David Askevold moved to California because artist Bas Jan Ader decided to sail the Atlantic alone as part of a project he called In Search of the Miraculous. When Ader failed to return, Askevold moved from Canada in 1975 to fill in as professor of art at UC Irvine. Askevold taught at CalArts, too, and, as his student Tony Oursler remembers, he gave assignments that read like poems. Years later, Oursler and Askevold started emailing such poetic assignments to each other. Wrote Askevold, “Start at 12 a.m., Friday 13th, draw with eyes closed while listening to the movie sound track (Aliens 2)…” The results of these assignments became a grid of video clips called Two Beasts, the last work Askevold made. It's on view now, in the Askevold retrospective at the Armory Center for the Arts. 145 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena; through Sept. 15. (626) 792-5101, armoryarts.org.

Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: July 8. Continues through Sept. 15, 2012

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