It’s that time again. Here’s this month’s DTLA art walk photos.  I went with a bunch of Europeans. It was fun to see what they thought of the event.  It wasn’t very crowded, and it was kinda chilly.   Although I wasn’t super impressed by the art this month, I’m never disappointed with the people-watching.

]]> http://missenscene.com/2010/03/12/march-art-walk-dtla-photos/feed/ 1 missenscene IMG_4750 IMG_4755 IMG_4746 IMG_4747 IMG_4754 IMG_4759 IMG_4762 IMG_4773 IMG_4764 IMG_4777 IMG_4778 IMG_4780 IMG_4787 IMG_4790 IMG_4792 IMG_4795 IMG_4800 IMG_4804-1 IMG_4809 IMG_4813 IMG_4814 IMG_4826 IMG_4835 IMG_4839 IMG_4844 http://missenscene.com/2010/03/10/stumbled-upon-site-of-the-day-baptiste-debombourg/ http://missenscene.com/2010/03/10/stumbled-upon-site-of-the-day-baptiste-debombourg/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:37:42 +0000 missenscene http://missenscene.com/?p=3094 ]]>

I stumbled upon the website of  Baptiste Debombourg today.  I adore the Parisian installation artist’s work so much that I friended him on facebook. We’ll see how that goes.

Below, see one of his pieces made up of STAPLES!

From Debombourg’s website:

“Baptiste Debombourg’s works look into the relationship between common objects, everyday life events and art. Generally he works with sculptures and installations, but he also uses other media such as video, photography, drawing or performance. When working with video, Debombourg examines people’s hobbies, like in “Baby Bottle” where weekend racers use cars cut in half. In this way, ordinary events and discrete people’s interests are raised to a kind of heroic level.”-Unknown

Here’s his “Exploding Wall”:

And: Chez Marcel

I clicked on the video part of his website, and it took me here.  Random! Love it.

]]> http://missenscene.com/2010/03/10/stumbled-upon-site-of-the-day-baptiste-debombourg/feed/ 0 missenscene Baptiste Debombourg - Mozilla Firefox 3102010 71352 PM baptistedebombourg_2243243243 baptistedebombourg_3545345 explodingwall marcel1 http://missenscene.com/2010/03/07/local-celebrity-having-fun-with-helena-gullstrom/ http://missenscene.com/2010/03/07/local-celebrity-having-fun-with-helena-gullstrom/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:13:43 +0000 missenscene http://missenscene.com/?p=3065 ]]>

LOCAL CELEBRITY: HELENA GULLSTROM

I’m really happy my friend suggested Helena Gullstrom as the next local celebrity. From the moment I met the Swedish Bombshell, I knew we had a lot in common–including our connection with our super cool moms.  Helena’s one fun, tough (she once lived in warehouse in Inglewood just so she could do her art), creative, hilarious artist that I’m happy to feature as a local celebrity.

For our interview, I met Helena at her live/work loft in Santa Fe Lofts on Main Street. Her loft, “The Loft”,  is such a cool space. She designed the space herself, and even did most of the renovation, including electrical wiring.  (What? Who does that? I’m super impressed.)  Helena even built a full service hair salon in the space, an art studio, and a living area.

CK: So tell me about your space here. “The Loft”  in the Santa Fe Building.

HG: When I first moved in. It was a lot of work. I had construction here for like two months. I put a lot of work into the place.  When I first moved here there was not a lot on my street. I was like what am I doing?  But all this stuff started happening—all the all the restaurants and bars. And I was like, this was a good time to move here. But things have really changed. I have friends and clients in Beverly Hills and I asked them to come here. And when I first moved here there were a lot of homeless people laying on the street, and when I was giving directions, I was always like, “ just step over the homeless guy in front of the building, take a left and go into the door”. It just cleaned up and got better. It was never that hard to have people come down here.

CK: Why did you move to downtown?

HG: I’ve been on my way to downtown since I’ve first moved here. I’ve been wanting to live in a loft for a long time. I couldn’t afford it. I even lived in a warehouse in Inglewood so I could have a large space to do my art.

CK: Was it scary?

HG: Oh yes. It was a crazy time. It was like camping for a year. I made some good pieces. I wanted to move downtown, but I just couldn’t afford it. I love it down here. It feels European somehow. It’s not just the buildings, but it’s the mixture of people, and there’s no attitude. I love that. Now, if it only smelled better.

CK: Do you think people are more creative downtown?

