018).” The tumbleweed-like mass is perched atop a glittering wood-composite foundation. It is connected with a piping conduit to a living aloe vera plant, which is covered with marking paint and surrounded by sea salt, nestled in a found oil canister atop a palm stump. The work of art is meant to reference what Cichocki describes as "the surviving seeds of an ancient ocean," but the gnarled ball of irrigation hosing at the center could just as easily be symbolic of the snarled bureaucratic mess surrounding the Salton Sea itself, whose future remains as murky as its shrinking water supply. The Salton Sea was created in 1905 when water from the Colorado River flowed into a dry lake bed for two years following the breach of an irrigation canal. About a century later, the Salton Sea is shrinking. In 2003, California lawmakers implemented a 15-year plan to address the environmental concerns caused by the Salton Sea drying up. As the deadline passed, locals realized that more water was diverted from the lake’s source, the Colorado River, to surrounding communities, leaving the shores of the Salton Sea to recede further. It still is a public health hazard as toxic dust kicks up and asthma rates in Imperial County rise. But the water in the Salton basin has been flooding and drying up repeatedly over the course of millennia, ever since the Cahuilla Native Americans first settled in the area roughly 10,000 years ago. In the 19th century alone, the Colorado River flooded the basin at least half a dozen times. It only threatened to become a problem in 1928, when Congress designated part of the Salton basin as a repository for agricultural wastewater. "The issue with the Salton Sea is really the particulate matter that's coming from it, because it's surrounded by so much agriculture,” Cichocki explains. “When you have particulate matter, it's not just the sand that's blowing in the lot next door to you. It's literally going into your bloodstream and it's altering your DNA. It's inescapable from your body at that point.” Installation photo, "Divisions of Land and Sea' by Cristopher Cichocki. (Lance Gerber Studio) A multimedia artwork as part of Cristopher Cichocki's "San Andreas" series (Cristopher Cichocki) Cichocki addressed his grim realization in a piece on display at MOAH called “Reservoir Issue.” In a heavy steel case, he placed 25 unopened cans of Cold War-era, government-issue emergency drinking water, a reference to what Cichocki says is “the privatization of material that is potentially everybody’s.” Next, he stratified layers of organic farming soil, synthetic sand, sea salt and barnacles from the Salton Sea, then incrementally poured a gallon of water through the whole piece, essentially creating an evolving installation that’s producing increasing amounts of salty, rust-like corrosion that continues to drip below. “With the Salton Sea, you have about a hundred years of agricultural runoff like arsenic and selenium,” Cichocki says. “All these pesticides can store within barnacles [and] are filtered through,” just like the water making its way through “Reservoir Issue.” The application of water was risky for the artist, however. “I had no idea how that water was going to take, if it was going to be sealed,” Cichocki explains. “I knew it would probably drip. I kind of guessed that. But we're talking a big roll of the dice.” "Reservoir Issue," part of "Divisions of Land and Sea" by Cristopher Cichocki. (Lance Gerber Studio) "Liquid Division” by Cristopher Cichocki (Cristopher Cichocki) Throughout his practice, Cichocki has created multimedia pieces that not only address the cyclical aspects of nature, but especially the way humans have altered and affected Earth's natural cycle through wide-scale development of manufacturing, production, construction and in this particular case, art. But Cichocki's interests extend far beyond the terrestrial. He's especially intrigued by the idea that what's going on here on Earth may be a reflection of what is happening in the universe. "Are we looking through the microscope or are we looking through the telescope, or are these things simultaneous?" he asks. One project, “Circular Dimensions,” is a completely immersive experience that includes sound art, video and even microscopic video painting, with scientists and artists manipulating material under a microscope, which is projected live onto circular panels. Installation photo, "Divisions of Land and Sea" by Cristopher Cichocki. (Lance Gerber Studio) The Salton Sea has long been an inspiration to Southern California artists, despite its perilous future. Communities of outsider artists have made site-specific installations throughout the region, creating a homegrown art scene. Nearby Salvation Mountain is a popular tourist spot, and Slab City’s post-apocalyptic town East Jesus is home to the Imperial Valley’s only official museum. What was once a quirky response to institutionalized art fairs, the Bombay Beach Biennale is starting to gain some legitimate attention. The environment around the Salton Sea itself serves both as an open studio and gallery. For Cichocki, however, art inspired by the Salton Sea is more conceptual, which is why it seems to fit so neatly in a gallery setting. “I like to think of these as excavations, in a sense, and composing outside of the gestural kind of ego,” he explains. “I’m not interested in blending or making these idiosyncratic marks. I'm interested in industrial applications.” Nonetheless, the artist describes himself as very much “site responsive” and says everything in the Lancaster museum is there for a reason. “I don't think there are any arbitrary decisions, but still, there's a lot of experimentation,” just like “Reservoir Issue,” for instance. Cichocki also founded a residency for artists called Epicenter Projects, which began with a series of site-specific artworks adjacent to the San Andreas fault. Acting as a curator allowed Cichocki to investigate similar themes in his own paintings, such as the "San Andreas Series” and "Elemental Surfaces," which examine impending disasters, natural and man-made. His oeuvre reflects and references a range of interests that requires an equally wide range of media to articulate. It’s something Cichocki does expertly and effortlessly — or at least, that's how he makes it seem. At its core, "Divisions of Land and Sea” is about the effect industry has on the natural world. It’s also a meditation and examination of water itself, as well as a subtle critique of institutional division between private and public property, symbolized in another motif running through the exhibit: red flagging tape. ”I find it such a funny thing. It's such an official kind of material, right? But it's so flimsy and so kind of ephemeral at the same time,” Cichocki observes. But not only does the red tape signify division, it’s also symbolic of the proverbial red tape created by the government: a sobering reminder that, while the Salton basin may have dried up repeatedly over centuries, this is the first time it’s the result of human intervention. And this time, it’s the humans who are suffering. Detail, "Salton Sea Chrome Fish" by Cristopher Cichocki. (Lance Gerber Studio) Read more: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/museums/la-et-cm-cristopher-cichocki-20180910-story.html

The Emmy-nominated co-creator of Nickelodeon's 'Robot And Monster,' whose works have been collected by J.J. Abrams and Scarlett Johansson, looks back on 20 years with an exhibition at MOAH in Lancaster, Calif. Artist Dave Pressler makes robots, and you can, too. That’s the idea behind his new show, Idea to Object — opening Saturday and on view through Sept. 30 — at the Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH) in the desert suburb 60 miles north of Los Angeles. For those who don’t know Pressler, the artist and art director — who has worked on projects for DreamWorks Animation and other Hollywood outlets — is commonly considered the most prolific "robot artist" in the world, with his work has collected by such stars as J.J. Abrams and Scarlett Johansson. "If somebody sees a piece of my art and it makes them laugh or it makes them feel something, when somebody is motivated enough to purchase that piece of art to put it in their homes, I think that's cool cause you’ve sparked some emotion in them. And that’s why I say it's more a commerce of feeling," Pressler says of selling his work. At an event dedicated to his company, Bad Robot, at Gallery 1988, Abrams purchased a sculpture of robots in a criminal lineup. Before that, Johansson bought two figurines at Munky King gallery when it was still in Chinatown. Those works are typical of what can be found in the new show, which features pen, ink and pencil drawings, acrylic paintings, resin sculptures, limited edition sculptures, toys and other items normally found in specialty galleries. With the retrospective of his 20-year career and an accompanying book of the same name by esteemed art critic Shana Nys Dambrot, the self-trained Pressler aims to demystify the process of art making. "If someone is interested in getting into the profession, hopefully it will be a little inspiration that if you put the work in and put the time in and just keep doing it, you can, in some form, express yourself," he says, then slyly adds, "whether you'll be employed or not, I don’t know." Pressler arrived in Los Angeles in his early twenties when he performed in black box and improv theater, occasionally appearing in small parts in indie films and on TV. In the 1990s he made a dramatic career shift into character and production design, watching and learning from others, until his debut as art director on the Jim Henson Company's B.R.A.T.S. of the Lost Nebula. Discover Kids' The Save-Ums was next, and Team Smithereen for Disney XD came after that, followed by his breakout, Robot and Monster, a 2013 Daytime Emmy nominee that he co-created with Joshua Sternin and J.R. Ventimilia, about a pair of mismatched best friends. More recently, Pressler was art director on DreamWorks Animation's TV series The Boss Baby: Back in Business, and before that he created the company's stop-motion series, How To Do Everything! With Garrick and Marvin, the set of which will be included in Idea to Object. Part of the exhibition will be Pressler himself, who is installing his studio in the middle of the main gallery and will intermittently work there. Married to producer Lisa Henson, Pressler nevertheless refers to himself as a "blue collar" artist. "It was harder for me to get into the business 'cause I didn’t have the training at first," he explains. "I'm not good at copying someone else's style, which usually, when you work in animation, you're doing that for a while as a storyboard artist or character designer. So it was motivating me to get better on my technique so I could get good enough to hire, and also I should work on my own style, too. I did stick with trying to come up with original ideas and original shapes and silhouettes, just so when people look at it they’ll think it looks like one of your characters. I want somebody someday to go, 'I want a Dave Pressler-type thing.' " Idea to Object is part of MOAH's larger exhibit, The Robot Show, featuring works by Karen Hochman Brown, Jeff Soto, Patrick McGilligan, and Robert Nelson, as well as site specific installations by Alexander Kritselis, Cristopher Cichocki, and Chenhung Chen.

