Oct 26 EVENT: KAOS Theory

WHO & WHAT: An IRL EVENT with pioneering Los Angeles artist, filmmaker, and community organizer Ben Caldwell, co-author and USC professor & filmmaker Roberson Taj Frazier, and art curator Essence Harden as they discuss KAOS Theory: The Afrokosmic Ark of Ben Caldwell which tells the story of the KAOS Network, the media-arts center he founded in Los Angeles's Leimert Park neighborhood.

WHEN: Thursday, October 26th, 2023 @ 7pm PST (doors @ 6:30pm) 

WHERE: In-person at Reparations Club (3054 S. Victoria Ave LA, CA 90016)

HEALTH & SAFETY: For your safety, we ask that you please wear a face covering while indoors for our events.

HOW: Reserve an IRL ticket from the drop down below:

• IRL TICKET W/ SIGNED BOOK: This ticket guarantees a seat including a SIGNED book copy available for pick up at the event. Select 'Local Pickup' at checkout to waive shipping.

• FREE *RSVP*: IRL Event entry based on capacity. Limited Signed copies will be available for purchase during the event. Due to our limited capacity, please only RSVP if you plan to attend.

• SIGNED BOOK ONLY: Can't make it IRL but want a signed copy? We'll ship it to you after the event!

Please email us if you have any additional needs, questions, or accessibility concerns.

Robeson Taj Frazier is a writer and associate professor in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California and director of the Institute for Diversity and Empowerment at Annenberg (IDEA). He is the author of The East is Black: Cold War China in the Black Radical Imagination, producer of the documentary film It’s Yours: A Story About Hip Hop and the Internet, and host of the PBS Digital Studios production, Hip Hop and the Metaverse.

Ben Caldwell is an arts educator, independent filmmaker, and founder of KAOS Network, a multimedia arts/tech accelerator center located in Leimert Park, a historic and cultural hub of Los Angeles. A native of New Mexico, Caldwell earned an MFA in film and television at UCLA, taught at Howard University and California Institute of the Arts, and is a senior fellow in the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Innovation Lab. Caldwell’s work has been shown nationally and internationally, including at the Tate Modern, Festival des 3 Continents, and the Lisbon & Estoril Film Festival.

Essence Harden is a visual arts curator and program manager at the California African American Museum and an independent arts writer. Essence has curated exhibitions at the California African American Museum (CAAM), Antenna Gallery (New Orleans), Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD), Human Resources (Los Angeles), Oakland Museum of California, UTA Artist Space, El Segundo Museum of Art (ESMoA), Subliminal Projects, The Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) and Art + Practice amongst others.

Essence is a contributor to New York Times Magazine (2023), The Los Angeles Times Magazine: Image, SSENSE, Art21, Contemporary Art Review LA (CARLA), Artsy, LALA, Cultured Magazine, Performa Magazine, and SFAQ: International Arts and Culture and has written catalog entries for California Biennial: Pacific Gold; Made in LA: Acts of Living; Prospect 5: Yesterday we said tomorrow;  Brave New Worlds: Exploration of Space: Palm Springs Art Museum; and What Needs to Be Said: Hallie Ford Fellows Exhibition. Essence has also served as an art consultant for film and television.