Stephanie Park -- Genius Loci

caption: bike path in santa monica

This picture was taken in Santa Monica. I came across this bike path and realized how bike paths and sidewalks are rarely used in this busy city. People are always driving and complaining about the traffic, which I find to be fascinating because if you look at the other cars around you, most of the cars only have one passenger, which is the driver. This bike path really spoke to me in terms of emptiness and this idea of growth. Los Angeles is man made and even at a place like the beach, man had to touch it by building something to it...even if it's a bike path. What place in Los Angeles is really untouched and kept preserved? I can't think of any.

caption: after the sunset at lmu

This picture was taken on Jefferson. I know that it is cliche to take pictures of palm trees, but I felt as if this place was important to my definition of LA because it opened my eyes to LA. I'm originally from La Canada Flintridge, a place where I was sheltered all my life. I always had the notion that my hometown was the definition of LA. I had no idea that outside of La Canada would be so colorful and full of life.

caption: wiltern theatre and wilshire

The Wiltern Theatre has always been a place where I would drive by whenever I go to Koreatown. I particularly like this picture because it gives me a sense of the old LA. If you look behind the Wiltern Theatre, there is a metro station and a new apartment complex. built inbetween 6th and Wilshire. What I found fascinating was how Koreatown is slowly changing and improving its environment and look (gentrification) while a place like the Wiltern Theatre is kept unchanged. I love that. This picture really captures a piece of the old and a piece of the new. Even though I have never been inside the Wiltern Theatre, I definitely feel the spirit of Los Angeles by the decorative building designs that were more prominent decades back.

caption: construction site on lincoln blvd.

I took this picture the other day while I was studying in one of the Leavey study rooms. I looked outside the window and saw how much construction on this particular site has done since my freshman year. What used to be a large piece of dirt slowly is becoming a foundation for what looks like a building. Located right next to Playa Vista, I assume that this place is going to be a new apartment complex. I also thought about how construction never stops. Any piece of land that becomes available slowly vanishes as people continue to grow interest in building and growing this wonderful city of Los Angeles. When I see sites like this after taking this course, I get reminded of the literal spirit of what this place used to be before buildings are actually built on it. I wonder about places like Wilshire, where the Wiltern Theatre is located. What did the surroundings of Wilshire look like before the metro station was built or what the apartment complex was before it was built. Did it look similar to the Wiltern?

caption: americana in glendale, ca

This picture is of the newly built shopping center called the Americana. Visiting a place like this reminds me of the days when it was under construction and even the days when businesses were there prior to the blueprint of this place. Created as the replica of The Grove, I don't know how to exactly appreciate a place like this. When this shopping mall was created, I remember people complaining about their businesses being bought over. I even remember a motel or a hotel that refused to see their business in order for Americana to be bigger. I think that motel or hotel is still there...I guess Americana had to be built around that small area of land. Even though this is the definition of what gentrification looks like, I would have to say that a place like this is cliche as well, especially because this is the type of place where tourists would imagine as LA. To me, it is unfortunate how a place like this does define LA. As a native Angeleno, if I had to close my eyes and imagine how LA would look like, it would look like this...a place that attracts the eye.

An Adventuresome Morning in Koreatown

LAST Friday was the last day of my internship, and of course my luck, happened to be during Easter break. So instead of the typical hour commute to go fifteen miles, I had to make sure I left at least two hours early from my hometown of Irvine. Taking Mike the Poet’s advice on always leaving early, giving time for the unavoidable traffic, I even left a little earlier than the two hours and got a caffeine boost at Starbucks. Ready to blast my music and forget that the cars were only going about five miles an hour. Instead, in what seemed like a blink of the eye and an unending smooth flow of the 405 freeway, I realized I was already at my destination. “How did this happen?”

Confused and having no idea what to do, I decide to venture around this area that I have called my home away from home every Friday and see what makes it tick. Greeted by the many minority groups that are hustling and bustling through the streets, always surrounded by friends or family members, the people of Koreatown are always on a mission. Filling the buses to a brim and maneuvering their bicycles around homeless people’s carts. As I

drive through Vermont Street, I am increasingly amazed at the amount of graffiti that lines the building walls. The bright colors from these murals only seem to add to the vitality of the area.

As I get closer to Wilshire, the environment changes a little. Not as many people are lining the streets, as the amount of cars that are struggling to pass each other. Each heading towards what seems like a meeting that will change the world. I am surprised by the enormous parks and fading green infrastructure that are after almost every signal. The buildings on this street act as a blatant symbol of the mix of old and new time periods.

Realizing it is almost time to start my last day, I become one of the scurrying cars that is in a hurry to reach my destination.

--Jessica Fernandez

Dumbfoundead - Night Riders

DUMFOUNDEAD is a Korean American rapper from Koreatown and the person I chose for my booster story. He has been rapping since he was fourteen-years-old, which makes him no newbie to the art of rapping. Dumbfoundead is my definition of a true "booster" because he has made LA a part of him and his identity. Finding inspiration from his surroundings, environment, and the people he meets in Los Angeles, he takes Los Angeles and uses it as inspiration to create art and music. What I truly found fascinating was how he seeks inspiration from his surroundings. Instead of sitting around his house thinking of new ideas to rap about, he told me that he loves to get out of his house, walk around the streets he grew up from, bike around MacArthur Park, and even sit on a bus to go around Los Angeles. In his interview he said, "Sometimes, I grab a jacket, a pen, some paper, and my iPod and I just find a bus to sit on. People think I'm weird for this, but I ask the person sitting nearest to me to pick a number from one to ten. Let's say the person chooses five. I shuffle through my music and listen to five songs with my eyes closed. After the last song ends, I open my eyes and get off the bus. [Laughing] Even though I don't know where the heck I am, I find my way around Los Angeles, meeting all kinds of people...crazy, weird, and normals ones too. I observe new places I have never been and find my inspiration from my experiences and surroundings because I love Los Angeles". What an interesting guy, right?! I posted one of his music videos below called "Night Riders". Even though his budget for this shoot was low, he still managed to create something great. I love how he uses and sings about certain places in LA, while also taking you there as well. I hope you enjoy his music and talent. This music video does have some vulgar language so please listen at your own discretion!