Machine Project

Machine Project
Name	Machine Project
Formation	2003
Founders	Mark Allen; Sarah Kidder
Type	Arts organization; nonprofit
Location	Los Angeles, California
Leaders	Mark Allen (founder); Sarah Kidder (co-founder)

Machine Project Machine Project was an experimental arts organization founded in Los Angeles in 2003 that operated as a gallery, performance space, workshop, and cultural laboratory. It functioned as a hub for interdisciplinary practice, hosting artists, musicians, technologists, and educators from across the United States and internationally. The organization cultivated a network of collaborators spanning institutions, festivals, and community groups.

History

Machine Project was established in 2003 in Los Angeles by Mark Allen and Sarah Kidder, emerging amid contemporaneous activity in the Los Angeles art scene including LA Weekly, Hammer Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, The Getty Center, The Broad, Barnsdall Art Park, LACMA, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Fremont Flower Mart, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Skirball Cultural Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, California Institute of the Arts, Otis College of Art and Design, University of Southern California, UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, ArtCenter College of Design, Hammer Projects, Redcat, Frieze Los Angeles, Pacific Standard Time (art initiative). Early programming connected with venues and events such as Echo Park, Silver Lake, Highland Park, Downtown Los Angeles Arts District, Glendale, Pasadena, Long Beach, Venice (Los Angeles County), Santa Monica, Culver City. Over its lifespan the organization relocated spaces and adapted to shifts in funding environments related to foundations such as The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Getty Foundation, and city arts commissions like the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

Mission and Activities

Machine Project described its mission as creating participatory, hands-on cultural experiences that bridged art and technology, placing emphasis on process, pedagogy, and community. Programs engaged artists and publics in formats resonant with institutions like Tate Modern, Whitney Museum of American Art, Serpentine Galleries, Walker Art Center, MoMA PS1, Carnegie Museum of Art, SFMOMA, The New Museum, Institute of Contemporary Art, London, Queens Museum, SITE Santa Fe, and festival contexts such as SXSW, CES, Burning Man, LA Art Show, Venice Biennale, Documenta. Activities included exhibitions, commissioned installations, live performance, lecture-demonstrations, workshops, and residency-style collaborations with artists and technologists comparable to programs at ZKM Center for Art and Media, NIMk, Eyebeam, New Inc, Laboratory for Aesthetics and Ecology, and The Kitchen.

Notable Projects and Exhibitions

Noteworthy projects presented at Machine Project included interactive installations, participatory performances, and experiment-driven exhibitions that intersected with practices by figures and groups such as Nam June Paik, Laurie Anderson, Marina Abramović, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Cornelia Parker, Paul McCarthy, Olafur Eliasson, Tino Sehgal, Rauschenberg, John Cage, Fluxus, Dada, Yayoi Kusama, Chris Burden, Allora and Calzadilla, Ernesto Neto, Stanley Brouwn, Santiago Sierra, Jenny Holzer, Bruce Nauman, Derrick Adams, Cory Arcangel, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Hito Steyerl, Harun Farocki, Trevor Paglen, James Turrell, Takeshi Murata, Pae White, Ann Hamilton, Mark Dion, Jenny Odell, Zoe Beloff, Ellen Fullman, Ryoji Ikeda, Carsten Nicolai, Suzanne Lacy, Bieke Depoorter, Mark Leckey, Tacita Dean, Vito Acconci, Andrea Zittel, Gillian Wearing, William Kentridge—often through invitations, references, or thematic intersections with their work. Exhibitions frequently featured grassroots makers and technologists connected to collectives and labs like Make:, Hackerspace, Noisebridge, Furtherfield, Future Lab, SymbioticA, Media Lab (MIT), Interaction Design Institute Ivrea.

Education and Community Programs

Education and community offerings emphasized hands-on learning, DIY practice, and public experimentation, aligning with educational initiatives at California State University, Long Beach, Occidental College, Pitzer College, Claremont Graduate University, ArtCenter College of Design Teaching Academy, UCLA Extension, USC Iovine and Young Academy, LAUSD Arts Education Branch, The Laboratory School of Finance and Technology and nonprofit education programs such as Arts for LA, Young Audiences Arts for Learning, Little Tokyo Service Center. Programs included workshops on electronics, analog synth building, improvised music, book arts, zine-making, analog photography, and bicycle repair, often led by practitioners connected to Make Magazine, Instructables, Adafruit Industries, SparkFun Electronics.

Collaborations and Partnerships

Machine Project partnered with museums, festivals, universities, and civic organizations including collaborations with Hammer Museum, MOCA Grand Avenue, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Getty Center Public Programs, The Broad Contemporary Art Museum, LA Philharmonic, CalArts, UCLA, USC Thornton School of Music, Los Angeles Opera, REDCAT, Frieze Los Angeles, Venice Biennale American Pavilion, SXSW, Burning Man Project, Furtherfield, Eyebeam, ZKM, Ars Electronica, Sonar, Mutek, Afropunk, The New School, Pratt Institute, Rhode Island School of Design, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution in programmatic, curatorial, and educational roles.

Organization and Leadership

Leadership centered on founders Mark Allen and Sarah Kidder, with program directors, curators, and administrative staff drawn from Los Angeles arts networks and alumni of institutions such as California Institute of the Arts, UCLA School of the Arts, USC School of Cinematic Arts, Otis College of Art and Design, Claremont Graduate University. Advisory and volunteer contributors included artists, engineers, musicians, curators, and scholars affiliated with The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles Review of Books, Artforum, Art in America, Frieze, Rhizome, e-flux, Hyperallergic, KCET Artbound, KCRW, NPR Music, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times Arts Section.

Reception and Impact

Machine Project received local and national attention for fostering participatory art practice and for influencing DIY and community-driven programming in Los Angeles and beyond. Coverage and critical response appeared alongside reporting on related venues and initiatives such as Hammer Museum Made in L.A., MOCA exhibitions, The Getty Foundation grants, Pacific Standard Time projects, and festival circuits including SXSW, Ars Electronica, Burning Man. Its legacy is discussed in contexts with artists, collectives, and institutions that emphasize social engagement, technological experimentation, and venue-based pedagogy.

Category:Arts organizations based in Los Angeles