Hope you're hungry and thirsty because the weekend begins with a "yappy hour" and Brew at the Zoo then continues with corn, lobster and brunch festivals. Kitsch abounds with Charles Phoenix, the battle of the beards and CatCon. And lest we forget, KPCC's own Larry Mantle hosts a screening of quintessential L.A. film "Chinatown." FRIDAY, AUG. 3; 5 - 10 p.m. - SATURDAY, AUG. 4; 3 - 10 p.m. Jackalope Summer Nights Central Park — 275 S. Raymond Ave, Pasadena Maybe you've heard of the Jackalope Art Fair? The organizers are hosting a new night market where more than 200 juried exhibitors will selling strictly handmade wares, from paper products to pickles. The indie fair also features a beer garden, acoustic music, free sunset yoga classes and DIY workshops. COST: FREE; MORE INFO FRIDAY, AUG. 3; 6 p.m. Yappy Hour Hammer Museum — 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood Celebrate "The Dog Days of Summer," the museum's upcoming film series, with a mutt-centric shindig. Sip a cocktail in the courtyard while visiting with dogs waiting to be adopted. Please do not bring outside dogs to this event. The screenings begin on Tuesday, Aug. 7 at 7:30 p.m. with "Sounder." COST: FREE entry; MORE INFO FRIDAY, AUG. 3 - SUNDAY, AUG. 5 Corn Festival El Centro-Lions Park — 320 E. Erna Ave., La Habra This is one a-maize-ing (see what we did there?) festival. Organized by the Lions Club for more than 60 years, it has grown from a bbq and dance into La Habra's largest fundraiser and community event. There's live music throughout the weekend, cute doggie and kid contests, an apple pie bake-off, a car show on Friday, a parade on Saturday and a corn-eating contest on Sunday. It's free so you won't have to cobble (we can't help ourselves) the fund to attend. COST: FREE; MORE INFO FRIDAY, AUG. 3; 7 - 11 p.m. Brew at the Zoo Los Angeles Zoo — 5333 Zoo Dr., Griffith Park More than 40 breweries — Elysian, 21st Amendment, San Miguel, Kona, Ballast Point, to name a few — are participating in this beer event under the stars. The night also also features pop-up zoo keeper talks, animal discovery stations, pub grub available for purchase and live music from Black Crystal Wolf Kids, Boombox Heroes and Woodie and the Long Boards. COST: $55 - $135, $35 for designated drivers; MORE INFO SATURDAY, AUG. 4; 3 - 9 p.m. Burbank Car Classic San Fernando Boulevard — between Magnolia Blvd. and Angeleno Ave., downtown Burbank More than 150 classic cars, celebrity vehicles and auto-related vendors show off trims and rims. View cars from "2 Fast 2 Furious," "Fast and Furious 4," "Furious 6" and "The Fate of the Furious," along with the Mustang used by Barricade Decepticon from the Transformers" series. COST: FREE; MORE INFO SATURDAY, AUG. 4; 7 p.m. FilmWeek Screenings: 'Chinatown' The Theatre at Ace Hotel — 929 S. Broadway, downtown L.A. "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown." Directed by Roman Polanski, written by Robert Towne and starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston, the film is inspired by Southern California's water wars (aka how L.A. got its water and the Owens Valley got screwed). AirTalk host Larry Mantle, who selects films set in SoCal for the series, hosts an onstage discussion with guests after the film. COST: $13; MORE INFO SATURDAY, AUG. 4 - SUNDAY, AUG. 5 CatCon Pasadena Convention Center — 300 E. Green St., Pasadena Kitty culture and pop culture collide for a weekend of talks, workshops and vendors. Highlights include a public conversation about cannabis and cats, workshops on making your own cat furniture and the best food for your cat. Maybe you can make Ian Somerhalder, Lil BUB, Moshow the Cat Rapper, Pudge the Cat and Merlin Ragdoll purr at meet and greets. COST: $15 - $100, meet and greets extra; MORE INFO SATURDAY, AUG. 4; 4 p.m. The Voyager Institute Resident — 428 S. Hewitt St., downtown L.A. If only school were this interesting. The film and music lecture series celebrates its first anniversary with a program that includes archivist Natalie Snoyman discussing "Technicolor Film and Fashion of the '30s," Suki-Rose Simakis presenting a video mix of "A History of Working Women on Television" and a chat with "Kids in the Hall" actor Scott Thompson. COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO The Museum of Art History in Lancaster opens its 'Robot Art' show this weekend. (Image by Dave Pressler) SATURDAY, AUG. 4; 2 - 6 p.m. Robot Show Opening Reception Museum of Art History — 665 W. Lancaster Blvd., Lancaster The museum holds opening receptions for eight exhibitions