techno DJ icon carl craig invites music fans to his 'party/after-party' installation at MOCA

moca presents carl craig: party/after-party

Legendary DJ Carl Craig is bringing his ‘Party/After-Party’ installation to the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, transforming the gallery into a night scene. On view from April 16 to July 23, 2023, at the museum’s WAREHOUSE in Los Angeles, the show will welcome techno enthusiasts to an outstanding sound and somatic experience, immersing them into Carl Craig’s sensorial world.

Through ‘Party/After-Party,’ the dancefloor experimentalist and Detroit techno producer places club culture within the gallery space, mixing an Afro-futurist aesthetic with techno beats and playful twists. ‘Craig fuses the legacies of Detroit techno and minimalist sound art,’ said Alex Sloane, MOCA Associate Curator and exhibition organizer. As visitors wander through the WAREHOUSE, they will be enveloped by Craig’s immersive soundscape. Through the vivid mediums of sound and light, such as strobe effects, the dark setting is broken up by neon strips and sonic loops, evoking ecstatic feelings. The skylights above let natural light enter the space, marking the peak of the event and night’s transition to ‘dawn.’

installation view of Carl Craig: Party/After-Party, Dia Beacon, Beacon, New York, 2020. © Carl Craig, courtesy of Dia Art Foundation, New York. photo by Bill Jacobson Studio, New York

transforming the museum into a club

Craig’s successful 30-year career earned him the ‘international techno ambassador’ title. The event was originally commissioned by Dia Art Foundation (see more here) before the pandemic but wasn’t held until now due to the strict regulations, that caused all night stages to shutter their doors.

‘Party/After-Party’ revives MOCA’s WAREHOUSE, a former manufacturing site, and police storage facility, and plays off the site’s industrial architecture. The show uses sonic loops and beats scheduled to evolve slightly in every 30-minute rotation, ‘so that no two cycles of the work are the same, and at times incorporate references to Craig’s tinnitus, a byproduct of a lifetime of loud music.’

The performance is Craig’s invitation into his extravagant world, taking visitors on a sonic journey from the standpoint of a DJ. ‘The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA is a remarkably fitting space for this experiential piece to unfold its second, post-pandemic, chapter. Craig’s unique activation of WAREHOUSE is tremendously exciting. Experimental and immersive projects that invite our audiences to engage with art in new and unusual ways are core to our program at MOCA,’ said Johanna Burton, The Maurice Marciano Director.

installation view of Carl Craig: Party/After-Party, Dia Beacon, Beacon, New York, 2020. © Carl Craig, courtesy of Dia Art Foundation, New York. photo by Bill Jacobson Studio, New York

In collaboration with Insomniac and Secret Project, MOCA will also host Party/After-Party Sessions, a series of three live concerts at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA on Thursday, May 25, Saturday, June 17, and Saturday, July 22, alongside the main installation. The sessions are co-organized by Craig, who will also be performing and will feature artists Moodymann, DJ Holographic, Moritz von Oswald, King Britt, DJ Minx, and Kenny Larkin, among others.

installation view of Carl Craig: Party/After-Party, Dia Beacon, Beacon, New York, 2020. © Carl Craig, courtesy of Dia Art Foundation, New York. photo by Bill Jacobson Studio, New York