The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 49

sesand John Valadezto take part in the show, which runs through June 19. PhyllisGinter provided sound design. essentially told the artists: to use our collection and create meanings that you see in the Vitali said. The really began, she added, when museum curators opened the doors, figuratively speaking, and guided the artists through the eclectic assortment of specimens and artifacts. like going into a cave or being in the greatest thrift Berlant said.

Anthropologist Margaret Hardin, the division chief for history and anthropology and the lead curator, says the quests resulted in some unpredictable requests. She was taken aback, for instance, when Berlant turned down the world-class prehistoric Chu- mash Indian carvings in favor of astash of fakes. wanted to see our Chu- mash material and was surprised to not find any objects that had been made by this 20th century artist Arthur Hardin said. course, we bring them out because we knew full well those were not prehistoric Chumash Sanger, in short, was a fraud. In the 1930s, he carved miniature stone fish, birds and animals, coated his handiwork with shoe polish to affect a faux burnished look and secretly them in Chumash excavation sites.

After the pieces during archeological digs he supervised, Sanger hoodwinked scholars, collectors and museum directors into believing his creations were genuine Chumash artifacts. think of Sanger basically as avisionary says Berlant, an avid collector of work. fascinating to hold something in your hand and know it was made by somebody who lived along the coast perhaps 1,000 years ago. But not an anthropologist. My response is more romantic and aesthetic than scientific.

The fact that Sanger was not making a copy of something raises his work to a very high creative Berlant sees his installation, a chance to mingle his own Sanger-crafted whales, pelicans and turtles with those belonging to the museum. you see the pieces all together, the light goes on: These are one hand. At first I was dismayed to find that I had been deceived, but now I see these pieces have a very special place in the history of American folk Like Berlant, painter and muralist Valadez grew up in Los Angeles and fondly remembers visiting the museum. In his ma- rine-themed tried to recapture the sense of wonder he experienced there as a kid. wanted to get the crab and lobster and shrimp out of their jars and put them in adifferent format where the public gets to see them he said.

Valadez included a of plastic seafood, a prop submarine used in the 1958movie Silent, Run a small-scale replica of a bark canoe and a painting of his based on the 1957 Bmovie of the Crab His nonlinear sensibility left some curators scratching their heads. conversation I call it a between myself and the institution has become really nice, but at times it was Valadez says. like to keep things in boxes, sterile and artists we put chunks together and hope the gluefits. You have academia and intuition at the extremes, but the dichotomy is breaking down. It has to, and feeling really lucky to be a part of work, an 11-foot fiberglass sculpture of abrittle starhoused in a dark cube-like space.

It was in the echinoderm department run by curator Gordon Hendlerthat Albuquerque found inspiration. was fascinated when Gordon told me how some of these starfishlive at the bottom of the ocean near the Arctic and the Antarctic where no Albuquerque says. develop crystalline lenses from the bones in their skeletons, which focuses light inside their body, and that enables them to see. I wanted to explore the whole notion of existing where there is no sunlight, so that when you look at the piece you know if looking at the bottom of the ocean, or looking at the cosmos, or if looking at asculpture in a Albuquerque, like most of the artists, made many trips to the museum. But Moses, anabstract painter, found his subject the instant he turned a corner in the basement.

saw these tall African tied up, and I was knocked out by the way they emanated this power in spite of the fact that they were all, what they called I called them and The totems were bundled and tied to protect them from earthquakes, yet these pieces were still able to provoke real magical and spiritual Moses said. knew what Iwas going to do right then and there: going to bring those guys out of the basement and situate them just the way situated down And so he did. and uses rope, bubble wrap and chicken wire to display the objects much the way the museum holds them in storage. In his statement, McCarthy speaks of using the museum as resource center, a prop His untitled installation examines specimens boat dioramas in relation to process: seem to be dealing with the intentions, processes and concerns in relationship to my own intentions, processes and his statementsays. For environmental artist Abeles, the curators proved as fascinating as the As homage, she created Importance of a table- shaped video-installation crowned with what is essentially a collection, chosen by museum staffers.

