#laxart

[itscolossal]

Cranbrook Academy of Art Announces Public Lecture Series With Artists, Architects, Curators, and Designers (Sponsor)

The 2023–2024 public lecture series at Cranbrook Academy of Art brings together an innovative group of artists, architects, curators, and designers to address some of the most urgent issues of our time through performance, object making, curation, and critical writing. Together, they encourage us to think expansively about the role of creativity in building community and in shaping the world around us.

The visiting artists include:

October 19, 2023, 6 p.m. Risa Puleo, Independent Curator

November 9, 2023, 6 p.m. Norman Teague, Designer and Educator

November 30, 2023, 6 p.m. Hamza Walker, Director of LAXART

December 14, 2023, 6 p.m. Cannupa Hanska Luger, Multidisciplinary Artist

January 11, 2024, 6 p.m. Yolande Daniels, Associate Professor in Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and co-founder of studioSUMO 

February 1, 2024, 6 p.m. Ghada Amer, Artist

February 22, 2024, 6 p.m. Andrianna Campbell-LaFleur, Art Critic, Curator, and Historian

March 21, 2024, 6 p.m. Yuri Suzuki, Sound Artist, Designer, Electronic Musician

April 4, 2024, 6 p.m. Roberto Lugo, Artist, Social Activist, Poet, and Educator

[creative-bananas]

HOTEL LAXARTE

Synopsis 

The story takes place in a remote hotel where our protagonist is taking a vacation after his retirement. This is supposed to be a sweet and relaxing vacation but suddenly a horrifying accident happened! A famous good-natured business tycoon is found brutally chopped into pieces with multiple bruises around his body. Who is the killer and what is the motive for his brutish death?

Character Profile : 

Benjamin "Ben" White - A good-natured business tycoon who loves interacting with people. He mouses his skills in talking so that he can gain more friends to play and talk to. He is also a womanizer. He is found brutally chopped in his bathroom.

Cathy Zegarra - A beautiful blonde woman who is Benjamin’s secretary. She is very sophisticated and many men are fighting to claim her for themselves. She has an unknown background. 

Gwaine Tyrell - A very loud and extroverted 17-year old boy who loves crime books. He is considered as one of the types of people that will make you happy and laugh when you see him. Thomas is kind of fond of him because of his stories especially about murders. He is the first person who sees the body when he goes to Benjamin's room because the man promised that he will give him one of the limited edition Sherlock Holmes books. 

Wade Shepherd - One of Benjamin's competitors. He despised Benjamin because he knew what was happening behind the man's toothy grins. One of the major suspects. 

Dr. Corlys Lannister - Benjamin's doctor. He is a timid person. He is always standing behind Benjamin because he thinks that anytime something bad will happen to his patient.

Setting

Hotel Laxarte is located in Berlin, Germany. It was built in 1925 where it was a difficult and unstable time for Germany. As well as having to come to terms with the Treaty of Versailles' punishments, it was a time of invasion, economic decline, rebellions but also a huge growth in cultural freedoms and political rights. Despite the economic decline, Hotel Laxarte is one of the most famous hotel for all aristocrats in that time. Many tourists are still fascinated by the country and use the hotel as their temporary staying place. 

The hotel has almost 500 rooms, and all of them have a bathroom where the guests can shower themselves. It has a lobby, recreational room, restaurant, swimming pool and many more facilities where the guests can relax themselves. The hotel was deemed as a grand hotel until in the late 80s. The Berlin wall fell and many grand hotels opened. The great Hotel Laxarte had been deserted and almost all of its patrons left it. The bustling crowd before became quiet. Our main character, Thomas Callahan, decided to celebrate his retirement in this once grand hotel. But something unexpected happened. 

Time 

Year 1990 

January

Morning

Scene 1 : 

(the sound of heavy and fast footsteps)

[Gwaine is running, panicking about what he just saw earlier]

GWAINE: (knocks heavily) Mr. Thomas! Mr. Thomas! 

[Mr. Thomas on the other side just woke up because of the noise; Gwaine’s knocking and calling can still be heard in the background]

MR. THOMAS: Ugh, It’s still early in the morning and I didn't order any service! What is that noise all about? (says angrily)

[Mr. Thomas opens the door; reveals Gwaine]

MR. THOMAS: You’re Gwaine Tyrell, right? What brings your ineffable enthusiasm here, early in the morning? My ears are all yours for your new ideas. I admit that I enjoyed our topic the other day, but I think that this is too early for that conversation.

GWAINE: Now is not the perfect timing, Mr. Thomas. I know you’re already retired, but I saw Mr. Benjamin White in his room, dead. (says in a slow voice yet with conviction)

[The two hurriedly went to Benjamin’s room]

MR. THOMAS: You saw the body? 

GWAINE: Yes, I was going to meet with Mr. Benjamin as he promised to give me a Sherlock Holmes Boo—

(loud scream from the hotel staff)

[Mr. Thomas and Gwaine entered the room, the neighboring rooms also heard the scream and gets out]

CATHY: Oh my god~ (while bawling and covering her mouth)

[Cathy is crying]

(The room was filled with crying and the sound of murmurs; and puking in disgust) WADE: This is so brutal. They whipped and chopped his body? I can’t take this.  (immediately goes to the door to left the room, while gagging)

CATHY: Whoever did this is a demon. A normal person cannot do this brutality. Can someone please cover this body? I do not want to see it again. I don’t think I can have a good sleep after seeing a mutilated body. What if something like this happens to us too? (shaking) I want to go home. (sobbing)

[Dr, Lannister goes to Cathy’s side and hugs her tightly to comfort her.]

