Articles
MOUNTAIN AS METHOD A Look Inside the Mountain School of Arts, LA's Most Mysterious Art Institution
I missed the party. A party that promised nothing less than to reveal the nature of reality. I wanted to go, but the promised revelation of full reality was curtailed by immediate financial reality—I had to go to a wedding out of town the night before and couldn’t...
RECONTAMINATION
LA-based photographer Gerd Ludwig has been recording the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster for the last two decades. Here, Artillery presents a selection of Ludwig’s most recent images, focusing on the ghost town of Pripyat. The near-classically surreal...
ARTIST TAKEOVER: PETER TOMKA
DUELLING REVIEWS: BRUCE NAUMAN at LACMA
AMONG THE THANATOIDS
He owns a mobile home he drives from place to place, crashing where he can for as long as he can, depending on the language in the local zoning ordinances. He works remote contract data entry jobs on a laptop, always connected to free public WiFi, and accepts all...
IN SEARCH OF A CITY
“Los Angeles is 72 suburbs in search of a city.” —Dorothy Parker I like to go to parties. If you invite me, I’ll come. I never plan to stay long (“I’m just going to make an appearance,” I tell myself), but once I arrive, I end up having a great time and linger until...
COLLECTING THOUGHTS (print exclusive) Alexis Borges
Why do you collect art? Because I can’t not. Art keeps me awake, thinking, and alive. It’s a rush for me. The emotions it evokes for me are some of the most visceral feelings I have experienced. When a piece stirs something in me, curiosity, joy, or even discomfort,...
DINNER AND A SHOW Fernberger and Cafe Telegrama
Dinner and a Show offers vehicle-bound and spatially-perplexed Angelenos the plan for a complete night out in LA. I go see an exhibition and tell you where to eat within walking distance of the venue, offering a few thoughts on the show and even more on the...
AN ARTIST ANSWERS QUESTIONS Mark Mothersbaugh
Describe yourself as an artist. I find it interesting to capture fragments of contemporary life on planet Earth and document them through sound, vision, and movement. Top 3 songs? “Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones; “Satisfaction” by Devo; “Satisfaction” by Otis...
ART DAMAGED The Higher the Art, The Closer to GOD
STAYING SANE(ish) WITH DR. TRAINWRECK — (print exclusive) Dear Dr. Trainwreck
Dear Dr. Trainwreck, I have a friend with a few mental health diagnoses confirmed by doctors. She has many symptoms, including “rejection sensitive dysphoria”—meaning (as I understand it) she has a hard time accepting any criticism and overreacts to it. I like my...
STAYING SANE(ish) WITH DR. TRAINWRECK — (print exclusive) Remember the Plan?
In no way am I looking forward to writing this particular piece. Truth? I am a little bit afraid to do it at all. Not that the previous columns have been chock full of levity and good times, but this one might piss some people off. Because it is time. We are here. We...
ROLL CALL
GALLERY DOGS
LUDOLOGY
lu·dol·o·gy /l(j)uˈdɑlədʒi/ n A field of cultural studies that examines games, the act of playing them, and the players and cultures that surround them. It is also known as game studies or gaming theory. Have you read about art that “investigates transcultural...
ARTILLERY HAS QUESTIONS FOR GWAR
Artillery catches up with GWAR for their sprawling retrospective at Beyond the Streets. ARTILLERY: Some of GWAR’s songs are actually good—if you’re into thrash. Does it ever bother you that this sometimes gets lost in the focus on GWAR’s wild stage shows? BLOTHAR:...
THE EJACULATORY ESTATE
On a quiet, hilly residential street in Echo Park, behind an unassuming fence, there is a cathedral to freewheeling sexuality, a place where art and sex mingle to such an extent it can be hard to tell the difference. Most Angelenos will be familiar with the Tom of...
The Exploding Drummer and Me
With one notable exception, the original cast of This Is Spinal Tap were wildly successful thespians playing complete fuckups. Arguably the most iconic character of the lot, the exploding drummer “played” by everyman Ric Parnell, was another story altogether. The...
FURRY ARTISTS WILL REMAKE THE WORLD The Next Avant-Garde is at Anthrocon
I’m not sure exactly when I accepted that the future of contemporary art belongs to the furries. It likely happened at the waterfront rave in Pittsburgh—where, flanked by gyrating, half-clad wolves and sexy tigers—I spent the late hours of July 4th lounging with a...
BRINGING FORM TO THE FUNCTION Meet the Artist-Designers Redefining LA’s Art (and Fashion) Scenes
For decades, art and fashion have occupied parallel but distinct tracks. There have been moments of convergence—think Oskar Schlemmer’s Bauhaus ballet costumes, Salvador Dalí’s sartorial collaborations with Elsa Schiaparelli, and Keith Haring’s “Pop Shop”—but the art...