Performances
Stockhausen & The Dogon
Transmission to Sirius B
Stockhausen & The Dogon People: Transmission to Sirius B presented an evening of the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen and his reverence for the Dogon people of Mali highlighting their ancient reciprocal philosophies with his cosmological framework. The evening which was organized through the Joshua Tree National Park and was presented at Cap Rock debuting the never before seen documentation by the explorer, ethnomusicologist and documentarian Douchan Gersi of the Dogon Sigui ceremony of 1972. Transmission to Sirius B, was the first in a series of events to lobby attention for the protection of National Parks and Wildlife. The event coincided with the Perseid Meteor and saw images and films projected onto Cap Rock in the Joshua Tree. The National Parks Service granted two nights from sundown to sunrise.
Tertium Organum
Traversing Space
As part of the exhibition Mysticism and Mathematics: Tertium Organum—Traversing Space, presented by the Center for the Arts Eagle Rock, Pasadena Art Alliance, and Label Curatorial, Los Angeles artist duo Beck+Col present a performance activating five costumes from their forthcoming film Horror Without End! in collaboration with Lauren Powell Projects. Drawing on themes central to the exhibition—including the intersections of esotericism, mathematics, and expanded states of consciousness—the performance stages a ritual-like choreography inspired by the teachings of P.D. Ouspensky and George Gurdjieff. Three dancers revolve around a central figure while a fifth performer moves between them and the audience, accompanied by music from Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann and an atmospheric soundscape. Through elaborate costumes and movement-based storytelling, Beck+Col explore altered states, symbolic triads, and non-human mythologies, creating a surreal procession that echoes the exhibition’s investigation of metaphysical ideas expressed through geometry, science, and performance.
LA County Arts & Culture
Sound Arts Part I
Label Curatorial, working with co-producers Narin Dickerson and Maryam Hosseinzadeh, organized an evening of music and art at the A.C. Bilbrew Library to celebrate the unveiling of one of Los Angeles County’s first permanent sound art installations, created by Mekala Session of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra at nearby Athens Park, as well as the library’s 50th anniversary and the Golden State Mutual Collection of Black Art on view at the library. The program featured a public conversation with Mekala Session and his father on the history and legacy of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, followed by indeterminate sets performed by Session together with Diego Gaeta and Jesse Justice of the band Human Error (Human Error Club), responding live to works from the Golden State Mutual Collection. This historic collection—one of the most significant assemblages of artworks by Black artists in the United States—includes works by Charles White, Betye Saar, David Hammons, among many others. The evening also honored civil rights advocate A.C. Bilbrew, incorporating samples of her music into the program and foregrounding her cultural legacy alongside the collection and performances. By bringing together intergenerational audiences, the event highlighted the enduring resonance of Bilbrew’s contributions within the broader cultural history represented by the library and the collection.
LA County Arts & Culture
Sound Arts Part 2
Building on the earlier celebration at the A.C. Bilbrew Library honoring Mekala Session’s sound installation at Athens Park, this second gathering continued the launch of LA County Department of Arts and Culture’s first permanent sound art project, a series of installations across county parks that foreground sound, place, and community history. Presented in collaboration with LA County Parks and Recreation, the program at the East Los Angeles Civic Center’s Atlantic Avenue Park expanded the initiative’s focus on public listening and cultural memory through a new installation by Christopher Garcia. Label Curatorial, working with Narin Dickerson and Maryam Hosseinzadeh, organized the celebration of Garcia’s sound installation Siempre Ha Sido Y Siempre Fue for Atlantic Avenue Park, which layers ancient Mesoamerican instruments and field recordings, bringing ancestral sounds into an immersive contemporary composition. The evening opened with an herbal tea ceremony and performance honoring the earth’s waters by ecological artist and herbalist Paige Emery, followed by short talks and a live concert by Garcia and Flower Songs Music (Xochi Cuicatl). During the performance, Garcia—renowned for his mastery of ancient Mesoamerican instruments and cross-cultural percussion—demonstrated these instruments and led a Q&A with the audience.
Sound Discarnate : Paulina Peavy
Beyond Baroque, 2021
Sound Discarnate: Performances after Paulina Peavy, presented at Beyond Baroque brought together experimental musicians and sound artists responding to the cosmology and mediumistic practice of Paulina Peavy. Featuring performances by Micaela Tobin, Braden Diotte, Zane Reynolds (SFVAcid), and David Tibet with Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson presenting the work of Harry Oldfield, the evening explored themes of hermetic philosophy, astro-culture, and sonic communication with unseen realms. The program included live vocal and instrumental performances, sound works inspired by electronic voice phenomena and occult archives, a DJ set by Greg Bishop, and an opportunity to view the exhibition Paulina Peavy: An Etherian Channeler.
Warner Jepson: Indeterminate Convergences
Center for the Arts Eagle Rock
In conjunction with Mitchell Brown and Warner Jepson: Indeterminate Convergences Label Curatorial organized an evening presenting never before released music of Jepson while providing the opportunity for local and world renowned sound artists to perform their own music on Jepson’s Buchla synthesizer. The audience served the role as curator through chance operation procedure randomly selecting the performers. Dancers led by Jasmine Albuquerque performed indeterminately to the sets while Steven Arnold's remastered Luminous Procuress played through the evening The event highlighted intersecting genres, re-engaging the elements and community based rituals that catalyzed one of the greatest cultural revolutions in American history.