The Lardner Report - Unleash your creative superpowers!

Adversity: Shakespeare Was Right

June 10, 2011 by Lonnie Lardner

Sweet are the uses of adversity,

Which like the toad, ugly and venomous,

Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.

–William Shakespeare

Meet Sung-Bong Choi. A 22-year-old day laborer who says he knows he doesn’t sing very well. When you hear his story on the clip above, you’ll understand why his self-esteem sits at such a low ebb. Dumped in an orphanage at 3, he ran away at 5 because “they beat him” and he ended up selling gum on the streets and sleeping in public toilets for the next decade. After sharing what can only be described as a Dickensian account of his early antidepressants life, Choi hesitantly sang for the judges on “Korea’s Got Talent.”

He wowed everyone in the audience, including the judges, with “Nella Fantasia,” the pop opera tune first recorded by Sarah Brightman. The audience quickly moved from laughter to weeping. The judges offered hugs, vocal lessons and a ticket to the next round.

The comparisons to songstress Susan Boyle are inevitable. (The Scottish woman who became a pop sensation in 2009 after her unlikely success on “Britain’s Got Talent.”) My hope is that Sung-Bong Choi finds comfort and love in what is about to become a dramatically different new life.

Tripping Over Art

May 31, 2011 by Lonnie Lardner

(Pic #1) The confluence of trash and chemistry make a perfect photo opp

Truly savoring those split-second encounters with beauty, oddity and unexpected inspiration

Working on a public art project in a maintenance yard in West Los Angeles recently, I bent over to retrieve my pen and caught a glimpse of scattered trash, smashed cans, spilled chemicals, and some sort of baby blue iridescent powder spewed out on the cracked cement (Pic #1). It reminded me of the kinds of abstract paintings and collages I’m drawn to, and it made me wish I’d assembled this one first.

(Pic #2) Wrong turn - right art

A week later, in downtown Los Angeles at the old historic Pabst Brewery, I took a wrong turn during an art exhibition and found myself in a hallway not included in the ArtWalk map. Again, a pile of junk — this time stacked up against a rusted door sporting a straight red line dividing the space into thirds (Pic #2). To me, it had all the appeal of my first cholesterol lowering encounter with a Rauschenberg assemblage (Pic #3). The jolt comes in the discovery. The joy comes in documenting the image and taking it home.

(Pic #3) "Charlene" assemblage by Robert Rauschenberg, 1954

The lesson?

Imagine how many visual treats you might discover if you really began to look. Every time you step off a curb, drive through a car wash, or stand at the post office, you’d be adding to your mental – or digital- archive. Whether it’s on the back of a truck or trash on the street, the right combination of “things” is always vying for our attention. But unless we actually take advantage of the opportunity, the chance to capture these lovely images passes us by.

Art can truly be found everywhere…. even in your neighbor’s swimming pool. See “pool art” here. I promise you, by allowing yourself to spot it, catch it, and record it, you get to ignite your creative instincts, and more important, enrich your work – and your life.

Red Sticker Project: Be “Critic For A Day”

May 29, 2011 by Lonnie Lardner

(Pic #1) North Hollywood Arts District landmark sculpture, “NOHO Gateway” by Peter Shire — gets “DISAPPROVED” — by anonymous

Angelenos judge art on the streets

When something gets “red-tagged” in Southern California, it usually means someone’s house is about to fall off a cliff after a sizable earthquake. I should know, I had that happen in the 6.9 Northridge quake of 1994. The city inspectors literally tag your door with a foreboding hanging red card, warning homeowners to enter “at their own risk.”

Well now, the act of “red tagging” takes on new meaning. It’s an opportunity for Angelenos to give an immediate visual thumbs-up or thumbs-down on the art they see on the street – work that is planned or unplanned. A privately-supported group of art watchers called MOCA-Latte has launched a site where you can order stickers (for free). You are asked to participate in their quest by affixing the labels onto the work you love or hate. Take a picture, then upload to their site.

How it all started…

(Pic #2) Whitewashed anti-war mural (before destruction) by street artist “Blu”

The reactionary movement started when the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Jeffrey Deitch, whitewashed a mural he commissioned on the exterior of the MOCA building from Blu, a prominent Italian street artist. The image showed military-style coffins draped with dollar bills instead of American flags (Pic #2). It was to coincide with the opening of the groundbreaking MOCA exhibit on graffiti art called “Art in the Streets.”

Critics called the white-wash “censorship.” Deitch called it being sensitive to the neighborhood — home to a Veterans’ hospital and a war memorial to Japanese-American soldiers.

(Pic #3) “Ayatollah Deitch” response painting by “Anonymous”

In response to his act, an anonymous street artist put up a wheatpasted mural near MOCA that depicted Deitch as the Ayatollah Khomeini, dressed in traditional garb, holding a dripping paint roller – fresh from removing Blu’s mural from the museum’s wall.

Deitch’s action inspired robust debates on what should be called art and what museums’ roles should be in showcasing controversial work. According to the mastermind of the red sticker campaign, Nick Douglas, “It’s exciting to see this level of discussion about art in Los Angeles – a pretty rare occurrence in this city.”

APPROVED or DISAPPROVED –“Stick it.”

Now, Los Angeles art watchers have taken to the streets to document their affection for or outrage about the art they see every day. Armed with stickers in hand they’ve begun to express their points of view on work found in back alleys and on exclusive oceanfront property. Some critics have even taken their mission to social media platforms… i.e., “The Gateway” public art project in NOHO (Pic #1) has earned its own “Tear Down the Gateway” page on Facebook. Below, a few more samples of the musings of L.A.’s ad hoc critics.

Whatever you think about the judgements slapped on these works–at least we’re talking.