LACMA / American Artist: The Monophobic Response

We were excited to support American Artist in producing the film element for his museum exbition: The Monophobic Response, which was installed at LACMA in November of 2024.

The two-channel film and sculptural installation documents 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. Inspired by Octavia E. Butler’s 1993 novel Parable of the Sower, which unfolds in the imagined dystopic year of 2024, American Artist performed and filmed The Monophobic Response in the Mojave Desert in the summer of 2024. Artist’s interpretation involved an actual rocket engine test fire in a desolate Californian landscape, creating eerie juxtapositions between Butler’s prescient visions and our troubling realities. Drawing on Butler’s fictive religious community Earthseed, this installation weaves together thought-provoking takes on the meaning of “destiny” and who gets to enact it.

Director — American Artist

Producer — Chester Toye

The Monophoic Response co-shaped by Ayana Jamieson, Adam Kleinman, and Chester Toye.