that explore the place robots and artificial intelligence have in our society. The main gallery features a retrospective of the works of Emmy-nominated television producer and artist Dave Pressler. Other solo exhibitions feature the work of Jeff Soto, Cristopher Cichocki, Chenhung Chen, Alex Kritselis, Robert Nelson, Karen Hochman Brown and Patrick McGilligan. The show remains up through Sept. 30. COST: FREE; MORE INFO SATURDAY, AUG. 4; 7 p.m. Summer Nights' Backyard Party KCRW HQ — 1660 Stewart St., Santa Monica The public radio station holds a party on the Santa Monica College CMD campus to celebrate summer and the recent opening of its new headquarters. Live music provided by The Midnight Hour, a new 18-piece project from Ali Shaheed Muhammad (of A Tribe Called Quest) and composer Adrian Younge. KCRW DJs Garth Trinidad and Travis Holcombe spin throughout the night. Evan Kleiman curates the food trucks. All ages. COST: FREE; MORE INFO SATURDAY, AUG. 4; 9 a.m. - noon Primo's Donuts 62nd Anniversary Primo's Donuts — 2918 Sawtelle Blvd., Sawtelle The family-owned donut shop in West L.A. celebrates more than six decades in business. In their annual tradition, owners Ralph and Celia Primo will give away mini versions of their Buttermilk Bars to every customer. While you're there, might as well check out the shop's other offerings, including the recently added Salted Caramel Buttermilk Bar. COST: FREE; MORE INFO SATURDAY, AUG. 4; 2 p.m. La Tocada Music Festival LA State Historic Park — 1245 N. Spring St., downtown L.A. The festival presents Latin alternative, rock and pop acts on two stages with a lineup that features Café Tacvba, Mon Laferte, Paneton Rococo, Jesse & Joy, Molotov, Porter, Little Jesus, Caloncho and Camilo Septimo. In addition to music, there's also lucha libre wrestling, art on display and local food vendors. COST: $69 - $199; MORE INFO SATURDAY AUG. 4; 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. Laughs On Tap: An Evening of Stand Up Comedy ...& Beer 2154 Hill Dr., Eagle Rock Maria Bamford headlines the comedy night with all proceeds benefiting Shower of Hope, which offers mobile showers for the homeless. Other comics on the bill include Luz Pazos, Fraser Smith and Drew Lynch. Tickets include a light dinner from Luciano's in Pasadena and one drink from Eagle Rock's Craft Beer Cellar. This event is 21+. COST: $25 - $30; MORE INFO SATURDAY, AUG. 4; 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Brunch Life Fest Rainbow Lagoon Park — 400 E. Shoreline Dr., Long Beach This new fest brings together restaurants from Long Beach, the OC and L.A. for tastings, mimosas and cocktails designed for day drinking. Participating vendors include Teetee House, Veggie Fam, Mess Hall Canteen, Mussels & Pearls, Drake's Brewing, The Dudes' Brewing and Steelhead Coffee. Samples and tastings are available while supplies last. Full-sized entrees and beverages will also be available for purchase. This event is 21+. COST: $20 - $65; MORE INFO SATURDAY, AUG. 4; 7 - 11 p.m. Remix: The Art of Music Opening Reception Gabba Gallery — 3126 Beverly Blvd., Rampart This group show features more than 70 artists whose works have been inspired by music. Co-hosted by Jane Lynch and Matt Sorum, participating artists include Shepard Fairey, Morley, Mickey Avalon, CANTSTOPGOODBOY, Kate Carvellas, Morley and Val Kilmer. A portion of proceeds will go to Adopt the Arts, a nonprofit that helps fund arts programs in L.A.'s public elementary schools. The exhibition will remain on view through Aug. 25. COST: FREE; MORE INFO SATURDAY, AUG. 4; 6 - 11 p.m. - SUNDAY, AUG. 5; 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. We Stole the Fire RCNSTRCT Studio — 7400 Melrose Ave, Fairfax Think Tank Gallery presents a group show and immersive art experience "to ignite free speech and expression." Confirmed artists include Phil America, Sheryo x The Yok, Lolo YS, Abars, Willie Gomez and Kristen Liu-Wong, among many others. The weekend pop-up features audience participation activations, performance art, installations and graffiti art. The opening party is 21+. All ages are welcome on Sunday. COST: FREE admission with RSVP; MORE INFO SATURDAY, AUG. 4; 6:30 - 10 p.m. GR2 @ 15 Years Artists Reception Giant Robot 2 — 2062 Sawtelle Blvd., Sawtelle This ginormous group show celebrates the gallery's 15th anniversary with works by more than two dozen artists including Gary Baseman, Theo Ellsworth-Thought Cloud Factory, Susie Ghahremani, Darren Inouye and Trisha Inouye, Geoff McFetridge and Yukinori Dehara. The exhibition remains on