University By The Sea, now in its 2nd year, is presenting a wide ranging collection of classes, performances, and exhibitions this Sunday, October 5th, in the East Village Arts District.
Long Beach based Curator, Exhibition Designer, Multi-media Artist, and Experimental Musician, Karen Crews’ expertise lies within contemporary, time-based art. Her interests are in experimental performance, installation, two and three dimensional mixed and multi-media art.
She was enlisted by the artist collective, FLOOD, whose work includes the annual SoundWalk event, to curate Sunday’s MOMENTUM exhibition. She shared a few thoughts about the event.
“MOMENTUM is: an art installation that assembles contemporary visual art, music performance, theatre, performance art, and video, into a greater conceptual performance in the East Village Arts District of downtown Long Beach. This project is a demonstration in response to the lack of exhibition space in an area labeled as an “artist’s village.” However, the space is dominated by many unused buildings that remain vacant in their indeterminate states, due to the urban redevelopment in its attempt to revitalize the downtown area.
“FLOOD, with the assistance of other artists will use the interiors of Enterprise trucks as exhibition spaces, and thus create a “temporary arts district” on Linden Avenue between Broadway and First Street as a contribution to University by the Sea. The individual trucks establish a loose correlation to the departmental structures for education in the arts. Collectively this installation thematizes the potential vitality of contemporary culture and thus underscores the need for permanent exhibition space.
“There was the collaborative agreement that this project must address contemporary art and the Long Beach artist economic problem regarding the loss of [exhibition] space, in combination with the snickers most people mutter under their breath when they refer to the “artist village.” In reality, there is no village and the “art” is questionable. Soon it seems inevitable that this area will gain the title, ‘restaurant row.’
“The process is a big part of the exhibition. It’s all about artists having to exhibit in trucks, generate an activism of their own, and literally drive to a site-specific venue. Together they create a large scale installation as a demonstration and showcase that contemporary artists are willing to exhibit in Long Beach but have no space to do so.
“Our MOMENTUM begins with artists: The Performance Loft in partnership with the Redlands Regional Players, Jay Yan, Habib Kheradyar Zamani, Angela J. Willcocks, MLuM, Hop-Frog Kollectiv, Betsy Lohrer Hall, Art P.E.A.C.E., John Sanders, OTIS: Traci Colby and students, Kay Erickson, Karen Crews and Heather Dean, David Ledger, DDR Projects, FLOOD and many others.
Carl Off, CFO of URCK Records and co-organizer of many Dung Mummy experimental music performances in the southland, will be using one of the MOMENTUM trucks as a mobile stage to present an impressive list of regional performers, including DJ Complex Cultures (The Electric Octospore), The Wilson High School Noise Club, Actuary, Ain Soph Aur, Super Minerals, The Lap Steel Duo, UEM, Thousands, Bavab Bavab, Hop-Frog’s Drum Jester Devotional, Buko Pan Guerra, Amps for Christ, Jeremy Kelly, and Between Ravens and Crows .
The event runs from 10 AM until 10 PM. Free parking is available.