On view through September 6, After Victor Papanek: The Future Is Not What It Used To Be is a group exhibition that focuses on Papanek’s pioneering influence on sustainable, socially responsible, human-centered design. Join us for a series of free, public events related to this exciting exhibition.
Michael Parker, Steam Egg
May 17, June 7 , June 21, July 5, July 19, August 2, August 16, September 6
1 - 4pm
Michael Parker's sculpture, a fully-functioning steam sauna, is available for public steam sessions on the first and third Sundays of the month throughout the run of the exhibition.
Steam enthusiasts can RSVP to enjoy the egg in 1-hour rotations. Walk-ins are welcome, but first come, first steam. Bring your own towels and suits. Please, no changing in the gallery. Bathrooms are available, but there are no showers on the premises.
You can leave your belongings on the hooks of the installation and your shoes under the egg’s subfloor. The Armory/Artist is not responsible for lost or stolen possessions. Participants must be in good health and sign a waiver of liability before participating in the Steam Egg.
Sign up in person, call the Armory gallery at 626.792.5101 x122, or email gallery@armoryarts.org.
Mapping Power: A Workshop Exploring Intersubjective Power Relationships With Rosten Woo and the Llano Del Rio Collective
Sunday, June 14, 12 - 2pm
In 2014 the Llano Del Rio Collective commissioned from Rosten Woo a printed guide to understanding power relationships in the City of Los Angeles. Woo choose to do a study of the "power analysis tool” used by the LA based community organization SCOPE LA to map social dynamics in strategic social change campaigns. This popular organizing workshop uses a visual methods to organize and develop knowledge within a group that seeks change. In this workshop, Woo will guide participants through creating their own modified power analysis, which they can use to approach their own political and social constellations. The workshop will include a short introduction by Llano Del Rio Collective member Robby Herbst.
Gawdafful National Theater: Play-play-Cray-cray!
Sunday, June 21, 2 - 4pm
Known for their innovative works at the intersection of theater and performance and their deft manipulation of affect and space, Gawdafful National Theater's Asher Hartman, Joe Seely, Andy Daley, and friends will joyously explore human-centered design through the performative gesture with participants. Find the theater in your mind, under the stairs, in your hat, and anywhere else you can create it. We will be using ordinary materials, everyday feeling states, and available space to prototype the nature of the play (play!) and liberation in the present moment.
Robby Herbst, Group
Wednesday, July 15, 7 - 8pm
This dance work developed from distinct group exercises and play scenarios initiated by Robby Herbst at experimental political workshops, protest situations, and oddball events. The individual exercises were largely meant to interrogate and explore the ways we experience being in groups, emotionally, psychologically, structurally, politically.
Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD), Charrette
Saturday, July 25 ,2 - 4pm
LAPD will host a charrette on how to carve out cultural space in Los Angeles’ Skid Row. City officials, artists, designers, and residents of Skid Row will collaborate on hands-on models to visualize sustainable business and spatial models for a neighborhood that has almost no cultural offerings for its residents.
verynice Design, Give-Half, A Design Charrette With Matthew Manos
Saturday, August 1, 6 - 8pm
Join Matthew Manos, founder of verynice and author of "How to Give Half of Your Work Away for Free,” in a series of rapid-making activities inspired by Victor Papanek, and the concept of "giving half.”
Victor Papanek always defended that designers should donate 10% of their time, talent, and skills to volunteering. Matthew Manos, founder of the design firm verynice Design, will host a workshop on his functioning business model in which 50% of all work is dedicated to pro-bono design. Manos has identified 43 different models of how business can carve out a more human centered approach by using volunteer and gift economies.
“I have tried to demonstrate that by freely giving 10 percent of his time, talents, and skills the designer can help.” -Victor Papanek
"Actually... it's more like 50%" -Matthew Manos
Armory Center for the Arts and Spurlock Poirier Landscape Architects, Charrette
Sunday, August 16, 12 - 2pm
The Raymond Street entrance of the Armory includes a public art space, a social space, and a green space. How could this area be revisioned to serve all of these needs better? Victor Papanek repeatedly advocated for site-responsive connections between environmental and social responsibility, showing that ultimately constructed and natural environments work best when fully interdependent. With guidance from landscape architecture firm Spurlock Poirier, the Armory Center for the Arts will hold a public charrette for revisioning the front gardens and will ultimately implement these ideas in a future renovation of the front garden