g727

That night I met with Kristin from www.kristinslist.net, at her place in Los Feliz. It was a pleasant coincidence to come back to this part of the city, precisely to the same road where Elana lives. Can you believe that I parked La Cholota at the same exact spot under the ….tree, where I had parked a few days ago when I met Elana? At Kristin’s I discovered her photography, we chatted about past loves and then went for a walk down Hillhurst all the way to Carpaccio’s. We had wood oven pizza and salad, and we decided the best way to improve her Spanish conversation was to watch Latin American and Spanish movies with subtitles, so I recommended a few.

Saturday July 25th

I arrived very on time at 9 am at Christine and Tait’s crib in Hollywood. We took Sunset Boulevard towards Malibu, and finally I had peek into the other city, the star city, the opulent neighborhood of Beverly Hills. No commentaries, except that luxury is a crime. Malibu was sparkling with a beautiful swell and surfers could be seen by the hundreds in and out of the water. We stopped at SurfRider, where Tait surfed, while Christine and me hanged out in some private beach until the tide washed us out. We were to practice some Spanish with Tait, but the only word we commented on was ‘estacionamiento’. It is a big issue here in LA anyway. We then stopped at Malibu’s seafood spot to have some fried and grilled fish. You can recognize the joint because it has a sunbathing lobster with dark shades.

That night Bob and Edith hosted a beer tasting party at their garden in Echo Park. Bob home brews include Mexican ale, English pale ale, irish stout *yummy* and apple cider. I was drained by the earlier sun and just couldn’t connect with the crowd, Hector and Ani form the potlach party were there, but i was so tired, I retired early. But before going to bed Adrian, Pilar and me stopped briefly at Conchita and Fernando’s Casa de Sousa en Olvera street. La Santa Cecilia was playing, and it was a wonderful musica to discover. Casa de Sousa is a cozy, familiar and traditional spot that serves the most amazing vegan food, has been there for over 60 years, and it is facing and fighting shameful eviction. Why? My theory is that Siquieros happened to do a mural right on top of them, in the same building decades ago, and now, the Getty wants to restore it and build an observation platform. For this, all merchants in the building have to go for the sake of art. Most probably also because the Placita Olvera is golden real estate, and rents right know are not that high…In any case to read more about it check

http://laeastside.com/2009/07/casa-de-sousa-getting-evicted/

and support Casa de Sousa to keep it being a hub for community gathering and activism.

Sunday 26th July

Met with Adam Katz at helped him transport some furniture around town. In return he gave me a new wetsuit, peach wine from his yard tree and a copy of the book he edited: Tattered Fragments of the map. He suggested the idea of opening a Public School in Puerto Rico, after I told him that this will probably be the last time I do Daytoday within an art context, and that I was looking forward to get back home and work in my own community, without any art or aesthetic implications, just mere social practice, real life, common sense.

I then headed to Los Feliz to meet newborn Luca and his mom Adriana, who was looking amazingly well after 4 days of giving birth. I love to see strong, loving, beautiful and caring women, feeling proud and empowered by motherhood. Luca is a cutie and I felt lucky to see how he learned the pacifier ways in my presence.

After that I headed to Koreatown to set foot in the Ecovillage. I met with Joe Linton whom I interviewed about the history and present dynamics of the Ecovillage. We also traded once again: A copy of his ‘down by the Los Angeles river guide book’ for my ‘Marc emery almanac.

I didn’t stay at the potluck that evening, because I went to yet another one, a dessert one to be more specific, hosted by the Echo Park Time Banks and the Filmmobile. At the silverlake resevoir the Echo Park Film Center was presenting an outdoor screening of 2009 documentary “Coming Home: E.F. Schumacher and the Reinvention of the Local Economy” by Chris Bedford. Mr. bedford happens to be Kristin’s father, one of the first persons who contacted me once I arrived in LA. Autum and Lisa for Time Banks were there, as well as Ari whom I met at the Gallery before. The people from the fimmobile had crossed my path at the farmlab a few weeks ago, and Sandra de la Loza also passed by. Finnally Adonia and Bobby form ciclavia and ecovillage dropped by, alerted by me a few hours ago.