The prize pieces include a Navajo textile, a canopenercrab, amountain beaver stuffedblack-throated magpie- jay, a tiny Diaululagreeleyi mollusk positioned under a magnifying camera lens, and a glass jar stuffed with terebellidmedusa worms. Abeles says the more she learned about the curators and their deeply felt preserve-and- cherish sensibility, the more she wanted to present their perspectives. want to pick out something and say, my After hearing the curators talk about their collections in this very personalized way, I became interested in how they even got this kind of job, because a really strange profession if you think about it: to care-take these things with the type of sensitivity they all have toward their objects me that is very profound and Anne Cusack Los Angeles Times AHOY! John includes specimens, plastic seafood, models, and a painting inspired by an old movie. Eclectic objects inspire artists Artists, from Page E1 CALENDAR E11 LOSANGELESTIMES TELEVISION RADIO Native Voices at the Autry presents an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet set in 17th-century Santa Fe. Creator James Lujan (Taos Pueblo) Kino Teresa 2005 Museum ofthe American West In Griffith autrynationalcenter.org $20 ($12 forAutryNational Centermembers) 8 pm SundayMatinee Performances 2 pm Call TicketWeb at 866.468.3399, or visit www.ticketweb.com forreservations.

Groups of10 ormore save Group leaders: call 323.667.2000, ext. 391. Formore information, call 323.667.2000. Free parking. VERA DRAKE (R) 7:00 BAD EDUCATION 9:55 INSIDE DEEP THROAT 2:25 7:15 9:40 Academy Winner BORN INTO BROTHELS (R) 7:45 IMAGINARY HEROES (R) 10:00 SEX SELLS: THE MAKING OF TOUCHE 2:40 7:40 10:10 ONE MORE ROUND 3:00 7:30 9:50 BEAUTIFUL BOXER 5:00 7:30 NAKED FAME 10:15 TURTLES CAN FLY 7:40 10:00 BEING JULIA (R) 7:30 10:00 UP AND DOWN 7:30 10:00 HEAD ON 2:30 5:00 7:30 BAD EDUCATION 5:30 8:00 VERA DRAKE (R) 3:00 BEING JULIA (R) 2:45 5:15 7:45 BEING JULIA (R) 2:45 7:30 9:45 VERA DRAKE (R) 7:00 9:55 BEING JULIA (R) 7:20 9:50 Academy Winner SIDEWAYS (R) 7:10 10:10 WINDOW THEORY (R) 3:10 7:40 9:55 HITCH 7:45 10:15 CONSTANTINE (R) 7:35 10:10 SON OF THE MASK (PG) 7:15 9:25 CURSED 7:25 9:45 HOTEL RWANDA 7:00 Academy Winner SIDEWAYS (R) 2:00 7:45 Academy Winner SIDEWAYS (R) 7:00 BEING JULIA (R) 2:30 7:30 Academy Winner FINDING NEVERLAND (PG) 5:30 7:45 HITCH 7:30 9:50 Academy Winner SIDEWAYS (R) 7:00 9:30 DOWNFALL (R) 8:00 NOBODY KNOWS 8:00 A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT (R) 7:00 Academy Winner THE SEA INSIDE 9:55 WHAT THE BLEEP! DO WE 7:10 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S THE MERCHANT OF VENICE (R) 9:45 UP AND DOWN 7:00 9:35 ONE MORE ROUND 2:50 7:30 9:50 VERA DRAKE (R) 7:10 10:00 Academy Winner SIDEWAYS (R) 7:00 9:55 BEING JULIA (R) 2:45 7:45 10:15 BRIDE PREJUDICE 7:00 9:45 BEING JULIA (R) 2:30 7:30 9:55 INSIDE DEEP THROAT 3:10 7:50 10:10 Winner of 4 Academy including Best Picture MILLION DOLLAR BABY 7:00 10:00 HOTEL RWANDA 7:10 10:00 HITCH 7:20 10:10 BEWAFAA 2:30 5:45 9:00 BLACK 12:00 BIGGER THAN THE SKY 7:20 9:50 Academy Winner BORN INTO BROTHELS (R) 3:15 7:50 10:00 IMAGINARY HEROES (R) 7:00 9:45 HITCH 7:30 10:15 BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE (PG) 7:10 BAD EDUCATION 9:40 CURSED 3:05 7:50 10:15 Winner of 2 Academy RAY 8:10 CONSTANTINE (R) 7:00 9:55 NOBODY KNOWS 7:00 10:10 INSIDE DEEP THROAT 3:00 7:50 10:15 Academy Winner SIDEWAYS (R) 7:00 9:55 Academy Winner FINDING NEVERLAND (PG) 2:20 7:30 10:00 BEING JULIA (R) 2:30 7:40 10:10 UP AND DOWN 2:35 7:45 10:15 BRIDE PREJUDICE 7:10 9:50 NOW THRU MAR.13ONLY! 213.365.3500 or 714.740.7878 www.BroadwayLA.org Box Office Opens daily at 10am.GROUP A PRESENTATION OF OPENS TONIGHT AT SIGNED PERF AT 1PM From Associated Press NEW YORK February ended with double milestones in television: the firstsweeps month victory among all viewers for Fox, and the firstfourth- place finish for once mighty NBC.

