AxS Festival 2014 | CURIOSITY has commissioned the fascinating LA-based arts collective Machine Project to re-imagine a quintessential Pasadena landmark — the Greene and Greene Arts and Crafts masterpiece — The Gamble House.
For The Machine Project Field Guide to The Gamble House, Machine Project founder and artistic director Mark Allen has orchestrated a diverse group of Los Angeles artists to create new works exploring, celebrating, and dramatizing the curious architectural icon.
Over the course of the two-week AxS Festival, the history, aesthetic and craftsmanship of The Gamble House will be subtly transformed and revealed through experimental tours, participatory nap concerts, a tableau vivant, puppets, dance, seances, videos, inflatable sculptures, joinery-specific lawn furniture, and a secret Swedish-Japanese fusion restaurant and more.
In addition to Machine Project’s daily programming that visitors will experience on regular Gamble House tours throughout AxS Festival , a centerpiece of the Field Guide project will be an all-day series of performances on the grounds and interior of the property. All events on exterior of house are free of charge, no reservations required.
Annie Danis
Gamble House Archeological Dig
Saturday, September 26th & Saturday, September 27th from 12pm-4pm on The Gamble House Back Lawn
Using both the analog and high tech methods of historical archaeology this interactive field-work will engage the material and immaterial culture of the Gamble House.
Free
Nick Duran
Waterfall
Saturday, September 27th // Intermittently
on The Gamble House Main Stairwell
Duran embodies falling water in a solo dance for the staircase, inspired by the hallway’s framed embroidery.
Free
Visit Nick Duran’s website: nickduran.org
Bob Dornberger
Secret Restaurant
Saturday, September 27th // 12pm
on the South kitchen yard
A conveyor belt delivers small bites of Swiss-Japanese fusion cuisine from the Gamble House’s basement. The menu features some of original owner Mary Gamble’s recipes as well as a few other “secret” menu items.
Free
Visit Bob Dornberger’s website:bobdornberger.com
Machine Project
Poets in Closets
Saturday, September 27th, 1-5pm & Thursday, October 2nd, 8-10pm
in The Gamble House Downstairs Bedroom Closet
Poets read a single poem to one audience member at a time in the Gamble House’s walk-in closet.
Free
Milka Djordjevich
MASS (at home)
Saturday, September 27th from 12pm – 6pm & Thursday, October 2nd from 8pm – 10pm // Intermittently in The Gamble House
In this ambulatory dance, dancers become sculptures that move through the house and evolve over time. Oscillating between action and inaction, the dancers’ bodies evoke shape, architecture, landscape, matter, machine, animal, robot, and alien.
Free
Visit Milka Djordjevich’s website: thisismilka.com
Sasha Archibald
Bed Conversations
Saturday, September 27th from 6pm – 8pm
in The Gamble House Downstairs Guest Bedroom
A rotating cast of thinkers, talkers and storytellers animate the Gamble House with bedtime chatter, in a rambling exchange that swiftly shifts in topics and tones. Inspired by Bed Conversations, a form of public theater starring pajama-clad intellectuals created by Cabinet magazine.
Free
Visit Sasha Archibald’s website: sashaarchibald.com
Animal Charm
Decho Tech Sunshine
Saturday, September 27th // 8pm
in The Gamble House Dining Room
A late 19th century lightshow simulating an extreme and completely artificial sunset ablaze through the dining room patterned glass windows.
Free
Visit Animal Charm’s website: animalcharm.com
Raphael Arar & Chris Weisbart
Projected Shadows Video Installation
Saturday, September 27th & Thursday, October 2nd from 8pm – 10pm
on The Gamble House Exterior
This nighttime installation transforms the Gamble House’s exterior through video projected on various surfaces, mimicking the interior’s bas-relief wood carvings.
Free
Visit Raphael Arar’s website: raphaelarar.com
Visit Chris Weisbart’s website: chrisweisbart.tumblr.com
Johanna Kozma
The Hour of the Cat
Saturday, September 27th from 9pm – 10pm
in The Gamble House Living Room
A reading of the work of Clarice Lispector, in the form of a tableaux vivant. Performed by a pair of cat-women, as portrayed by Johanna Kozma and Justin Streichman, and accompanied by projected video.
Free
Visit Johanna Kozma’s website: johannakozma.com
Special Machine Project Open House festival hours with free admission for performances and installations:
Open House: Saturday, September 27: 12pm – 10pm
Open House: Thursday October 2: 8pm – 10pm
Family Day: Sunday October 5 (free to kids 17 and under)
Check back in September for a full daily schedule of events.