Los Angeles

Residents of Los Angeles have come together to save their beloved taco trucks. Under a new ordinance, trucks would have to follow overly strict rules about where and when they can set up shop. Non compliance would mean fines, misdemeanor charges and possible jail time. There are similar laws in place now that are rarely enforced. The NY Times explains:

This is the kind of city where you can pave over a freeway’s carpool lanes with toll roads, and few will complain. You can propose a 40-story skyrise in the center of Hollywood, and hardly anyone two miles to the west will take notice. You can squander public money, close down the ports and flatten landmarks, and many residents of this sprawling metropolis will simply yawn and move on.

But this is also a food obsessed city with rich Hispanic cultural traditions, and tacos have crossed the miles of road and class divides.

“Taco trucks are iconic here,” said Aaron Sonderleiter, a teacher from the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles and one of the petition founders. “You go to one and you see black, people, white people, old people, young people. They really capture a microcosm of L.A.”

Nearly 5,000 people have signed an online petition opposing the new law at saveourtacotrucks.org

NYT: Hungry Angelenos Rally Around the Taco

Over the past five years, during the course of his travels in the former Soviet Union, French photographer Frederic Chaubin has documented an extensive collection of startling architectural artifacts born during the last two decades of the Cold War. Architects in the peripheral regions of the Eastern Bloc countries, working on governmental commissions during the ‘70s and ‘80s, enjoyed a surprising degree of creative freedom. Operating in a cultural context hermetically sealed from the influence of their Western counterparts, they drew inspiration from sources ranging from expressionism, science fiction, early European modernism and the Russian Suprematist legacy to produce an idiosyncratic, flamboyant and often imaginative architectural ménage. Unexpected in their contexts, these monumental buildings stand in stark contrast to the stereotypical understanding of late Soviet architecture in which monotonously repetitive urban landscapes were punctuated by vapid exercises in architectural propaganda.

The subjects of Chaubin’s photographs, scattered throughout Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, were all constructed during the last two decades of the Soviet era. Very few of their designers achieved anything more than local recognition, and until now these buildings have never been collectively documented or exhibited. The authors of many works remain unknown, and some have been destroyed since Chaubin’s photographs were taken. Concieved and executed during a moment of historical transition, they constitute one of the most surprising and least known legacies of the former USSR.

As well as presenting the architecture itself, CCCP: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed traces the intellectual and political undercurrents that act as a backdrop, and at times inspiration, for the work of these Soviet architects. The exhibition, a compendium of film stills, drawings, magazine articles and historical timelines, maps out the complex genealogy of this overlooked but compelling chapter in the history of 20th century design.

Frédéric Chaubin in Paris, France. He is editor in chief of the French lifestyle magazine Citizen K.

Dwell on Design Conference + Exhibition + Home Tours - the most influential minds in modern design are coming together in one place to focus on real solutions to inspire you.

Conference June 5-6 - Step into the pages of Dwell. The editors are bringing over 50 cutting-edge architects, planners and designers together to explore what’s going on in the modern world. This is a dual-track conference which allows you to mix and match sessions to create your own program. Sessions cover subjects related to Architecture, Planning, Interiors, Landscapes and Products. On Friday the 6th, the exhibition floor is open in the afternoon to all conference attendees for no extra charge.

Exhibition June 7-8 - Experience a unique, hands-on marketplace where attendees can explore modern products and lifestyle exhibits through demonstrations of top products and services inspired by modern design. Stroll through a neighborhood of prefab homes completely landscaped and dressed by Dwell Outdoor. See new products, furnishings and resources available from over 200 exhibitors. Learn how to green your home and work with architects and designers.

Home Tours June 7-8 - Experience Dwell-like homes in LA. Saturday’s tours are of Westside Single Family Homes and on Sunday get an inside view of Downtown urban living.

Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art is pleased to announce Anything Could Happen…, featuring new artwork by Faith47, Johnny Yanok, Joulu, Mike Kershnar, and Misery. There will be paintings, drawings, stencils, skate decks, screen prints, and posters on display. Hailing from South Africa, Ohio, Ukraine, California, and New Zealand, the artists in this exhibition paint five extraordinary worlds of dreams, beauty, fantasy, and violence. The possibilities for exploration and discovery are endless within their wondrous scenes; though some sparkle with hope and others are tinged with a dark pain, all are lit with a magical spontaneity that leaves you wondering: whatever could happen next?

A pioneer of graffiti writers in Europe, Blek le Rat was one of the first people to use stencils to make public art on the street using icons instead of writing his name.

He was first exposed to graffiti in 1971 in New York, but didn’t start making his own until ten years later in Paris. Inspired by a stenciled portrait he saw of Mussolini amongst some WWII ruins during a trip to Italy, he created a stencil of a life size silhouette of a rat running along the streets. He stenciled the rat for two years and quickly became recognized around Paris. This change marked a monumental break from the dominance of New York’s graffiti style. His method of creating street art changed the face of graffiti and still continues to greatly influence artists around the world; from Shepard Fairey and Banksy, to JayBadbc and Oseas Duarte to the young artist wheat pasting work around town.

His work has since evolved beyond the rat icon and taken on a more serious context. He now uses his art to serve a social cause, to evoke reaction and inspire change. Most recently, he pasted hundreds of posters around Paris of Florence Aubenas, a French journalist who was kidnapped in Iraq, hoping to provoke a reaction from politicians and journalists and aid in her release. This project gained Blek incredible public support, and has encouraged him to continue to use his Street Art as a voice for the less fortunate.

Two Lines Align is an exhibition about the evolution of graphic design in the context of massive shifts in our visual culture. As guest curator Michael Worthington notes in the catalogue essay, the exhibition explores “the shifts in the perceived cultural worth [of art and graphic design] over time…by placing Ed Fella’s and Geoff McFetridge’s design careers end to end to make one chronological line, one lineage. While Fella’s career reflects how graphic design has historically struggled to define itself in relationship to art, McFetridge follows a path wherein the integration of art and design is taken for granted.”

Fella received his MFA in Design from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1987 and since then has devoted his time to teaching and producing his own unique work, which has appeared in many design publications and anthologies. In 1997 he received the Chrysler Design Award and in 1999 an honorary doctorate from CCS in Detroit. His work is in the collections of the National Design Museum, New York and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Fella is the recipient of the 2007 AIGA Medal. He is currently on faculty at CalArts where he has been teaching since 1987.

Originally from Canada, McFetridge received his MFA in Graphic Design at CalArts. His thesis project, Chinatown, won a distinctive merit award from ID magazine. While working as art director for Grand Royal Magazine (1995-1997), McFetridge founded his own design studio, Champion Graphics. He has had solo shows at galleries around the world including Parco Gallery, Tokyo; MU, Eindhoven; and Colette, Paris. His work is in the permanent collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

This exhibition is conceived and organized by Michael Worthington, an award-winning graphic designer, faculty member of CalArts’ School of Art, and alumnus of the CalArts Program in Graphic Design. The exhibition is accompanied by a 240-page color catalogue designed by Worthington with texts by Worthington, Jamer Hunt and an interview with the artists.