Live
Art Pick of the Week:
Garnet Hertz
Yes, a cockroach-driven
robot could signal new depths in tech geekery. In Control and Communication
in the Animal and the Machine, Garnet Hertz develops a “mobile robot system
literally controlled by the bodily movements and intelligence of a giant Madagascan
hissing cockroach.” The roach is strapped onto a modified trackball, which,
in conjunction with infrared sensors, controls a three-wheeled robot. This lowly-cyborg-creatures
series started with Fly, wherein Hertz implanted a Web server into a
dead housefly, which would illuminate when its site was being accessed. In Posthuman
System #1, he outfitted a living Madagascan hissing cockroach with a wireless
video camera, microphone and 2.4GHz transmitter. Though he has also wired a
frog to the Internet, so far Hertz’s cyborg experiments have stopped short of
using warm-blooded creatures. At Machine Project, 1200-D N. Alvarado St., Echo
Park; Fri., Nov. 19, 8 p.m. (213) 483-8761 or www.machineproject.com/garnethertz/index.php.
—Ron Athey
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The
Gaede Trio at the Harvey Aluminum House
It’s hard to
say which aspect of this “Chamber Music in Historic Sites” concert gets star
billing: the Gaede Trio or the Harvey Aluminum House. The award-winning German
ensemble performs Mozart’s update of a Largo and Fugue by Bach, arranged for
string trio; Beethoven’s Serenade in D, Op. 8; and what has become their signature
piece, Eugene Ysay’s trio “Le Chimay.” Written in 1927 but making its debut
after the Belgian violinist/composer’s death, it was never performed after its
premiere because no score existed. Several years ago, the Gaede Trio discovered
an edition in handwritten parts and set about restoring the work to playable
form. You’ll get to hear it at the Harvey Aluminum House, architect John Lautner’s
contribution to metallica exotica, designed in 1950 for aluminum magnate Leo
Harvey, inventor of the pop-top can. Parking and shuttle at Griffith Park, Fern
Dell Dr. lot; Sun., Nov. 21, 2 & 3:30 p.m.; $84 & $64. (213) 477-2929
or www.dacamera.org.
—Mary Beth
Crain
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L.A.
Fest of Sketch
If there’s a theme associated
with most of the 20 groups from around the country performing at the third annual
L.A. Fest of Sketch, it’s that they serve up a bit more meat in their sketches
than your average satire — an insight into the human condition. For example,
in one scenario by Troop, a carnivalesque company from Boston, the tribulations
of a business executive are juxtaposed with those of a 6-year-old orphan. And,
of course, the line of decency has to get crossed somewhere. “There’s this female
duo, Keilly & Roeters, who feature a talking vagina onstage,” says Lawrin
Goulston Salazar, who produces the event with her husband, Joe. “Anyone who
wants a talking vagina, we’ll be selling them in the lobby after the show.”
At the McCadden Place Theater, 1157 N. McCadden Pl., Hlywd.; hourly shows on
Thurs.-Fri., starting at 7 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., starting at 6 p.m.; thru Nov. 21;
$10 first show, $7 second, and $5 thereafter. (323) 463-2942 or www.4LAFS.com.
—Anthony
D’Alessandro
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Kids Pick
of the Week:
Dan
Zanes and Friends vs. Ralph's World
Two of kiddie
music’s biggest draws are in town this weekend. Don’t panic — their shows are
on different days, so you can hit both. But just as the Beatles and Stones had
their camps, these acts don’t necessarily appeal to the same type of tyke. Ralph
Covert is more clean-cut and, dare we say, square, though his songs are clever
and often adorable (like those Mop Tops from Liverpool). Dan Zanes, with his
silly hairdo and duets with Lower East Side rock heroes like Lou Reed and Deborah
Harry, draws toddlers whose parents were singing Ramones songs to them in utero
and is, like the Stones in the ‘60s, your more trippy — better make that “skippy”
— choice. Dan Zanes at UCLA’s Royce Hall, Wstwd.; Sun., Nov. 21, 11 a.m. &
4 p.m.; $20, $10 under 12. (310) 825-2101. Ralph’s World at El Cid, 4212 Sunset
Blvd., Silver Lake; Sat., 11 a.m.; Nov. 13-27; $10. (323) 668-0318.
—Libby Molyneaux
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