This week, artists fix up and sell other artists' artwork, a choir performs songs based on protest techniques and discarded packing material invades pop culture.

5. Paper girls in a dress shop

In Satine Boutique on Third Street, artist Bari Ziperstein's 3-D girl made of newspaper-colored paper is doing an arabesque on a table covered with designer shoes. Another paper girl perches on a cabinet and Ziperstein has stretched colored tape along the walls and floor. The tape outlines the layout of Satine's new Abbot Kinney store, but you don't need to know that; you can just appreciate the geometric divisions it cuts across the room. Independent curator Emma Gray organized the show, connecting Ziperstein with Jeannie Lee, who runs Satine. The effect of the art in and around the merchandise isn't earth-shattering — but once you know it's there, you pay just a little more attention to everything you look at. 8134 W. Third St.; through October. (323) 655-2142, emmagrayhq.com.

4. Catch the camera

Artists Sam Erenberg and Greg Card took a camera with them to a Santa Barbara beach in 1977. They let it run while throwing it back and forth and then they attached it to a rubber cord and let it run, though this time in slow motion, while Card twirled the cord above his head. The resulting film, Trajectory, will screen at MOCA this week as part of “Tricky Poses and Taxing Conditions,” a night featuring films that resulted from precarious performances. 250 S. Grand Ave.; Thurs., Sept. 13, 7 p.m.; $12. (213) 626-6222, moca.org.

3. Fixer-upper art

In 1981, artists Jeffrey Vallance and Michael Uhlenkott asked artists to donate work in need of some “fixing up.” They then fixed the art and displayed it at LACE. Ed Ruscha, George Herms, Chris Burden and Mike Kelley all participated the first time around. Now, to raise funds for sound art nonprofit SASSAS, Vallance and Uhlenkott are restaging the “Fix-It-Up” show. This time, they have enlisted nine more fixer-upper artists; more than 100 artists donated work. You can see the art and bid on it if you so choose for one day only at Blum & Poe this weekend.2727 S. La Cienega Blvd.; Sat., Sept. 15, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. (310) 836-2062; blumandpoe.com.

2. People's mic

The human microphone, or the “people's mic,” works like this: One person who doesn't have an electric mic will say “mic check” and the people around will repeat the same words. From then on, everything the speaker says will be amplified by the voices of those nearby. The practice gained its name in protests in the '70s and protesters used it during Occupy events. Artists Elana Mann and Juliana Snapper became interested in this kind of communication. How does meaning change when 10 people are repeating what one person said? They formed the People's Microphony Camerata, a choir that performs biweekly using people's mic techniques, and Mann recently collaborated with designer Colleen Corcoran to publish the first People's Microphony Songbook. The songs, composed by artists, writers and musicians, often begin with instructions like “Stand in the shape of the letter W” or “Begin by stomping 10 times.” The Camerata performs at The Last Bookstore this week, in honor of Songbook's release. 453 S. Spring St., dwntwn.; Fri., Sept. 14, 8-10 p.m. (213) 488-0599, lastbookstorela.com.

1. Polystyrene politics

As the Bush administration was ending, Jaime Scholnick was making intricate, leering portraits of political figures out of glitter paint. Dick Cheney's mouth would be open, Condeleezza Rice's face would be scrunched. Intricate geometric patterns would play out behind each figure, augmenting the overstimulation. Somehow, by 2010, Scholnick had become interested in just the patterns and had taken up polystyrene as her subject and material in place of politicians. The polystyrene, often salvaged from the trash and patterned by Scholnick in black-and-white or colored ink, became a stand-in for capitalism and excess. In Scholnick's new show at CB1 Gallery, the polystyrene totems and wall pieces are accompanied by a series of altered postcards, on which Scholnick's colorful creations invade pop culture, looming in the background as Godzilla wreaks havoc or replacing letters in the Hollywood Sign. 207 W. Fifth St., dwntwn. (213) 806-7889, cb1gallery.com.

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