Dr. LANNISTER: We should catch this criminal. We can’t let him get loose or else we are the ones who are going to suffer. I remember you Mr. Wade having an argument with Mr. Benjamin last night. Maybe it was you who did this murder? 

[They are all looking at Wade with skepticism] WADE: That is a high accusation good sir, I have you know that I could sue you for that, I'm a man of high class, I know not of this brutality.

DR.LANNISTER: Who knows? [Dr, Lannister supported Cathy to walk and turn away from them. A subtle smirk can be seen while he is walking out of the room.]

Scene 2 : 

[Mr. Thomas get his phone from his pocket to call police and 112]

112: Hello!! 112 speaking! What's your emergency? 

Thomas: Hello 112, This is Thomas Callahan, retired police officer, There is a murder happened here at Hotel Laxarte. Can you give us an ambulance here as soon as possible?

112: Don't worry sir! I have noted your emergency, but I do not think that our team will be there soon because the snow is blocking the road!!

Thomas: That is so unfortunate to hear. Don’t you think there is another way to get here as soon as possible? People are panicking and scared of what might happen. 

112 : I am sorry sir but there is no chance of escaping this snow especially when a snowstorm is going on. We are doing our best to get there as soon as possible but while we are not there, please put the body in another room and lock it. I will contact you immediately if the snow blocking the road is lifted. 

Thomas: Thank you and please contact me quickly before something terrible happens again. (ended the call and put his cellphone on his pants’ pocket)

[Mr. Thomas don't have a choice but to sit there and ask the people around the victim]

Thomas: Alright everyone! I am going to interrogate you one by one. Mr. Wade, I will question you first. Let’s go to my room. 

[Both of them entered the room. Thomas closed the door and invited Mr. Wade sat in the chair. He poured coffee in a mug and offered it to the man. Mr. Wade gladly accepted the coffee. 

Thomas: So Mr. Wade, first of all can you tell me what are you doing in this hotel and what’s your connection with the victim? 

Wade: I visited this hotel because I loved visiting famous places and one of my employees told me about this place where I can relax and one of the famous hotels back then. You see Mr. Thomas, places like this have history . For example, this hotel is one of the grand places where all aristocrats stayed. It survived World War 1 and 2. This building is rich in history and I loved listening and learning about them. I just did not expect that old prick Benjamin would be here also. That person is my competitor and the one who stole one of my companies that is very special to me. That company has a sentimental value to me because that is my first business where I poured my blood, sweat and tears and that prick will just steal it from me like it was nothing.  (his voice is shaky because of anger and he keeps on rubbing his hands like he is washing it)

Thomas: I understand Mr. Wade. Dr. Lannister mentioned a while ago that you and the victim had an argument last night? Can you tell me what was the reason for this argument? 

Wade: Benjamin talked shit about my company, saying that it is just a waste of money and it doesn’t worth a thing. That made me angry and I lost control. I punched him and that’s all. (the rubbing of his hands is getting stronger and Thomas noticed it)

Thomas: Are you sure that’s the only thing you did? Can you tell me your alibi and who can prove it? And you are rubbing your hands strongly, why is that?

Wade: Oh this? (look at his hands and stop rubbing) This is nothing. Just my habit and Yes, I am his competitor and yes, I wanted to kill him so badly, but it doesn't mean that I would do that to him, I still have morals and dignity, unlike him. He is a sadistic person who kills people for amusement. I was just in my room the whole time. The door is locked so no one can prove it. 

Thomas: Can you please tell me about the “killing for amusement” you have said about Mr, Benjamin? Wade: This is just a rumor but some people in his company said that he saw Benjamin shoot a woman naked in the garage of his company. That woman is a daughter of a small company owner. They said that Benjamin did it because the parents of the woman don’t want to sell the company to Benjamin. It is all messed up and I do not want to talk about it. Are we done here? This is getting too long. I have to contact my investors.

Thomas: Okay, you can go now Mr. Wade. 

[Wade left the room smiling bitterly]

Scene 3 :

[Thomas goes to the lobby and calls Cathy. Cathy is shocked and nervous but Dr. Lannister comforts her. Cathy and Thomas went to the previous room and commenced the interrogation again.]

[While Thomas and Cathy are in the interrogation room, a fight breaks out between Dr. Lannister and Wade]

Dr. Lannister:  THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL, WE ARE GOING TO BELIEVE ON SUCH STATEMENT!  You must be the one who brutally killed Mr. Benjamin. We all witnessed how hard you punch him last night

Wade: Oh really? You are brave to accuse someone like me! Don’t act like you do not have a motive to kill that man. I know all the things he has done to you!

Dr. Lannister: You—

[Thomas left the room and interferes]

Thomas: Both of you calm your horses down, we can't just accuse each other of being a murderer without any concrete evidence that proves they killed Benjamin or whatsoever, the thing we could do for now is find the real culprit of this mess before this goes out of hand, and to do that we are continuing the interrogation on each of you so we could move forward.

[Dr. Lannister and Wade just stare at each other angrily and seated again on the chair]

Thomas: Now, if you can excuse me, I have an ongoing interview with Ms. Cathy so please shut your mouths. 

[Thomas goes back to the room]

Thomas: Sorry for that Ms. Cathy. Where did we leave again?

Cathy: It’s alright, Mr. Thomas. We left on what am I doing in this hotel and what is my connection to Benjamin. 

Thomas: Alright, please continue.

