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Find some joy roup at Scion’s Installation Space in Culver City as they presents It Was On Earth That I Knew Joy, “a group exhibition curated by Lionel Vivier of Sixpack France that explores the increasingly blurry boundaries between humans and the technology we create”. With original posters, installations and a short film exploring the theme of man vs. machine, the show features the art of Ill-Studio, Cody Hudson, PMKFA, Steven Harrington and many more.

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Scion’s Installation 6, which focuses on my medium of choice-video, occupies the Scion Space in Culver City where a talented lineup of artists were “challenged to create non-narrative video installations that will eventually transform five unique exhibitions around the country”. Featuring Dust la Rock, Eric Nakamura, Saelee Oh, French, Josh Graham, Ill-Studio, Monihan Monihan, Mark Mothersbaugh, PMKFA and Sage Vaughn.

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What this weekend’s events and openings may lack in quantity they more than make up for in quality.

• New Yorkers are in for quite the creepy treat as visionary director Tim Burton invades the MOMA for a retrospective of the director’s uniquely original visions from his many odd films, sculptures, creatures, and equally quirky works on paper.

• One of the founding fathers of the lowbrow art scene, Shag (aka Josh Agle) makes a triumphant gallery return with a series of large format panoramas in Autumn’s Come Undone at the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City. View a selection of the works from Shag’s website here.

• The Scion Space hosts another interesting group show in their massive Culver City residence with Euphoria Left the Room, “an exhibition addressing the sense of creativity and visionary imagination, which throughout the 20th century was set free through experimentation and what-if scenarios governed by the “if anything was possible” logic commonly displayed in Sci-fi literature and film.”

Scion Presents: ‘EUPHORIA LEFT THE ROOM’ Preview from Scion ART on Vimeo.

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Art all weekend long from Fullerton to Culver City to the entire expanse of Washington boulevard and Beyond Eden with a little ghostbusting thrown in for good measure.

• The Barnsdall Art Park in Los Feliz goes Beyond Eden for a two day art fair celebrating the latest movement in contemporary art in Los Angeles. Fifteen LA area galleries will be represented along with live painting, screenprinting, performance art and food trucks galore. Other highlights include the documentary film on southern California artists Scribble.08 and Tatiana Wills and Roman Cho’s photo series Heroes and Villains, intimate portraits of emerging and established figures in the Pop Surrealist, Graffiti and Alt-Comic Book worlds including LA based artists Todd Schorr, Dave Kinsey, Gary Baseman, Seonna Hong, Saelee Oh, Mark Ryden, Robert Williams, Tim Biskup, Mr. Cartoon, COOP, Shepard Fairey, Kozyndan, Souther Salazar, Shag and many more. Check Beyondeden.com for the full schedule of events.

• Homeboy Ito not only strolls into town from New York to catch all three Thom Yorke shows, but he also “presents images from his time traveling the world as Damon Dash’s personal photographer and a collection of personal work captured during the Summer of 2009″ in his photo show titled EVERYBODY SOMEDAY at the PÄS Gallery in Fullerton.

• Concert poster master/vinyl toy creator Frank Kozik unveils a show shrouded in mystery at Billy Shire Fine Arts in Culver City. Who knows what to expect but I have a feeling it involves these two mutants:

• The Scion Space in Culver City goes to Infinity with a “group exhibition of artists whose practices or aesthetics relate to the many facets of the infinite.” Featuring Richard Colman, Andrew Schoultz, Aaron Noble and many more.

• Spend A Day in LA as over 60 artists Los Angeles artists and non-artists show off their work in unused public outdoor spaces along the entire length of Washington Boulevard’s 27 miles, from Whittier to Venice Beach. “For one day artists will perform works, create installations, facilitate happenings, and make music in unexpected spaces, such as on the sidewalk, between dumpsters, along railroad tracks, as well as inside the audience’s cars as they traverse one of LA’s most iconic boulevards.”

• In conjunction with the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, end your weekend donating canned food for LA’s hungry while busting some ghosts at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for the 25th anniversary screening of Ivan Reitman’s 1984 classic Ghostbusters.

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So it seems that the end of Summer not only makes way for Fall, but also the beginning of the art season. If you live in the LA area, love art, like mingling with people who also love art, and enjoy drinking free alcohol while looking at said art then you’re in luck because this weekend is chock full of openings and all those things.

• The British artist collective known simply as The London Police respond to a call at the Carmichael Gallery on La Brea bringing with them Brothers in Arms, an exhibition of all new Hollywood-themed paintings, video and photography.

• Los Angeles photographer extraordinaire Doug Aitken migrates to Regen Projects on Santa Monica with a series of new text-based light boxes along with the west coast debut of the film Migration. *Also, the large-scale cinematic installation will be presented to the public on Santa Monica Boulevard projected onto the courtyard of Regen Projects II; visible only at night from sunset to sunrise. Check out some beautiful production stills from the film here.

• Cartoon master painter Kenny Scharf comes home to the Honor Fraser Gallery on La Cienega with Barberadise, a showcase of new paintings that integrate familiar icons from Scharf’s visual lexicon and implies a utopian world that is at once nostalgically comic and vibrantly cosmic.

