The Bus Bench

Masochist Transportationist Events- UCLA Hammer, R. Crumb's Book of Genesis

WHAT: The Bible Illuminated: R. Crumb's Book of Genesis

WHEN: Thursday, February 4 at 7-11pm

WHERE: Hammer Museum 10899 Wilshire. 90024

INFO:

"The Hammer Museum presents seminal comic artist R. Crumb’s adaptation of the first book of the Old Testament, the Book of Genesis. Crumb has spent the last five years on this incredibly ambitious endeavor. The exhibition features 207 individual, black and white drawings incorporating every word from all fifty chapters, as well as a cover, title page, introduction and back cover. Each drawing contains six to eight comic panels illustrating the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, Sodom and Gomorrah, and more. Using his signature bawdy style, Crumb’s version of the Book of Genesis puts an entirely new twist on the Bible." Hammer

How to Get There

On the Metro (as always the directions are from One Gateway Plaza in the hopes that the other 98% will one day try the bus.)

Ride Metro Rail Red OR Purple Line( NORTH HOLLYWOOD OR WILSHIRE/WESTERN STATION) west
To: WILSHIRE/VERMONT STATION
Ride Metro Rapid Express 920 (RAPID EXPRESS SANTA MONICA) heading west
From: WILSHIRE BLVD/VERMONT AV(NE corner)
To: WILSHIRE BLVD/WESTWOOD BLVD(NE corner)

On the way home you'll need to take a local (two or four.) Check Metro to get return directions.

-Browne Molyneux

Dinosaurs Against Fossil Fuels!!

-The Bus Bench

Crosswalk Memorial, Portugal

H/T Carbusters

LA Bus Stops in Art

Metro's line 18 in art.

Catherine's Opie's 1997 photograph of Metro's 18 is currently on display at the MOCA Geffen.

The MOCA Geffen is easily accessible via Metro Gold Line East Extension Little Tokyo Station.

-Browne Molyneux

Los Angeles: Priorities

These are pictures from a section of LA called downtown.

MOCA is located downtown.  MOCA is one of LA's great treasures. It's a museum that houses contemporary art and throws a pretty darn good party. It's our version of New York's MoMA. This shot is outside of the free Dash stop on Grand that shuttles you to and from MOCA Grand and MOCA Geffen.




The below shot is outside of the tables at Johnny Rocket's hamburger “restaurant.” It is on Central. It is down the street from MOCA. This is also located in downtown LA.




Priorities.

-Browne Molyneux

Roaring Aughts. First Shift. 8/01. 7:00 pm.

The Roaring Aughts is an art installation/project. The Roaring Aughts will compare and contrast the period between 2000-2009 (the aughts) with the period between 1920-1930.

The project component will be educating the public on how objects are
created, how neighborhoods are lost and how people are broken.

The Roaring Aughts will do this by having a series of "Production Hours" broken down into six shifts.

The First Shift will be taking place this Sat. Aug. 1 at 7pm.

We will be discussing broken people.

This informal discussion on labor will be led by Michael Rochlin. Mr. Rochlin is a writer, LA historian and is a carFREE cyclist. He has written numerous books on LA history. His book Ancient LA was endorsed by Mike Davis (City of Quartz, Ecology of Fear) and Kevin Starr (former California State Librarian).

Bananas! Edith Abeyta and Nickolas Klemek

With whiskey and home-brewed beer at the door and a slew of "liability bananas" strewn across the floor, we were waiting for the inevitable to occur. It never did, but that did not prevent a couple of Bus Benchers from having fun at the reception for Bananas: The Exhibition.

After having arrived at Union Station breathlessly from running across most of the intersection of Cesar Chavez and N. Vignes—despite the red lights and LAPD copper presence—and caught Metro line 445 just as it was pulling up for the 30 seconds it would sit before departing, to San Pedro.

It was a show about bananas. I mean seriously. I was looking very hard for dirty messages, nothing. Edith Abeyta silk screen felt "liability bananas" scattered on the floor tripped no one and her and ceramics sculptures and vials of plantains and bananas contained no drugs or condoms.

"They are consumable safe," said Edith of the plaintain vial that I purchased.

Nickolas her comrade in art is quite mad. He uses traditional pen and paper. No gimmick. No pretentions.

Do you know how hard it is to be in LA and have a show about bananas and do hundreds of drawings of bananas without any sexual undertones (and BusTard and I were looking hard, we  have extremely dirty minds) or Andy Warhol Velvet Underground references?

The new irony is no irony. The Banana show in its non smart ass, no bullshit take on the subject of the banana was a breath of the fresh air. That’s a clichéd way to describe it, but I’m having a real hard time with this upfront thing. My brain is tired with having to actual think without the smear of smarmiassholeness that permeates so many art shows nowadays.