Cathy: Okay. Just like what I have said before, I am Mr. Benjamin’s secretary and I came with him here in the hotel to do my duties as his secretary. 

Thomas: Good. Did Mr. Benjamin did something unspeakable to you or did he offend you in some ways? And I want to know where are you last night while the murder is taking place. 

Cathy: No, he did not do anything to offend me. (shifts uncomfortably and starts to clung on her skirt) I was laying on my bed in my room and I didn't hear anything suspicious. The only thing that I heard is the bell ringing, saying that it's already 3am. 

[Thomas noticed the change in her attitude but he doesn't want to press further because he already guessed what happened between them]

Thomas: It is fine now Ms. Cathy, you can leave now. 

Cathy: Can I ask you a question Mr. Thomas?

Thomas: Yes, it is fine with me. 

Cathy: How about you Mr. Thomas care to share your own statement before the accident occurred? 

[Thomas is mildly shocked with the question because he didn’t expect someone will ask him this question in his entire life] 

Thomas: Well, I was in my room the entire time and the room  doesn't have extra doors nor a window for doing shady things like being involved in this mess, I was just here to relax to celebrate my retirement and suddenly I was brought up here because of this accident. Also, I can testify that I haven’t known Mr. Benjamin throughout my life. 

[Cathy seems satisfied with his answer and left the room]

[Thomas looked at the door and slouched on the couch while drinking coffee. He doesn’t expect that he will be mixed up with a terrible event that will affect his long-awaited retirement] 

Scene 4 : 

[Thomas got out of the room and asked for Dr. Lannister but Wade interrupted him]

Wade: Well what about that Gwaine? Doesn't he sound suspicious at all?

[Gwaine is shocked that his name got tangled in the mess and tried to stand up for himself] 

Gwaine: My good sir, I can assure you that I have not been involved in this gruesome murder. I am only 17 years old and a body like mine can not have the strength to chop off someone, especially with Mr. Benjamin’s size.

[The others agreed with him and looked ridiculously at Wade]

Wade: What? There are serial killers who are younger than him. Everything was possible. (slightly embarrassed with his ridiculous idea)

Cathy; Alright Gwaine’s out but don't butt in too much Gwaine this is for the adults to handle.

Gwaine: I can’t promise you that madam because I'm still going to do my best to help solve this case.

Thomas: So the one left here is only you, Dr. Lannister. Please go to my room so that we can start the interrogation.

Scene 5 : 

[The two entered the room]

THOMAS : So, Dr. Lannister, why are you here in the hotel and what is your connection with the victim?

DR.LANNISTER: I am Benjamin’s personal doctor and I came along with him in this hotel to assure that he will take his medicines just like what I have said. 

THOMAS: All right Dr. Lannister. So my next question is what did you do last night?

DR. LANNISTER : I am in Benjamin's room because I forgot to tell him about the opium that should be taken after he eats. I think it is already 1 in the morning. Then I left and went to my room to sleep. But I can’t sleep so I just go to my balcony to smoke. Then I went back to my bedroom and fell asleep. I just woke up when I heard Cathy’s screams and hurried to look at the scene. (he fixed the button  in his shirt)

[Thomas saw a glimpse of a large scar on Dr. Lannister’s chest]

THOMAS: Dr. Lannister please take off your shirt. 

DR. LANNISTER: Excuse me?

THOMAS: I just saw a large scar in your chest and I want to check it. 

[Dr. Lannister is shocked at what he hears and immediately looks down in his chest. He tried to hide it again but Thomas’ stern gaze made him nervous and uncomfortable so he took off his shirt.

THOMAS: Where did you get this scar? It looks like a recent wound. 

DR.LANNISTER: (winced lightly)  The truth is Mr. Benjamin is not the good guy that everyone talks about and admires. I got this wound yesterday from a whip that Mr. Benjamin used to hit me. He did it because I forgot to give him the medicines he wanted. But most times, he only uses it to make fun of me and punish me even though I haven’t done anything wrong. That asshole deserves what happened to him. I bet everyone is secretly relieved that he is finally dead. (angrily shouting) 

[Thomas looked at the man pitifully because of his sorry state. His thin body full of scars by getting whipped without a reason angered him. But he reminds himself but murder is not the answer for things like this]

THOMAS: I am very sorry to hear what happened to you Dr. Lannister. But we should remember that murder is still bad, whatever the reasons are. You can now leave. 

[Dr. Lannister left the room]

Scene 6 : 

[Thomas goes to the lobby] 

Mr. Thomas: I think that’s enough for now. Everybody should stay in their own rooms for now, before anything bad happens again. 

[Mr. Thomas walking to his room]

[Gwaine following him] Gwaine: Mr. Thomas! [Mr. Thomas turns around]. Please let me know if I could be of help. I really want to take part in solving this case. 

In Mr. Thomas’ mind: This kid’s ability is not a joke, though he’s been annoying and nosy,  I think he could really help solve this mystery. 

Mr. Thomas: Sure, Gwaine. This case is not an easy one; you and your great mind can be a really great help. Let’s go back to Mr. White’s room to gather more evidence.

[Thomas and Gwaine looked at Mr. Benjamin’s room. The body is now covered with blanket but the smell of the rotting body doubled. The two can’t take the smell and put handkerchiefs in their noses.] In Mr. Thomas’ mind: The whip marks of Dr. Lannister are similar to the ones in Mr. White’s body. But that is not possible at all because that means that the person who whipped Benjamin and Dr. Lannister are the same. But Dr. Lannister said that Benjamin is the one who whipped him. Something is not right.  Dr. Lannister was on the balcony, smoking. Considering the time duration and the weather, staying out on the balcony for a long time will not be possible since it's very cold outside, especially last night because of the snow storm. This case is getting weirder. It feels like many people are involved in this case.

