Party/After-Party (LA MOCA)

Originally commissioned by Dia Art Foundation, this sonic statement responds directly to the architecture of The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA and reclaims the former manufacturing site and police storage facility as a space for agency and radical experimentation.

Upon entry, visitors are enveloped by Craig’s soundscape which honors the Black pioneers of techno and electronic music. As one moves through WAREHOUSE techno beats fill the space, the darkness broken intermittently by neon strips, before the skylights above flood everything with natural light, signaling the cycle’s peak and the transition towards “dawn.”

While Party/After-Party was conceived before the COVID-19 pandemic, the context of the past three years makes it impossible to enter the space and not crave the heat and thudding bass of clubs such as Berlin’s iconic Berghain, which Craig has headlined, while also acknowledging the collective loss of communal experiences. Beats build and recede, evolving slightly with every 30-minute evolution so that no two are the same, and at times incorporating references to Craig’s tinnitus, a byproduct of a lifetime of loud music; Party/After-Party is Craig’s invitation into his world and the spaces he shapes through sound.

Party/After-Party is accompanied by Party/After-Party Sessions, a series of three live concerts co-presented with Insomniac and Secret Project that are a continuation of the collaborations at the heart of Craig’s practice.

May 25 with DJ Holographic, Felix Da Housecat, King Britt, and Carl Craig

June 17 with Kenny Larkin, Kyle Hall, and Rimarkable

July 22 with Moodymann, DJ Minx, and Erno

Party/After-Party was commissioned by Dia Art Foundation.

Carl Craig: Party/After-Party was curated by Kelly Kivland, former Curator at Dia Art Foundation, with Randy Gibson, Manager of Exhibition Technology. The Los Angeles presentation is organized by Alex Sloane, Associate Curator, with Anastasia Kahn, Curatorial Assistant, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.