Arriving in Los Angeles
I just hopped off the plane at LAX….well to be more accurate I flew into Burbank and there was very little hopping happening getting off the plane as the woman in front of me (who also fell asleep on my shoulder in a matter of seconds after take off) was taking her sweet time moving down the ramp. Granted she came up to my belly button but still! I had places to be! Oh also, Miley Cyrus must not have been traveling to Los Angeles late August because you would literally melt in a cardigan. Whatever, she did get one thing right, and that is arriving with your dream. This is my second time visiting LA and for whatever reason something about this place makes me drawn to it, almost like I need to be here for some reason. The feeling is a type of magnetism.
Last semester I took a class titled “Better Homes & Gardens” and no, not like the magazine. The class had me trek all the way up to Lincoln Park at the Roger Brown Artist Museum and for three hours a week was a lecture studying the works of artists that happen outside of the mainstream academic realm. Often self-taught, perhaps eccentric, these artists were always profound in their passionate life’s work. Within this class there is a scholarship/travel grant (Roads Scholarship) associated to travel to these locations and I sprung at the opportunity to apply. I applied to travel to LA and I got it!
In my proposal I planned on visiting three locations in order to help inform my thesis work. Ideally I will be curating an exhibition that showcases a performative piece that deals with the ways in which bodies (and performed identities) interact within an environment. I am also interested in the relationship of the “audience” and “performers” in the spectacles we make of bodies specifically in the context of athletics. My goal for the trip was to gain a better understanding of the ways in which our bodies interact in a shared artistic space, both with each other and the environment itself. I am also curious as to how a space can influence the ways in which we interact and the idea that these environments are designed from a perspective that is in relation to the human body.
I think it makes the most sense for me to write sepatate posts for each of these trips as each was incredibly powerful and very diverse in what I gained from them. Plus with the amount of pictures (and selfies) I took at these locations would make this post especially girthy. So check back in and I’ll update as I go! Also I may have rented a convertible for a few days. Who thought it was a good idea to give me a camero for a few days?