[Thomas shoved his hand in his pocket and lighted his cigarette while thinking]

Scene 7 :

GAWAINE: Uh wait! (put his pointing finger to the temple of his forehead while remembering something)

THOMAS: What? (raised his left eyebrow)

GWAINE: Cathy told me that not all rooms have a bell, and even if there is a bell, it’s too far away to be heard by anybody unless you’re staying near the bell.

THOMAS: What is the sense of having a bell? (a moment of pause) Wait— (a face of enlightenment can be seen in Thomas’ face)

GWAINE: Mr. Thomas, the rooms are all soundproof in this hotel because war and rebellion is often happening in the era when they built this. So we can conclude that Cathy’s alibi is a lie and she is in Mr. Benjamin’s room because you can see and hear the church bell in his window. 

THOMAS: That is absolutely brilliant Gwaine! (claps loudly) I am glad that you are here to help. (tapping Gwaine’s shoulders happily) Dr. Lannister and Cathy’s alibis have holes in it so we can assume that they are part of this murder.  Alright, let’s go, we'll search the weapon the killer used to chop up Ben’s body.

GWAINE: I think the killer uses an ax knife to chop the body because the way Mr. Benjamin is chopped is similar to the way animals are chopped. 

THOMAS: Oh? And how did you know that? (looks at Gwaine suspiciously)

GWAINE: I grew up on a farm, Mr. Thomas. My whole life I have been surrounded by animals and butchers. So I know the pattern between knives and everything they cut into.

THOMAS: Hmm is that so? Okay I understand but I don’t think the ax knife is used here. Where do you think the killer obtained it, if that is what they used?

GWAINE: Maybe that weapon was buried under the heaps of snow?

THOMAS: (deeply thinking) Crap! I remember something. [Thomas is rapidly heading to the basement and Gwaine runs next to him]

THOMAS: Aha! I am not wrong, it's here.

GWAINE: (looking around and figuring out what Thomas is talking about) What are you talking about?

THOMAS: [Pointed the ax knife below the table]

GWAINE: H-how did this happen? (visibly shocked that he started to shake)

THOMAS: Happened, what? (doubting to Gwaine’s reaction)

GWAINE: I mean, how did you  know that there’s an ax here?

THOMAS: Of course, I made a tour by myself the day that I arrived here and saw two axes when I went here in the basement.

GWAINE: Oh, I see. (walks towards the drawer and opens the first layer) so glad that there are gloves here.

THOMAS: Give me one pair, I’ll bring the ax with me. (Gwaine gave him a pair of glove)

GWAINE: So, in conclusion, the killer used an ax knife since you said that there were two axes here, but obviously we just found one ax right now.

THOMAS: Very well said. (Thomas put on his gloves and began to leave the basement together with the ax)

GWAINE: What will you do with the ax?

THOMAS: I will use it as bait to our killers. The game is afoot Mr. Tyrell.  

Scene 8 

Thomas: Everyone I got news to tell, let's gather at the lobby, because I've figured out who's the one responsible for all of this. (Serious)

[Indistinct chatter]

Hotel staff: Come on!! Tell us who's the one responsible for all of this!! 

[All the people at the lobby agreed to one of the hotel staff]

Thomas: We've identified the object that the killer used to kill Mr. Benjamin (Everyone was shocked and Gwaine stepped in with an axe inside a plastic) we've recovered this evidence from the heaps of the snow.

[Indistinct chatter]

Thomas: Dr. Lannister and Cathy!! I've examined both of your testament regarding where were you when this act of crime happened.

Dr. Lannister: What was it Mr. Thomas? (he starts fidgeting and cracking his knuckles)

Cathy: Is everything alright Mr. Thomas? (nervous and tiny tone)

Thomas: Once again I would like the both of you to clarify your statements regarding your whereabouts when the gruesome act of murder took place.

[The both tremble in fear]

Dr. Lannister: Is there anything wrong with my statement Mr. Thomas (his pacing starts getting fast)

Cathay: There must be something wrong right? I mean how could you suspect us even after knowing our statements  (starts biting her nails)

Thomas: Calm down the both of you. I am not even saying anything yet, but with that kind of reaction it seems that somehow you both are related to this, and we are about to unfold whether your claims are of truth or not.

[Cathy suddenly collapses on the ground and Dr. Lannister immediately catch her]

Dr. Lannister: Honey! (goes to her immediately and starts to tap her cheeks lightly. Cathy starts to cry loudly)

Cathy: Ah-I didn't want t-to do this (starts gripping her hair) That man told us that everything will go perfect (gripping her hair strongly and starts to flail around) Ah-I was just ordered by man to chop Benjamin's body. He said that he deserves to be chopped because of what he did to me, to us. I didn’t do anything wrong (starts laughing like a maniac)

[Dr. Lannister just looked at the woman that he loved the most with soulless eyes. He wants to cry because of the miserable things they have gone through.]

Dr.Lannister : I do not regret chopping his body. I even tried to feed his body to the wolves but the snow prevented my plan. That man didn’t deserve to live. He will die and burn in hell to eternity.

