are we really having this discussion

pics:tryharder

Panel Discussion: Is Conviction in Painting Possible? @ Honor Fraser
PR: The panel moderated by Ed Schad included Andrew Berardini, Jens Hoffmann, Phoebe Unwin and Liat Yossifor. This discussion marks the first in a series of talks at the gallery that will bring together artists, curators, writers and critics in an environment where an organic dialogue can stem from a central topic or designated theme.

looking for a disguise, 55 bucks or a rich friend

THE MOCA CONTEMPORARIES ART PANEL SERIES

TICKETS $55/PERSON (EACH EVENT); $125/PERSON (SERIES)

Art Panel Series #1
CONVERGENCE: ART + ECONOMY
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 6:30PM
As the art world becomes immersed in the global economic crunch, what do artists, museums, and galleries need to do to survive? How can contemporary art thrive in an economic downturn? Our panel of "Art + Economy" experts offer inside perspective on art in today's challenging financial climate.

MODERATOR:
Bennett Simpson, MOCA assistant curator
PANELISTS:
Andrea Fraser, artist
Paul Johnson, co-director, Sotheby’s Los Angeles
Stephen G. Rhodes, artist
Richard Telles, owner and director, Richard Telles Fine Art

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Too bad.........looks like I will go to the free ALOUD LA library lecture instead.

lectures are fun: ALOUD series

Lawrence Weschler (right) - Between Fountainheads - In conversation with John Walsh (left), Getty Museum Director Emeritus
"New Yorker veteran Weschler discusses what it has been like, the past several decades, to be serving as Boswell to two seemingly opposite giants of the contemporary art scene, Robert Irwin and David Hockney."

summary:
Irwin and Hockney both believe that they are "taking cubism to heart" and are in "intellectual conflict" with one another.
The reduction of art becomes life and human perception.

pics:tryharder

I can't afford a 10 dollar lecture! Too bad...hopefully those folks can revitalize downtown without me (even though I live downtown).

Does Los Angeles Need a Downtown?

PR below:

Co-presented with ALOUD at Central Library as part of Talking City: L.A. Today and Tomorrow.

In an age of digitally networked cities, regions, nations, and international hubs, is there still value--economic, social, political, cultural--in central downtown districts? CalArts President Steven D. Lavine invites three of L.A.'s most influential urban thinkers to ponder this question in the first of a series of roundtable discussions on the evolving shape of urbanism in the City of Angels. The distinguished panelists are Manuel Castells, the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society at the USC Annenberg School of Communication and author of The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture; Edward Soja, Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning at the UCLA School of Public Affairs and author of Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places; and Cecilia Estolano, CEO of the Community Redevelopment Authority of the City of Los Angeles.

The Talking City series continues at Central Library on March 11 with Green to the Street: The Future of Pershing Square. The roundtable includes Daniel Biederman, Kathleen Bullard, Lewis MacAdams, Barry Sanders and Doug Suisman. Moderated by Christopher Hawthorne. See www.aloudla.org for more info.

Date & time	General Admission	Students with current I.D.	CalArts Students, Faculty and Staff
Wed 2.11.09 8:30 pm	$10	$5	$Free

the coolest astrophysicist I know

Saw Neil Degrasse Tyson in conversation at the LA central library tonight! He was a comic delight, well dressed (yes, he flawlessly combines a cardigan sweater, suit and motorcycle boots) and humbly brilliant. He confirmed Pluto's classification now as a dwarf planet (in case you were worried about the planet count), played with the simplicity of astrophysicist language (ie. spots on the sun = sun spots), while deconstructing the classifications of what makes planets planets and also talking about the importance of intelligence/education.

I am finding lectures pertaining to science and psychology very thought provoking and refreshing these days. Although "art" may not come to mind in association with science, the two are tangentially related through analysis and understanding. Tyson summed it up best: "The more you know, the greater the perimeter of your ignorance," which is so true when it comes to everything - definitely art!!

His new book out:
The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet

Be sure to check out the upcoming library lectures...you have to RSVP in advance but it's all free. I recommend:

Wed, Feb 25, 7 PM
Lawrence Weschler
Between Fountainheads
In conversation with John Walsh, Getty Museum Director Emeritus
New Yorker veteran Weschler discusses what it has been like, the past several decades, to be serving as Boswell to two seemingly opposite giants of the contemporary art scene, Robert Irwin and David Hockney.