HG: I don’t know. I like that there’s so many different kinds of people down here. It’s not like in Santa Monica, or Hollywood.  Here, you get all these odd people. There so many different types–so many different ages. There’s a little bit of everything and I really that. It doesn’t feel very LA.  I used to live in Santa Monica near Montana. There’s that feeling where you almost have to get dressed up to go to the coffee shop.

CK: Where are some of your favorite places to hang out downtown?

HG: Here (laughing) on this very sofa. I have a lot of people coming here. We kind of keep in this area between 4th and 6th on Main because it’s so convenient. I always go to Pete’s,  Coles and Varnish.  And, I like The Must.

CK: I detect an accent. Where are you from originally? How did you get to LA?

HG: I’m from Sunne, Sweden. It’s a small, little town. If you even want to call it a town in the middle of nowhere. And I came here on vacation to visit a friend of mine, she was living and working here as a nanny.  I just thought I would take a month off. I was 20. It wasn’t a plan at all.

CK: What did you do when you first moved out here?

HG: I worked as a hair dresser. I got my license and everything to work here.

CK: How did you get into art? I mean, I know doing hair is an art, also–but how did you get into doing these sculptures and mixed media pieces?

HG: Well, I’ve always done it. Ever since I was 6 years old I was sitting in school drawing hoping to be an artist. It was a childhood dream.  I think it takes a lot time to show your art to other people and feel comfortable with it. You’re putting yourself on a canvas for others to judge. It’s so personal. It’s kinda icky to see what people think about it. Everyone’s different. Some people love it, and others…But, you may see other art out there, and then feel that yours is okay.

CK: Did you go to Art School?

HG: Yeah I took classes at Otis. I didn’t get a degree or anything because it was really expensive. But I took the classes with Franklin Liegel. He still works there. And now he’s a good friend of mine.

CK: How did you discover which medium you liked to work in—out of all the mediums, why did you pick….

HG: Concrete?

CK: Exactly!

HG: What I like about art is when you don’t really know what you’re doing. You take something. It’s kind of like playing. You’re discovering. I like that part–trying different materials and see what happens. Mix this with that. I’ve always loved concrete. I love grey. I love metal and different materials.

CK: What inspires you?

HG: everything. It’s so hard to pinpoint. I like stupid phrases–like contradictions. I have this sculpture that’s a trophy wife.

HG (cont): I like dumb ideas like that. Or like “this one would look great over your sofa”.

HG (cont): A lot of art that I do is not something that can fit over a sofa–it’s more portrait. I want to make one that fits over your sofa, so I made that one.  I like wordplay–silly stuff.  The one with the word urge–I’m doing this series with people from downtown.

CK: So they are all people you met downtown?

HG: Yeah.

CK: So how do you make them? Are those photos?

HG: Yeah. It’s a photo. I then take a cut out, mold in plastic and then press it down into the concrete so it get’s to be like a sunken relief. And when it’s the right time to take it off, I peel it off to get the texture. Then I paint it with pigments, spray paint, oil or acrylic.  It’s very labor intensive.

CK: So you take photos?

HG:  I love taking photos. I’m not a professional. But, I’m doing a coffee table book with people down here dressed up as bunnies.

CK: Do you make them dress up as bunnies? How did this idea start?

HG: They are mainly friends of mine. They did a photo shoot for a photographer in my loft. We were doing the hair and makeup for that. They accidentally left the bunny ears. I started playing with them and starting taking photos of people in them. I had a big party and started taking photos of lots of people in the bunny ears. So then they thought I was a photographer…and I’m not. But, how can you stop ?  If you’re a creative person, you’re going to do all of it. You can’t just stop and say I only do this. You’re going to be creative in other parts of your life. So I started taking a lot of photos of people in bunny ears. Now I have a photo shoot coming up with like 10 people wearing bunny ears.

CK: You should have an exhibit with all the photos.

HG: Yeah, it would be called “Bunnies Behaving Badly”. But, it’s like stupid, silly. I like it.

CK: In your bio on your website, you say you put your subconscious to work when you do art. How do you not censor yourself?

HG: I do. (Laughing). You know somehow someone will look at this and judge you or judge this. And I’m a sensitive being. It’s a struggle. It’s a total struggle. Sometimes when you try just not to censor yourself it can look awful. It’s so hard to be okay with that. But I almost think it’s the whole thing with art. You’re supposed to feel like shit sometimes (laughing). You know what I mean? When I was telling my mom that I was having a tough time….It’s so funny. My mom, if you met her…she’s this cute.Well, she’s not conservative. But, she’s a little mom. And she tells me, “Helena you’re supposed to be fucked up. You’re an artist”.