[Dr. Lannister suddenly laughed like a crazy madman. At the same time, the policeman and the ambulance that Mr. Thomas called just arrived]

[Police and ambulance siren]

[Dr. Lannister and Cathy was taken by the police while others just looked at them with shock and pity]

Scene 9 : 

THOMAS : I want to thank you Gwaine for your outstanding performance. Without you, this case will drag for so long. Your wit is a very big help to me. (he extended his hands to shake it with Gwaine)

GWAINE : Oh it was nothing Mr. Thomas. I am just glad that I could use my mind to help you. (shakes Thomas’ hand)

[Thomas saw Gwaine's right hand had what seemed to be a recent whip wound.]

THOMAS : What happened to your hand? Where did you get it? That looks like a (pause; a concerning look) whip mark (in a small voice)

[Gwaine is surprised and while answering, he immediately covered it]

GWAINE : Before heading to the hotel, I was wounded. It is not a whip mark (laughing) I don't even know how to handle it. 

THOMAS : Oh okay! I understand (Thomas left)

[Thomas suddenly starts doubting the 17-year-old teenager. He goes back to the crime scene and he was shocked that the limited-edition Sherlock Holmes book that Gwaine wants to borrow doesn’t exist]

THOMAS : I remembered Cathy saying that some man ordered them to chop Benjamin’s body. I thought that she was just using this as an excuse but after examining what happened here. I can assume that Gwaine, a young man who possessed a brilliant mind,  can be the only person who directed this brutal murder case. But what is his reason? Why did he kill Benjamin? I cannot believe that some teenager just fooled me. Guessing the whip marks on his hand are the result from the whip, I can deduce that he is the one who whipped Benjamin but because of his inexperience, he is also wounded. 

[The door opened and closed quietly. Gwaine is now looking at Mr. Thomas with dark cold eyes that looks like a predator who is ready to kill his victim]

GWAINE : That is an amazing deduction Mr. Thomas (slowly claps) I cannot believe that someone like you is in the police force. All people there are either stupid or doesn’t have any guts to do their job properly.

[Thomas is surprised by the sudden voice of Gwaine echoing in the room. He looked immediately at him and got goosebumps on how cold he looked. It is really different from the young man who smiles brightly at him from the day he arrived at this hotel]

THOMAS : I need an explanation from you about why you do all of this. I trusted you. 

[Gwaine laughed in a very scary but broken way and started to tell his backstory.]

Scene 10 :

Gwaine : (laughs maniacally) Well Mr. Thomas, I guess you should not trust strangers so easily, especially from an innocent looking young boy. You know, the thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies. Anyways, you asked why did I constructed a plan to execute a murder of Benjamin White? 

It’s just simple. He deserved to die after what he did to my precious older sister. That man ruined my entire life by killing the only person in this world who cares about me. After learning that asshole raped and shoot my sister, I was enraged. I was blinded by anger and guilt because I am not there to protect her. My parents committed suicide after learning that their favorite daughter and heir is killed, not caring about their other son who will be left and live as an orphan for the rest of his life. 

[Gwaine inhales sharply and sits on the bed cross-legged. He look so pained after remembering the events that he badly wanted to bury in his mind]

I proceeded to spy and learn everything about him, including his victims. After a lot of research, I decided to convince Cathy Zegarra, the woman who is forced to be his secretary because her family is taken hostage by his people and Dr. Corlys Lannister, the abused doctor of Benjamin and the secret husband of Cathy, to help him kill the man.

[Gwaine dramatically sighs but a single tear glistened in his cheeks]

So what did you think Mr. Thomas? Is it tragic? Do you think I deserved what happened to me? Do you still think that Benjamin should be alive after what happened? Are you one of those people who says that justice is fair and everything must be punished? WHERE WERE ALL OF YOU WHEN MY SISTER IS SUFFERING UNDER THE CLAWS OF THAT MONSTER? WHERE WERE YOU WHEN ALL OF BENJAMIN'S VICTIMS ARE SUFFERING IN SILENCE BECAUSE THEY CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT BECAUSE THE AUTHORITIES WILL JUST SIDE THE MAN WHO IS ABLE TO GIVE THEM LARGE AMOUNT OF BRIBE TO KEEP THEIR MOUTH SHUT? 

Justice is not always served especially to the people who didn't have the ability to pay handsome bribes for the authorities that should be the one protecting them. 

Thomas : (struggling to speak) Uhm…I must say, I am speechless and I am giving my heartfelt condolences for what your family and the other victims of Benjamin experienced but still, why didn't you tell me sooner? If you told me, maybe I can get some of my close contacts to investigate and arrest him. 

Gwaine : (laughs dryly) Are you really that naive Mr. Thomas? You've worked as a police officer for 20 years and you still didn't know how the police system works? I am sure that they will just brush you off or maybe they will just try to silence you, either by bribing or killing you. No one can go against this monster, and only by killing him will end this plague. 

[Thomas can't think of anything to say and just stayed quiet because deep inside he knew that Gwaine was right. No one can go against a rich and famous business man even do he did many evil deeds that no one can count)]

Gwaine: If you haven't anything to say, I will just leave here immediately. My revenge is done and I hope that monster's soul will slowly burn in hell. 

Thomas : Wait Gwaine, do not leave! You still have to face the consequences of your actions! Everything will be alright, just come with me.

Gwaine : No! I know you really are a kind man and have respectable values but that isn't enough for me. I don't see the need to face the consequences of what I have done when what I just did is to get rid of an evil being in this world. I am glad to have met and worked with you Mr. Thomas. Till the next day we meet again! 

