Hammer Blog

"I am sorry that I missed your Hammer performance, but to be real honest, ASMR makes me so nervous I wanna run screaming into a river."
This was a text I received from a dear friend named Erica in the immediate wake of my ASMR-focused Whisper Report in the Hammer's main gallery last month. I laughed appreciatively, as I had been anticipating a lot of negative feedback. The phenomenon of ASMR is often difficult to explain to those who don't feel it; the tingles are understood easily enough, but the meditative relaxation of it is something that I feel unnerves those who aren't blessed with the 'condition'. Heading into the project, I had braced for the absolute worst, as many people close to me have expressed the same discomfort with ASMR as Erica. What caught me by surprise, however, was the overwhelmingly positive response I received from those

Recently I invited Li Zhenwei, a young Beijing artist, to exhibit at Telescope. He is a 2011 graduate from CAFA, Central Academy of Fine Art, in Beijing, and had never had a solo show outside of the Academy setting. I love him as an artist and as a person. He is a serious, thoughtful, and cares more about his work than becoming a fixture on the scene. There were many frustrations and roadblocks along the way to realize his plan but I kept pushing him to keep going and not give up on it or settle for less. Finally with a deadline approaching we hit a brick wall and had to make some fast decisions and creatively compromise on his vision. But ultimately we produced a fantastic show and something we were both very proud of. When the show came to an end he told me that he was

Over the years, I have attended several evenings presented by Hammer Public Programs. They are always interesting and thought provoking, sometimes for several days, weeks, and even years, afterwards.
The Hammer Watch + Listen Archive allows the viewer or listener to revisit incredible ideas and phenomenal discussions. The readings and lectures live on in the archives; it's truly a great gift to the public. Accessing the files of the archive is like going to an extraordinary produce section of a really smart grocery store. You are bound to find something in there that will make an incredible soup.

The HAMMER KCHUNG REMIX Project

At first, I really didn't know what remixing the Hammer Watch + Listen Archive would sound like. For some reason, I couldn't imagine what I would do with these recordings. Why would someone want to listen to a remix of, for example, a talk about who pays taxes? Especially

Show us how the arts have restored your neighborhood + you could win an Arts ReSTORE LA prize pack!
-Just Tweet or Instagram your pictures with the hashtag #artsrestore be entered to win!
-All submissions will be posted on the Hammer Museum tumblr and LA2050’s blog and displayed at the Open Forum pop-up during Arts ReStore LA: Westwood.
-Deadline to enter is November 8.
-Contestants are invited to a reception at Open Forum on Saturday, November 16 at 7:00pm to view the completed display and claim a photo magnet of his or her submission. A winner will be announced during the reception.

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Arts ReSTORE LA: Westwood—a new initiative by the Hammer Museum that aims to re-energize Westwood Village with the creative force of local Angeleno artisans and craftspeople. From November 1 to 24, the Hammer will fill several empty storefronts in Westwood, donated by the property owners to this project, with an array of

When do you get too old for something? When should you stop indulging in seemingly pointless media? Is any media really pointless? These are questions that I often ask myself as I prepare for the panel discussion on Pokemon, to be held at the Hammer Museum on Saturday the 26th at 1:00pm.
Pokemon was created by Japanese game designer Satoshi Tajiri and released onto the Gameboy in 1996. In the world of Pokemon, young children set out on a journey to catch and harness the power of a vast array of super powered animals and then train these monsters for friendly battles with other "trainers" like themselves. Players can also trade and battle Pokemon with other players in real life through various modes of system connectivity. Satoshi Tajiri was an avid hiker and bug collector as a child, and many of the places he spent time in as a