What to KnowSarah Davachi + Robert Takahashi Novak: New Commissions The BroadDowntown Los AngelesSaturday, March 78 to 10 p.m.$25; your ticket is also good for entry to “Robert Therrien: This Is a Story” from 9:15 to 10 p.m.
Buildings are inherently and awesomely musical, in several different whimsical ways.
A wind gust may occasionally whistle through eaves, a door can give a grumpy “thump” when closed, and the echoes in a stairwell may sound merry or mournful, depending on the occupants.
And sometimes, a building’s musicality is present in its fascinating and one-of-a-kind form.
Look to The Broad, the huge and hallowed honeycomb’d wonder of Grand Avenue, an absolutely colossal contributor to the contemporary arts scene both in Los Angeles and everywhere that is not Los Angeles.
The structure’s “vault and veil” architecture is a symphony of swoops and lines, and if you’ve ever marveled at the organic flow of the curves of the museum’s spacious lobby, prepare to listen as those contours become part of an avant garde musical presentation.
Sarah Davachi and Robert Takahashi Novak will present “New Commissions” in the museum’s fanciful foyer on Saturday night, March 7.
The works were commissioned for The Broad’s lobby, making the happening a true meeting of art, vision, and space. Adding to the evening’s ethereal spirit? The electroacoustic composer and conceptual sound artist will involve the immediate environs in the presentation.
“Using a spatial sound system, sound moves throughout the room — across the floor, into the cavernous corners, and around the seated audience — shaped by the building’s architecture and acoustics,” the museum team shared in an announcement.
If you purchase a $25 “New Commissions” ticket, there’s an additional treat in store: You’ll enjoy admission to “Robert Therrien: This is a Story,” a special exhibit on view at The Broad through April 5.
The much-beloved giant table that’s long been on view at The Broad was the work of the artist, a visionary who found the enchantment and oddity in everyday objects.
Enjoying the exhibit at the conclusion of the evening is the ideal complement to a concert that incorporates architecture into the experience of savoring eclectic aural ideas and musical flights of fantasy.
“What happens when The Broad becomes a live instrument?” is the intriguing question posed by the museum, a place that has become a bubbling nexus for intriguing questions since its 2015 debut.
Find out as The Broad’s lobby, a truly singular space, adds a distinctive dimension to a sound-luscious show created with that singular space in mind.