[NoHo Arts District, CA] – Meet North Hollywood artist duo Rust MacCarthy + L Faunt. Our NoHo Artist Feature is a way to highlight the visual artists who call NoHo home.
The NoHo Arts District is just one-square mile but what we do in this one-square-mile makes us a vibrant and creative neighborhood. Although we are known for our performing arts, visual artists make up a significant portion of our community. Our NoHo Artist Feature series hopes to encourage local establishments to incorporate more art and murals on their walls and open their doors to more art events.Â
How would you describe your art?
Our collaborative work has its pillars in the misrepresentation of reality, malfunctioning tech, the vulnerable oddness of existence, and allowing a respectful space for the darker aspects of the self.
What’s behind the name MMIX?
MMIX used to be our initials, but we’ve each changed our individual names since then.
Tell us a bit about each of your backgrounds.
Each of us (Rust + L) attended performing arts schools growing up and continued to follow and explore our respective disciplines in the decades since–Rust going to college for Music Composition and L continuing education in a variety of dance forms and later pursuing comedy and immersive performance. L has an undergraduate concentration in Art History. Rust wrote and produced (including directing, performing, engineering, music, and sound design) the audio drama “Dream State” from Tynan Media in 2017-2018, and soon after joined the monthly immersive production “Lost Angels” as video/co-producer, with L also having been an ongoing immersive performer and character part-writer from 2015-2020.
How did you two meet?
At a regularly occurring alternative karaoke called Ground Control, which is sadly now no longer around.
How does your collaboration work?
Chaotically but organically. We’re both very creative people and so there’s never really one “idea” person between the two of us. We both have a lot of ideas but we’re also both great at improvising and refining what the other has provided. L tends to be more forward with their ideas while Rust prefers to let ideas percolate until the execution feels just right.
Do you have a favorite piece(s)?
We are both very proud of our glitch reel that we completed in 2024.
A lot of L’s favorites are plant/animal-based images, such as “Witch Haus,” “Grid Palms,” and “Trail Tree.” Rust’s favorites tend to have a bit of negative space, such as “Human Anatomy,” “Blood Runs Hot,” and “Canine Skull.”
What are you working on now, collaboratively and individually?
Collaboratively, we are getting ready for our own feature show, happening at the Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica, beginning at the end of March and going through April. We are also hoping to get back to collaborative jam sessions in our home studio. Individually, L continues to perform stand-up comedy around Southern California, while Rust focuses on his RUST_VISION music project and hopes to finish his forthcoming album this year.
What do you like about living in the NoHo Arts District?
We enjoy the variety of shops and restaurants that try to foster uniqueness and collaboration. We appreciate spots like Lawless Brewing that are actively trying to promote creativity and networking in the Arts District while acting as a third space.
What would you like to see more of?
As visual artists, we’d like to see an actual art walk, and more small pop-up galleries/shows in the arts district.
Anything you’d like to add/highlight?
While it’s great to see a lot of theater, film, and comedy in the Arts District, in general we’d love to see an uptick in spaces for visual art and artists.
You can find Rust MacCarthy + L Faunt here:
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If you are a visual artist living in the NoHo Arts District or North Hollywood, or if you know someone who we should feature, please fill out this quick form and we will take it from there.