Machine Project

We’ve partnered with 1450 Ocean, an adult recreation center overlooking the beach run by the City of Santa Monica, to bring some of our most popular workshops to the Westside. Our first beach-side class will be the ever-popular Musical Soldering, led by Machine Project founder Mark Allen on Saturday, October 12th from 2-5pm. Participants will learn to solder by building a primitive (but rad) synthesizer. As people get their synths working, we’ll add some music-making, and by the end of the workshop everyone will play a simple and inevitably out of tune musical piece together.

Registration is $40 for Machine members and $50 for non-members. For more information and to register, click here: /build/engine/archive/classwork/2013/10/12/musical-soldering/

Learn the basics of hand embroidery from Jenny Hart in Embroidery for Artists, a class that focuses on textural effects and free-form techniques. Hart will give a brief talk on her work, lead students through the basics of hand embroidery, review tools, share techniques for transferring original designs to fabric and “doodling” in embroidery. Students will leave with a new understanding of hand embroidery and the ability to experiment with it in their own work.

Registration is $75 for Machine members and $85 for non-members. For more information and to register, click here: /build/engine/archive/classwork/2013/10/19/embroidery-for-artists-at-1450-ocean/

This class is presented as part of The Big Draw LA.

*Please note! Registration for these classes is through 1450 Ocean. Please read their instructions carefully while booking. Members: to receive your member’s discount, please register by calling Jamie at 310-458-2239.

We’re in the final stages of construction for Alvarado Caverns and Mystery Theater, and now we’re looking for a few good volunteers to help turn our newly constructed theater into a beautiful yet creepily distressed theater. If you’re a scenic artist or set dresser, we need your help! We wouldn’t say no to folks with carpentry experience either, or painters, or people just interested in getting their hands dirty and learning.

We’re looking for people to help out during the next week. If you’re available, send an email to machine@machineproject.com with the subject line [attitude of decrepitude] and we’ll be in touch!

In May, artist Sara Roberts put out an open call for performers for Clump and Whistle, an emergent performance for up to 100 participants based on principles extrapolated from Elias Canetti’s book Crowds and Power. Clump is an experiment in group/crowd behavior, based on a simple rule set but without fixed outcome or direction. In Whistle, the crowd, equipped with multi-pitched whistles, configures to play compositions based on what the person next to you has just done, making propagating sound waves. See it here:

This event is part of Machine Project’s Field Guide to L.A. Architecture.