wide range

11

   "Consider any field, from conceptual art to structural engineering, as a box of tools, as a way of looking at a set of problems. Then try this exercise: take a concept or methodology from one discipline and move it to another. What does a geologist have to say about a marble statue? What insights might a dancer bring to the sociology of crowds? Machine is guided by the belief that everything human beings do is interesting, and the relationships between the different things that people do are even more so."


excerpt from Machine Project THE PLATINUM COLLECTION
By MARK ALLEN, CHARLOTTE COTTON and RACHEL SELIGMAN

friendly

10

   "I realized you could connect broad audiences with experimental, challenging, or esoteric content through straight-forward strategies of accessibility. Among Machine’s core techniques for making new work accessible are hospitality, humor and comedy, surprise, transparency, informality, gratitude, and the use of narratives to communicate the premise of an event.

   Creating positive associations with the space led people to keep showing up, no matter what was happening. Emphasizing the audience’s positive experience also shows gratitude for their time and attention; the life force of an event consists of the focus of the audience and the energy of the performer. Without an audience nothing exciting can happen."


excerpt from Machine Project THE PLATINUM COLLECTION
By MARK ALLEN, CHARLOTTE COTTON and RACHEL SELIGMAN

organization

9 

   “Once I began using the storefront as a public space, I began to see that an organization could be a flexible container for all kinds of things. I saw that the event format can get people directly involved with new ideas and topics. Art is a great excuse for things you want to do. Take curiosity and make an event. Invite that writer you’re obsessed with to give a reading. Offer a class on something you want to learn. Once I understood this, I started finding all these unexpected things that could fit into the Machine model.

   From then on, every time I met anyone interesting, I would extend an invitation to do something at Machine: a talk, a lecture, or a performance. Learning that everything was interesting if you looked closely helped my work as a curator and helped audiences experience new ideas as well.”


excerpt from Machine Project THE PLATINUM COLLECTION
By MARK ALLEN, CHARLOTTE COTTON and RACHEL SELIGMAN

start

8

   “I think everyone should start an art space. People pay attention to you and it helps you make friends. It’s delightfully selfish, because you’re making a system to support and show the kind of art you want to see personally. And if you’re a lazy person who likes art, you should definitely start your own art space. Then everything comes to you. The best way to get started is by getting started, whether or not it’s exactly according to plan, and to learn from the experience as you go. Once you’ve begun, whether with an exhibition in your living room, a performance event in a park, or a fundraiser to get things off  the ground, the odds are in your favor that something else will come out of it. While the first step might be daunting, here are three considerations to relieve some of the first-time pressure:

1. Do something small: whatever you do, you can do it on a small scale. You can start an art space in your house or garage, and you can plan your first event for next week. In Los Angeles, there’s a long tradition of starting organizations in one’s house or apartment.

2. Do something with people: you don’t have to do it alone. Collaborating with others is a great way to start something without dramatically upending your life. You can share energy, ideas, financial resources, and use people’s different skills and interests.

3. Do something temporary: there’s a prevailing idea that institutions need to last forever, but the world of culture has its own ecology. Things are born, live, and then might die, get eaten, and grow into a tree. No organization must exist forever. It can and may enjoy longevity, but it doesn’t have to, and the daunting prospect of permanence shouldn’t keep you from getting something off the ground.”


excerpt from Machine Project THE PLATINUM COLLECTION
By MARK ALLEN, CHARLOTTE COTTON and RACHEL SELIGMAN

2003

7 

   “The night of Machine Project’s inaugural event (Saturday, November 15, 2003), the doors opened at 10:10 p.m. and closed promptly at 10:20. If you arrived at 10:20 and 10 seconds, the doorknob you reached for was already locked. A few seconds later, you would have heard a thundering guitar and spotted mysterious flashes of light through the cracks of the worn-down front door. If you stuck around a little longer, at exactly 10:30 p.m. the doors opened back up, the event was over, and you could wander in to experience the aftermath of the performance you just missed, consisting of several people enthusiastically talking about what they had just seen without you.

   If, however, you made it inside before the door closed, you were immersed in ten minutes of experimental animations by artist Kelly Sears, telling the story of a fantasy kingdom of ice, crystals, dragons, and digital wizards, set to a live heavy metal band. Called Sexi Midi. This performance was described to email list subscribers as a “brief event” featuring “prog rock video with live guitar and bass shred. Bud Light keg beer. Also kittens.”


excerpt from Machine Project THE PLATINUM COLLECTION
By MARK ALLEN, CHARLOTTE COTTON and RACHEL SELIGMAN