The event includes a Book and Vinyl Launch, Film Screening, and Conversation At MoCA Grand Avenue / Ahmanson Auditorium in Los Angeles with an afterparty to immediately follow at La Cita
Free With RSVP Here
Today, author Harper Simon announces a series of events to celebrate the publication of Meditations on Crime. Kicking things off on July 8 from 4-6pm PDT at MOCA Grand Avenue / Ahmanson Auditorium in Los Angeles is a premiere screening of Meditations on Crime, a conversation with its directors Simon and Jonah Freeman moderated by Hat & Beard Editor and Publisher J.C. Gabel, followed by a book signing. More information is available here. The event is free with RSVP, which can be done here.
Following the event will be an after party at La Cita (336 S. Hill Street) from 6-9pm featuring a musical performance by Simon and Meditations on Crimecontributors Jennifer Herrema (Royal Trux), Geneva Jacuzzi, Paz Lenchantin (Pixies), Carla Azar (Autolux), Cole Alexander (Black Lips) and other special guests.
This is just the first of several events planned to celebrate the release, with more scheduled throughout the summer including a spot at the The 2023 San Francisco Art Book Fair from July 14 – 16, as well a live musical performance at Zebulon in connection with Printed Matter’s 2023 LA Art Book Fair at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA on August 13.
“Everyone is fascinated by crime,” says Harper Simon. “When you look at the history of song, romantic love songs may be the dominant mode of songwriting, but second would probably be songs involving crime.” Simon offers a new and expansive contribution to this legacy with Meditations on Crime, an ambitious multi-media project that includes an album he produced of musical collaborations with a sweeping range of contributors, including Julia Holter, Gang Gang Dance, King Khan, the Sun Ra Arkestra and a book he edited featuring essays by such notables as Miranda July, Hooman Majd, and Jerry Stahl, alongside artwork from giants like Cindy Sherman, Tracey Emin, Julian Schnabel, and Raymond Pettibon.
Listen / Share: Meditations on Crime
For the book, Simon points to “On Crime,” the essay by Nigerian novelist and poet Ben Okri, as a central piece. “It almost felt like an introduction because it was so philosophical,” he says. “It set the tone. The book started to become less political and more interesting.
Simon was committed to including visual art that investigated the idea of crime, so he enlisted his friend Jonah Freeman, from the art team Freeman-Lowe, as a co-curator.
The 28-minute film, also titled Meditations on Crime, was produced and directed by Jonah Freeman and Harper Simon to coincide with the release of the book/album package. It uses Simon’s music and excerpts from Ben Okri’s essay as an armature for a kaleidoscopic cinematic collage of found and original footage. Acclaimed actress Katherine Waterston narrates the film which, while touching upon a broad spectrum of crime, finds its focus in the prison system and all its contradictions.
The book will be available in three different versions: a softcover with 352 pages containing 339 artworks by 18 visual artists and 11 essays/interviews, a limited edition 13 in. x 13 in. clamshell in a custom clothbound box that includes both the book and a vinyl LP of the Meditation on Crime album, and a limited number of signed clamshell editions signed by Harper Simon and Jonah Freeman. For more information and/or to order yours visit the Hat & Beard Press website, here.
Harper Simon is a writer and musician who lives in Los Angeles. Simon is an executive producer on the upcoming feature film Pavements directed by Alex Ross Perry, about the seminal 90s band Pavement, along with Vice. He is also a contributing writer for Airmail, Spin, Purple Magazine and the L.A. Review of Books.
Jonah Freeman is visual artist and filmmaker who lives and works in NYC. His work, while grounded in the filmmaking process, has manifested in a variety of forms including painting, sculpture, and large-scale installations. The central theme of his practice is the odysseys of the constructed world and the resulting social and psychological effects. He has exhibited in museums, galleries and biennials worldwide including Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, CA, Deitch Projects, NYC/LA, The Centre Pompidou, Paris, MOMA/PS 1 NYC, Marlborough Gallery, NYC/London, among others. His films have screened in numerous film festivals including The International Film Festival Rotterdam, l and The Rome International Film Festival. He frequently collaborates with artist Justin Lowe.
J.C. Gabel began his career in publishing at the age of 19 with Stop Smiling,“The Magazine for High-Minded Lowlifes,” which grew into it into a full-color glossy featuring timeless themes, original stories, and interviews you couldn’t read anywhere else, before moving into book full time working for Taschen, Phaidon and Chronicle as an contributing editor. From 2005 to 2015, Gabel was also a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, Playboy, Bookforum, LA Times, New York Times, and Wallpaper. In 2016, Gabel founded Hat & Beard Press with the goal of finding a more artist-friendly way of producing and selling books in the 21st Century. H&B has since published over 75 books.
