East Is East: The 'East of Eden' Art Exhibition At Barnsdall Park

The Militant isn't an art scenester, but he does appreciate a good exhibit when he sees one. When one of his operatives told him to check out this weekend's exhibition at Barnsdall (don't pronounce it "Barnsdale") Art Park's Municipal Gallery, a multi-gallery show entitled East of Eden, he decided to do some Militant research. So off to the website he went.

And there went the description:

"East of Eden will focus on contributions of Los Angeles galleries, the cultures from which they draw inspiration and the eastside of L.A. as an important source for contemporary art."

Uh-oh. The "E" word.

Then he did further research on the galleries represented: places like La Luz de Jesus in Los Feliz, Black Maria in Atwater Village, Ghetto Gloss in Silver Lake, Bert Green Fine Art (now why does that name sound awfully familiar? Hmmmm.... ) in Downtown...

Oh you know where this is heading!

But the Militant thought that raising a ruckus at this event over "The 'E' Word" would be self-defeating. Especially since ir would be that much easier to unmask the Militant. Bleah...

But the Militant went anyway, trying to apprehend the situation with an open mind...

...Disregarding the incessantly-annoying "'E' Word," the bigger question was...does this art represent contemporary Angeleno art? Or is it just a smattering of ironic hispter fodder?

The Militant is no art critic, nor does he claim to possess an art critic's vocabulary, but in short, the art was very representative of contemporary Los Angeles art. There were pieces that had obvious iconography or images like palm trees, coastal Malibu seascapes, or a painting of a trio of cholas hanging out, but even outside of that, on a more visceral level, there was an attitude that the Militant didn't have to find a challenge to identify with.

The biggest complaint was the duration of the exhibit. It opened on Friday and by the time most of you read this, it had already closed. Which is unusually for Barnsdall exhibits, which usually last a good three months.

The Militant hopes they do this again. He understands their intention is to promote the (cough, gag, ack) Not-Really-The-Eastside art scene as a reaction to the Westside arts "establishment." But Westsidecentrism is soooo late 20th century. Why not drop the "Eastside" thing, these artists can basically stake claim on the whole City now, Westsiders be damned.

Oh yeah, one more thing before this post closes. One of the pieces gave the Militant a "giant" smile:

Word.

Park(ing) Day MA

Friday was Park(ing) Day LA, an event that the Militant is very familiar with. So he decided to look up the map and roam around town on bike and on rail on Friday afternoon to tour some of the temporary parks being set up on street parking spaces to call attention to the need for people-oriented public spaces. Pretty much the majority of the proposed parks were situated in the Central Los Angeles area, with a few in the Westside (Santa Monica to be specific), a couple in the South Bay, and a handful in the SFV and SGV combined. It seemed as if Park(ing) Day LA was less of a deal this year than last, and it did seem that there were less points on the map. Of course, the Militant still couldn't see 'em all, so here's the somewhat limited tour...

The Militant headed to one of the nearest parks to his compound (pictured right), in East Hollywood's "Hel-Mel Bicycle District" where a park set up by the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust and the local neighborhood council yielded an inflatable swimming pool, a BBQ grill and some potted plants for decoration. A few people took a dip in the 80-plus degree heat, and others had their Scoops ice cream while chilling out at this location.

The Militant then headed to the nearest Metro station and took the12-minute ride Downtown where he disembarked at Pershing Square and..had to carry his ride up the northeast station portal (escalator was not in service, d'oh) to 4th street, where he headed due east. Near 4th and Spring, he saw a park ready to be taken down, with just a patch of astroturf marking the spot. Hmm. The Militant headed further and made his way to Main and Winston, where a rather large park installation was taking place.

Well, this was kind of cheating, as it wasn't the takeover of parking space but rather a (the Militant assumes, permitted) street closure. Winston, as some of you may or may not recall, is the tiny sidestreet upon where Blossom Vietnamese restaurant is situated, which the Militant covered in his long-dormant spinoff food blog, the Militant Angeleno's Mess Hall (wonder when he'll start that thing up again...).

