Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Survival Research Labs announces LA performance

To the left: Swiss artist Jean Tinguely's Homage to New York, a self destructing artwork


A post on Boing Boing says that there will be an underground technology style mechanical art presentation on Saturday. Mechanical artist Mark Pauline and his art troupe Survival Research Laboratories will perform this Saturday evening in Los Angeles.

The fact that SRL is making a public announcement and making it so early makes me think this show could be less edgy than previous ones. Still, any SRL performance is an experience worth taking in.

I've not seen a Mark Pauline choreographed presentation, but I have seen a number of performances put on by SRL alumni and other followers. They are extremely interesting, chaotic, and possess a distinct air of danger. A friend of mine who was a member of SRL told me some pretty good stories about clandestine, middle-of-the-night shows taking place under highway bridges and aquaducts.

Every SRL performance includes a variety of odd and powerful machines. Past machines included robots, radio controlled vehicles, flamethrowers, pulsejets, air cannons, high voltage discharge machines, and so forth. Very intense, very avant garde, very Tinguely-esque.

Comments from those who attend this show (or have attended past shows) are most welcome!

1 comment:

Martin said...

The Stockholm Museum of Modern Art currently has Tinguely's sculpture Méta-Matic No 17 on prominent display, accompanied by a video of it working. It dances, makes noises, paints abstract paintings and collects its exhaust fumes in a balloon until it pops.