Wednesday, July 21- Saturday, July 24, 2010

LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions)
6522 Hollywood Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA

Taking its name from the historic collaborative writing marathons led by Bernadette Mayer and others in NYC during 1972-73, Unnatural Acts will explore the themes of hunger, war, and desire through public acts of collaboration.

Beginning with two days of installation and performance by Amina Cain and Jennifer Karmin, a group of eleven writers/artists will gather on the third day to write together over the course of eight hours. In a daily ritual inaugurated on the fourth day, the outline of a new person’s body will be traced onto the bodies of text until the exhibit closes on August 11th.

Schedule:
July 21, 12-5pm: Installation, 5-5:30pm: Performance of Hunger Texts Read in the Dark by Amina Cain

July 22, 12-5pm: Installation, 5-6pm: Street Performance of 4000 Words 4000 Deadby Jennifer Karmin

July 23, noon-8pm: Unnatural Acts 8 hours of collaborative writing. Collaborators include: Harold Abramowitz, Tisa Bryant, Amina Cain, Teresa Carmody, Saehee Cho, Kate Durbin, K. Lorraine Graham, Jennifer Karmin, Laida Lertxundi, India Radfar, and Mark Wallace.

July 24, 2-3pm: Artists talk, Amina Cain & Jennifer Karmin

July 24, 4-6pm: Collaborative Reading: Harold Abramowitz, Tisa Bryant, Amina Cain, Teresa Carmody, Kate Durbin, K. Lorraine Graham, Jennifer Karmin, India Radfar, and Mark Wallace.

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Amina Cain is the author of the short story collection I Go To Some Hollow (Les Figues Press, 2009), and a forthcoming chapbook, Tramps Everywhere (Insert Press/PARROT SERIES). A recording of her story “Attached to a Self” was included in the group show A Diamond in the Mud at Literaturhaus Basel in Switzerland in2008; other work has appeared in publications such as 3rd Bed, Action Yes, Denver Quarterly, onedit, Sous Rature, and Wreckage of Reason: Xxperimental Prose by Women Writers. She lives in Los Angeles. Visit Amina’s website at aminacain.com

Jennifer Karmin’s text-sound epic, Aaaaaaaaaaalice, was published by Flim Forum Press in 2010. She curates the Red Rover Series and is co-founder of the public art group Anti Gravity Surprise. Her multidisciplinary projects have been presented across the U.S., Japan, and Kenya. A proud member of the Dusie Kollektiv, she is the author of the Dusie chapbook Evacuated: Disembodying Katrina. Walking Poem, a collaborative street project, is featured online at How2. In Chicago, Jennifer teaches creative writing to immigrants at Truman College and works as a Poet-in-Residence for the public schools.

To see Jennifer’s work, visit aaaaaaaaaaalice.blogspot.com.

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Collaborators:
Harold Abramowitz
Tisa Bryant
Teresa Carmody
Saehee Cho
Kate Durbin
Lorraine Graham
Laida Lertxundi
India Radfar
Mark Wallace

About Public Interest

Designed to animate Hollywood with a series of public projects, Public Interest is a year-long initiative that showcases contemporary art, architecture and design practices that challenge standard notions of public space and demonstrate the role creative actions can play in bringing out the vibrancy of a place and its people.