Nova Express Café

Opened in June 1993, Nova Express cafe was the creation of conceptual artist and sculptor Cary Lewis Long and actress Judith Adji Keter. Located in Los Angeles, California, the cafe was in existence from 1993 to 2008.

Interior of Nova Express Cafe; Photo by Joel Mark

For fifteen years, Nova Express Cafe was a venue for experimental music and performance, poetry readings,^[1] rock bands, storytelling and art events. As a fun and welcoming art space, it was designed to be a place where people might be inspired to feel a heightened sense of their own individuality and to experience a deeper sense of the possibilities of life. Open every evening until late at night, the cafe's decor made for an intergalactic gathering place for friends to share meal and conversation as if on a fantastic voyage.^[2]

Blue Alien sculpture by Cary Lewis Long at Nova Express Cafe; Photo by Jack Pedota

Intentionally blurring distinctions between fantasy and reality, the cafe was described on its website and flyers as being "Like a blinking pulsing spacecraft glowing with eerie luminescence through the steaming mists of a futuristic megalopolis, Nova Express Café beckons with voyage into the unknown. The Nova Express is a state-of-the-art, Earth-calibrated hyper dimension of nourishing food, musical amusement and thought forms from outer space all synergized to provide a delightful and luxurious sense of the mystery of life".^[3]

"I'm a big fan of fantasy architecture” says Long, "I've tried to make the place with these little fantasy zones." ^[4] "Decked out with glowing amoeboid tables, intimate black-light vortices and a sculpted astral ogre with gaping floor-to-ceiling jaws, Long's "walk-in sculpture that sells pizza" was created largely from scrap materials. It represents, for him, the tangible outcome of his study of art and philosophy at Berkeley". Believing there is a need for new models of art practice and new creative ways of inserting art into the 'real world' context, Long states "I believe artists should try to integrate themselves into society, and this was one way I could show how that could be done," he explains.^[5]

Working with a limited budget, the Cafe was made almost entirely from found and second-hand materials. "Virtually all of the interior was designed by Long--right down to a large, silhouette-filled screen he calls the "Chinese western from outer space," constructed with stencils made with an X-Acto knife, auto paint and a pizza box. The rocket-like chairs were found at the Pick Your Parts junkyard and refurbished."^[6]

Long says he chose the outer space theme to suggest that, as inhabitants on the surface of a small terrestrial planet that is floating in intergalactic space, humans are already living in outer space. But primarily, Long’s reason for the outer space theme is because as a conceptual artist he wanted to use outer space as a metaphor for the medium of consciousness. He believes that it is actually not 'space (that is) the final frontier', as in the Star Trek opening sequence, but consciousness itself which is the true 'final frontier'. The intention was to suggest an equivalency between consciousness and the strange exotic worlds of outer space and science fiction.

In the cafe's farewell missive, Long stated the impetus behind creating Nova Express Cafe:“I believe the humanizing benefits of art are profoundly important, and I also think that there should just be more art in the world. My hope was to present art under conditions that were open and direct; as part of what it would mean to live in a more open society. Nova Express Cafe was meant to illustrate how art might function in a more democratic, evenly distributed and less exclusive way.”^[7]

The Cafe closed its door and left its earthport location in early March 2008.^[8]

Serving Alien Intelligence;design by Cary Lewis Long

Reference

1. ^ Mitchell, Kathleen (2004-02-04). "Cafes-Spoken-Word-Night-Allows". Daily Bruin. http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2004/02/cafes-spoken-word-night-allows. Retrieved 2004-02-04. 
2. ^ Johnson, Hillary (1995-02-26). ["A Funky Sci-Fi Motif Makes a Trip to the Nova Express Cafe a Fantastic Voyage" "A Funky Sci-Fi Motif Makes A Trip to the Nova Express Cafe a Fantastic Voyage"]. Los Angeles Times. "A Funky Sci-Fi Motif Makes a Trip to the Nova Express Cafe a Fantastic Voyage". Retrieved 1995-2-26. 
3. ^ Nova Express Cafe
4. ^ Johnson, Hillary (1995-02-26). ["A Funky Sci-Fi Motif Makes a Trip to the Nova Express Cafe a Fantastic Voyage" "A Funky Sci-Fi Motif Makes A Trip to the Nova Express Cafe a Fantastic Voyage"]. Los Angeles Times. "A Funky Sci-Fi Motif Makes a Trip to the Nova Express Cafe a Fantastic Voyage". Retrieved 1995-2-26. 
5. ^ Ridenour, Al (2002-09-02). ["A Fantasy Getaway Right in Town" "A Fantasy Getaway Right in Town"]. Los Angeles Times. "A Fantasy Getaway Right in Town". Retrieved 2002-09-02. 
6. ^ Galloway, Laura (1996-02-11). ["A Decor That's Out of This World" "A Decor That's Out of This World"]. Los Angeles Times. "A Decor That's Out of This World". 
7. ^ Nova Express Cafe
8. ^ Behrens, Zach "Nova Express Cafe to Close This Week" LAist, Los Angeles, 2008-3-2, Retrieved 2008-3-2

External links

• http://www.architizer.com/en_us/projects/view/nova-express-cafe/784
• http://www.hollywoodgothique.com/2008/03/a-tragedy-of-galactic-proportions-nova-express-cafe-is-closing
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUUx8x309iQ Norton Wisdom and Magic Box performs at Nova Express Cafe
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eaqk1SxnyE] Zen Boy and Karma Girl pays tribute
• http://coilhouse.net/2008/03/goodbye-nova-express Goodbye Nova Express