• Camille Rose Garcia comes to the Merry Karnowsky Gallery on La Brea and brings with her The Hydra of Babylon, her latest paintings on wood and paper which explore the converging ecological and human catastrophes and the healing power of nature.

• And Then The Wind Changed so says Australian artist Anthony Lister as he brings his solo show to the venerable New Image Art Gallery on Santa Monica.

• Philip Lumbang brings his friendly faced bears and found mediums to a warehouse space in LA and transforms it all into a gallery space as he opens his show, Hug Life. Special musical guests DJ Diabetic (Shepard Fairey) and Intricate Machines will keep the show rocking all night long.

• The super successful Scion Installation 5 Tour comes to a close with Scion Art Tour: Self Portrait at the Scion Space in Culver City. Among the artists whose portraits will be auctioned off for the charity Creative Capitol include Blek Le Rat, David Choe, Ron English, Mark Mothersbaugh, Retna, Souther Salazar, Jeff Soto, Sage Vaughn and many more. Click here to take a look at the art for auction.

• Flock to the Flock Shop in Chinatown as they celebrate their 2 year anniversary with a show of Patrick Hruby’s new serigraph work in CMY Not?

• Cinespia’s second to last screening of the season brings Tim Burton’s 1985 classic comedy Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure to both the dead and undead at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

• And finally for all you music lovers and beat heads out there, spend your Sunday diggin the crates with fellow record collecting connoissieurs at the Beat Swap Meet at the Grand Star Jazz Club in Chinatown.

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Looks like Saturday is the big winner with many a good thing in this weekend’s stacked schedule of events for your cultural and social pleasures.

• The super producing couple of Meg and Jonathan Wells continue to pump out the goods as one of their most ambitious projects to date opens the Scion installation space in Culver City with the Flux Super 8. Featuring filmmakers, designers and video artists from all over the world including our ultra talented Portland pal Max Erdenberger, as well as The Blackheart Gang (Cape Town, South Africa), Saam Farahmand (London, UK); Sophie Gateau (Paris, France), Miwa Matreyek (Los Angeles, USA), Terri Timely (San Francisco, USA), United Visual Artists (UVA) (London, UK), and YesYesNo (Amsterdam, NL + New York, NY + London, UK), the promising Flux Super 8 show is sure to be the first of many more to come.

• And while you’re in Culver City hop on over to the Corey Helford Gallery and take a trip to India with the moustachioed madman Carlos Ramos as he once again dazzles with his trademark contrasty colors and sublimely shaped stable of animals. (Moustache subject to availability.)

• Giant Robot cleans out their closet with the group show Junk in the Trunk in which over 30 artists including Apak!, David Horvath and Albert Reyes among others, bust out new, old, and random pieces of art that need new homes at GR2 on Sawtelle. Bonus yard sale on Sunday too!

• The second shift Saturday night continues (or starts) in Chinatown at the Sabina Lee Gallery on Chung King Road with the group show Second Shift.

• Reform School, Home Ec, and the Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax join hands to bring you the Los Angeles premiere of the documentary on D.I.Y. culture, Handmade Nation. *Saturday’s 12pm premiere screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director, and ticket holders for this show will receive specialized gift bags and surprise giveaways! In-between the two Saturday screenings, during 2-6pm, there will be a mini-craft fair eaturing some of LA’s most talented makers, a “Handmade Nation” book signing with Faythe Levine, and hands-on make-and-takes (craft demos). Admission to the craft fair is free, and open to the general public.

• For my Bay Area brethren, Grind for the Green presents the second annual Battle for the Bang as bay area environmentally conscious youth battle with beats for cash and prizes at the Zeum in San Francisco.

• And finally end your weekend on a high musical note as Stones Throw’s finest continue to rock Amoeba Music on Sunset every Sunday in August. This weekend’s set features one of the Beat Junkies’ founding fathers, J-Rocc.

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Oh how I long to be one of the many thousands of lucky nerds in San Diego for Comic-Con (still can’t believe I’ve never been, I fear my dork credibility may be in jeopardy!) Fortunately there are many a happening around Los Angeles to take your mind off all the geeky goodness we’re missing out on.

• With that being said, allow me to start with a few events at Comic-Con for those who made the trek down the 405 freeway:

Artist signings by Mark Ryden, Joe Ledbetter, James Jean, The Pizz, Scott Musgrove, Ron English, and Travis Louie for Last Gasp Publishing.

James Jean (again), David Choe, and David Horvath for Giant Robot.

And a Tim and Eric sighting at their very own con of the awesome variety, appropriately called Awesome Con!

• Wayne White (one of my favorite typographists) and Exene Cervenka fly their way over to the Western Project Gallery in Culver City with their two person show, We Are Not the Jetset.

• Stick around Culver City for a three person show featuring some Heavy Petting with David Burke, Riddles In the Dark with Mia, and Keep It Down with guest artist Sarah Folkman at the Corey Helford Gallery.

