Today MJ and I went to a lot of artsy places! The Paramount Studios was open to the public and hosting an art gallery called the Frieze Gallery. I'll be honest, when I go to art collections/galleries/ exhibits I really don't know what I'm looking at, whether it's "modernism," "cubism," "post-modernism," "conceptualism," surrealism," "etc. I do know, though, that going to an art gallery can be a cool experience just from the atmosphere, the kind of people who go (usually well-dressed, popular-looking people) and the layout of the artwork. I think part of presenting the artwork is not the artwork itself but the layout, the design of the museum and how to lay everything out. These are art people after all who are handling art, so they make that part of the experience. I like the white walls of an art gallery (although, it does make it feel like an insane asylum after awhile) but also the building where it's located, the carpet installed in the room where it's located, whether the art is inside or outside, the location of the work, etc. The Broad Museum, which opened in L.A. a couple years ago, is so curious because the museum exterior itself is a piece of work, as is the building that's next to it, the metallic futuristic-looking Walt Disney Hall. You just get the feeling walking around that area that you're surrounded by art, surrounded by human possibilities that you wouldn't experience just walking through a normal neighborhood or street or something. I've always felt like artsy people are a little hoity-toity (pretentious), like they think they know something other people don't and feel superior to others, that you have to really appreciate the art first before joining their high-scale society. But even if that's true, it is nice to actually join that society and take part in the pretentiousness of looking at things, to drink wine and chocolates and cheese while enjoying such hors d'oeuvre in a carefully crafted location. I like being artsy-fartsy once in a while.
Paramount Studios was really nice, had the normal studio-like feel to it of the New York buildings, the storefronts and lights making it look like an urban neighborhood. But then we also went to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, almost hidden in the midden of the Hollywood Hall of Fame but it has a really nice old-school vibe to it ,with a noir swimming pool and a penthouse opening up to a roof with a great view of Hollywood and the Hollywood mountains, the Hollywood sign. Very Hollywood all-around. The rooms on this particular day were used to host an art exhibition called the Felix, where a whole floor of the hotel was used to put works of art and generate interest in particular artists. Each artist had kind their own little room where you walk into a carefully designed room featuring the artists' work and displayed in their own crafted way, all with a window allowing its own individual great view of the outside, the Hollywood area. Really cool experience, getting to get the whole hotel experience (being inside, using elevators, pool, and even the open-air roof) without paying AND an art gallery at the same time. Living in Los Angeles does have its benefits.
It also pays to have friends in various walks of life! I have a diverse array of friends/ acquaintances I've developed over the years while living in L.A., from fellow USC law students to fellow lawyers to musicians to dodgeball players to Japanese learners to fellow Mandarin speakers (ABC's) to just random friends of those friends who I meet with. I guess it's reflective of my various tastes and interests, and sometimes those worlds collide. MJ and I randomly met a dodgeball friend who worked for a chocolate company who was giving out sweets at the Paramount Studios Gallery. She got us some awesome chocolate and a chance encounter to remind us we're not alone in this world and we might bump into people even in a city of 12 million! Last weekend, we went to a concert where the first trumpet player was an old law school friend of mine. It just brought back some great memories and reminded me that I've had some cool experiences in this city, including an internship in Century City back in law school at the Avenue of the Stars! One day I thought I'd have made it to working on that prestigious street with lots of law firms, a major TV studio (Fox), and one of the nicest business districts in the world, but just having that short work experience was enough to bring back memories of my stay in L.A. When MJ and I do move out of L.A. (maybe soon!) it will be with more than just a little fondness for this great city!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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