[Gwaine jumped from the window, hoping to escape but instead of a soft snow, he landed on steel fences where his entire body got impaled. Thomas looked at the boy’s body pitifully and he suddenly noticed a small smile on the boy’s face.]

Thomas : So that’s what he is aiming for huh? He confessed what he did and jumped to his death. He doesn’t want to face the consequences for something he believes is right. I guess that he really just wanted to avenge her precious older sister.

[Thomas just looked at the black sky and lighted his cigarette, realizing how his most awaited vacation turned into a nightmare that he will never forget]

THE END.

[abwwia]

Meet Rebecca Morris, a 2024 Joan Mitchell Fellow.

Morris writes: “I am interested in how a large painting can create a physical experience of protection and containment. I thin my oil paint to the transparency of watercolor and apply it to canvases as they lay flat on the floor. This method allows me to control the paint’s liquidity, activating a quick and improvisational way of mark making.”

Rebecca Morris has dedicated her thirty-year career to the exploration of abstraction. Using the basic elements of stroke, surface, and frame to question the underlying pretenses of abstract painting, Morris exposes the tensions between the flat surface of the work and the painting as discrete object. Her solo exhibitions include: a recent traveling survey exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and The Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, curated by Jamillah James; 356 S. Mission Road, Los Angeles; The Blaffer Museum, Houston, TX; LAXArt, Los Angeles; Kunsthalle Lingen, Germany; The Renaissance Society at The University of Chicago, IL. Significant group exhibitions include: Inherent Structures, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH; Made in L.A., Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the 2014 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, NY. Morris is a recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, The Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, and The California Community Foundation Fellowship for Visual Arts, among other awards. She is represented by Regen Projects, Los Angeles; Bortolami, New York; Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago; and Trautwein Herleth, Berlin, Germany. She is a Professor of Painting and Drawing in the Department of Art at UCLA. Learn more about her work: @mrs.Kozaki.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/share/LNtgURiTV4q4cmEw/?mibextid=WC7FNe

[lboogie1906]

John Outterbridge (March 12, 1933 – November 12, 2020) was an artist and community activist who lived and worked in Los Angeles. His work explores the issues surrounding personal identity such as family, community, and the environment through the use of discarded materials.

He was the first director of the Watts Towers Art Center (1975-92). His sculptural work has been reviewed in The New York Times and his work is owned by many prominent museums.

He was born and grew up in Greenville, North Carolina. His father made a living by recycling metal machine parts and equipment, and he was exposed to recycling materials as a result.

His college education began at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, where he studied to become a mechanical engineer. A year later, he joined the military, where his interest in art developed seriously. He enrolled in the Chicago Academy of Art and the American Academy of Art.

During a tour of duty in Europe, He visited museums and painted street scenes from life in his spare time. His paintings were well-liked, and he painted murals and artwork for offices, clubs, and American schools.

He appeared in many group and solo exhibitions, such as The Rag Factory (2011) at LAXART, his first solo exhibition since 1966. The Rag Factory was an installation using rags that Outterbridge collected from the streets and factories of downtown Los Angeles, by tying, draping, folding, gathering, and suspending them.

In 2012, the California African American Museum gave their lifetime achievement award to him. He was named a United States Artists Gracie Fellow for Visual Arts. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Otis College of Art and Design. He received fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation and Getty Founda. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[fettesans]

Left, Martin Maeller, UNTITLED (redeemer), 2022, silver plated bronze, PVC, 250 x 2,5 cm. From the exhibition Nervous Dust at Kunstverein Göttingen, 2022. Photographed by Jan Kolský. Via. Right, Tiziana Krüger, imitations, position I–VIII, 2022, shrinking tube, PVC, concrete, 180 – 250 cm. Via.

--

On the last Sunday of March, some noteworthy members of Los Angeles’s art world arrived at the nonprofit Laxart and sought their places at a long white conference table positioned in the center of a gallery. Among them were artists A. L. Steiner, Lincoln Tobier, Martine Syms, and Frances Stark; the Museum of Contemporary Art’s assistant curator, Lanka Tattersall; and writer and CalArts professor Michael Ned Holte. In front of them on the table were thick transcripts: they’d come at the behest of the nonprofit space’s interestingly titled “Curator of Discursive Programming,” Eric Stone, to re-create “Services: The Conditions and Relations of Service Provision in Contemporary Project Oriented Artistic Practice,” a two-day-long event that artist Andrea Fraser co-organized 22 years ago (January 22– 23, 1994) at the Kunstraum Luneburg, a small university gallery in Germany. (...)

Discussion had turned to the reactionary new right and how cultural critique filters down to the popular press when Steiner-as-Fraser interrupted: “I have to make a very important point, which is if we don’t stop in the next five minutes, we won’t eat.” They didn’t stop.

In introducing the program, Stone told the audience it was an “endurance” project, and that they were free to come and go as they pleased. Very few left. (...)

“I would like to examine the idea of how communities are formed based on something that’s initiated […] not necessarily by a fixed institution,” said Syms, as Green.

Steiner-as-Fraser wondered how artistic skill could serve “democratically organized groups.” Holte-as-Barry wanted to talk about activist artists involved in the AIDS crisis. But Eric Stone interrupted. It was nearly 6 p.m.; the readers had been at it for hours.

Catherine G. Wagley, from Paying More Than Lip Service: Artists, Curators Restage an Andrea Fraser and Helmut Draxler Deep Cut in Los Angeles, for ARTnews, April 11, 2016. Via.