• Don’t leave Culver City just yet cause the Scion Installation Space opens up it’s place for the 2009 Vice Magazine Photography Exhibition featuring Jamie Lee Curtis Taete, Maggie Lee, and former Vice photo editor, Tim Barber.

• Cinespia presents The Muppet Movie at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, need I say more?

• Recoup on Sunday and take an Urban Hike through Little Tokyo with the Architecture and Design Museum Los Angeles.

• Spread your wings and fly to the MOCA’s Pacific Design Center on Melrose for an art talk with Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues whose installation Feathered Edge: A New Installation by Ball-Nogues Studio is currently on view and features “over 21 miles of colored strings configured in catenary curves span the gallery space to form a dynamic environment.”

• And finally, end your weekend on a “high” note (yeah, that’s right I said it) with Cheech and Chong’s classic Up in Smoke at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

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Come one, come all! LA is once again hustlin’ and bustlin’ this weekend with art, film, food, and music galore.

• Arkitip gets down with the ubiquitous Shepard Fairey tonight in Hollywood for the release of issue no. 0051, art installations, and of course Shep and guest djs on the 1’s and 2’s. All courtesy of Alife.

• Celebrate at Chinatown’s Ooga Booga with good ol’ Cali and crew for the unveiling of Teenage Teardrop’s six latest drops: three new 12″s by Nick Dewitt, Lucky Dragons, and Infinite Body, two new t-shirts for the summer, and one new zine! Live performances by the aforementioned artists as well as a dj set by Eddie Ruscha.

• The Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax continue June’s Comedy Death Ray (Upright Citizens Brigade) series with Patton Oswalt presenting Larry Cohen’s 1976 thriller, God Told Me To. Says funny man Patton, “I picked God Told Me To because I’ve never seen it — and I’ve always wanted to see Andy Kaufman go on a shooting rampage.” I smell unintentional comedy brewing.

• Opening this Saturday at the Scion Space on La Cienega is This Must Be The Place, a collection of art and oddities by eight American artists (Gluekit, Maxwell Loren Holyoke-Hirsch, Damien Correll, Joel Speasmaker, Matt Curry, Skull Phone, Dan Funderburgh and Jemma Hostetler) who explore the notion of ‘home’ with the loose limitation of a two-toned color palette.

• After unleashing their brand of Asian pop culture to the world in magazine form way back in 1994, Giant Robot has expanded their operation quite significantly with stores in LA, NY, and SF. Celebrate their quinceañera with them as they launch their 15th anniversary group show at the bay area branch.

• Toy Swap! Toy Swap! Toy Swap! Sale! Sale! Sale! On Saturday dork out and trade your toys with other toy dorks at Los Feliz’s venerable Wacko/Soap Plant/La Luz De Jesus.

• Bike down and get your design and dim sum on deliciously with DeLab (design east of La Brea). Read details and more from Alissa (Gelatobaby) here. Don’t forget to RSVP to hello@designeastoflabrea.org!

*Also, it’s not too late to submit your tasty designs for Dwell’s Coolhaus ice cream contest also being judged by the cream loving Alissa.

Gelatobaby meets Coolhaus from Alissa Walker on Vimeo.
• With schools coming to a close for the summer all aross the land, Cinespia apporpriately screeens Mike Nichols’ 1967 classic, The Graduate starring Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

• Watch iconic music video classics when the LA Film Festival screens Where It Was At: A Propaganda and Satellite Films Tribute with clips from Spike Jonze, David Fincher, Mark Romanek, Stephane Sednaoui, and more.

• And finally, dance the weekend away Hollywood Bowl style Sunday night with Femi Kuti, Santigold, Raphael Saadiq, and host KCRW’s Garth Trinidad.

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N.A.S.A. music blasts off in Japan, Milk photos in San Diego, 1000 Days in LA, The Red Balloon gets scored live silently, and the cemetery screenings end the weekend on a high note:

• The space and time travelling N.A.S.A. team of Squeak E. Clean (Sam Speigel) and DJ Zegon continue their “Spirit of the Apollo” Tour ‘09 as they take their collaborative antics to Japan for a five show campaign starting tonight in Sendai.

• Old chumpchampion chum and award winning music video director (Gnarls Barkley, U2, Kanye West), Chris Milk opens his first photo show at the W Hotel in San Diego this Saturday. Featured will be the computer enhanced cover photos of Kanye Chris recently shot for Complex magazine.

• Scion Installation L.A. opens the group show featuring eight emerging artists with 1000 Days in celebration of the the upcoming 1000th feature for DailyServing.com.

• The Cinefamily at the (not-so) Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax hosts a screening of the children’s classic The Red Balloon with an accompanying live score by AsDSSka (Aska Matsumiya and David Scott Stone) and Lucky Dragons shown with a bonus live sing-along with the L.A. Ladies’ Choir.

*Bonus bonus: There will also be a record release party and screening of AsDSSka’s music video for “Hold On” directed by Spike Jonze and Crystal Moselle at Family!

• And finally, Cinespia and the Hollywood Forever Cemetery keep the summer outdoorsiness going with screenings of Hitchcock’s thriller To Catch a Thief on Saturday and closing out Sunday on a high note with Linklater’s comedy Dazed and Confused.

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