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‘The Sundown Salon Unfolding Archive’ has arrived in my world recently and the more I read the more I am excited by it. It’s an overview by a project called’ The Sundown Salon undertaken by Fritz Haeg, who is an architect turned artist turned garden designer who moved to LA and held Salon’s every second Sunday in his dome-shaped home.

Haeg opens up the Salon’s for people to organise, they are described as events, shows, happenings, gatherings, meetings, pageantry, stunts, and everything in between, with a focus on creating energy and a space for LA artists, musicians, and people to share and discuss new work and ideas. Haeg therefore exists in this area between facilitator, host and artist, cooking for his guests while at the same time letting whatever happened happen.

One of the really interesting elements of the project is the notion of the ‘Salon’ which traditionally were held in homes as a place for the discussion of ideas, general gossip and meeting. Haeg describes in his introduction the beauty of having the Salons or events in his home, which by itself, because it was physically his space was enough for people to feel comfortable to engage in the discussion of ideas and speak openly about the work, music and events.

The projects are documented in the book with one side of the concertina consisting of purely imagery and the other side with interviews with Haeg and the people involved, statements by people who have attended the events and any other documentation. Each Salon is individualised with different type faces and flyers, showing the individual nature of each event, as  separate and individual from the others. There are images and more information about the events on The Sundown Salon website. It’s well worth checking out. -A