This was a special night for me, not only because the film is amazing and much in the line of what my everyday concerns are and what I am doing here in LA, but also because some people I met during the last 3 weeks were there. I understood that what I have been doing in this city so far is weaving together a tapestry of experiences and persons. And I don’t mean weaving a new tapestry all together, but more like weaving a new color, a new thread into an already rich and multiple layered fabric of community networks, non profit organizations, conscious individuals, creative collectives, anarchist city dwellers and revolutionary thinkers, that share. Yes that’s it, that simply share. What do they share?, well first of all the public space of Los Angeles, second, their time and resources, and finally but not less important ideals and ideas and actions on how to relate to others and inhabit the city in a way that allows less dependency on the system.

Monday July 28th

I spent the day at the gallery working on inviting people for the weekend events. Jessica and little Emma came by to retrieve there objects, as they cannot make it on saturday. Jessica had brought in a print she made of an Ikebana arrangement, and two hematite necklaces she made. In return she took a wooden whistle for Emma, a Shanty Sounds CD and the lyrics of a colombian lullaby ‘Arepitas de maiz tostado, para papa que esta acostado’. After chinese lunch with Adrian, I sent surprise packet to RatCat, whom had contacted me from San Francisco, for barter. But as it proved imposible for us to meet, we decided on doing surprise swap packets over postal mail. Her’s should arrive today or tomorrow.

Later we headed to 18th street in Santa Monica to see how Pilar’s curated show is coming through. The opening is on saturday. I met Ashley Hunt who was working on his fabulous collective flow chart on immigration and economics. Hugo Hopping was also there illuminating his mmmm, installation, or probably just illuminating us with his presence, and Sandra was also installing. After that we had jerk caribbean food nearby, and then Pilar and I strolledfor a bit through the Santa Monica promenade, looking for the newest flash art magazine. I cant seem to find it anywhere!!!!

DAYTODAY in L.A.

People from LA, have you heard about DAYTODAY? It is an itinerant project by Carolina Caycedo, based on non-monetary exchanges and informal distribution of commodities and services. g727, host of DAYTODAY, invites you to experience the magic of barter.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE? Simple. Bring in your item to exchange at the location and times listed below. You can bring any kind of contribution or donation to the gallery. It can be an object, a drawing, a certificate or a service you offer written on a card, a recording of your voice, or even a ticket for an event. All the contributions will become part of the GREAT BARTER DAY in the gallery on August 1st from 1-4pm.

This means when you contribute on the DROP OFF DAY (July 31st), you can return on GREAT BARTER DAY (August 1st) and take with you something that represents another person, something that comes from another part of the world, or simply something that you need.

Meet the Artist and DROP OFF DAY
Carolina will be receiving and cataloging the objects and services. The artist will also be discussing her project with the audience and will be giving a walk through of the project.

Friday, July 31st, 2009
Doors open from 1 to 8:30 pm
Artist Talk Starts at 6:30 pm

GREAT BARTER DAY
Food, drinks, music and swapping!

Saturday, August 1st, 2009
1 to 4 pm

WHERE? g727 727 S. Spring Street. Los Angeles, 90014 phone: 213 627 9563

WHY? Bartering brings luck. Kiss someone you love after reading this!
and remember… DON’T BRING MONEY, THIS REALLY WORKS!!!

AFTERWARDS:
Follow Carolina Caycedo to:
18th Street Arts Center for the group exhibition opening reception Post-American L.A.
1639 18th St. Santa Monica, CA 90404 http://www.18thstreet.org

Program sponsored by Frames by Adrian, g727, and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs present Daytoday, through the Cultural Exchange International Grant.