Machine Project was a Los Angeles based not-for-profit arts organization and community event space. Focused on the local community many considered Machine Project to be a Community museum. From 2003 until its closing in 2018, the Machine Project’s mission was to produce cultural programming that inspires audiences to become creatively active by engaging with and reimagining the arts and sciences in new ways. The Project utilized a range of techniques to encourage participation such as informality, humor, and surprises in order to make new, exciting and complex ideas accessible. From a storefront gallery in the Echo Park neighborhood, near the major intersection of Alvarado Street and Sunset Boulevard, Machine Project offered workshops, exhibitions, performances and talks all centered around the Los Angeles community. It is also a gathering place for a loose alliance of artists who produce collaborative work in various locations around Los Angeles, including the Santa Monica beach and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
History
Founded by Mark Allen, Machine Project launched in 2003 with its inaugural show, ‘Tom Jennings,’ which was displayed from December 6, 2003 until January 24, 2004. In the museums first year, it displayed six different exhibits. In 2005, the Machine Project was incorporated as a non-profit. As the museum continued to grow, it gained media attention. In a 2006 LA Weekly article, writer Gendy Alimurung described Machine Project as, "Nikola Tesla by way of P.T. Barnum, with a dash of 'The Anarchist Cookbook." After becoming a non for profit, Machine Project mission shifted to facilitate conversations between poets, technicians, artists, scientists, and obscure hobbyists. It has also come to celebrate and support works that arise out of unusual combinations of interests. For example, past exhibits have included urban plant foraging and needlepoint therapy based on classic oil paintings. Machine Project also prioritizes accessibility, explicitly courting amateur practitioners and curious locals. Workshops are regularly offered in sewing electronics, soldering, arduino and processing for artists. Over the years, Machine Project has moved toward larger collaborations, holding residences with major art museums, including a one-day takeover of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on November 15, 2008 and a several month residency at the Hammer Museum in 2010. The show was described by LA Weekly as "epic". A twenty-four hour exhibit in 2008 attempted to change the old saying Rome wasn’t built in a day when Liz Glynn designed the Rome Reconstruction Project. Free to the public Glynn said "The project is an attempt to get a lot of people together and see what can be accomplished." In 2016, Machine Project hosted an installation in a Santa Monica swimming pool in order to do an underwater art show, with waterproof sculptures, paintings, and prints. Despite the creative nature of the Machine Project, Machine Project announced it would close its doors in January 2018.
