The Non-Definitive Guide To Life

If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with rain" - Dolly Parton

Posts for art installation

29 Rooms Los Angeles

ADVENTURES, ART - January 23, 2018

29 Rooms is an interactive art experience curated by Refinery 29 where artists and brands come together to create 29 Instagramable backdrops for your content creating enjoyment. I was really excited about 29 rooms, and super thankful my friend was able to get me in – but I’d be lying if I said that the “do it for the gram” attitude of the place didn’t leave a sour taste in my mouth.

The grammable art experiences seem to be popping up a lot these days, and my natural contrarian attitude wants to rebel against the museum of ice cream and happy place and say – no I won’t just go for the gram. I want to go for not only the visual stimulation but the intellectual stimulation. And not to say you can’t just go to something cause it’s just fun, cause I’m sure the museum of ice cream and happy place are fun for people. Maybe if I was better at posing in front of a camera I’d drink less of the haterade and be all about those fun and funky backdrops. But with 29 Rooms, we couldn’t even see all of the rooms because of limited time, mismanaged logistics, and the full-on photoshoots taking place in front of us.

I love getting that great Instagram moment as much as the next person, but I don’t want to do it at the expense of cultural enrichment. I’d like to know the who, what, and why behind what I experience. And sure, maybe some of the 29 Rooms were just sponsored pop-ups made by a collection of set designers who have no emotional investment in the mini-environment they created, but I know for a fact some of the rooms / installations were more than that and to not provide proper information educating people places the LGBTQ install on the same level of importance as the pink sand Shea Moisture install.

To give them some credit, there were small placards affixed to the wall next to the door of some of these rooms, but they were hard to read and considering the entire experience was just more of a mad dash to see what room you could get in, one ended up being more focused on trying to have an experience than finding the information on the room. I really wish they would have the info someplace online (I’ve yet to find it).

In my ideal world, 29 rooms would have time slots, and you’d walk through each room with about a minute or two to enjoy each space. Hell, make it 30 seconds, Yayoi Kasuma’s Infinity Rooms was 30 seconds and worth every moment. But I’m not the curator of 29 Rooms, and I just have to accept that our world is moving into a place where smart people can make money off those that want to enjoy an interactive highly Instagramable art experience.  I just hate it when I become a pawn, and totally know I’m a pawn – and am a little ok with being a pawn.

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Dabs Myla’s BEFORE & FURTHER Installation

ART - January 13, 2016

Before we left on our road trip of the Pacific North West, I had the chance to preview Dabs Myla’s Before & Further installation over at the Modernica Factory. As the preview was before the public opening and our ten-day trip, the photos and footage I took sat dormant on my computer until today! I’ve been wanting to share the colorful and mid-century cartoon dreamland Dabs Myla created for months.

Dabs Myla is an artist duo/ married couple who are originally from Melbourne, Australia and are as kind as their art is colorful. Seven years ago I met this duo when they walked into Thinkspace Gallery’s previous Silver Lake location for a portfolio review. We were excited by what the two of them were creating, so excited we almost forget to take their information, so as the intern I chased the two of them down the street to get their email. Fast forward and Dabs Myla’s fun illustrations and street art style can be seen in advertisements, music videos, and last year they transformed the set of the MTV Movie Awards. It’s so cool to see how these Aussies have taken the states by storm!

Here are a few detail shots from Before & Further in collaboration with Modernica. You can view a full house tour in the video below.

Dabs Myla Before and Further Flower Still Lifes

Dabs Myla Before and Further Hanging Lamps
Dabs Myla Before and Further Meditation Tent
Dabs Myla Modernica Room Divider and Chairs

Dabs Myla Before and Further book shelf

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