Hammer Blog

It isn’t a new idea, in fact it is a phenomena that has already swept through Europe, but still you might laugh when I tell you that we are about to embark upon an all-out dance party in the middle of the day among the corporate office buildings of Westwood.

As a part of the KCHUNG residency, DJs proposed offering the hard working office folk in the Hammer’s neighboring buildings a respite in the middle of the day in the form of an upbeat DJ set for listening and especially dancing. Allison Agsten, Curator of Public Engagement at the Hammer, and known dancing fiend, decided this was a fabulous idea and the KCHUNG Lunchtime Disco was born. Throughout October and November from 12:30-1:30pm, in the Hammer Lobby, a diverse array of KCHUNG DJs will blast their jams and raise the roof. I think as a fan of female empowerment

The rickshaw, a two-wheeled human drawn passenger cart, appeared in China in the mid to late 1800s.  Their popularity began to decline in the 1920s and by 1950 and the founding of the PRC most manual rickshaws were gone, perhaps in part because they had become a symbol of oppression of the working class. But the two and three-wheeled cycle and other animal and motor drawn vehicles are still in use today.

Until recent times, bicycles were the dominant form of transportation and moved through cities like huge schools of fish. Ever since I moved to Beijing in 2008 I have witnessed an ever-growing population of cars and highways. But in the midst of this new society surging into the future one can still find remnants of the past. It is not uncommon to see a horse pulled wagon hauling loads of bricks or mounds of coconuts down

ASMR is, by nature, somewhat of a private topic. Only within the last year or so have I dared mention it to anyone socially, as the physical nature of it lands it firmly in the realm of "body talk". To casually mention that your body is autonomously stimulated by certain quotidian sounds is to then be expected to explain yourself in depth, and ASMR is yet unexplained by science. Thankfully, the miracle that is YouTube has provided community to those of us with a penchant for the delicious sound of a whispered voice, slow-turned page, or make-up brushes clattered around in a soft fabric bag. And with YouTube community comes exposure, growth and some extremely strange quirks.
Allow me to reverse a bit, and acclimate you.
ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. It is the sensation of tingling and an allegedly consequential sense of peace that is caused

The third annual Ask A Curator Day took place Wednesday, September 18, 2013.  622 museums in 37 countries participated, resulting in over 26,000+ tweets.  The Hammer joined the conversation with 60+ questions answered between Aram Moshayedi, Emily Gonzalez, Leslie Cozzi, and Allison Agsten.  We were overwhelmed with the thoughtful, smart questions, and the passion that this project generated.  This is visitor engagement at it’s finest, and a true example of the power of Twitter and social media.  Big thanks to Mar Dixon for spearheading the project. Full transcript below.

Side note: We kept our curators powered with Founts and 800 Degrees Pizza.



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---- 11AM-12PM | ARAM MOSHAYEDI | Curator ----

Aram recently came to the Hammer from the gallery at REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater). His first exhibition for the Hammer is Pentti Monkkonen: Selected Works from the Baldwin Hills Space Association and he

KCHUNG Radio's residency at the Hammer Museum officially kicks off tonight with the inaugural Whisper Report. During the residency, members of KCHUNG Radio will blogging here on the Hammer Blog, sharing their insights, interests, and anything else that strikes their fancy.
I am following the station's preparations for the residency through Skype and email from a somewhat remote location. I am in Polotsk, Belarus, near Russia. It is fascinating to be privy to the U.S. discourse while simultaneously immersed in the Russian media space; Belarus and Russia have an open border, and Russian TV channels are broadcast alongside the Belarusian ones. This is a fairly serious international situation we are finding ourselves in, and it seems prescient that the first event of the residency will be a Whisper Report by Gabie Strong, wherein Gabie will be broadcasting from the projection booth during the free screening of the Pussy Riot: A Punk