Posting from on high
Perched high above downtown Los Angeles, a bohemian group of architects, artists and aficionados are gathering on the rooftop terrace of the Standard hotel this week to kick off L.A Art Weekend with a five-day blog-a-thon dedicated to architecture and urban planning.
This marathon session called Postopolis, which began Tuesday, brings together six international bloggers to host a series of discussions, interviews, panels and presentations with 40 participants from the worlds of geology, landscaping, publishing and music. Infused with complimentary Belvedere vodka, the blog-a-thon is a social network for people interested in shaping the modern cultural landscape.
The second L.A. Art Weekend aims to harness the city’s artistic energy through exhibits, signings and lectures across the city. The non-Postopolis events run today through Sunday. It’s a way to redefine Los Angeles as a cultural center, according to Bettina Korek, founder of ForYourArt, the organization behind Art Weekend.
“This is a conversation of how to drive cultural tourism,” Korek said. “When people come to visit L.A they ask their friends what they should do. It’s them shining the light on the cultural landscape of L.A.”
Postopolis was conceived in New York two years ago by Storefront for Art and Architecture, a nonprofit collective dedicated to generating dialogue among architects, artists and designers. The first blog-a-thon was a hit, drawing thousands of participants and spectators throughout the week and jump-starting an electronic dialogue across creative fields. It can be followed at www.storefrontnews.org.
“We had such an incredibly successful model in New York,” said Storefront director Joseph Grima. “It was the beginning of a lot of relationships with bloggers and lots of people.”
Postopolis’ success led Grima to an unexpected meeting with Korek. The introduction sparked a conversation between the two directors, who realized they could reach more people by combining their visions.
“The idea behind art week is to get people on the ground engaged,” Korek said. “We’ve been working for a year trying to reach a younger audience and harness the power of the Internet.”
“Postopolis is perfectly suited because it’s a climactic moment of designers and artists coming together to discuss various issues,” Grima added. “It’s a way of taking snapshots of cities throughout the world.”
In L.A., these snapshots have been condensed into a pocket-sized map of the city highlighting creative points of interest such as the Museum of Jurassic Technology, the Ooga Booga store in Chinatown and the Rose Bowl swap meet. The maps can be picked up at any Art Weekend event or downloaded through the ForYourArt website, www.foryourart .com.
“It reflects the way cultural processes happen in L.A.,” Korek said. “The unexpected can always occur.”
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latimes.com/arts
For selected highlights from L.A. Art Weekend, go to The Times’ Arts page online.
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