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Super rad video from OK GO . Just watch it.

From Wired.com via CNN:

“For its latest video, released on YouTube Monday night, pop band OK Go recruited a gang of very talented engineers to build a huge, elaborate Rube Goldberg machine whose action perfectly meshes with the band’s song, “This Too Shall Pass,” from the band’s new album, “Of the Blue Color of the Sky.”

For nearly four minutes — captured in a single, unbroken camera shot — the machine rolls metal balls down tracks, swings sledgehammers, pours water, unfurls flags and drops a flock of umbrellas from the second story, all perfectly synchronized with the song.

A few gasp-inducing, grin-producing moments, when the machine’s action lines up so perfectly, you can only shake your head in admiration at the creativity and precision of the builders.

Those builders were Syyn Labs, a Los Angeles-based arts and technology collective that has a history of doing surprising, entertaining science and tech projects that involve crowds of people, at a monthly gathering called Mindshare LA.”

Mindshare LA is amazing! I’ve gone a few times and it’s so much fun. Check it out. I have a feeling it’s going to be a bit more crowded than normal now thanks to this cool video from the people at Synn Labs.

See her blog here.

I have a lot of random followers on twitter. The Afternoon Store, an ” eclectic store featuring gifts, art, games, books, toys, kitchen, jewelry, clocks with stores in Omaha, Chicago and Minneapolis” just started following me. I checked out their website and I looked at their best sellers. I immediately fell in love with this banned book bracelet:

It’s only $20.  I really love it. I wish the bracelet was a bit higher quality, though. Perhaps it would really be a best seller if it was made out of sterling silver.  There’s also a piece of the bracelet that says “I read banned books”, which I wish was left off of the bracelet.  The whole point of the bracelet is that they are banned books, which should be fairly obvious?

I do think it’s a cool idea, though. I really like The Afternoon Store. Here are some more best sellers:

In the same vein,

Book Birdhouses:

Freud Paper Doll:

And, I just love these agate Coasters:

How fun would it to be a buyer for this store? Check it out: http://www.theafternoon.com/

A Visit to Old Los Angeles and Environs

I’m obsessed with the website above. I found out about it on the “Hidden Los Angeles” Facebook Page.

I’m such a sucker for Los Angeles history–especially Downtown history.  I’ve already blogged about one of my favorite LA photo books–Los Angeles, Portrait of a City here. But, this website is a bit different. It focuses on LA in the early 1900s.

From the site:

“This is a pictorial survey of downtown Los Angeles, and certain other areas, focusing on the years 1900 to 1915, though occasionally making use of images from other times. This series will follow, primarily by means of actual postcards of the era, the travels of a farming family from the great plains as they visit Los Angeles and its environs in the early years of the Twentieth Century. Some of the postcards and pictures are pristine; others show their experiences in their cancellation marks, creases, flakings-off of image, or in the writing by their excited or amused original senders. Some pictures, and especially the printed words on them, will appear blurred on the monitor due to the necessity of providing reasonably shorter download time for the viewer. Get out your comfortable shoes, your most umbrageous hat, your walking stick! We join our travelers as they roam the streets, and visit with them what we as well as they do not know—the points of interest as well as the scenes of everyday life in old Los Angeles…”

Below are some cool photos from the site:

Some of the buildings above are still standing–like the Vibiana and Cole’s (Pacific Electric Grill).

Since everyone has a blog these days, it’s hard to find a unique approach to the medium.   There are so many Photo, Food and Fashion blogs out there. It’s so refreshing to stumble upon a blog that’s found it’s own niche. Today I came across Advanced Style, a blog by Ari Seth Cohen.  I did a little research on Cohen, and found out he used to manage an upscale clothing store in Seattle called Blackbird Ballard. He moved to New York and started a Street-Style Blog about Elderly Fashion.

“I moved here a little over a year ago, and my experience in New York has been through taking pictures. Every day I walk around and look for things that inspire me and put them in photos. So I shot things that caught my eye—people. People that I’m drawn to on the street. I’m drawn to things that are eccentric or avant-garde; if you look at something and it tells a story.”*

Apparently, he’s drawn to the same kind of juxtaposition that I like. A Stylish 20-something designer outfit on a beautiful old woman is quite the perfect example.

See more photos below:

Nothing beats going to the MOCA at night. I love the Engagement Parties for members. I attended last night’s party and spent most of the time taking photos.

It was so great to see so many people experiencing and enjoying the art.