LAIH Field Trip – Parks and Recreation

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LAIH_clockshop_2[click for larger view]

Last Friday’s luncheon for the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities had a double treat. First, it was a field trip to another interesting and exciting Los Angeles space – Clockshop/Elysian, down near the river in Frogtown. Clockshop is a wonderful arts organisation whose concerns fit very neatly with many of ours: From their website:

Clockshop is a multifaceted arts organization that works at the intersection of politics, urban space, and cultural production to explore the forces that shape our lived environment. We program events and screenings, and produce artist projects and conversations. […]

Elysian is an excellent restaurant, the main space where Clockshop events are held, and we were served splendid lunch there while Clockshop director Julia Meltzer told us a little about Clockshop.
LAIH_clockshop_1 [click for larger view]

The second treat was a talk (over coffee and cookies) by Jon Christensen (editor of Boom) entitled “A Century Beyond John Muir: A 21st Century Vision for California Parks”, detailing a project to rejuvenate, expand (and enhance the awareness of) State parks, jon_christensen_at_clockshop_by_boorstin rethinking how people engage with them and who engages with them. [photo on left of speaker with John Muir image is by Jon Boorstin – click for larger view] This topic intersects rather nicely with the work of Clockshop and the river location, of course, since many huge strides have been made in the last several years concerning people rediscovering the river as a park space. Jon writes for LA Observed and you can read a recent piece there about the State park portion of the river called the Bowtie area, and the work of Clockshop and other organisations with regards that space. It is here.

It was a very good talk with our usual lively (but sadly too short this time) Q+A after, stimulating an exchange of ideas. After, several LAIH Fellows explored the nearby river walk.

Overall, an excellent event!

-cvj

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26 Responses to LAIH Field Trip – Parks and Recreation

  1. Clifford says:
    May 2, 2015 at 5:34 pm

    Rick… No. That would have been an awesome thing to have invented. But then they’d be Johnson algebras I imagine. But anyway, no.

    -cvj

  2. Rick says:
    May 1, 2015 at 5:53 pm

    Are you the inventor of Clifford algebras?