Join us Saturday, March 15th from 1- 4 pm at USC Fisher Museum for an unforgettable final event celebratingSci-fi, Magick, Queer L.A.: Sexual Science and the Imagi-Nation. Commemorate the closing of this groundbreaking exhibition through performances, live tarot readings, music, food, occult books and zines, art making, and curator-led tours.
An opening plant spirit ceremony by artist Edgar Fabián Frías will kick off the event at 1 pm in the Fisher courtyard. Over the course of the afternoon, you are invited to peruse selections from Bibliomancers , Camp Books, and ONE Archives, including the exhibition catalog, while listening to a set from DJ Silver. Receive a complimentary tarot reading from witch and medium Jen De La Rosa, or contemporary artist, filmmaker and pagan prison chaplain Jamie Ross. Cut and paste your custom Sci-fi, Magick ephemera at our button making tables. We encourage folks to bring any magazines or printouts to contribute! All other materials will be provided.
Our headliner Armen Ra, regarded as one of the finest theremin performers in the world, and long time magickal practitioner, will perform at 2pm. The festivities will continue in the Fisher courtyard until 4pm. At 2:30 pm, we will offer the final tour of the exhibition from ONE Archives curator Alexis Bard Johnson. There will also be food and drink. We look forward to celebrating with everyone!
P.S. Come early at 12pm for another opportunity to see ONE Archives curator Alexis Bard Johnson give a tour of the exhibition if you don’t want to miss any of the above festivities!.
Schedule
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm: Early Bird Exhibition Tour / SEPARATE RSVP REQUIRED
Official Event:
1:00 pm Edgar Fabián Frías opening ritual / vendor booths, button making table, tarot open
1:15 pm DJ Silver set
2:00 pm Armen Ra performance
2:30 pm Tour of Sci-fi, Magick, Queer L.A. with Alexis Bard Johnson / DJ Silver set resumes
4:00 pm Exhibition closes
Artist bios
Camp Books specialises in rare & historical Queer Media: books, posters, pamphlets, ephemera of all kinds. We source these materials for use in art, magic, ritual, meditation, education, exhibition, interior decoration. We offer regular workshops and lectures, and we produce fresh prints & intensely researched zines to promote access to the radicals, the queers, the queens, the epicene creatures & gender benders, throughout history.
Bibliomancers is a Los Angeles based publisher by occultist and curator Astral Eyez. They offer a collection of books on divination, witchcraft, and the occult arts.
Edgar Fabián Frías Edgar Fabián Frías is a boundary-breaking multidisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles with degrees in Psychology, Studio Art, and an MFA in Art Practice from UC Berkeley. Their immersive works blend diverse artistic disciplines, challenging conventional categories. Frías explores resiliency and radical imagination through Indigenous Futurism, spirituality, and queer aesthetics.
Alexis Bard Johnson, is the Curator at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. She oversees the exhibitions, programs, and art collection at one of the largest repositories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer materials in the world. Johnson earned her PhD in Art History with a minor in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Stanford University. She most recently curated Sci-fi, Magick, Queer L.A.: Sexual Science and the Imagi-Nation, as part of the Getty’s PST ART: Art and Science Collide. Her previous exhibitions include Robert Andy Coombs: No Content Warning, Looking for Lesbians and Archival Intimacies: Queering South/East Asian Diasporas.
Armen Ra Armen Ra is a world-renowned theremin virtuoso celebrated for his innovative performances and mastery of this unique instrument. With a career that has taken him to iconic venues, Armen has captivated audiences from CBGB’s, Lincoln Center, and Walt Disney Concert Hall, to Medici Palaces in Florence, Italy, and the Musée Rodin in Paris, to name a few.His extensive discography includes a range of recordings that showcase his versatility and creativity, blending classical, eclectic, and experimental genres. With each performance, he transforms the air around him into a dynamic musical experience, solidifying his place as a leading figure in contemporary music.
Jen De La Rosa is an eclectic witch that specializes in cartomancy (tarot), charm casting and mediumship. Drawing from a background in folk magic spellcrafting and hermetic / occult studies, she provides clients both magickal insights and practical solutions.
Jamie Ross is a visual artist, filmmaker, writer, card reader and Pagan prison chaplain. Recent film and exhibition projects have presented collaborations with malacologists and their sprawling Victorian mollusk collections, elderly prima ballerinas, scientific glassblowers, and gay entomologists. Ross is now beginning production on their first feature-length film, a portrait of Montreal's central park, presenting 150 years of queer sex and sex work and the failed attempts to irradicate it. Ross works between Los Angeles and Montreal.
DJ Silver (they/he) has been DJing for over a decade in Southern California, predominantly in the LA QTPOC community. Weaving a soundscape that encompasses different genres, they embrace the magic of being queer and existing within multiple spaces in LA. With a deep love for goth, dark wave, punk, funk, electronic and rap and inspiration from producers like Aphex Twin, Arca and Luny Tunes, Silver alchemises this wide range of sounds with nostalgic beats and rhythms.
This program is open to all eligible individuals. ONE Archives at the USC Libraries operates all of its programs and activities consistent with the University’s Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor.
