This collaboration between MOCA and REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater) presented Mexican artist Damián Ortega’s The Beetle Trilogy alongside a newly commissioned site-specific installation and three additional new works. Damián Ortega: The Beetle Trilogy and Other Works took place at REDCAT and MOCA simultaneously and constituted the Los Angeles premiere of Cosmic Thing (2002), the first episode of The Beetle Trilogy. This disassembled and suspended 1989 Volkswagen Beetle was installed at MOCA, where it joined the permanent collection in 2002. The other two components of the trilogy were made during Ortega’s recent residency at REDCAT and shown there. The performance piece Moby Dick (2004) was presented as a 16mm film installation alongside the third episode, Escarabajo (2005), an 8mm film.
The exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue.
Damián Ortega: The Beetle Trilogy and Other Works was organized by Eungie Joo, Gallery at REDCAT Director and Curator, and Alma Ruiz, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.