Art Walk, Old Skool.

Art!

You kids are probably too young to remember, but once upon a time images were captured not with electrons and silicon, but with "film", a gooey mixture of chemicals slathered on a strip of (probably flammable) plastic or paper or whatever happened to be at hand. And there was none of this "instant gratification" you youngsters talk about. With film, you didn't get to see your photos until you took the film home and soaked it in poisonous chemicals in your bathtub. Yuck. "How could this be possible" you ask? Well, luckily for you, I discovered a working example of one of these ancient devices during an archaeological dig in the ruins of a garage in Burbank, California, and I brought it with me to Art Walk. What follows was recorded using that quaint and now-so-obsolete technology.


To say that Art Walk was "crowded" is an understatement. Wall to wall people made it hard to walk on the sidewalk (but there were plenty of cops to keep you from stepping on to the street.)

There was art, as you would expect. But it seems the more popular Art Walk gets, and the more people there are, the less art I see. This isn't a cut an Art Walk, mind you. This is me people watching rather than art gazing. As I live in the 'hood, Art Walk has become an adventure in finding art I would like to return to and enjoy later while enjoying the party in the right-now.

Art, meet commerce.

I have no idea what was going on here.

The newly-expanded Art Parking Lot, featuring extra fuse-popping lights.

Bars and bands were hoppin'.

A new bar "Down and Out" at the site of the old "Charlie O's" soft-opened for Art Walk. The place has sliding glass doors that give the effect of the party spilling out into the street. Note the portraits inside above the bar. Not seen in this shot: O.J. Simpson.

But mostly just people, people, people...

These old-fashioned cameras don't focus themselves, they rely on you to do it for them. You get to twist a knob whilst peering through the viewfinder until you stop seeing double, which is impossible to do when it is dark, and you are drunk.

Commies!

You kids with your new-fangled electric cameras... (The police car is responding to a "415", which seems to be the police code for "a guy holding a bag of ice to his face.")

On the way back to the loft, I was hit by frozen tater-tots thrown from one of these windows. The bastards ducked back inside when I turned and pointed the camera at them... There is nothing subtle about these antiques. Getting a candid shot takes skillz with a "Z".

Art Walk Kitty

Art Walk Ice Cream

May Art Walk photos

Performances (and mopeds) at Art Walk

As time goes on, there seem to be more and more performances at Art Walk. I understand that some people are peeved over this, but I kinda like it. Gives our little neighb the sort of energy I so fondly remember from the East Village in the early seventies. The shot above is from the French fest at the Continental Gallery last night. Besides the bandstand and some nifty $1,800 chairs there was a herd of electric scooters:

Not so arty, but I knew it was just a matter of time before Corporate Sponsorship crept in to this scene. No matter, I have a professional interest in electric vehicles, so I asked around and was directed to Alex, who explained that the mopeds are a purely French design, although he couldn't really tell me much about them, and the company rep had split and wouldn't be back 'till the band played. Oh, well. We posed for the photo op and Alex floated off to continue his meet-n-greet.

One look at the band's set list:
And I decided not to wait. However, the "E-Road" Electric bicycle looks nifty and light, and probably qualifies as a "motorized bicycle" under California V.C 406(b) and 24016(a)(3,4), which means no license or registration or insurance needed (unlike a gas moped), but you have to be at least 16 years old and wear a helmet. No prices were given at the event, but EBay seller "E-Road electric bike" has them for $838 shipped. E-Road/BHM LLC, 3113 S. Grand Ave 90007, 213-746-0250

Speaking of performances, I spotted this at the Regent:


When did this happen? I'm so out of touch. Wait, it hasn't happened even yet, at least, no renovations that I can tell. There was a band on stage, but they weren't performing, just doing a sound check. Unless that is the performance. Which it could be... Every time I'm here during Art Walk, the band is doing sound check. Like I said, I'm out of touch.

Art Walk in 90 Seconds

(edited because I figured out how to embed Flickr videos)



A stop motion video of Art Walk made by tradica and forwarded by Bert Green.

The last art walk was fun. We brought Kidlo with us for the first time and he was a champ even though we kept him up way past his bed time. We went for a drink at 626 Reserve and I was worried about bringing Kidlo inside, but the bartender was all, "Hey, I have a four-year-old son! C'mon in!" Lots of cool art including a gallery on Spring near 5th that had large paintings that looked like photo enlargements (can't remember the gallery or artist--if anyone knows who this was, let me know). Also, lots of other kids--I counted five other baby carriages and a few older kids too. It's cool to be able to expose Kidlo to a little culture without anyone being bent out of shape.