Last Friday’s closing reception at the INDEX gave us a chance to come together, catch up and say goodbye for now.  DJ Tony and DJ Robert spun the tunes, a visiting contingent from Seattle graced our presence, previous Index visitors stopped by, and several newcomers showed up. WOK presented his version of the HABEAS INDEX, an elegant string of images projected on the front wall, derived from pictures taken over the INDEX’s four-month run.

The big red couch will feature prominently in the upcoming PEOPLE “WEEKLY”, the inaugural exhibit of the Amie and Tony James Gallery at theThe Graduate Center at the City University of New York (aka the CUNY graduate center gallery). Look for it at 365 Fifth Ave, in Manhattan from October 29th.

For those in Los Angeles this Friday October 3rd, you can catch Linda Pollack talk about the HABEAS INDEX and other forays in creating environments of community engagement when she presents at the FARMLAB salon at 12 o’clock. More details at the FARMLAB  website: http://farmlab.org/2008/07/farmlab-public-salon-allan-ides-linda.html.

image by Tony Cheung

Join us for the closing reception of the HABEAS INDEX Friday September 26, 7-10 PM.

What a great four months this has been! We have contemplated the LA river, examined a new cultural plan, listened to the words of Lewis Macadams,  toured the city, imagined 7th + Broadway without cars! You are invited to stop by and say hello and farewell —  check out Wok’s latest experiment. So Friday, September 26th, please join us for a closing reception of the HABEAS LOUNGE from 7 - 10 PM. During the reception, Wok will present his HABEAS INDEX. Music by DJ Tony.

Location: 7+ FIG Art Space
7&FIG at Ernst & Young Plaza
735 S.  Figueroa Street
Middle level
Los Angeles, CA  90017
Validated parking in 7+ FIG parking structure, entrance on 7th and 8th Streets, west of Figueroa.

Thursday September 25 : 6:30 - 9 PM

After our lunchtime discussion, come back to the INDEX Thursday evening for an examination the notion of PARTICIPATION through three different art practices. Linda Pollack will give an overview of her various HABEAS interventions around the country, including the host space for the evening, The HABEAS INDEX. Liz Glynn will present “The 24 Hour Roman Reconstruction Project, or, Building Rome in a Day”, a participatory performance work that took place at Machine Project in January.  Robby Herbst will screen his video “Household Revisited: Peaceniks & Treehuggers,  a project about movement and ideology”, produced in conjunction with The Geffen Contemporary / MOCA show “Allan Kaprow-Art as Life” in March of this year.

For our last lunchtime discussion, Thursday September 25th from 12:30 - 1:30, we turn our attention east. Louisiana is losing approximately 24 square miles per year of its coastal wetlands – the equivalent of one football field every 38 minutes. Oil exploration, Army Corps of Engineers projects and extensive development have all contributed to the loss of this unique habitat, which functions as a critical natural barrier to storm surges from hurricanes. Without a serious commitment to restore Louisiana’s coast, it is predicted that New Orleans and the surrounding areas face certain catastrophe within a decade, with destabilizing repercussions for the entire nation. Learn about Louisiana’s vanishing coast — why these coastal wetlands play such a pivotal role in our country’s future, and what it means for New Orleans and the rest of the country, in this presentation by Jason Neville and Alaine Azcona.
Jason Neville moved to Los Angeles from New Orleans one month before the levee failures after Hurricane Katrina, and has been active in recovery planning since then. He currently is an urban planner for the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles. Alaine Azcona is also a native New Orleanian and urban planner. She is currently the program manager for the MAK Center’s Urban Future Initiative.

For the last week of its run -  the week of Sept. 22 -26, the HABEAS INDEX has invited the techno-landscaper and processor extraordinaire Wok to expand and develop his media art experiments in the space during opening hours. Wok’s  previous experiments involve touch interfaces and design models. For this last week of the project, Wok will develop an interactive collaborative art piece especially for the INDEX, building from the experiences collected over the four month run of this project space. You are invited to stop by and say hello and check out Wok’s latest experiment.

Wok is an enigmatic character based out of Southern California. He recently completed his master’s at the Southern California Institute of Architecture www.sciarc.edu. He is the co-founder of FOOD SHELTER LOVE and SUPPOSEDLY ARCHITECTURE. He is interested in exploring interactive social spaces and working with new collaborative media projects.

Calling kids of all ages — come to a puppet making workshop! On Saturday, September 20th, from 2 -4PM, come downtown to make your own action figure and harness some creative powers! Los Angeles based artist Abira Ali, Creative Director of the Wisdom Arts  Club will be on hand to direct and assist. We welcome all ages to come and make art with us. The workshop is free and materials will be provided. 

So as of noon today, top requests for our PARTICIPATION JAM are What’s Going On (Mavrin), Philadelphia Freedom (Elton), Democracy (Leonard), and America (Neil). We can’t wait! If you have any last minute requests, send them along to habeasindex@gmail.com

In the spirit of all things participatory, the HABEAS INDEX will celebrate yet another downtown Artwalk this Thursday, September 11, with a reception from 5 to 7PM. Highlights will be PARTICIPATION JAM sound sets by DJ Robert, and you are invited to help create it! Simply choose your favorite song, great if it can relate to our constitutional democracy in this election season (our personal fav is Leonard Cohen’s “Democracy”), and either bring a CD or digital file, or send your request no later than midnight Wednesday to: habeasindex@gmail.com to have your track included (subject to availability of course).  While chilling out to PARTICIPATION JAM, don’t forget to REGISTER TO VOTE, or fill out that pesky ABSENTEE BALLOT form that you’ve been meaning to do. During the evening, HABEAS INDEX videographer Kelly Donahey will be collecting stories of voting experiences for posterity. At 7 PM we will depart the INDEX and make our way to participating galleries in the Artwalk, concluding at the Artwalk’s center, the Bert Green Fine Art, on Fifth and Main Street.

Futurist and technology interpreter extraordinaire David Orban stopped by the HABEAS INDEX after speaking at the Virtual Worlds Conference at the Convention Center on Friday.  David happened to catch voter registration in process, live, and was intrigued, as our apparently awkward procedures are vastly different from those used in Europe where he lives.  To learn more about David and his fascinating take on things, visit his website, http://www.davidorban.com. For more information about the conference, where David spoke on the “Augmented Reality: Virtual Interfaces to Tangible Spaces” panel, visit  http://www.virtualworldsexpo.com.