To call Machine Project a gallery would be a massive oversimplification. While it has been home to extensive art installations of all kinds since it opened in 2003, the real heart of this exemplary alternative storefront, run by Vermont native and CalArts graduate Mark Allen, is the classes, workshops, lectures and performance series it beckons you to become a part of. Machine has become best known for its array of investigations into science, technology and the human soul with courses that range from electronics and sound design to sewing and natural medicine. Machine seeds a movement away from mass consumer culture, in which anyone can participate simply by becoming a member and showing up. It’s currently home to a full-scale shipwreck; make sure to check out the wildly popular annual Fry-B-Q. 1200-D N. Alvarado St., Echo Park. (213) 483-8761, machineproject.com. —Anna Jones

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