The alternatives are out there

Art2102

Founded in 2003, Art2102 maintained an exhibition space in Boyle Heights for three years before letting it go to focus on facilitating independent projects. Billing itself as a “catalyst for collaboration,” this nonprofit works with curators and other organizations to produce exhibitions, discussions, screenings and other events. Sponsors a curator-in-residence program.

No exhibition space

www.art2102.org

--

Betalevel

Located in a basement down an alley not far from the Full House Seafood Restaurant in Chinatown, Betalevel is hidden away and seems to prefer it that way. The eccentric variety of events here includes bingo, digital file-sharing/karaoke parties and “Ambient Haircut,” an event combining live ambient music and free haircuts.

See website for location

www.betalevel.com

--

Center for Land Use Interpretation

Devoted to looking at the way we use and interpret land, CLUI is a sort of role model for alternative institutions in L.A. It espouses a rigorous, inquisitive, multidisciplinary approach to exploring contemporary life and produces exhibitions, conducts tours, publishes books, organizes lectures and presentations, and maintains a database of “unusual and exemplary sites throughout the United States.”

9331 Venice Blvd. Culver City

www.clui.org

--

Dangerous Curve

Co-directors Kathryn Hargreaves and Tim Quinn host exhibitions and performances. The result: an elegant, peaceful space that’s become, among other things, one of L.A.’s primary venues for experimental music.

1020 E. 4th Place, Los Angeles

www.dangerouscurve.org

--

Farmlab/Under Spring

Part exhibition space, part performance venue, part eco-urban think tank, Farmlab sponsors projects and events that encourage a conscientious, sustainable integration of natural resources and the urban environment.

1745 N. Spring St., Unit 4, Los Angeles

www.farmlab.org

--

Institute for Figuring

Sponsors exhibitions (online and in various other locales), books and lectures devoted to the exploration of figures and figuring techniques -- “from the physics of snowflakes and the hyperbolic geometry of sea slugs, to the mathematics of paper folding, the tiling patterns of Islamic mosaics and graphical models of the human mind.” Recent events include lectures on knot theory and “the ecology of a termite’s gut.”

No exhibition space

www.theiff.org

--

Machine Project

Rooted in the model of a good party, with a diverse crowd, a comfortable environment and a welcoming host who keeps the conversation going, Machine offers an idiosyncratic program of exhibitions, lectures, performances, workshops and classes.

1200 D N. Alvarado St., Los Angeles

www.machineproject.com

--

Mountain School of Art

Mountain aims to carve out a position between the ivory tower, the museum lecture hall and the art bar. Sixteen students meet twice a week for three months at the Mountain Bar in Chinatown for lectures, presentations and discussions on the fine arts that also dip into science, law and philosophy.

475 Gin Ling Way, Los Angeles

www.themountainschoolofarts.org

Museum of Jurassic Technology

MJT has collections and exhibitions devoted to a bewildering variety of peculiar things -- the decorative landscaping of Los Angeles-area mobile home parks, the dogs of the Soviet space program -- typically supplemented by volumes of research. Its Tula Tea Room serves Georgian black tea and cookies in the afternoon, and the Borzoi Kabinet Theater screens a rotating selection of films.

9341 Venice Blvd., Culver City

www.mjt.org

--

Outpost for Contemporary Art

This nonprofit helps develop what it describes as “interdisciplinary projects that are speculative in nature,” with an emphasis on international exchange. Its 2007-08 focus: sociopolitical transformation in Eastern Europe.

www.outpost-art.org

--

Sundown Schoolhouse

Sundown is “a geodesic home-based educational environment for gently radical design, literary, performing and visual arts,” in the words of its mission statement. Nine students meet once a week for 12 weeks throughout the fall for a loose curriculum of lectures, discussions and other activities.

2538 Sundown Drive, Los Angeles

www.sundownschoolhouse.org

--

Telic Arts Exchange

Telic looks to challenge and expand the concept of a physical gallery space with site-specific installations and events that emphasize the notion of exhange -- between artists, viewers, curators, the space itself, the neighborhood (Chinatown) and the community at large.

975 Chung King Road, Los Angeles

www.telic.info

--

Velaslavasay Panorama

Founder Sara Velas resurrects a popular 19th century form -- the 360-degree painting -- in a historic theater near USC. The space features a new Arctic panorama upstairs, as well as a stage for performances and a spacious garden.

1122 W. 24th St., Los Angeles

www.panoramaonview.org