The Lardner Report

Unleash your creative superpowers!

Art From The Ashes

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If you follow this blog, you know there is nothing I love more than what’s called “found art”— beautiful images found in cracks of sidewalks, or from peeling paint on a rundown building. But a few weeks ago I encountered some of those “accidental canvases” that left me deeply unsettled.  It has been just over 6 months since wildfires tore through Southern California, killing more than 2 dozen people, and destroying thousands of homes. For 30 years as a TV journalist I covered stories like this. So when the iconic Pacific Coast Highway reopened — and I had a chance to go see the aftermath for myself — I went.

I have close friends who lost their homes in the Palisades Fire, so I expected to be deeply moved by the devastation, and I was. But something else happened as well, something I didn’t expect. Literally amid the ashes were dozens of scenes that in any other context I would have considered abstract  masterpieces. As Josh went about documenting what we saw, I admit for a moment, I felt a thrill, excited by the patterns, textures, colors, and shapes. Lost in the familiar wonder of artistic discovery, I had momentarily blocked out the unfathomable suffering these fires caused. Since that day, I’ve felt so guilty for feeling that moment of joy.

Exterior wall of home on Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu
Interior wall of a home with surviving window frame, Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu

Since the beginning of time, painters, poets and writers have moved us by depicting moments of humanity and grace in the midst of tragedy and challenge. But that was their intention. This isn’t that. This is a devastating disaster leaving in its wake these images that in any other circumstance I would find… breathtakingly beautiful.

Weeks have passed since we visited Malibu and I’m still unresolved by my reaction to what I saw. So after weeks of ruminating, I decided to post some of the photos. Why?  Well, this blog is an attempt to share my life-long creative adventures. In many ways, it’s been a celebration of the emotional riches that art has brought me. Almost always, that emotion is simple joy. This time it wasn’t, and I guess that’s just part of the journey too.

Concrete interior wall, home on Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu
Shooting a row of decimated businesses on the opposite side of PCH, Malibu
A room with a view, oceanfront home on PCH, Malibu

(All photos by John Kaplan.)

One Click — One Masterpiece?

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“Seeing” your subject and capturing the moment. (Photo by Josh Kaplan)

So… I want to talk about what really annoys me about my husband. Here it is..this photo. I was walking down the hallway the other day and he was behind me and suddenly said “Don’t move!” He grabbed his camera and took the shot. I love it so much. The composition is perfect, the colors and shapes, and light and shadows.

So why is it so irksome? Because when I want to create a piece of art, it can take days/weeks, sometimes months of painstaking effort, usually involving second thoughts, insecurities, and often trashing what I’ve done and starting over. You know how long this piece of art took him? According to the metadata from his camera — one eightieth of a second. 1/80th. Factor in the editing time, the careful tweaking of the final image, and maybe — maybe — this masterpiece took 5 minutes to create. I can’t even lay my paintbrushes out in that amount of time.

It’s not fair. He would say the difference is that I am an artist and he is not. He would insist that I create something purely from my imagination, while he only documents things in front of him, things that catch his eye. But I would say his finished product is a work of art, and he can bite me.

When Art F*cks With Your Head

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I couldn’t stop watching. A simple video presented at The annual Los Angeles Art Show 2025. It’s a sensuous moving image of a woman slipping vertically through narrow passages of what appears to be metallic parentheses in a swimming pool. It’s totally disorienting because she appears to be sliding around and pushing off for quite some time underwater.

But she’s not. Once you get your bearings, the viewer realizes that the camera shot the swimmer from the top — so she’s not bobbing up and down, but rather playfully gliding back and forth — normally— across the top of the pool. Once you see it, there’s no doubt. It’s just art that makes you WORK FOR for the answer. That happens to be my favorite thing — and I’ve always believed the most successful art does just that. (Really, what’s the thrill about a piece that simply sets the table for you?) There is so much more to a piece that challenges the brain, and lifts our spirits in the process.

Video artist: Marck. /. Video installation: “Gegenstrom” (Gold) / LCD a screen LED light / media player / Licht Feld Gallery