view through Sept. 15. COST: FREE; MORE INFO SATURDAY, AUG. 4; 1 p.m. Beard Battle The Hi-Hat — 5043 York Blvd., Highland Park The 3rd annual facial hair fiesta returns with the theme "Circus/Sideshow." We can't wait to see beards that will surprise and shock. There are 11 categories for competitors (including one for women), so choose the one that fits your face. The Gentlemen's Social Club of Los Angeles will collect cans of nutritional foods and donate them to the Los Angeles Food Bank. Two cans gets you a raffle tickets. COST: $15 - $20 (spectators); $25 - $30 (competitors); MORE INFO SUNDAY, AUG. 5; 3 - 8 p.m. Lobsterfest at Newport Beach Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort — 1131 Back Bay Dr., Newport Beach Eat crustaceans for a cause with proceeds benefiting Make-A-Wish Orange County and the Inland Empire. The general admission ticket includes one Maine lobster, a grilled New York strip steak, salads, red potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, rolls, dessert and access to a cash bar. The VIP package includes all-you-can eat Maine lobster and two adult beverages. Kids meals sans lobster are available, too (advanced purchase only). COST: $75 - $150; MORE INFO SUNDAY, AUG. 5; 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Addicted to Americana Book Signing Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn — 5202 Zoo Dr., Griffith Park Retro guru Charles Phoenix signs and discusses his 2017 book about kitsch across the U.S of A. His appearance takes place in a museum dedicated to Disney's love of trains and model railroads. Books will be available for sale. COST: FREE; MORE INFO SUNDAY, AUG. 5; 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. BrunchCon The Reef — 1933 S. Broadway, downtown L.A. As its name implies, this is a celebration of all things brunch. Tickets include one bite from each of the 30+ vendors and as many mimosas and Bloody Marys as you can drink. Shop brunch-related goods, play games or listen to tunes in between bites. There are two sessions: 9:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. and 1:30 - 4pm each day. VIP sessions begin a half-hour earlier. This event is 21+ only. COST: $45 - $85; MORE INFO SUNDAY, AUG. 5; 7 p.m. Bon Iver & Tu Dance Hollywood Bowl — 2301 N Highland Ave., Hollywood Justin Vernon's Bon Iver teams with the Tu Dance troupe to present the West Coast premiere of their work, "Come Through." Opening the night includes Wye Oak and the Metropolis Ensemble. COST: $15 - $160; MORE INFO THROUGH AUG. 31; 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Sparrow Mart The Standard — 550 S. Flower St., downtown L.A. British artist Lucy Sparrow has painstakingly recreated a supermarket installation made of 31,000 handmade felt items, retailing for $5 each. Shop the Mart for plush avocados, kale, Cheeze Whiz, SPAM and more. To complement the installation, the hotel offers a British-inspired menu at Sparrow Café. The installation is closed on Mondays. COST: FREE; MORE INFO

This week: tour a modern, energy efficient homeless housing project; hear how one curator turned an art publishing house’s body of work into a visual exhibition; experience the culture of the Philippines Island of Mindanao; view fashion as art through the non-demographic brand '69'; and immerse yourself in the robots of our imagination - while they still let you. The SIX, located in MacArthur Park, is a 52-unit affordable housing project that provides a home, support services and rehabilitation for previously homeless and/or disabled veterans. 1) The SIX Veterans Housing Tour Housing Available: Modern, energy efficient apartment building with large community spaces, rooftop patio, edible gardens and panoramic views in the heart of MacArthur Park. This may sound like the latest in high priced multi-family housing developments, but The SIX, designed by Brooks + Scarpa and completed in 2016 is a 52-unit affordable housing project for previously homeless and/or disabled veterans. The ground level contains offices, support services, bike storage and parking, while the second level has a large public courtyard surrounded by four levels of housing units. The uppermost level has a green roof with edible garden, a large public patio and panoramic views. Organized by AIA Los Angeles’ Committee On The Environment (COTE), Brooks + Scarpa in conjunction with the Skid Row Housing Trust will lead a tour of the building highlighting the emphasis on public space and energy efficient passive design strategies which make it 50% more efficient than a