[blogdemocratesjr]

Joan of Arc at Hashmasks & Joan of Arc by LOSTPOETS

We kept the drinkables moving, for that would please the Bailly and the landlord; and old Laxart and D’Arc got to feeling quite comfortable, but without being what you could call tipsy. They got out the presents which they had been buying to carry home—humble things and cheap, but they would be fine there, and welcome. And they gave to Joan a present from Pere Fronte and one from her mother—the one a little leaden image of the Holy Virgin, the other half a yard of blue silk ribbon; and she was as pleased as a child; and touched, too, as one could see plainly enough. Yes, she kissed those poor things over and over again, as if they had been something costly and wonderful; and she pinned the Virgin on her doublet, and sent for her helmet and tied the ribbon on that; first one way, then another; then a new way, then another new way; and with each effort perching the helmet on her hand and holding it off this way and that, and canting her head to one side and then the other, examining the effect, as a bird does when it has got a new bug. And she said she could almost wish she was going to the wars again; for then she would fight with the better courage, as having always with her something which her mother’s touch had blessed.

—Mark Twain, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc

[visualandpublicart]

JOIN US ON THURS., February 16, 2023 FOR VPA’s VISITING ARTIST SERIES | FEATURING Felix Quintana!

Lecture date: February 16, 2023

Time: 6-8pm

Location: VPA Complex, Build. 70

Free & Open to the Public!

Register for Event: Advance Registration/Self-Attestation*

For ADA Accommodations: Carol Silveira at casilveira@csumb.edu 

Lecture Title: Cruising Below Sunset: Mapping Everyday Hustle

Lecture Description: Quintana will discuss his ongoing photographic series Los Angeles Blueprints and his strategies for mapping contentious public space through reclaiming and remixing surveillance imagery. Quintana will also discuss his recent projects, Cruising Below Sunset and Love is the given of the place, where he uses collage and installation to weave his unique visual vocabulary of the everyday vernacular of Los Angeles.

About Artist: Felix Quintana (b.1991, Lynwood, CA) is a first generation Salvadoran-American visual artist and educator. Quintana’s multidisciplinary work spans photography, digital media, installation, and collage. He received an MFA in Photography from San Jose State University and a BA from Cal Poly Humboldt. Solo exhibitions include Residency Art Gallery, Cypress College, and SOMArts Cultural Center. Select group exhibitions include LAXART, Vincent Price Art Museum, Center for Photography Woodstock, San Jose ICA, and SFSU Art Gallery, among others. His work has been featured in The Guardian, NPR, Los Angeles Times, KCET, and Hyperallergic, among others. Quintana’s work is in the permanent collections of Oakland Museum of California, Altamed Art Collection, and Cal Poly Humboldt. He lives, works, and teaches in Los Angeles.

Artist’s Website: https://felixquintana.com

[sandrateitge]

Steffani Jemison & Justin Hicks (Mikrokosmos) Another time, this time, one time 24 Jun – 2 Jul 2022

CCA Berlin  – Center for Contemporary Arts

Formed in 2016 as the collaborative platform of composer Justin Hicks and artist Steffani Jemison, Mikrokosmos mines the history of Black music. This ongoing project has manifested in many forms: workshop, study session, concert, listening session, book, prompt, score. The exhibition at CCA Berlin presents two related compositions inspired by Gil Scott-Heron’s  ambitious songbook. Another time, this time, one time (Aaliyah, Barbara, Brandy, Chaka, David, Erykah, Gil, Lionel, Loleatta, Mariah, Marvin, Stevie) tracks a small group of melismatic* gestures across bodies and time; it is a search for the "mother run." Another time, this time, one time, the first Mikrokosmos LP, uses Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson’s “We Almost Lost Detroit” (1977) as the raw material for R&B songwriting. Like a game in which new words are formed from existing letters, these live compositions and recompositions take the form of musical studies, samples, and improvisations. Jemison and Hicks reflect upon a wide range of subjects, including Scott-Heron’s biography, police violence in the United States, and the nuclear catastrophe that threatened the city of Detroit in 1966. *Melisma (Greek: lit. 'song'; from melos, 'song, melody') is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referred to as melismatic. An informal term for melisma is a vocal run.

Justin Hicks is a multidisciplinary artist and performer who uses music and sound to investigate themes of presence, identity, and value. His work has been featured at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Performance Space New York, The Public Theater, JACK, National Black Theatre, The Bushwick Starr, MoMA, Dixon Place, festival Steirischer Herbst (Graz, Austria), Western Front Society (Vancouver, BC), MASS MoCA, The Whitney Museum of American Art,  Nottingham Contemporary (Nottingham, UK), The Albertinum - SKD (Dresden, DE),  The Highline, and The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts among others. Hicks has collaborated with notable visual artists, musicians, and theater-makers including Abigail DeVille, Charlotte Brathwaite, Kaneza Schaal, Meshell Ndegeocello, Cauleen Smith, Helga Davis, and Ayesha Jordan. He was the Drama Desk-nominated composer for Mlima’s Tale by Lynn Nottage (The Public Theater 2018 dir. Jo Bonney). His practice with artist Steffani Jemison, Mikrokosmos, has deployed commissioned performances and exhibitions internationally.  Hicks was a member of Kara Walker’s 6-8 Months Space and holds a culinary diploma from ICE in New York City.  He was born in Cincinnati, OH, and is based in the Bronx, NY.

