Your OCTOBER Radar Screen
At the start of each month, I feature highlights from the LA cultural landscape as filtered through my lens: museums, books and movies, adventures, and more. These posts are free for all subscribers.
Happy October! It’s not quite sweater weather with this latest heat wave, but there is an early-morning crispness to the air and fall holidays to celebrate, so here’s to reaching the fourth quarter of what has been a very eventful year.
ART AROUND TOWN
The New York Times called PST ART: Art and Science Collide “the biggest artistic event of the fall season” so don’t sleep on checking out the offerings from this wide-ranging, Getty-funded initiative. With exhibitions showing at over 70 galleries around the Southland, PST ART showcases the breadth and creativity of our city. (It is easy to search the PST ART initiative’s website by location, topic, and date to find something that interests you.) Of note: the Academy of Motion Pictures has two shows opening Sunday, one on Cyberpunk and one on Color in Motion. The Hammer’s climate change show Breath(e):Toward Climate and Social Justice is open, Cal Tech’s offering Crossing Over: Art and Science at Cal Tech, 1920-2020 could inspire a trip to beautiful Pasadena, and the La Brea Tar Pits has an intriguing entry, Mark Dion: Excavations. Here is the New York Times’ overview (paywall).
At Hauser + Wirth in West Hollywood, a new exhibit called L.A. Story is inspired by the 1991 movie of the same name, and aims to capture that film’s unique perspective on our city. It’s a good excuse to go back and watch the film because the exhibit has been created “in dialogue” with writer and star, Steve Martin.
The Skirball is hosting the American debut of Diane Von Furstenburg: Woman Before Fashion on October 17, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of her iconic wrap dress.
OUT AND ABOUT
Watching playoff baseball in the fall is a singular delight that we have become a bit spoiled about here in LA, with the Dodgers making it to the post-season so regularly. Well, the boys in blue are in the playoffs again, and Shohei Ohtani is still wowing us all. The first three games of the Divisional playoffs are set for this weekend (10/5 and 10/6) and next Friday (10/11), if necessary. Click here for schedule.
Alex’s Lemonade Stand takes place on Saturday (10/5) from 12:00 to 4:00 pm at UCLA and gathers the best chefs from around the country to raise money for childhood cancer. A delicious experience for a worthy cause.
“Support Her,” a photography-focused fundraiser for the Harris Walz Victory Fund, takes place at The Peter Fetterman Gallery on Sunday (10/6) from 1:00-5:00 pm. In conjunction with the Gallery’s excellent show “Her: Great Women Photographers,” ten contemporary women photographers have donated ten prints to encourage campaign donations. (Full disclosure, I am on the Host Committee for this event, and while I rarely venture into political waters on this blog, I am grateful to the artists who donated their work prints and encourage you to take a look, if you are so inclined.)
Joni Mitchell and The Joni Jam returns to The Hollywood Bowl (10/19-10/20 and will feature Joni and her friends, including Brandi Carlisle and other surprise guests. Tickets on secondary markets are quite expensive, but these shows are terrific. I’m guessing there will be a Kris Kristofferson tribute included this year.
The Descanso’s fall festival Carved runs from October 4-30, a timed-entry evening event with light shows and carved pumpkins galore.
BOOKS AND SCREENS
Fall books are here - don’t you just want to curl up with a great read? There’s Rachel Kushner’s Creation Lake, Richard Powers’ Playground, Danzy Senna’s Colored Television, and Elizabeth Strout’s Tell Me Everything. Our book club just read Colm Toibin’s The Master, which imagines the life of Henry James, alongside James’ Portrait of a Lady… an ambitious (but pleasing) pairing.
Will & Harper, a documentary playing on Netflix, features Will Ferrell taking his old friend and SNL writing partner Harper Steele on a road-trip across America after Harper shares the news that she has transitioned to a woman. It’s a touching tribute to friendship that shows a tender side of Ferrell and offers insight into challenges faced by transgender folks.
Social Studies, a documentary on Hulu about teens and cellphones from filmmaker Lauren Greenfield, is an important glimpse into the lives of the next generation; Greenfield is an Angeleno and shot the film in local high schools. Mary McNamara’s column tells you what you need to know.
The year’s best films are typically released in theaters in the fall; here’s a list that will help you get a jump on awards season.
Blink tells the story of a family whose children all suffer from an incurable disease which will make them blind, so the parents set out to show their children the world while they can still see. A documentary from the producers of Navalny.
ARCHIVE DIVE
I’m a bird enthusiast and want to direct those who might be bird curious to attend one of Benny Jacobs-Schwartz’s fall birding outings, which take place on the weekends around town. Here is the story of my outing with Benny at Malibu Creek last winter.
TECH FRONTIERS
I’ve studied up on Artificial Intelligence through my work at Common Sense Media so when a good friend (and subscriber) raved about her experience with Anthropic’s chat bot, I decided to figure out how to add it to my work flow. The AI tool is called Claude, and the interface prioritizes safety and accuracy as part of its mission. My friend does so much with the tool, from literary commentary to spread sheet analysis to legal advice, that she uses the paid version ($20 monthly). Here is Common Sense’s primer on AI to help you get started. Key fact: an AI assistant is only as good as the prompts you give it, so learning how to ask the right questions is the first order of business.
I'm reading Colored Television right now!