5 Design Things to do This Week

Visionary inventor Buckminster Fuller’s design principles on display, a Rube Goldberg Machine contest, and an LA/NYC mash-up of experimental art. Here are five design things to do this week.

In a Philadelphia office, R. Buckminster Fuller holds up a tensegrity sphere, one of his inventions that’’s inspired a space project April 18, 1979. (AP Photo/Bill Ingraham)

1) Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking

Discover nature’s design principles at the Hammer Museum. Explore the insights of visionary inventor Buckminster Fuller with demonstrations and hands-on model building facilitated by inventor, writer, producer and educator Kurt Przybilla. Materials will be provided. This program is related to the current exhibition Leap Before You Look: Black Mountain College 1933-1957.

When: Thursday, Mar 10, 7:30pm

Where: Hammer Museum Annex, 10899 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024

Tickets: Non-ticketed Event, seating on a first come, first served basis

2) Hauser Wirth & Schimmel’s Grand Opening

Hauser Wirth & Schimmel is the Los Angeles outpost of the Swiss art juggernaut (with galleries in London, Zurich and New York), helmed by former MOCA curator Paul Schimmel. It opens its 100,000 sq ft gallery in the downtown arts district this Sunday with a grand opening for the public.

The Hauser Wirth & Schimmel complex, whose buildings date from the 1890s to the 1940s, occupies an entire city block on East 3rd Street in the Arts District, and has been retrofitted by New York architect Annabelle Seldorf. In addition to the galleries, the complex includes a bookstore, a research area, an education lab, a planting garden (complete with water fountain for dogs), a public breezeway and, of course, a restaurant.

Its first exhibition, curated by Schimmel, is ‘Revolution in the Making: Abstract Sculpture by Women, 1947 – 2016’. The exhibition will be on display through Sept. 4, 2016.

When: Sunday, March 13

Where: Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, 901 E. 3rd St., downtown Los Angeles

Tickets: Free and open to the public

3) Lions, Tigers And Project Finale

This five month long multi-media event, which invited the public to question and consider the lions on Pasadena City Hall, is coming to a close. Over 1000 responses about the existence of the lions on City Hall have been tabulated and graphed and will be presented as a new art piece at this final event. A highlight will be a drum performance at 8 pm by Hands On’Semble, an international percussion group from Cal Arts.

When: Friday, March 11, 2016, 7-10pm, part of Art Night Pasadena (Saturday March 12, 7pm-10pm will be a quieter night when fewer people come and it is easier to experience the piece but miss the mass public involvement.)

Where: Pasadena City Hall, 100 N Garfield Ave, Pasadena, CA 91199

Tickets: No tickets required.

4) S.T.E.A.M. Machines at Santa Monica Pier

Bring your brains and creativity to LA’s 3rd Annual , and celebration of S.T.E.A.M. – Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. Come learn, play and make a day of it at the Pier, Presented by Heal The Bay and Time Warner Cable’s Connect a Million Minds initiative.

When: Sunday, March 13, 11:00am-5:00pm

Where: Santa Monica Pier, 200 Santa Monica Pier Ste A, Santa Monica, CA 90401

http://santamonicapier.org/steam/

Tickets: No tickets required.

5) Sibling Rivalries

Los Angeles v New York City in this creative and spirited mash-up. More ‘homage’ than competition, curators Ashley Garrett and Max Presneill invited emerging and experimental art spaces in the New York area to nominate fourteen emerging New York artists. These fourteen New York artists then chose fourteen corresponding Los Angeles artists whose work spoke to, inspired and/or informed their own practices. Sibling Rivalrypresents East Coast / West Coast contrasting approaches to similar challenges.

When: CLOSING Saturday, March 12

Where: Torrance Art Museum, 3320 Civic Center Drive, Torrance, CA 90503

Tickets: Admission is FREE.