My Cultural Center

There are moments of time while living in LA that I feel like it's got a lot going on artistically.  Pockets. And it's not that there isn't a lot going on all of the time, it's just that I'm usually too focused on my writing to notice.  Well, in that case, there's always a lot going on in LA artistically.  I am very artistic.

Right now, I'm having one of those moments.  Yesterday, after a writing session at the beautiful new West Hollywood library, I walked across the street to the MoCA at the Pacific Design Center where there was an exhibit on Tom of Finland and Tom Mizer.

http://www.moca.org/museum/exhibitiondetail.php?&id=487

It's free and right across the street, so I went to check it out.  Truthfully, I was hoping to see more men cruising around looking for action.  The set up of the museum itself seemed right for it.  As did the subject matter.  The art was fittingly homoerotic and cool.  I'm glad I checked it out.  I felt like I had done something cultural for the day.

Then I hopped right back across the street to this beautiful building and looked out the window onto the Hollywood Hills and felt inspired as I was looking up information on two teaching jobs I'm applying for.

I then headed to USC to see the amazing Mx Justin Vivian Bond in V's performance of Mx. America.  This show felt a lot more conceptual and had more of an arc.   V talked about gender politics and family and childhood obsessions.  With music.  If you've never seen Justin Bond, you're missing out.

Here's V performing with Sandra Bernhard a few years ago.  It's 10 minutes long, but totally worth it.  Two of my favorite ladies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edkQuOmRoCk

And here's an interview where Justin where V talks more about the work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEHYqYloAV0

It's always inspiring to see Justin when V's in town.  And the crowd was cool.  I wrote on twitter that it was young boys in scarves and older ladies with wives.  I think that's a good descripton of the crowd.  And I ran into my friend Ethan, who I hadn't seen in eight years until we ran into each other at the screening of Merrily We Roll Along a few weeks ago.  Justin's a chanteuse, a wonderful cabaret singer and performance artist.  I got to know V's work back in the late 90s when I was in New York.   The performance last night was a cool event with lots of cool, weird, queer art types.  And there was a tea this afternoon in Justin's honor where V talked about the nature of performance and the work.  It was very cool.  Both events were at USC and I was just into being in this very artistic environment.  A bunch of smart college students talking about gender.  Sometimes being on a college campus reminds me of how far things have progressed--at least for a certain privileged population who can afford to go to college and wax poetic.  But admittedly, those are my people.

Then I'm going to a few play readings this weekend at Boston Court in Pasadena, featuring some of my friends.  Listening to plays in progress and talking to people about plays and just meeting people in general.  Walking down the street to grab a coffee or lunch with a new friend.

And on Wednesday my boyfriend and I are going to see The Black Suits at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.  When I go to the theatre in LA, I always run into people I know.  Or I run into people I want to know.  I call it the KCRW crowd.  KCRW is our local independently run NPR station that plays great music.  And those people are usually the folks at the Taper or the Kirk Douglas or at LACMA.  Those are the folks looking at art on the weekends.  And those are the people I love.  You can't just run into them on the street or find them anywhere.  You can't take that for granted like you can in a city like New York or Paris.  They're just all over the place, out in public where they can be seen.  We're all in cars here.  It's hard to locate certain like-minded individuals.

Right now, LA is my cultural center.  It's the place where I'm working and feeling inspired.  It's moments like these where I am thankful that I live in a city where cultural things happen so I don't have to hunt around for them.  It helps me feel supported in the art I'm making and it makes me feel like I'm not so weird.

And it is my center.  It's where I feel centered.  But it's not just about being in LA or New York.  You have to have the center with in you and then send out the Bat Signal to find those who are like you.  Given the fact that I'm applying to jobs and trying to do fellowships all around the country, I have to bring my center with me.  And when I'm focused on it, I make LA my cultural center.

My cultural center could also be Netflix.  I watch a lot of great documentaries on Netflix.

It could be PBS.  They're broadcasting the concert version of Stephen Sondheim's Company with Neil Patrick Harris tonight.  I'm DVRing while I'm typing this up and eating at home.

Yes, LA is a big city, so there are more opportunities.  And it is becoming easier to find art and culture in the city.  But you've got to move around and check it out and be willing to get off your ass or get out of your neighborhood.  The museum and library were in West Hollywood.  USC's near downtown.  I'm going to Pasadena tomorrow and to Culver City on Wednesday.  Yes, it would be more convenient if I just had to grab a subway or a cab crosstown.  It would be great if cross town wasn't 20 miles.  But it just gives me the opportunity to check out more neighborhoods, discover more restaurants and meet more people. It gives me the chance to get to know my city better.