Los Angeles Vissionaries Association salon March 27

LAVA's free pre-April Fools Salon features historic Cacophony Society pranks and record industry hijinx

WHAT: On Sunday, March 27, LAVA (The Los Angeles Visionaries Association) presents an afternoon of free cultural exploration in Downtown L.A. with the monthly Sunday Salon gathering upstairs at Clifton's Cafeteria at 648 South Broadway (noon-2pm)

SALON INFO: http://lavatransforms.org/salon311

Launched last February by Richard Schave and Kim Cooper--the proprietors of Esotouric bus adventures and founding Director and Curator of the Downtown Art Walk non-profit--the creative consortium LAVA (The Los Angeles Visionaries Association) is fast establishing itself as one of the city's most intriguing arts collectives, with a calendar packed with compelling, offbeat urban events and a growing list of notable Visionary contributors. LAVA's Sunday Salon has become one of the hottest (free) tickets for urban explorers seeking intelligent conversation, connection and inspiration not to mention Clifton's famous home cooking. The Sunday Salon returns to Clifton's Cafeteria on Sunday, March 27 from noon-2pm, and all are welcome to dine together and socialize, or attend compelling presentations by LAVA Visionaries on the April Fools Day-inspired theme of PRANKS AND TOM FOOLERY.

PRESENTERS AT THE MARCH 27 SALON (all appearing between 12-2pm, with exact times/schedules to be announced at the event)

1) LAVA Visionary JON ALLOWAY talks about and previews his new documentary "Into the Zone - The Story of the Cacophony Society," as recently seen at MOMA as part of the Juxtapoz "All the Wrong Art" show. This hilarious and exciting Dada-documentary follows the evolution of the prankish group from its origins in the San Francisco Suicide Club through the creation of the Burning Man Festival, the irreverent Los Angeles Cacophony Society and beyond. This is the history of a significant American underground cultural movement, featuring astonishing footage never before seen by normal people.

The Cacophony Society is a national network of creative provocateurs serving as prototype for Chuck Palahniuk's "Fight Club." Throughout the 1990s, the Society's notorious Los Angeles lodge orchestrated hundreds of darkly absurdist culture-jamming spectacles ranging from the detonation of a pyro-charged 80-foot replica of Disney's It's a Small World ride to a Christmas face-off between a two-hundred-strong mob of Santas and a riot squad. The credo of the Cacophony Society is "You May Already be a Member!" For more on Jon Alloway's film, visit http://www.intothezonemovie.com/

2) LAVA Visionary "REVEREND" AL RIDENOUR, the former "Grand Instigator" of the Los Angeles Lodge of the Cacophony Society, will be sharing insights into his years coordinating Cacophonist activities. Al will also be talking about his current project, The Art of Bleeding, a performance collective that gathers together a number of former LA Cacophonists for absurdist medically-themed stage shows and events. The Art of Bleeding produces ego-destabilizing programs on safety and medical education for both live and video presentation. Often staged from an actual ambulance, their performances utilize a perturbing mix of cartoonish costumes, puppets, vintage educational films, animation, and thinly veiled medical fetishism to create a sort of "paramedical funhouse" in which the groping ego may ultimately experience TRUE SAFETY CONSCIOUSNESS. For more on The Art of Bleeding, visit http://www.artofbleeding.com and for more on the CacophonySociety, visit http://la.cacophony.org

3) From his music-biz research archives, LAVA Visionary GENE SCULATTI presents "Tales from the Flipside," a recounting of some of the more colorful and outrageous scams, tricks and stunts used by promotion men to get their records played. Hear some of what it took to land some of your favorite artists on the charts. Featured: the Peter, Paul & Mary riots, the consequences of being the fake Duke of Earl, and the saga of the singing cop Saverio Saridis.

Applications from prospective LAVA members are being taken at
http://lavatransforms.org/apply

To learn more about LAVA, please visit
http://www.lavatransforms.org