MOCA Welcomes The League of Imaginary Scientists to Engagement Party
First Event…
Thursday, January 6, 2011,
7–10pm250 S. Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
The Museum of Contemporary Art is pleased to announce The League of Imaginary Scientists as the winter 2011 participants in Engagement Party, MOCA’s program that presents new works by innovative Southern California–based artist collectives and collaborators. The League of Imaginary Scientists is a non-exclusive society for creative scientists, mechanically-inclined artists, absurdist inventors and self-proclaimed quacks. The collective will bring The Evolving Contraption, a morphing art apparatus and stage for interactive adventures, to MOCA for a series of unique public interventions on the first Thursday evenings of January, February, and March 2011.
For their three-month residency at MOCA, The League of Imaginary Scientists will present the following projects. All events are FREE to the public and no reservations are required. Cash bar. For further information, please visit moca.org/party or contact 213/621-1745 or education@moca.org.
Wormholes
THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 7–10pm
MOCA Grand Avenue
Wormholes is an exploration of space and time activated by audience participation. As it turns out, the science of wormholes is very simple, and rests on the bilateral symmetry of worms. The League of Imaginary Scientists harness this science, transporting viewers to other points in the universe. The collective claims, “The League of Imaginary Scientists can get you there from here, if you don’t care where you’re going, and you don’t need to get back.”
The Automatoggler
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 7–10pm
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
For their second Engagement Party event, The League of Imaginary Scientists will unveil the greatest invention ever: The Automatoggler! In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. In 1875, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Now, this machine could potentially save humanity from all other machines. So, grab on to The Automatoggler to help save humanity, and, incidentally, make toast.
The Zephyr Experiment
THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 7–10pm
MOCA Grand Avenue
The League of Imaginary Scientists invite you to explore the science of floating and flying with The Zephyr Experiment. Their residency concludes with a look backwards at antiquarian attempts at buoyancy. Beginning with the most basic attempts to float, up through rocket propulsion, they will invite the audience to grab onto their hats and take that leap of faith.
THE LEAGUE OF IMAGINARY SCIENTISTS
By conflating imagined and real space, inventing characters, and concocting science, the collaborative research conducted by The League of Imaginary Scientists can be characterized as a series of dream experiments. The League explores scientific notions through creative play and reverse engineering. League projects borrow and lend ideas, own and earn nothing, develop science (sometimes), and create community. Their works might involve genomic imaging via network transmissions, incorporate ecological data as sonar signals, or present collaborative performances among distinct animal species. The League reinterprets established doctrines and exercises play as process. Past projects include The Irish Rover: Looking for Mars off the Northern Coast of Ireland at the Letterkenny Regional Cultural Centre, Ireland (2010); Waterways at Conflux in New York City (2009); X, Y, Z, and U at Outpost for Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2009); The Conversation Contraption at Casula Powerhouse, Australia (2008); and The Childhood Machine at Babel Art Space, Norway (2007).
Engagement Party
MOCA’s Engagement Party presents new artworks in the form of dynamic social events and performances by LA–based artist collectives. Engagement Party is made possible by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Lyn Winter
Tel 213/633-5390
lwinter@moca.org
Jessica Youn
Tel 213/633-5322
jyoun@moca.org
