Like so many good things in Southern California, the California Scenario is next door to a TGIFridays. I recently made the pilgrimage to Orange County to spend the weekend with extended family, and having already visited the OCMA’s Richard Jackson exhibition and spent several misty mornings at Rudolf Schindler’s Lovell Beach House, I was looking for a new escape. That could very well have meant a trip to South Coast Plaza Mall but, thanks to a photographer friend’s recommendation, it led me instead to a hidden sculpture garden in Costa Mesa, designed by Isamu Noguchi in 1980.
Across from the aforementioned mall, the California Scenario is nested between several tall, mirrored office buildings of the postmodern variety, accessible by a pathway between the parking lot of a steakhouse and that place where you can go enjoy a Tropicalada© after you take in the art. Like so many special art experiences, this one takes some finding.
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Matthew Blackwell creates art that is distinctive, eerily beautiful and story-telling for each individual lucky enough to see his work. Categorized before as street art and modern graffiti, Matthew’s work transcends these common forms to something much more. Based out of his apartment in downtown LA, Matthew’s whimsical style of creation heeds a story, a poem, a progression of thoughts and emotions that captivate and manipulate one’s imagination.
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After yet another conversation commiserating about the L.A. dating scene, co-workers Rita Soultanian and Emily Harris decided to stop talking about it – and take action instead. Their solution to changing the repetitive conversation about meeting a romantic partner in L.A. was to create a “Climb L.A.’s Secret Stairs” group. Using the book Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles by Charles Fleming as a guide, the group hikes a different staircase each week.
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Francesca Lia Block is one of L.A.’s fairy godmothers. The New York Review of Books has said that she “writes about the real Los Angeles better than anyone since Raymond Chandler.” Author of the Weetzie Bat books, these punk rock fairytales are love letters to the city of angels–and one of the reasons I came to Southern California when I was seventeen. I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Block at an LA Zine Fest event, where she signed my only-slightly-scuffed copies of Weetzie Bat and Wtich Baby, which I’ve been carrying around since age twelve. Her most recent projects include a prequel to Weetzie Bat (see interview), an adult fantasy (see interview), and a Weetzie screenplay (get ready). This promo video for an Italian edition of the Weetzie stories is a nice homage to the world Block writes about, though nothing will do justice save the books themselves.
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Talk of New Year’s Eve plans are in the air, and the thing I keep hearing is that everyone wants to get out of town for their end of year break. Let’s face it, we’re obligated to spend all the other winter holidays with our family, but New Year’s is our one chance to get away from it all before the start of another year’s grind. So, let’s talk about New Year’s Eve plans that don’t include another awkward party, funny hats, and more confetti. Instead, I offer you the top 5 places out of LA to plan an intimate gathering– because as everyone knows, when your New Year’s get-together is also a getaway, things are bound to get a lot more interesting…
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