conventionally designed structure. When: Friday, August 3, 3 – 5 pm Where: The SIX, 811 S. Carondelet Street, Los Angeles, CA 90057 Tickets: $35 / $25 for AIA members. More information and registration here. Sebastian Clough turned print material on its head – literally – to create a visual exhibit from publishing house Gato Negro Ediciones 2) Culture Fix: Sebastian Clough on Gato Negro Ediciones Building on the legacy of radical independent publishing in Mexico, Gato Negro Ediciones, led by activist designer León Muñoz Santini, creates and produces uniquely identifiable books across genres including art, photography, poetry, political discourse, and new editions of classic texts of resistance. Fowler Director of Exhibitions and exhibition curator Sebastian Clough discusses the design process involved in transforming an art publishing house’s body of work into a visual exhibition. When: Friday, August 3, 12 – 1 pm Where: Fowler Museum (UCLA), 308 Charles E Young Dr N, Los Angeles, CA 90024. Parking available in UCLA Lot 4, 398 Westwood Plaza, directly off Sunset Blvd, $12. Rideshare drop-off 305 Royce Drive. Tickets: Free, no reservations required. More information here. A bowl of colorful Halo-Halo, a traditional Filipino food 3) 17th Annual Historic Filipinotown Festival In 2002, then-councilmember Eric Garcetti designated the southwest portion of Echo Park as Historic Filipinotown. The area was separated from its northern portion in the 1950s by the 101 freeway, and was originally known as Little Manila. The town’s annual festival is designed to highlight the arts and culture of the district and the multi-ethnic residents of the area. This year’s celebration will showcase the culture of the Southern Philippines island of Mindanao, featuring cultural performances, food and art from the area. When: Saturday August 4 to Sunday August 5, 11 am – 8 pm Where: Siver Lake Medical Center Campus, 1711 W. Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90015 Tickets: Free. More information here. The fashion brand ’69’, created by the anonymous LA-based designer known only as ’69’, or as ‘head designer of 69’, blows up fashion’s rigid categories. 4) 69: Déjà Vu Created in 2011 by an anonymous Los Angeles-based designer, the clothing brand 69 completely blows up the rigid categories of demographic-based fashion, offering a single boundary-breaking line meant for all genders, races, ages and body types. The line uses solely denim and playful and fresh designs to exuberantly suggest ideas of freedom, inclusivity and a more fluid future. As identity politics continue to hold center stage — identity was the 2015 Dictionary.com word of the year, demographic surveys now offer an ‘other’ gender and the first trans superhero was added to a network cast in 2018, among other binary breakthroughs — a non-conforming clothing brand cannot help but blur lines between fashion and politics, marketing and movement. 69: Déjà Vu presents a survey of the brand’s groundbreaking clothing along with a selection of irreverent and inventive videos and photographs that blur the line between promotional material and artwork. The show was organized by Lanka Tattersall, Associate Curator, with Karlyn Olvido, Curatorial Assistant, MOCA. When: Exhibition runs August 4 – October 28 Where: MOCA, 250 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012 Tickets: General admission $15. More information here. David Pressler, Canon of Anger 5) The Robot Show, including David Pressler Career Retrospective “Idea to Object” Installation Someday — perhaps in the not-too-distant future — artificial intelligence and robots will take over the world, or so some believe. For now, however, robots are mostly still a creation for our use, imagination and entertainment. Showcasing the role of robots in our contemporary social landscape, The Robot Show features a 20-year retrospective of Emmy-nominated artist and animator Dave Pressler. “Idea to Object” is a narrative of his career and how he turned his ideas into reality. Pressler’s robots are fixtures in popular culture and he is best known for his Emmy-nominated Nickelodeon series Robot and Monster. The show also includes solo exhibitions of Jeff Soto, Patrick McGilligan, Robert Nelson and Karen Hochman Brown, with site specific installations by Christopher Cichocki, Alexander Krtselis and Chenhung Chen. When: Exhibition runs August 4 – September 30. Opening reception on Sat., Aug. 4 from 2-6 pm Where: Museum of Art History, 665 W Lancaster Blvd, Lancaster, CA 93534 Tickets: Free. More information here.

