Hasta La Ideas

pimg alt=”mp-forest.jpg” src=”http://www.core77.com/blog/images/mp-forest.jpg” class=”mt-image-none” height=”311″ width=”468″ /br /
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piAn indoor forest at Machine Project created by Sara Newey and Christy McCaffrey; Not For You, 2006, galvanized steel, dimmer, bulbs, West of Rome, 2006./i/p

pIf there’s one thing wide, sprawly Los Angeles can pride itself on having, it’s an abundance of space. But now, as I walk though neighborhoods filled with empty box stores and strip malls, I realize we may have far too much of it./ppLuckily, we’re also blessed with an abundance of creatives who have the desire to occupy it. a href=”http://www.westofromeinc.com/”Emi Fontana/a has filled vacant retail stores with art installations, and even used an empty modern house high in the hills above Pasadena to install a site-specific installation by Olafur Eliasson. In L.A.’s Chinatown, a href=”http://www.oogaboogastore.com/”Wendy Yao/a sells a collection of zines, handmade jewelry and records out of a miniscule strip mall, which has led to a variety of unusual temporary venues. Nearby, a href=”http://www.machineproject.com/”Mark Allen/a uses his small storefront as a place for a href=”http://machineproject.com/events/2010/03/12/bug-eat-bug/”identifying (and eating) edible insects/a, holding welding classes and orchestrating temporary takeovers of a href=”http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/alissa-walker/designerati/murder-under-alexander-calder-sculpture-and-60-more-clever-ways-get-p” target=”_blank”entire museums./a/p

div class=”article_quote”There’s a reason this is the age of the pop-up shop: space is available, and it’s yours for the taking./div

pLast month I saw these three visionaries speak as part of a L.A.-focused program at ARCOmadrid, Spain’s contemporary art fair. The panel featuring Fontana, Yao and Allen, and moderated by UCLA’s Russell Ferguson, was entitled “Alternative Spaces for Art,” but for me, it had a far more entrepreneurial tone than that. Each of them have filled a very real need in the community and turned wasted, overlooked spaces into destinations in themselves. The fact that these three creatives have founded true cultural centers emand/em succeeded in doing it in a place as notoriously scattered as Los Angeles makes me believe their concepts are true models for success./p

pI bring this up now because probably every designer, architect or artist I’ve ever spoken with has expressed the desire to open and operate a space: a gallery, a store, a classroom. And I would say this is the time. There’s a reason this is the age of the pop-up shop: space is available, and it’s yours for the taking. Use this moment when you’ve got a little extra downtime to inhabit the empty space next door, or some available space in your office that’s looking a bit lonely. Creating a space is the perfect opportunity to collaborate on a concept with other designers that helps all of you stay visible, busy, and creatively-fulfilled./pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/featured_items/real_estate_bust_how_creatives_are_carving_up_las_empty_space_16288.asp”(more…)/a
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