This particular park (pictured left) was also organized by the local neighborhood council, this time the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council (which was cool since the Militant always thought that neighborhood councils were just comprised of a bunch of cranky-ass, quasi-racist rich white old farts with no lives who like to shout at each other, wank off to Planning and Land Use Management issues and cling to their little fiefdoms. Oh yeah, did the Militant mention they're OLD? We're talking Pre-Cambrian, stop-driving-your-car-or-you'll-crash-into-a-farmer's-market fogeyness here. But the Militant digresses...good to know there's some NCs who aren't as fogey-ized and dig the Park(ing) Day thang) . This park had the requisite astroturf foundation, but also bore an entertainment stage, a basketball court and a display of James Rojas' infamous "Lego Downtown." The Militant also may or may not have spotted another local blogger there, who apparently had no idea the Militant was in his midst. Muhahaha. The main theme though at this park was the $196 monthly cost of a parking lot space, and various posterboards gave a quantitiative indication of what can be purchased for that price (i.e. one park bench, seven basketballs, 174 tennis balls, etc.).

The Militant continued on to the Financial District where he was promised a bunch of parks. Unfortunately he wasn't able to see squat. One site (Melendrez) was supposed to be near Pershing Square (which is an actual, permanent park - aren't we supposed to be putting these things up where there is no park space?) but apparently they decided to shut down early, and no trace of it was found.

The Militant did get to see the Torti Gallas and Partners Park, on 6th and Grand, who cordoned off their area with a picket fencing and adorned the space with a realtor's sign. Their theme was a similar cost-analysis of space, this time treating the parking space as though it were real estate property (valued at $77,000) and "selling" a parking space-sized residential structure for that price.

The rest of the Militant's search wasn't very fruitful. Either these sites never sprang up or they shut down early, mostly due to parking lane traffic flow restrictions inherent in Downtown (booo...). The one park by the Central Library was gone, for example.

The Militant also made his was a little west to Pico-Union where a park site was to go up on Hoover and Alvarado, but the Militant found no trace of it whatsoever.

So that was one complaint of the day, either many sites only set up for a short amount of time, or not at all. That was pretty much it for the Militant's tour, though Damien Newton from Streetsblog seemed to have more luck than the Militant in his report.

At one of the sites the Militant visited, he did run into a couple ladies who told him they set up their own site in Little Tokyo, which subsequently got shut down at around 2:30 p.m. by the cops. BREAKIN' DA LAW! They also explained that earlier in the day, other officers would drive past and even wave, though they theorized one of the businesses in the area called to complain. But they shrugged it off as no big deal, as 2:30 was past their original time limit anyway.

Still, Park(ing) Day 2008 didn't seem to have the splash it had last year, when it generated some mainstream media attention. This time, it was strictly a blogging event, it seems.

The Militant also didn't go to the Miracle Mile afterparty, though it probably had better music than the parking garage festivities of last year.

Oh well, maybe we'll have a better impact next year.

2 High (Militant Challenge Answered)

When the Militant asked his readers yesterday what was the second-tallest manmade structure in the Los Angeles area, he knew people would answer the obvious response of Downtown's Tower Formerly Known As The First Interstate Bank Building (a.k.a The AON Center). At 858 feet above the streets, it gets the silver medal in height in our skyline.

But a militant knowledge of this city yields familiarity with the unfamiliar. A reader named BradleyB was able to correctly identify the CBS Broadcast Tower atop Mount Wilson (the structure on the far left of the picture above) as the second-tallest manmade structure in the Los Angeles area. At 972 feet above Mt. Wilson's ridgeline, it's 114 feet taller than the AON Center and only 45 feet shorter than the US Bank Tower. The CBS tower, which is supported by guy masts, allows Southern Californians to watch KCBS 2 and KCAL 9 and listen to KNX 1070, KFWB 980, KLSX "FreeFM"97.1 and other CBS-owned broadcast stations. While it may not look that tall up there, it easily dwarves the other, older broadcast towers several yards to the east. The second-tallest broadcast tower on Mount Wilson, the NBC Broadcast Tower (on the far right of the picture above), is only 545 feet tall (a bit taller than the Ernst & Young Plaza in Downtown).

Our skyline in the sky, high atop the mountain named after a former mayor of Los Angeles is unique among most metropolitan areas. Whereas other cities rely on broadcast spires atop their tallest buildings (i.e. the CN Tower, The Sears Tower, The Empire State Building), and other parts of the country rely on even taller broadcast towers in the middle of the plains, Mt. Wilson is close enough and high enough to deliver signals to a large, expanse area. Which, in a way, it was partly responsible for. The broadcast power of Mt. Wilson helped define our megalopolitan sprawl, as it allowed cities far and away to be part of the Los Angeles media market.

So congratulations, BradleyB! You win a...a...uh...(the Militant, nervous, turns to his legal team). Um, well, sorry BradleyB, we didn't prepare an actual prize this time, but tell ya what - you're free to let others know that you possess l337 Militant Knowledge on our City. How bout that?