The desert isn’t just a place to create art for Cristopher Cichocki; the desert is also his muse—and at times, his art includes actual pieces of the desert. His works have showcased the beauty, the darkness and the catastrophes of the desert and its ecosystem. Cichocki’s work has been shown around the world, and he’s taking many of his pieces to the Museum of Art and History in Lancaster for an exhibition called Divisions of Land and Sea; it’s part of a larger exhibit called The Robot Show, which features eight artists, each with their own solo exhibition. It will be on display from Saturday, Aug. 4, through Sunday, Sept. 30. During a recent phone interview with Cichocki while he was in Guadalajara, Mexico, he explained his exhibit. “It’ll be an installation of new paintings, video works, sculptures, photographic works and my audio work,” Cichocki said. “It relates to the collision that we’re in between humankind, the natural world and industrial production.” Some of Cichocki works are not what they appear to be at first. For instance: If you look at his photos, you’ll discover he’s combined them with paint. “After Palm Desert High School, where I graduated in 1997, I went directly to CalArts,” he said; also known as the California Institute of the Arts, the renowned school is located in Valencia. “CalArts is potentially one of the most multidisciplinary art schools in the world, and I was exposed to highly experimental and conceptual practices. They were completely mind-blowing, and to challenge myself and experiment, and I’ve always been striving to take my practice and insights to a different level. CalArts was a laboratory for me to work through this hybrid framework. “As to when the work came into this cohesive relationship, I feel that really came around 2010, when I started combining my elements with the video, the photography, the painting and the performance. They came together and started to work together as a cross-reference—meaning they’re all pieces of a larger puzzle. I’m producing paintings that are photographs; I’m producing videos that are paintings, and vice versa. I find it necessary for exhibitions such as Divisions of Land and Sea to combine all of these elements into a larger narrative.” Cichocki was part of a KCET documentary on the Salton Sea. He voiced his concerns about the growing ecological and environmental threat the lake poses to the Coachella Valley. “The Salton Sea is one of the largest pending airborne catastrophes threatening the United States, and it’s right in our backyard,” he said. “It’s this issue that I feel is out of sight and out of mind for a majority of people in the area—not only in the Coachella Valley, but even spanning all the way into Los Angeles, people don’t even know about the Salton Sea. “The Salton Sea was a manmade accident in 1905 when the Colorado River split and started filling what was then the Salton Sink, which was a huge basin ready for this water to enter it. Now we have California’s largest lake … and if the dust or particulate matter begins to advance further with the receding shoreline, we’re going to have major problems with the air quality. We already do have major problems. The high school in Mecca has one of the highest asthma rates in the nation. It’s not just dust that’s blowing around in the air; it’s particulate matter entering into people’s blood streams and causing asthma, especially in younger generations. There’s selenium, arsenic and all of these other things. It truly is this synthesis of nature and industry because of 100 years of agricultural runoff.” His work gets quite detailed at times. His latest painting, “Shoreline,” includes barnacles, fish bones, sand and salt from the Salton Sea. “I look at (Divisions of Land and Sea) as a hybrid between natural history and contemporary art. I’m bringing in elements of land art, minimalism and other historical points of trajectory,” he said. “Also, I’m bringing in raw organic materials. My paintings have actual barnacles; they have actual soil and things that are transforming within them. There’s black-light reactivity, which I actually refer to in the technical term—ultraviolet radiation. There’s evidence that there’s a metaphysical property under these elements. I’m interested in reality and also the biological and phenomenological structural makeup of these elements. There’s this idea that there’s something constantly in motion, and the work is alive.” I asked Cichocki if there was a spiritual element to his work. He seemed to struggle with the question at first. “I certainly feel that nature has a certain awareness to it. It can be as simple as we water a tree, or we don’t,” Cichocki said. “Or it can