The Art + Technology Lab at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) presents American Artist: The Monophobic Response, a meticulously crafted yet poetically altered re-creation of a pivotal 1936 static rocket engine test that initiated the United States’ venture into space travel.
Conceived by American Artist (b. 1989), The Monophobic Response is inspired by Octavia E. Butler’s 1993 novel Parable of the Sower, which is set in 2024, and draws parallels between Butler’s fictive 2024 U.S. Presidential race and the impending real-world election.
The first phase of this project was a special performance that took place on June 9, 2024, in the Mojave Desert.
American Artist’s performance featured a rocket engine test that was fired in a desolate Californian landscape, creating eerie juxtapositions between Butler’s prescient visions and current realities.
The Monophobic Response will reconvene in November 2024 with an installation at LACMA.