Last rankings, released Tuesday, illustrated problems. It had only two programs ranked among top 15 most popular shows and and both of those dramas are more than a decade old. Fueled by the Oscars, ABC was a clear winner last week with an average of 14 million viewers. Fox was second with 12.1 million viewers, followed by CBS at 11.8 million, NBC at 10.1 million, the WB at 3.5 millionand UPN at 3.3 million. Peter Jennings took some ribbing for his news special on UFOs one newspaper ran a of Jennings with a space alien but its strong showing of 11.6 million viewers eclipsed Thursday night comedies.

NBC has particularly struggled on Thursdays, a night it once dominated. The viewership in February was down compared to February 2004, Nielsen said. won the evening news rankingsrace, averaging 10.6 million viewers. Prime-Time TV Rankings NBC is unable to shake slump Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (Feb. 21-27) as compiled by Nielsen Media Research.

They are based on the average number of people who watched a program from start to finish. Nielsen estimates there are 277.93 million potential viewers in the U.S. age 2 and older. Viewership is listed in millions. Program Network View- ersProgram Network Viewers 1 Academy AwardsABC42.14 2 American Idol 3 CSICBS28.11 4 Countdown 5 American Idol --------------------------------------------6 American Idol 7 Survivor: PalauCBS21.64 8 Without a TraceCBS21.37 9 LostABC19.49 10 CSI: MiamiCBS19.47 --------------------------------------------11 Two and a Half MenCBS17.50 12 ERNBC16.03 13 HouseFOX15.53 14 Law Order 15 CSI: NYCBS14.30 --------------------------------------------16 Apprentice 3NBC14.15 17 Law Order: SVU 18 MediumNBC13.77 19 NCISCBS13.59 20 24FOX13.16 --------------------------------------------21 Barbara Walters SpecialABC12.50 22 Las VegasNBC12.14 23 Peter Jennings ReportsABC11.62 24 Law Order: SVU 25 Numb3ersCBS11.46 --------------------------------------------26 Judging AmyCBS10.86 27 Law Order: SVU 28 NYPD BlueABC10.60 29 Law Order 30 According to JimABC10.45 --------------------------------------------31 JAGCBS10.30 32 JoeyNBC9.96 33 The West WingNBC9.93 34 Will GraceNBC9.91 35 AliasABC9.74 --------------------------------------------36 SupernannyABC9.71 37 Still StandingCBS9.51 38 King of QueensCBS9.48 39 Funniest Home Videos ABC9.46 40 60 Minutes WednesdayCBS9.44 --------------------------------------------41 Day at a Time CBS9.32 42 43 44 Listen UpCBS9.12 45 60 MinutesCBS9.02 --------------------------------------------46 Yes, DearCBS9.00 47 The BacheloretteABC8.95 Fear FactorNBC8.95 49 Cold CaseCBS8.89 50 Dateline NBC --------------------------------------------51 Third WatchNBC8.66 52 53 Law Order: Criminal Intent (Sat.) NBC8.53 54 Dateline NBC 55 George LopezABC8.47 --------------------------------------------56 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: They Do That? ABC8.29 Medical InvestigationNBC8.29 58 Most WantedFOX8.28 59 That ShowFOX8.27 60 Wife