It was quite refreshing, but nothing dirty to see here kids, though it was a little bit bananas.

Bananas_09May2009

-The Bus Bench

The Brewery Art Walk: Where to go if you want to tell me off in person.

The figurative version of me, waiting at a figurative bus stop.

 

Go to the Art Walk. I'll be playing here at the People's Public Transit Bureau. I think the person who runs this place as a car (but they told me it was run on veggie fuel, so I guess I'll give them a bit of bus token leniency).

Go METRO!! 76, 251, 751.

Some people call the Brewery Art Walk a hipster affair (and I think that is supposed to be an insult).
Some people call it the Brewery Craft Walk (and I think that is supposed to be an insult).

I am not here to talk about what some people say. But it's free entry and there is alcohol (for a small fee,) so in a state with 11.2 percent unemployment (the highest rate since it started being recorded), how can you say no to free (and a small fee)? 

Anyway it's all artsy and shit. And I heard there are some more politically oriented type artists. I hear Shepard Fairey is political. And he's being charged with a felony, so that's pretty hardcore.

Maybe I'll get a felony one day (well another one...)

I leave with you with Ian Dury and the Blockhead's "My Old Man". A song about Ian's dad having been a bus driver.

Browne Molyneux

Pedestrians gone WILD!!!

Damn, I should have went to the art walk. My condolences to the Raw Materials (an art supply store that I have patronized) window.

I guess all I can say is beware of topless pedestians...

H/T to Ginny Case of Ginny Here and There for providing this awesome video.

Browne Molyneux

Paris, May 1968. Beauty is in the Streets

During the disturbances in Paris in May 1968 students and striking workers occupied the Ecole des Beaux Artes. They set to work anonymously producing some of the most striking political graphics of the 20th Century.

H/T to Chimatli for bringing this great video to my attention.

Murder Your Car! highlights...

The Murder Your Car!! Art Project was Saturday. We had a great time. We ate Jolly Burrito’s enchiladas and drank rum and tequila off the suffering of people from far away. We symbolically killed capitalism and car culture, though at the end of the night we were not left with a symbolically more clean world, we were left with a literal mess.

Murder Your Car! Art Project. San Pedro's The Loft. 7:30 this Saturday.

You want some free food and alcohol? You want to destroy something with a bat? I thought so that's why I'm writing. Destruction and free food is always awesome. I'm working with part of a group show curated by Edith Abeyta (remember her famous street wear outfit, yeah Browne will be wearing that again, so if you missed her art at the Calavera Fashion Show you get another chance, throwing that in there in case you hate us...)

 

The name of the show is Post-Post Apocalypse show. The Bus Bench section is the Murder Your Car! Art Project. It's a discussion. It's art. It's a party.

 

Bring your consumer addiction for the bucket of dreams...status seeking clothes, drugs, big macs, cigarettes, porn!!!

 

Murder your car! Art project. The Bus Bench is doing an art project on January 10th THIS SATURDAY in collaboration with The Loft Gallery's Post-Post Apocalypse exhibit

• The Loft Gallery
                 401 S. Mesa
                  San Pedro, CA 90731

WeekendCarnage

Browne Molyneux and BusTard

Edith Abeyta. Street Wear.

I was the shelf for artist’s Edith Abeyta’s interpretation of a walking alter at Tropico de Nopal’s Calavera Fashion Show.

 

The art was called: Street Wear

Street Wear is the representation of homeless woman. There are lots of them in downtown LA.

She made a kimono out of a mattress, which I’m going to steal from her house. All of the materials for the outfit were “found” materials that Edith then created something new with. She hand makes everything, which is rare nowadays.

Edith's Street Wear with in the background with me as the hanger, stolen from a photos taken by Robert Gauthier at the Los Angeles Times.

Pershing Square: What Was, What IS and what will never be. . .

Being a fan of cartography, typography, illustration and print, I was excited to take some time from my itinerary of fighting, drinking and satire to drink in the Central Library's latest exhibit, L.A. Unfolded: Maps from The Los Angeles Public Library. It is a decent exhibit (the garish lighting against the Plexiglass and protective glass coverings is rather annoying, to state the least) yet one that I highly recommend. The late 19th Century maps on display are small in number but certainly worth the trip; here are a few, after the jump. . .

Stay Hotel. Fishbowl living in microlofts.

 

I was walking home from the 51 bus and I saw people in the display rooms at Stay. I had been looking out for them since it was brought up at Angelenic that Stay would be having fishbowl rooms.

I wonder how cheap the rent is?

Browne