Militant Challenge: The Search For #2

Pictured is the Building Formerly Known As The First Interstate World Center Formerly Known As The Library Tower - otherwise currently known as the U.S. Bank Tower. At 1,017 feet high, as we all know, it is the tallest building in Los Angeles (as well as the tallest between Chicago and Hong Kong).

Aside from being the tallest building in Los Angeles, it is also the tallest manmade structure in the region.

So what, where and how high is the second-tallest manmade structure in the Los Angeles area?

Post your answers in the comments.

First At Last!

The Militant didn't wanna let this slip by without mentioning it. After five months, the Dodgers are finally in sole possession of first place in the National League West. Finally. After losing 8 games in a row, they effectively nullified that losing streak with an 8-game winning streak recorded this weekend as they completed an uber-important sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks, whom the Dodgers constantly played a game of standings catch-up with for pretty much the whole season.

With just 19 regular season games to go, it's time to talk about magic numbers. As of today the number is also 19. N-n-n-n-nineteen. Any combination of Dodgers wins and D-backs losses will result in true pwnage of the Division. Go Blue!

Bikes *In* The Bus!

Much has been discussed recently about bicycles and the accommodation of cyclists on the transit vehicles of our region. The Militant recently took a ride on the (M) Orange Line busway, and on a late night ride back to the North Hollywood Metro station, he saw that the approaching bus' front rack, which can take three bikes, was full.

He paused there, wondering if he had to wait for the next one, or just pedal it east (at this hour of the night he didn't wanna miss the last train out) after the Militant said, "Can I..." to the driver, she pointed towards the back of the bus. Relieved, the Militant loaded his bike onto the front door, but soon heard her negatively nod, "Uh-uh!" - but that only meant that he was to load his bike through the rear door.

He had never brought a bike inside a bus before, so he snapped the above picture to capture the historic moment (rear wheel shown of course to conceal both the Militant's and his bike's identities). Other cyclists have alluded to this, and now the Militant was able to try and confirm it himself.

Thing was, he stood the whole while, holding the bike upright, and had to move it aside whenever the rear door opened to allow both boarding and alighting riders, and the swing of the door (they don't slide elevator-style like the trains do). But duuude. It's a bike. In a bus.

Get Cultured This Weekend!

It needs not be said that Los Angeles is the most ethnically-diverse metropolis in America, and perhaps the world. But the Militant said it anyway. This weekend, whether you want Southeastern Europe or Southeast Asia, or crave paidakia or pancit, this weekend is for you.

L.A. Greekfest 2008, Byzantine-Latino Quarter: This festival celebrates a decade's worth of feasting and promises a Hellas-good time at the Byzantine-Latino Quarter; specifically on the grounds of St. Sophia's Greek Orthodox Cathedral on Normandie, near Pico. As usual, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson will kick off the festivities (despite the fact that Hanks has no Greek ancestry whatsoever - he's actually partly of Portugese stock - it's just that he and his wife are members of the St. Sophia's congregation). Friday 5-11 p.m. (free); Saturday 1-11 p.m. and Sunday 12-10 p.m. ($5, under 12 free).

Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture (FPAC) , San Pedro: Celebrating their 17th year, this festival, which the Militant covered last year, and even walked right past the Franklin Avenue crew (without them knowing it, lol), is an annual celebration of Filipino American arts which happens at the cliffside Pt. Fermin Park. Live music, dance acts, cultural presentations, former American Idol finalist Camille Velasco and even YouTube celeb Happy Slip will be there. Saturday-Sunday 10a.m. - 6 p.m. ($7).

The Militant's Quiet, Intimate Celebration at El Pueblo

The Militant made good on his promise to take a stroll through El Pueblo State Historic Monument and neighboring Olvera Street on the evening of Thursday, September 4, as a little celebration of Los Angeles' 227th birthday (at around 5:30 p.m...were you there? Because the Militant was, heheh)... Of course, only a Militant would take time out of his busy militant schedule to observe it. He had a lot on his mind that day, especially since the Los Angeles Times mentioned the birthday and our perceived collective attitude towards our own history.

Olvera Street was mighty quiet, ironically silent on the exact date emblazoned on the landmark cross at the street's southern entrance (pictured right). Still it emanated the familiar scent of leather goods, churros and roasted meats, the same way the Militant has always remembered it.

