Pascual Sisto

PASCUAL SISTO likes to blow things up -- on the big screen, that is. But don't expect the Los Angeles-based artist to cordon off downtown streets and orchestrate spectacular explosions any time soon. Sisto prefers to recycle. For his new video installation "Salamander," he appropriated stock images of explosions from the movie industry and crafted them into a visual symphony of illuminated flashes and colorful smoke.

PASCUAL SISTO likes to blow things up -- on the big screen, that is. But don't expect the Los Angeles-based artist to cordon off downtown streets and orchestrate spectacular explosions any time soon. Sisto prefers to recycle. For his new video installation "Salamander," he appropriated stock images of explosions from the movie industry and crafted them into a visual symphony of illuminated flashes and colorful smoke.

Restlessness and dissatisfaction go hand in glove and both spill from Chris Oatey's second solo show at CB1 Gallery. “Performing Methods” includes crudely crafted sculptures made of paper, string and paint that have been sliced in half and ripped open, as well as abstract paintings whose seemingly free gestures have been made with spray-painted stencils. On the upside, Oatey's low-tech pieces are approachable and unpretentious, no better or worse, than anything anyone else might make with the rudimentary materials and processes he favors.

Downtown Los Angeles turned into a canvas dabbed with colorful contrasts Saturday as old-school art found itself combined with the new -- and well-heeled suburbanites found themselves mixing with down-and-out street people. A self-guided "art walk" along an eight-block section of the center of the city drew some 3,000 visitors to two dozen independent galleries. Most have popped up over the last two years in long-neglected storefronts to tap into downtown's burgeoning residential loft scene.

Marcel Duchamp is probably the most famous prankster who is also taken seriously as an avant-garde artist. Best known for tipping a urinal on its back to transform it into a modern sculpture, the French expatriate made a name for himself making fun of just about everyone who felt that their understanding of art elevated them above ordinary folks, especially those with a fondness for profane gags and laugh-out-loud silliness.