be as simple as we have classical music playing, and the tree thrives beyond the other trees in areas where there isn’t any classical music.” Cichocki will be going out of state for his next exhibition. “In September in Taos, New Mexico, I’ll be performing Circular Dimensions at a large video and installation festival called The Paseo Project. Circular Dimensions is ever-evolving, so I have new tricks up my sleeve for Taos.” Cristopher Cichocki’s Divisions of Land and Sea, part of The Robot Show, will be on display from Saturday, Aug. 4, through Sunday, Sept. 30, at the Lancaster Museum of Art and History, 665 W. Lancaster Blvd., in Lancaster, about 135 miles northwest of the Coachella Valley. For more information, call 661-723-6250, or visit www.lancastermoah.org. Below top: “Center of the Sea,” 2018, Salton Sea barnacles on wood composite with LED video panel. Below bottom: “Property Division,” 2016-2017; left side is a tilapia nest at Riviera Keys, Salton Sea, Calif.; right side is algae with birds, Salton City, Calif. https://www.cvindependent.com/index.php/en-US/arts-and-culture/visual-arts/item/4667-experimental-and-conceptual-the-desert-centered-works-of-cristopher-cichocki-get-the-spotlight-at-the-lancaster-museum-of-art-and-history

Although it was once relatively straightforward, the relationship between what we refer to as “Nature” and its inverted mirror-image “Culture” has become complicated and problematic. Indeed, the “default position” in the argument as to their reciprocal relationship is now defined by the idea that there is effectively no longer any such thing as “Nature” since, conceptually, any attempt at a definition must itself already be a cultural construct; while, physically, there is no longer any place on Earth where unadulterated Nature has not been overwritten by traces of human cultural activity. Some of the implications of this situation are explored by the artists represented in “The Forest for the Trees,” currently on view at the Museum of Art and History in Lancaster. Timothy Robert Smith. Installation view. Courtesy of the artist and Lancaster Museum of Art and History. Although working from different conceptual premises, the idea that the world is something to be experienced in terms of movement through a fragmentary geography ties together the work of Timothy Robert Smith and Greg Rose. Smith’s multi-media, interactive installation takes the participant on a simulated rapid transit ride across a terrain that is defined by cultural activity; indeed, we are literally embedded in a constructed or a “cultured” world, out of which “Nature” erupts like an explosion of pigeons off a city street. Greg Rose. Installation view. Courtesy of the artist and Lancaster Museum of Art and History. Rose, on the other hand, uses methods like mapping and “portraiture” to evoke the “historical” fiction constituted by his experience of individual trees over the course of repeated traverses of the San Gabriel Mountains. His chronicle of change and perceived interrelationships across an eight-year span can thus be seen as both an explicitly cultural artifact (like a novel) and a carefully crafted archive or (natural) history. Constance Mallinson. Installation view. Courtesy of the artists and Lancaster Museum of Art and History. Although likewise radically dissimilar in appearance, both Constance Mallinson’s enormous and meticulously detailed still-life paintings and the augmented photo-installation from Osceola Refetoff and Chris Langley focus resonantly on the bits and pieces of material culture inevitably cast off on our transits across the natural world. That leaves only Sant Khalsa’s Prana: Life with Trees, to my mind the high-point of the exhibition and in effect a mini-retrospective covering four decades of photographic and installation work, all bound up with the exploration of that deep Vedic energy binding us and those other living beings that we call “trees” together in a natural and spiritual eco-system. This is the hopeful heart of “Forest.” It is not without an acute awareness of the danger that we all face; but it also posits a strategy for transcending the anthropogenic “death of Nature” in favor of a new and reciprocally vivifying life within it. Robert Dunahay. Installation view. Courtesy of the artist and Lancaster Museum of Art and History. Sant Khalsa, Constance Mallinson, Greg Rose, Timothy Robert Smith; High & Dry (Osceola Refetoff and Christopher Langely; Robert Dunahay, “The Forest for the Trees,” May 12 – July 15, 2018, at Lancaster Museum of Art and History, 665 W. Lancaster Boulevard, Lancaster, CA 93534. www.lancastermoah.org https://artillerymag.com/lancaster-moah-the-forest-for-the-trees/