Hammer Blog

Nine Lives artist Lisa Anne Auerbach shares her reflections on Los Angeles, art-making and commuting by bicycle in this weekly blog.

Starting Things
Monday, April 6


I put seeds in dirt back in February and have been keeping them under the grow-lights since then and today I put a few in pots. I'm growing Prudence Purple, San Marzano, Arkansas Traveler and Ceylon tomatoes. Also some hot peppers, basil, and some flowers. I always feel like I'm doing something illegal when I turn on the grow-lights. Sometimes we shop for organic fertilizer or bug killer at the hydroponic supply shop not too far from here. Their displays feature mostly tomatoes, but I don't think that's the crop most of their customers are growing. That they have the best selection of natural and organic products makes sense, and I like shopping at an independent retailer. Our very local store down the

HAMMER MUSEUM PRESENTS A CHARLES BURCHFIELD EXHIBITION
CURATED BY ARTIST ROBERT GOBER
On View October 4 - January 3, 2010

This fall the Hammer Museum, in conjunction with the Burchfield Penney Art Center, re-examines the work of American artist Charles Burchfield with Heat Waves in a Swamp: The Paintings of Charles Burchfield, an exhibition curated by artist Robert Gober. The exhibition is on view in Los Angeles from October 4, 2009 through January 3, 2010 and is scheduled to travel to the Burchfield Penney Art Center in Buffalo, New York March 5 – May 23, 2010 and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City in the summer of 2010. Featuring over eighty major watercolors, drawings, and oil paintings drawn from important private and public collections, this exhibition also weaves together myriad ephemeral objects including doodles, journals, scrapbooks, and letters from the Burchfield archive at the Burchfield Penney

Nine Lives artist Lisa Anne Auerbach shares her reflections on Los Angeles, art-making and commuting by bicycle in this weekly blog.

Cat Books for Weekend Reading
Friday, March 27

Nine Lives is not a show about cats, but who can resist the idea that it might be? We at The Meow firmly believe that the feline is the highest form of animal perfection on this planet. Their sweet little eyes, their beautifully shaped mouths, sweet saggy bellies, precious paws, graceful tails, sandpaper tongues, curving claws, elegant coats.... what could be better? Certainly those needy, drooling, smelly, loud, messy members of that "other" domesticated species (you know, the one that 90% of the pet store caters to) have nothing to recommend itself, except to those perhaps who enjoy the noise and stink and the animal recognition that they, indeed, are special.

A cat doesn't care, unless there's food involved. It's

Nine Lives artist Lisa Anne Auerbach shares her reflections on Los Angeles, art-making and commuting by bicycle in this weekly blog.

Anger at the Hammer
Thursday, March 19

The Satanists were out in full force at the Hammer tonight for the talk and films about Aleister Crowley by filmmaker and man-about-town Kenneth Anger. The courtyard looked like a black mass or something, with all the cauldrons, human sacrifices, sheepsblood, etc. What a mess.





Demons lurked in every corner, jumping into photographs when the subject would least expect it, the beastly version of the light-hearted "bunny ears" sprouting from behind unsuspecting heads. We almost had to call an exorcist, but then the line started moving, and the crowds of doom and gloom swept into the pink seats of the Billy Wilder. Inside the theater, things were just as grim and horrific, with the throngs of black-hearted revelers prowling and growling

Nine Lives artist Lisa Anne Auerbach shares her reflections on Los Angeles, art-making and commuting by bicycle in this weekly blog.


Pink Seats and Dirty Feet
Monday, March 16

Went to the Hammer twice last week and both times went looking at shoes on the way home. On Thursday I went to check out Erin Cosgrove's video piece. I know I shouldn't brag about such things, but this was probably the first time that I ever went to a museum and sat down for nearly an hour to watch a projection. I am usually a pacer, an impatient viewer, or I'm hungry or tired, or whatever. Plus it makes my eyes feel weird and sometimes gives me a headache. This time I was prepared, well fed, knew what I was getting into, and in fact made a superspecial trip to the museum to see her piece. And, wow, totally