Alchemy and Architecture at the Brewery

By Peter|alchemy, architecture, art, philosophy

Jeff Hoke and The Museum of Lost Wonder come to Los Angeles for Fall Artwalk

This October we had the honor and pleasure of hosting artist and author Jeff Hoke in our space(s) at the Brewery during the Fall Artwalk open studios. This was pretty special for a number of us here at the Brewery who have been fans of Jeff’s work for years.

Jeff Hoke is an award-winning author, illustrator, and museum exhibit designer, who has built museum exhibits for over 30 years in museums around the world. He has specialized in bringing arcane mythic and scientific material to a wider audience through interactive media that is both engaging and rewarding.

The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion. Herein lies the germ of all art and all true science. Anyone to whom this feeling is alien, who is no longer capable of wonderment and who lives in a state of fear is a dead man.

Albert Einstein (a reminder from The Museum of Lost Wonder)

A ray of hope in a dreary world

Jeff Hoke created the Museum of Lost Wonder in 1997. Since then, the Museum has existed — in virtual form, as a book, in 3D paper models, and (especially) in our imagination — to “illuminate some of life’s biggest mysteries.”

We are invited to “follow in the footsteps of early scientists and philosophers, who combined imagination and observation in their search for knowledge … the museum shows that this search is still relevant today, and that by learning from the inspiration of others, we discover important things about our ourselves.”

Naturally, we were excited to help this visionary curator and experience architect create a temporary manifestation of the Museum — at least in spirit, with some “alchemy of inspiration” — here at the Brewery.

For myself, having the opportunity to meet and converse with Jeff (finally, after email correspondence over the course of a few years) was really important, as I consider his work to be quite influential: it was the alchemical sequence presented in The Museum of Lost Wonder that I used as a reference when building the narrative structure for The Continual Return of Dr. Ordinaire. I also have a few of his original works as prominent and beloved pieces in the Library, constantly reminding me of the importance of symbol systems, alchemical and narrative structures — and how these relate to architecture.

In the private collection in the Library,
the Architectural Model, and the Alchemical Sequence
(the original hand-colored prints from the book)
are displayed side-by-side.

On the left is the series of physical spaces
through which one progresses in the (imagined) Museum building.
On the right are representations of the stages of the alchemical process
to which the journey corresponds.

The Brewery is indeed a place filled with wonder (especially at “magic hour,” with AJ’s bubble machine at maximum output). It has been an interesting year; looking forward to open studios in 2025!