Machine Project: The Platinum Collection

by Mark Allen, Charlotte Cotton, Rachel Seligman

Still going strong after more than a decade, the Los Angeles-based Machine Project is profiled in this encyclopedic book that explores unconventional ways of seeing and thinking about the world. New essays and images capture the quirky essence of Machine Project, where vacations for plants, concerts for dentists, and operas for dogs are a few of the typical offerings produced at the informal, non-profit, educational institution in Los Angeles. Designed in collaboration with Kimberly Varella, this book reflects on Machine Project’s ongoing artistic practice, featuring an extensive selection of photographs of past projects and documentation of new performance projects at the Tang Museum by Haruko Tanaka, Krystal Krunch, Hana van der Kolk, Carmina Escobar, Kamau Patton, Dawn Kasper, Joshua Beckman, Asher Hartman, and Chris Kallmyer among others.

304 pages, Hardcover

Published April 6, 2017

About the author

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Reviews

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I have known Mark Allen since the sometime in the 1990s, when he lived in Houston. It has been a pleasure to watch him evolve over the years to a full-fledged human being, who embraces many points of view and reflects it in the work that he does--not that he didn't do this in Texas, too. (This is not meant to sound like a teacher praising an ex-student, but someone in awe of someone who is awesome.)

I have been a supporter of Machine Project since it's inception and have watched it change and grow and change some more. I love that Machine is interdisciplinary. It always takes an idea and turns it on it's side or looks at it from an oblique angle. It involves idiosyncratic thinking and a bunch of creative people harnessed by Mark Allen for the good of the world.

My viewpoint might be biased, but this book is a wonderful compendium of the Machine mind. Having participated in some of the events, I write from first-hand experience. Hopefully this book will open more eyes and hearts to Machine Project and its supporters will multiply.

Sign up for their mailing list and see what you're missing! http://machineproject.com and don't forget to send them money. They are a non-profit and can use your support!