Lala makes a speech as people come from all walks of life to sign up to be a Drone. Photo by Kamilia Amber.
Just nine months after her last exhibition at Düo Gallery in Paris, Lala has launched another showing of her work in the exhibition “Je suis…” Her Muses, Drones, and Motivation Monster representatives showed their support, as collectors, gallerists and fans stood in line to exchange words with the artist.
Drone #1 back at Lala’s side?
Shockingly, even Drone #1 attended the event, stating he was there for the artist’s protection. Days before the opening, Lala released a statement admitting that she has secretly been keeping Drone #1 in the laboratory since his breach in Drone Code. “Nine months ago, I decided to launch a rehabilitation program for Drones. Drone #1 has been the first participant in this program.” In this boot camp, participants experience reconditioning aimed to eradicate the undesirable personality traits of insurgent Drones.
Lala also admits that Drone #1’s leaked video from last April was filmed during his rehabilitation program in the Lala Laboratory. “It’s a difficult process, and rejection is the natural first step towards completion of the program.”
Drone #1 isn’t the only Drone fighting to be at Lala’s side. Due to a successful exhibition opening, she has created masses of new Drones. After the art opening, she rushed back to the Lala Laboratory in order to help her newborn Drones into the world. Video documentation below.
For those of you who desire a bit of consolidation of last year’s news: The Lala World Recap 2014.
The city of lights has not been kind to Lala. Arrested for spray painting the city walls and landing in urgent care are just a few of Lala Drona’s mishaps since her arrival.
Lala Drona in urgent care.
Lady Paris seems to have made Lala Drona harder, and the struggle has awakened her darker tendencies. The year 2014 marks the year of transition, when Lala assumes her title of “art villain.”
On various occasions, Lala has compared her artistic process to theft. “I steal others ideas because I don’t have my own” (2014 Art Prison Interview, L.D. Times Magazine). However, Lala pushed her artistic process an inch too far at an annual Paris “Perve Grandma Convention,” where she attempted to steal a Fred Le Chevalier piece from his oldest fan.
And Lala did not stop there. Later on that year, she allegedly stole thousands of dollars from desperate YouTube insomniacs who had fallen victim to her fake sleep hypnosis video. Although the media seemed to focus on Lala’s dark side, BOAF attempted to show the human behind the artist as well.
On April 24th, Lala traveled back to her home town Denver, Colorado in order to finalize preparations for a long-awaited hand transplant. Comments filled message boards questioning the authenticity (and humanity) behind the art pieces created since Lala’s mechanical hand acquisition.
Lala caught on the streets of Paris wearing a splint.
How would the prosthetic affect her paintings and would it cramp her hand dancing style? Before leaving Denver, Lala put on a spontaneous showing of her “Pre-Lala” work in an exclusive at-home art garage sale.
Along with the art garage sale last year, Lala committed other acts that were difficult to understand. In 2014, Lala’s face appeared twice in the subway station. The first was in Paris. She appeared holding an apple in a
Translation: The #1 extramarital dating site made by women./ Dare. Bite. Taste.
Geeden advertisement for adulterous online-dating (Lala later painted this experience). Next the artist appeared in a Berlin subway station, pants down in public. While the Geeden advertisement left fans wondering if Lala had sold out, the no-pants Berlin display just left them confused.
Other stunts this year were much easier to understand. To prove she isn’t all bad, Lala showed her support in adopting mutant bees in Paris. Her videos went viral in France when she took to the streets and battled against censorship with her “Don’t Retouch This” campaign. The artist “pulled a Banksy” when she sold originals of her artwork cheaply on the streets of Paris at the same time as galleries sold her work for thousands at the FIAC. She even had a little fun as she was seen shopping and drinking champagne at Paris’ 2014 Vogue Fashion Night Out.
However, it wasn’t all fun and games last year. In 2014, Lala launched the construction of her Warholian dream: The Lala Laboratory. During the construction, tensions in art politics were at a high. Muses were on strike and Lala’s unorthodox muse practices were thrown into the light.
Journalists infiltrated what is thought to be the Lala Laboratory and discovered a Muse Sweatshop. In an attempt to evade the Art Guild (the authorities), Lala invited journalists to a fake Lala Laboratory tour. The police were called, and Lala Drona was arrested on the spot for trespassing.
The board members of the Art Guild found Lala guilty of Muse Abuse and Torture in the first degree and she was sentenced to spend one month in Paris Art Prison. In prison, Lala Drona gave an interview, revealing for the first time ever, the method behind her madness. Upon her release, a masked man broke into the prison mail room and stole Lala’s prison letters written to Shutupi. The unknown man published the letters, revealing perhaps more than Lala would have liked regarding her feelings towards the Art Guild.
Out of jail and straight to work, the artist began preparations for her anticipated exhibition. After one small exhibition in May 2013 on arrival in Paris, one year later, Lala landed a place on the walls of Düo Gallery. The exhibition titled From the Bed to the Lab presented a retrospective look on her paintings created in Paris, all connected by the theme of the bed.
Photography and text by Richard Beban from Paris Play.
The three series exhibited were the Breast Series: a confrontation with a difficult past/ the bed a place of healing. The Sexe Sans Sex Series: a series of wanderings, and an analysis of her outside world/ the bed a place of experimentation. The Lala World Series: Lala’s new series, where she commits to painting the Lala World (the fictionalized articles found on Based on a Fact) in order to move freely between the virtual and the real, and create her own world/ the bed a place of dreams–and her dream: The Lala Lab.
Following a successful exhibition of her world, Lala plans to continue following her dark path. She’s back to her old methods of abuse and torture in order to extract inspiration from her muses and has marked the beginning of 2015 with the banishment of her beloved Drone #1. Only time will tell what’s to come of Lala and her Drones, Muses and Laboratory…
P.E.D.: Post Exhibition Depression. This syndrome is a consequence of the rise in cortisone levels and surge of endorphins produced in the body to deal with the stress of the pre-exhibition process. After the exhibition, artists experience a sort of “come down” from this self-produced drug high.
Life after the exhibition From the Bed to the Lab has been far from easy. Lala has confirmed that she is suffering from P.E.D. and plans to “relax and spend time with friends and family during this difficult period.” However, her attempts to lay low have not been successful.
Lala with her loyal Drones.
During the exhibition take-down, a fight broke out between Lala Drona and Drone #1. Lala was reported threatening to “feed Drone #1 to the Muses.” The reason for the blow out is unknown, but unconfirmed sources say the Drone #1 just never felt at home in The Lala World, and “needed a break for soul searching.” Lala has released a statement saying that her and Drone #1 would no long be working together due to artistic differences.
When asked if she would be looking for a replacement, Lala said no, and that she would be retiring the number 1. However, she is not saving the title in hopes that Drone #1 will return. For the most part, The Lala World has an open door policy. Collaborators enter and leave as they please. However, once recruited by the Army of Drones, under contract, one is required to be loyal to Lala and other Drones. Any form of mission abandonment is a breach of contract and results in a permanent surrender of one’s Drone title.
Journalists have tried interviewing other Drones to hear their opinion on the situation, but all have managed to remain silent. When questioned about Drone #1’s banishment from Lala World, Lala stated, “Drone #1 in not banished. He can return, but he can never return as a Drone.”
Based on a Fact.
Kevin Thurman, Journalist for Psychology Weekly Magazine
Based On A Fact 
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