5 design things to do: Nov 28 - Dec 4

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This week: See the discontinuity of architecture through Claude Parent's Oblique Function; see over 1,500 Disney relics before they're sold; light up the night with festive activities for the whole family; contemplate a world where humans live symbiotically with nature; appreciate the postmodern American Pattern and Decoration movement.

sketch of architecture expanding

1) Claude Parent: Visionary Architect

Disruptive French architect Claude Parent (1923 - 2016) strove to create discontinuity - by shifting and tipping and fracturing - to achieve what he and partner Paul Virilio termed The Oblique Function. The idea was to tilt the ground in order to revolutionize the old paradigm of the vertical wall -- often using no walls at all -- and enable new conceptualizations and understandings of space. The exhibition Claude Parent: Visionary Architect includes a full-scale ramp installation based on the architect’s own oblique apartment interior, and presents a selection of never before seen original drawings and sketches, as well as photographs of iconic projects and publications on Parent's work. 

When: Closes Sunday, Dec 1

Where: SCI-Arc Kappe Library, 960 E 3rd St, Los Angeles 90013

Tickets: Free; read more about Parent's work here.

Image result for That's from Disneyland auction 2019

2) A History of Disneyland and Walt Disneyworld

If you are a Disney junkie, head over to Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks. There you will find a display of 1,500 curios, keepsakes and relics; props, signs, ride vehicles and furniture collected from the theme parks in both California and Florida, plus a few international destinations as well. The exhibition will be followed by a two-day auction (check out the catalog hereof treasures that include; a hand-drawn map of Disneyland created during its construction, silkscreen posters for the defunct Skyway and PeopleMover, a fold-out map and booklet from a 1960s reissue of the initial Disneyland prospectus, keepsakes from the exclusive Club 33 and an original Haunted Mansion stretching room portrait (estimated to go for over $100K). 

When: Exhibition runs now through Friday, Dec 6. Auction Dec 7 and 8

Where:  Van Eaton Galleries, 13613 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks 91423

Tickets: Free; click here for more information.

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3) Seasonal Lights and More!

'Tis the season for sparkly lights and festive outings. Here's a list of places where the nights will be lit and the after-dark entertainment is for the whole family. Click on each event for more information.

When/Where/Tickets by Event:  

Moonlight Forest: A fantasy of lights and lanterns. Now through Jan 12. LA Arboretum, 301 N Baldwin Ave, Arcadia 91007. General Admission $25 - you can get tickets here

Enchanted ForestAn interactive nighttime experience through the beautiful Descanso Gardens. Now through Jan 5. Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Dr, La Cañada Flintridge 91011. General Admission $9 - you can get tickets here.  

LA Zoo LightsA Wild Wonderland of Lights. Now through Jan 5. LA Zoo, 5333 Zoo Dr, Los Angeles 90027. General admission $11 - you can get tickets here

Beverly Hills Bold: Holiday Lights, Night Shopping, Street Performances, and Special Engagements. Events run now through Dec 21; Lights remain through the Holidays. Throughout Beverly Hills shopping district. Free 

Santa’s North Pole Village at Wisdome.LA: LA’s largest immersive holiday experience. Discover the magic of the North Pole in 360-degree geodesic domes, along with ice skating and Santa photo shoots. Wisdome.LA, 1147 Palmetto St., Los Angeles 90013. Open Wednesday-Sunday through December 30. General admission starts at $25, get tickets here.

Paige Emery, fragmented bodies. Image courtesy of the artist.

4) Ecology of the Edge

As anthropogenic climate changes accelerate, the boundaries between humans and non-humans are constantly being redefined. In what ways can we shift our perspectives towards symbiotic relationships between humans and the land we inhabit? Ecology of the Edge proposes works in which the temporal dimension of sensory processes is foregrounded as part of a larger system. The exhibition includes interactive and time-based work with performances, panel discussions and large-scale sound and video installations. 

When: Opening reception Friday Nov 29, 7 - 10 pm; related talk Saturday, Nov 30th, 4 pm; exhibition runs through Sunday, Dec 8

Where: Human Resources, 410 Cottage Home St. LA 90012

Tickets: Free; click here for more information.

Kim MacConnel, Slide Out

5) With Pleasure: Pattern and Decoration in American Art 1972–1985

At a time when the international art world favored cynicism and aloofness, the Pattern and Decoration movement celebrated the patterns, colors and materials traditionally associated with feminine decorative crafts and was critically received, and commercially successful, from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. Now MOCA has mounted an ambitious show of work from the movement. 

With Pleasure: Pattern and Decoration in American Art 1972-1985 traces the movement’s broad reach in postwar American art by artists widely regarded the core of the movement: Valerie Jaudon, Joyce Kozloff, Robert Kushner, Kim MacConnel and Miriam Schapiro; as well as artists whose contributions to Pattern and Decoration have been underrecognized, such as Merion Estes, Dee Shapiro, Kendall Shaw and Takako Yamaguchi. The show also enfolds artists who are not normally considered in the context of Pattern and Decoration, such as Emma Amos, Billy Al Bengston, Al Loving and Betty Woodman. 

When: Exhibition runs through May 11, 2020

Where: MOCA Grand Avenue, 250 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles 90012

Tickets: General admission $15; click here for more information.