A blog-a-thon kick-starts L.A. Art Weekend
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Perched high above downtown Los Angeles, a bohemian group of architects, artists and aficionados gathered on the rooftop terrace of the Standard Hotel last night to kick off L.A Art Weekend with a five-day blog-a-thon dedicated to architecture and urban planning.
Postopolis 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 sort of social network for people interested in shaping the modern cultural landscape.
The 2-year-old L.A. Art Weekend aims to harness the city’s artistic energy through four days of exhibits, signings and lectures across the city. 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 they friends what they should do. It’s them shining the light on the cultural landscape of L.A.”
UPDATE: Here’s our list of some of the top events of the weekend.
Postopolis was first 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.
“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, Ooga Booga store in Chinatown and the Rose Bowl swap meet.
“It reflects the way cultural processes happen in L.A.,” Korek said. “The unexpected can always occur.”
— Alicia Lozano
Art Weekend runs Thursday through Sunday, with events scattered throughout the city. Postopolis continues through Saturday at the Standard Hotel with live Web streaming daily from 5 to 11 p.m.