Steffani Jemison was born in Berkeley, California and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her work has been the subject of solo exhibitions and special projects at JOAN Los Angeles (2022), Contemporary Art Center Cincinnati (2021), the Everson Museum (2021), the Stedelijk Museum (2019), Nottingham Contemporary (2018), Jeu de Paume and CAPC Bordeaux (both 2017), MoMA, New York (2015), RISD Museum, Providence (2015), and LAXART, Los Angeles (2013) among others. Her work has been included in numerous group exhibitions, including the Guggenheim Museum (2021), the Whitney Biennial, New York (2019), the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (2019), and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (2017). It is in numerous public collections, including the Guggenheim Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the San Jose Museum of Art, the Albright-Knox Museum, the Stedelijk Museum, and others. Jemison currently lives and works in Brooklyn and is an Associate Professor at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts.

*Steffani Jemison & Justin Hicks' ​Another time, this time, one time is part of CCA Berlin's Stirring Up Trouble, a program unfolding until the end of June, and which aims to host, restage, and think alongside four distinct artistic positions that foreground acts of listening and their manifold potentialities. Through their practices, invited artists engage listening as a method of witnessing unseeable formations of violence (Lawrence Abu Hamdan); an invitation to inhabit tropical geographies otherwise (Kent Chan); an everyday practice of place-making and communitarian belonging (Black Obsidian Sound System); and a regenerative archival portal into shared inheritances and histories of struggle (Steffani Jemison and Justin Hicks). By tuning in to organized sounds, accidental leaks, and enforced silences, they conceive modes of aesthetic experience that challenge common perceptions of artmaking, and trace roadmaps to resonant imaginaries. Stirring Up Trouble is generously supported by the foundation Between Bridges. Co-conceived with Edwin Nasr.

[khalilslimm]

*Put Me In Your Art Show* I go by Khalil Slim and i am an artist based in Los Angeles. share with art lovers/curators .peace and love ✌🏾

Instagram is Khalilslimm

[havesexwithghosts]

The Forrest of the Poets, acrylic on canvas drop cloth, 14 x 16′, 2018

[collezionedicose]

Relax Into the Invisible, Barbara Stauffacher Solomon’s exhibition at LAXART

[contemporaryartdaily]

Barbara Stauffacher Solomon at LAXART

[jerrydoby]

#Repost @artbattlelosangeles with @get_repost ・・・ Incredible piece by Ariel Virgez @blackbrainla from the last #artbattle #losangeles @exchangeLA Want to paint at the next artbattle? Apply to paint artbattle.com/register Check out more upcoming events at artbattle.com . . . . . #AB1654 #losangeles #LAart #LAartists #LAevents #818 #323 #213 #ExchangeLA #lalife #lax #laxart #artbattleLA #streetartLA  #LACalifornia #californiaart #californiaartist #artbattlelosangeles #livepainting #painting #fineart #20minutepainting #artistsofig #paintingcompetition #artauction #fredrixcanvas <<< #dope events and amazing competitive artists mix that with #hiphop and ... wow

[longlistshort]

The High Curbs- Empty Bottles

Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (11/30-12/3/17)-

Thursday

Writer Raquel Gutiérrez will be giving a walk-through and discussing certain works from Hammer Museum's exhibition Radical Women. Later in the evening there is a film screening of various experimental films created by Latin American women artists (both events free)

FYOHNA is opening for Wildling at Resident

CAFAM is hosting CraftNight at Angel City Brewery where you can have a pint while enjoying an air-dry clay workshop ($10)

Summer Moon and Mereki are opening for Dhani Harrison at the El Rey Theatre

Prism Tats is opening for Dommengang at The Hi Hat

Downtown Boys are playing with Generacion Suicida and Ex-Stains at the Echoplex

iam8bit gallery is having its 3rd Annual Handmade Holiday Show

Friday

Metro Art is showing Ava DuVernay's documentary This is the Life at Union Station (free)

Slothrust are playing at The Echo with And The Kids and SLUGS

Hundred Waters are playing at the El Rey Theatre with Julianna Barwick and Banoffee

Blitzen Trapper are playing at the Bootleg Theater with Lilly Hiatt

Saturday

DocuSlate, a day dedicated to documentary films presented by NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFLMA), is $10 per program or for $25 you can see all the programs and enjoy an open bar

Hauser & Wirth is having a Holiday Market (also Sunday)

Union Station is also having a Holiday Market with live entertainment, a beer garden and Santa

The Dandy Warhols are playing with POW! at the Teragram Ballroom

HUNNY's Winter Talent Show at the Echoplex includes bands Potty Mouth and King Shelter

Sunday

The High Curbs are opening for Hockey Dad at the Bootleg Theater with Jurassic Shark

Artist Alec Soth will be in conversation with photographic historian Kate Albers at Arcana with a book signing to follow

LAXART will be screening States of Crisis at the City of West Hollywood Library- a video program that includes videos by artists from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Honduras and Peru reflecting on political, economic and ecological crises. This program is in conjunction with the exhibition Pacific Standard Time LA/LA: Video Art in Latin America at LAXART. (free)

John Waters performs A John Waters Christmas, his one man show, at The Comedy Store

[onnamusha777]

Posted @withrepost • @whitewitch_777 This is also taken from her page, she say in her post how she don't want to be in a show with a man but yet she can sell nothing without him. But he needs Keanu. She contradicts herself. #alexandragrant #grantlove#alexandragrantstudio #lacmamuseum #andywarholfoundation #hammer_museum #moca #gettyentertainment #grantalexandra #gettymuseum #gettyvilla #gettyreportage #laxart https://www.instagram.com/p/B6HnuEfjz9J/?igshid=gs61lab8bk4e

[kakaji]

Lisa Williamson