Edgar Arceneaux and Frank Lawson: Place Is The Space

"To tell a story is one thing, but to paint the picture of identity and infamy within its true reality is Arceneaux's artistry at its best." — Flaunt

Place Is the Space is a four-hour immersive performance experience combining live jazz improvisation, theatrical storytelling and multimedia design inspired by Sun Ra’s philosophy and his film Space Is the Place. The work functions as both a concert and an experiential ritual where musicians, performers, visual elements and audience members collectively shape the space into a place. Metaphorically building the vehicle that Sun Ra aspired towards, expressing Afrofuturistic themes of transcendence, liberation and joy.

This cosmic jam session culminates in the audience crowning a "New Sun Ra," who leads the full audience on a pilgrimage to the Hammer Museum for one final performance, where everyone is invited to play along.

Presented in conjunction with the Hammer Museum’s current exhibition SPACE IS THE PLACE, which frames “space” as a conceptual framework inspired by the works and views of experimental jazz artist Sun Ra. Arceneaux’s contribution also marks his second collaboration with CAP UCLA, after 2024’s Boney Manilli.