This week, musicians interpret the sounds of the freeway in the presence of headless palm trees, and a German painter explores children's dark side. 

5. Edible pie charts
Artist Annina Rüst makes pie charts by printing statistics onto actual “pre-baked” pies. The data she worked with address gender gaps in the tech field, and her system is robotic and kind of comic. A chart maker goes to a computer workstation, chooses which data to chart and chooses a pie to place on the pie bot (essentially a conveyer belt), where a heat gun melts the frosting before a vacuum-powered arm places a “data disc” onto that frosting. At LACMA, Rüst will discuss her project with artist Micol Hebron, who has spent the past two years charting frustrating gender disparities in the gallery world. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire; Thurs., April 9, 7 p.m. Free with RSVP. (323) 857-6000, lacma.org.

4. Sculptures that screech
New York–based Sergei Tcherepnin, whose father and uncle were experimental composers, filled his show “Body Bound Notations” at Overduin & Co. with standing, fiber-covered panels. They resemble portable chalkboards such as a Hollywood version of a professor might use, and they buzz quietly. Thin metal sheets loop back on themselves, bump up or dangle from them, but you might not know that the metal is meant to be touched, unless someone else does it first. When you push it, and it comes into contact with black plastic sensors hidden behind or underneath it, the subtle buzzing becomes screeching, whirring or something else pronounced. 6693 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood; through April 18. (323) 464-3600, overduinandco.com. 

Untitled (the birth of an alcoholic) by Amelie von Wulffen; Credit: Courtesy of the artist and Freedman Fitpatrick

Untitled (the birth of an alcoholic) by Amelie von Wulffen; Credit: Courtesy of the artist and Freedman Fitpatrick


3. Defiant children
Untitled (the birth of an alcoholic), a painting in Amelie Von Wulffen’s new exhibition at Freedman Fitzpatrick, shows a cherubic child next to a chalice, surrounded by green dragonflies, pastel pink washes and sky blue clouds. Rays of light shine down on her, but despite the palette and subject matter, the painting feels grimy. This has to do with the way colors blur; they don’t actually become muddy but still give off a defiantly sloppy vibe. The whole show is like this: Von Wulffen paints children who resemble Johanna Spyri's Heidi or surrounds little blond girls' heads with halos, but the way she handles paint makes the work sinister. 6051 Hollywood Blvd., #107, Hollywood; through May 2. (323) 723-2785, freedmanfitzpatrick.com. 

2. Ghost town concert
This weekend, artist Scott Benzel is staging a concert at Desert Center, a tiny town west of Palm Springs. It's a trek, but probably worth it. The town has a headless circle of palm trees, and Benzel's concert will take place around that circle. Seven people — including strings players and electronic musicians — will perform a composition that mimics the sounds of the freeway; in fact, the I-10 will be near enough to hear. Originally commissioned by artist Zoe Crosher, the performance coincides with the launch of her leg of “Manifest Destiny,” a nationwide artist billboard project. Driving back to L.A. on the I-10 West, concertgoers will be able to see her billboards of a lush garden slowly wilting. Palm tree ring at the southeast corner of Rice Road and Ragsdale Road, Desert Center; Saturday, April 4, 6-8 pm. (646) 620-8289, nomadicdivision.org. 

1. Moon craters for the floor
The title of Rosha Yaghmai’s exhibition in Kayne Griffin Corcoran’s project galleries, “Easy Journey to Other Planets,” has a seductive casualness. So does the work. An aluminum lamp held up by a sandbag leans over a rusted lawn chair. Chrome socks lie on the floor, amidst fluorescent plastic mounds with moon crater–like indentations in them. A lavender awning made with the resin used to coat surfboards hangs from the ceiling. 1201 S La Brea Ave., Mid-City; through May 16. (310) 586-6886, kaynegriffincorcoran.com. 

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