There was, however, a banner that read "Street Fair" on the southern end of the Plaza, and a bunch of people milling about. There was a popcorn cart and some barstools set up off to the side.

But alas, this was no real street festival. It was...the filming set of a Bud Light commercial. Yeah, go ahead, insert your favorite Los Angeles cliches here...

Yet that didn't dampen the Militant's spirits. He pondered about history and looked at the buildings surrounding the filming set. The Garnier Building. The Pico House. Historically significant buildings from Los Angeles' original town square dating back to the late 1800s that still stand today. He's seen them before of course, but perhaps for the first time he stood in awe of their architectural aesthetics. Granted, they don't have the historical maturity of, say, the Independence Hall or the Parthenon of course, but for all the talk about Los Angeles destroying its history - that's not totally accurate. Parts of the Ballona Wetlands near Playa Del Rey look the same as they did when the Tongva people roamed the land (of course, not all of it...). They're still there, waiting for your appreciation, ready for your willingness to fight to preserve them even further.

There was no huge celebration on Thursday, but perhaps that's okay. Have you ever been to a good friend's birthday party where multitudes of people were invited, and you only had a few minutes to spend with the celebrant? Conversely, a small, intimate gathering of close friends for a birthday celebration gives you ample time to spend with the celebrant, and you get their undivided attention. The Militant's little walk through Olvera Street was the latter.

Happy 227th, Los Angeles!

The City of Los Angeles' website might have forgotten its own birthday, but you know the Militant hasn't! Today he may or may not celebrate it by taking a ceremonial stroll down Olvera Street, which, as any militant Angeleno knows, is not the actual birthplace of Los Angeles, but an incredible simulation! At what time will or won't he be there? Of course he won't tell you. But feel free to drop by anytime today, knowing that the Militant may or may not be walking there with you.

Feliz Cumpleaños, El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula!

Some birthday visuals for ya:

An encore of the Militant's April 30th post, Blu & Exile's "Soul Amazing."

Needs no introduction.

Happy LAbor Day: A Few Suggestions

With MemDay the start of summer and July 4 as its midpoint, Labor Day ushers in the symbolic end of summer (boooo!), though the actual end of summer won't come for another three weeks (hoooray!!!). And for the Militant, who really wants the summer to last fo'evah, the absolute end of summer won't ccme until he sets his clock back an hour in the last week of October. Being Southern California, it might as well be summer, since we'd likely have a major heat wave that weekend.

So what to do on your Labor Day Monday? The Militant offers a few things to do:

6 a.m. - 2 p.m.: Pobladores History Walk, San Gabriel Mission - There are three kinds of people who do the annual 9-mile Pobladores History Walk, which reenacts the founding of Los Angeles: 1) Elected officials who like to show how hardcore they are, even though they don't have the cojones to even finish the damn thing; 2) Living descendants of the Pobladores and 3) Truly hardcore Angelenos/Southern Californians who wish to profess their unconditional love for this place. Since the Militant's name hasn't appeared on any ballots (at least none that you've heard of...), and his parents immigrated here in the 1960s, category 3 is the obvious answer (um, as if you weren't aware of that already).

There is nothing like retracing the steps of our City's founders by getting up early and walking west, in the heat, eventually getting blisters on your feet and cramps in your leg, but damnit, it's worth it. Plus you'll get to hobnob with categories 1 and 2, and meet others from category 3.

The Militant did the walk last year and had a blast. And not to worry, you get hooked up with free water and free food at the end when you reach El Pueblo State Historic Park, next to Olvera Street. He may or may not do it again this year. But you definitely may. San Gabriel Mission is located 428 S. Mission Drive, though the walk's start is at the intersection of Mission and Junipero Serra drives. The walk begins at 6:30 a.m.

11 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.: Angel City Jazz Festival, Barnsdall Art Park - Down for some music in your Labor Day? The Angel City Jazz Festival, at Barnsdall Art Park, sponsored by local beermakers Angel City Brewing, features a day of music, art, food and brews, of course, in one of Los Angeles' most underrated (and underutilized) public spaces. Performances are both indoors in the Barnsdall Gallery Theater and in an outdoor stage.

Caveat: The festival ain't free (the Militant only found this out like right now). It's $25 presale, $35 at the door (yet there's no actual door there, it's outdoors after all). Tickets can be purchased online here.

The Militant may or may not be at one or both of these events. Or maybe he'll be spending time with a few operatives at an unspecified local beach with its own municipal pier, enjoying himself some seafood and sun on the sand.