CONDUIT 742 Presents “Less Art Cabaret #1” – Doug Harvey’s Moldy Slide Show
CONDUIT 742, a pop-up dedicated to presenting art by artists, presents the inaugural Less Art Cabaret—this time on top of a mountain—inside Mount Wilson Observatory’s auditorium on Saturday, April 4, 2026 from 2:00–6:00pm. Titled Less Art Cabaret #1, the afternoon program centers on Los Angeles multidisciplinary artist Doug Harvey’s long-running Moldy Slide Show project, accompanied by a live improvised soundtrack by legendary Los Angeles Free Music Society (LAFMS) founding member Rick Potts. Compiled from thousands of mold-altered 35mm transparencies rescued from an Edendale hoarder intervention some 25 years ago, the newly configured slideshow marks the first live projection of the work in a decade.
Bay Area artist and songwriter Paulette Humanbeing serves as MC, introducing an afternoon lineup that also includes artists and filmmakers Daniel Hawkins, Marnie Weber, and Tom Christie, along with innovative artist/pastry chef Kelsey Kuykendall. Concurrently, Mount Wilson Observatory’s museum (located in the same building) will preview a new edition of three-color carbon transfer prints produced from a selection of the moldy slides, curated by Harvey and the master printer at The ƒ/Ø Projects. Tickets are $5; for more information or to purchase in advance, please visit https://mtwilson.app.neoncrm.com/nx/portal/neonevents/events?path=%2Fportal%2Fevents%2F39392.
Harvey—an artist, writer, and longtime Los Angeles art critic whose work spans painting, collage, found objects, film, sound, and performance—has presented variations of the Moldy Slide Show for more than two decades, periodically recombining the flood-damaged and fungus-altered images into new sequences accompanied by live music. This new event series is part of the ongoing evolution of Harvey’s long-running Less Art project, which began in the mid-1980s as a zine and later expanded into broadcast formats. For Less Art Cabaret #1, Rick Potts (also known for projects including Airway, Dinosaurs With Horns, Gothic Hut, Human Hands, Le Forte Four, Solid Eye...) provides the improvised soundtrack.
Attendees are encouraged to come and go (quietly) from the main presentation and explore the Observatory grounds. Bring a picnic lunch to enjoy.
Parental Discretion from the Producers:
Though the show is family friendly, the program may contain spooky images, dark humor, and whale attacks.
For more information, please visit https://lessart.wordpress.com/2026/03/15/less-art-cabaret-1 and for tickets: : https://mtwilson.app.neoncrm.com/nx/portal/neonevents/events?path=%2Fportal%2Fevents%2F39392.
Photo credit: Scene fromThe Worst Christmas Story. Photo by Paulette Nichols.
Event Links
Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/3547635-0
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/3547635-2