SwapABC8.22 61 Cops (8:30 p.m.)FOX8.17 Simple Life 3FOX8.17 63 Joan of ArcadiaCBS7.96 64 ScrubsNBC7.65 65 Law Order --------------------------------------------66 CopsFOX7.40 67 Without 68 Law Order: Criminal Intent (Sun.) NBC7.30 69 O.C.FOX7.23 70 My Wife and KidsABC6.80 --------------------------------------------71 Crossing JordanNBC6.66 72 Primetime LiveABC6.54 73 48 Hours MysteryCBS6.33 74 CommittedNBC6.11 75 Law Order: Criminal Intent (Tue.) NBC6.08 --------------------------------------------76 77 Crimetime SaturdayCBS5.67 78 7th HeavenWB5.50 79 RebaWB5.45 WWE --------------------------------------------81 SmallvilleWB5.26 82 Gilmore GirlsWB5.25 83 EverwoodWB5.20 84 Bernie Mac (8:30 p.m.)FOX4.32 85 One Tree HillWB4.25 --------------------------------------------86 Bernie MacFOX4.20 87 Blue Collar TVWB4.07 88 GirlfriendsUPN3.87 89 Wickedly PerfectCBS3.59 90 Reba (8:30 p.m.)WB3.54 --------------------------------------------91 Half and HalfUPN3.53 92 Road to StardomUPN3.31 93 JonnyZeroFOX3.27 94 What I like About YouWB3.26 95 CutsUPN3.23 --------------------------------------------96 EnterpriseUPN2.96 97 One on OneUPN2.81 98 Kevin HillUPN2.41 99 100 Veronica MarsUPN2.34 --------------------------------------------101 All of UsUPN2.34 102 EveUPN2.31 103 Jack BobbyWB2.13 104 Summerland (7 p.m.)WB1.95 105 Summerland (8 p.m.)WB1.94 --------------------------------------------106 Summerland (9 p.m.)WB1.61 107 Road to Stardom Network averages Here is the number of viewers (in millions) that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season.

Network Last week Season to date ABC14.0110.53 FOX12.089.96 CBS11.8012.91 NBC10.1410.10 WB3.543.48 UPN3.253.37 Where: The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Los Angeles When: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays Ends: June 19 Price: $9, adults; $6.50, students and seniors; $2, children 5 to 12 Contact: (213) 763-DINO; www.nhm.org The fake newscast phenomenon shows no signs of abating.

Comedy Daily Show With Jon logged its most-watched month ever in February, even without benefit of anational election cycle to lampoon. New episodes of Daily averaged 1.5 million viewers for the month, up compared with the same period a year ago, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. news spoof had more than twice as many average viewers as February prime-time lineup (637,000) and nearly equaled Fox powerhouse 8-11 p.m. schedule (1.6 million). Daily logged 1.4million viewers in November and December, partly due to interest surrounding the presidential election and its aftermath.

numbers also helped drive Comedy Central to its most-watched month ever (601,000 average viewers during the total day; 1 million during prime time). In overall basic-cable rank- ingsfor February, Nickelodeon was No. 1 for the total day (2.1 million viewers), andTNT led during prime time (2.6 million). Collins Fake news makes rankings news Vacationing? Donateyournewspaperforeducation. 1-800-252-9141..