Actively seeking out Machine Project, you’re likely to walk past the nondescript entrance to one of LA’s most intriguing spaces and miss it completely.

 You’ll start at the prominent Downbeat Café and slowly meander down the block you’re sure is indicated by Machine Project’s address and come up empty handed. Perhaps it’s the downstairs area inside Downbeat? No dice. Is it across the street? Nope. And then, right before you fall into despair, you’ll notice the door that seemingly wasn’t there before. You’ll peer in and see an ostensibly empty, rather dull looking non-store. Tepidly crossing the space’s entrance, separating Los Angeles from Machine Project, you will forever be changed by a multi-pronged onslaught of science, art, and philosophy. Some things are best kept secret, but Machine Project ain’t one of them. But what exactly is it? Machine Project’s mission statement is about as eloquent as it gets when categorizing the location’s purpose; Machine Project aims to “promote conversations between artists, scientists, poets, technicians, performers and the communities of Los Angeles as a whole.” As such, Machine Project is hard to define and belongs in a special category of highbrow curatorial awesomeness along with the likes of the Museum of Jurassic Technology and the Center for Land Use Interpretation. —Antero Garcia