Ice Cube talks Eames

Ice Cube talks Eames

Ice Cube talks Eames, Ice Cube praises superstars. Rapper Ice Cube, as part of an effort to promote art in Southern California, toured a house by Charles and Ray Eames in Pacific Palisades. The rapper, who once was a student, praised the Eames' work"Ice Cube

Celebrates the Eames" is the latest installment in a series that explores unexpected artistic connections between culturally influential Angelenos of different generations
LOS ANGELES - In "Ice Cube Celebrates the Eames," O'Shea Jackson, the rapper and actor also known as Ice Cube, talks about his love for architecture and how the work of legendary designers Charles and Ray Eames continues to inspire him.

Touring the home of Charles and Ray Eames, known as Case Study No. 8, Ice Cube explains how hip-hop mirrors the couple's beautifully designed home as both make use of prefabricated pieces that fit together to form a whole.


"What I love about the Eames is how resourceful they are," explains Ice Cube. "[The idea for the Eames House is] taking something that already exists and making it something special, kind of like sampling."

The extended version of the video features Ice Cube driving around Los Angeles and talking about the city's vast architectural landscape, from strip malls to famous landmarks like the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Watts Towers. Ice Cube has long been passionate about architecture and studied architectural drafting at the Phoenix Institute of Technology in 1987, right around the time when he recorded the first demos with the legendary South Los Angeles rap group N.W.A.

"When N.W.A. was first about to pop off I wasn't sure if I was gonna make a living [from music]," says Ice Cube. "Cussin' on the radio? I didn't know if that was gonna bring me any money, so I ended up going to school in Phoenix and spending a year out there."

Produced by video director Dave Meyers, "Ice Cube Celebrates the Eames" is the third video in a series that features authentic and unexpected connections between today's cultural influencers and Pacific Standard Time-era (postwar) artists to show how Los Angeles art continues to inspire the world.

The Eames House Foundation is a Pacific Standard Time exhibition partner, presenting "Indoor Ecologies: The Evolution of the Eames House Living Room" (reservations required).*

Other current and upcoming Pacific Standard Time exhibitions that focus on the Eameses, as well as design and architecture, include:

· "Eames Designs: The Guest-Host Relationship" at A + D Architecture Museum

· "California Design, 1930-1965: 'Living in a Modern Way'" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art


· "Sympathetic Seeing: Esther McCoy and the Heart of American Modernist Architecture and Design" at the MAK Center for Architecture and Design at the Schindler House

· "Breaking Ground: Chinese American Architects in Los Angeles (1945-1985)" at the Chinese American Museum (opening January 19)

· "Backyard Oasis: The Swimming Pool in Southern California Photography, 1945-1982" at the Palm Springs Art Museum (opening January 21)

· "Carefree California: Cliff May and the Romance of the Ranch, 1920-1960" at the Art, Design & Architecture Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara (opening February 26)


Preceded by the videos "Kiedis Celebrates Ruscha" and "Schwartzman Celebrates Baldessari," the Ice Cube/Eames video is the latest installment in the creative campaign by TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles to promote Pacific Standard Time: Art inL.A.1945-1980, the unprecedented six-month celebration of the birth of the Los Angeles art scene.

In "Kiedis Celebrates Ruscha," artist Ed Ruscha and Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers drive around Los Angeles talking about how words, imagery and typography inform their respective creative processes and how the city is a constant source of inspiration.


"Schwartzman Celebrates Baldessari" parodies misperceptions that surround museum culture to motivate audiences to put aside preconceived notions about the art world and experience the important exhibitions of Pacific Standard Time.

All three videos in the series are available at pacificstandardtime.org/videos.

About Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945 - 1980
Pacific Standard Time is a collaboration of more than sixty cultural institutions across Southern California, coming together for six months from October 2011 to April 2012 to tell the story of the birth of the Los Angeles art scene and how it became a major new force in the art world. By presenting a multitude of simultaneous exhibitions and programs, each institution is making its own contribution to this grand-scale story of artistic innovation and social change.

Exploring and celebrating the significance of the crucial years after World War II through the tumultuous period of the 1960s and 70s, Pacific Standard Time encompasses developments from L.A. Pop to post-minimalism; from modernist architecture and design to multi-media installations; from the films of the African-American L.A. Rebellion to the feminist activities of the Woman's Building; from ceramics to Chicano performance art; and from Japanese-American design to the pioneering work of artists' collectives.

Pacific Standard Time is an initiative of the Getty. The presenting sponsor is Bank of America.

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