I was browsing the LA Times’s A&E blog Culture Monster when I saw an article about CalArts (the California Institute of the Arts) recently opening a new building called Wild Beast. The name comes from a Morton Feldman quote: “I am interested in how the wild beast lives in the jungle, not in the zoo.” Wild Beast is an innovative building that can be configured for intimate rehearsals and recitals, or for sprawling outdoor concerts. Designed by Ming Fung and Craig Hodgetts, the building is also meant to be a musical instrument unto itself, with an infrastructure built to maximize sound clarity. CalArts will be holding an inaugural series of open-air concerts into the spring, starting with “Strauss, Mozart and Gabrieli Under the Stars” on October 23. Check out more about the concert series, Wild Beast, and CalArts in general here.
CalArts is host to the California State Summer School of the Arts/Innerspark every, well, summer, and I was there for its 2009 session as a creative writing major. I was only there for four weeks, but it was an amazing experience, and I can’t remember CalArts or read about it without feeling nostalgic. Hopefully I can find some time to head out to one of the concerts (they’re free to the public).
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