Carren's Pitch

I wrote about artist Xavier Veilhan's first stop at the VDL House. Now, I'm writing on his last one at Sheats-Goldstein house, an impressive futuristic home that's most notably starred in The Big Lebowski.

'Lautner', by Xavier Veilhan, 2013, is installed in architect John Lautner's Sheats-Goldstein House in LA

Wood construction isn't just a throwback from earlier centuries. This firm is taking this natural material and using it to build tall. Could this be a greener building solution? 

Image courtesy of MGA

I am constantly amazed at the different media artists find. Here, James was able to turn unwieldy tar into something lyrically beautiful. 

Listening is a deceptively difficult thing to do. Sure, we all have ears, but only some of us consciously use it. Artist Elana Mann's community project was a beautiful reminder that listening is a skill needed in personal interactions as well as large-scale community development. 

Text and photography by: Carren Jao

Edited by: Drew Tewksbury

Published: 04 Apr 2013, Artbound

Cut off by the 134 freeway from the rest of the city, Northwest Pasadena can sometimes feel a world apart from its more prosperous neighbors. "We're on the wrong side of the tracks here," says Emily Hopkins, Executive Director of Side Street Projects, an artist-run nonprofit that eschews the gallery exhibitions in favor of working within communities. By virtue of a few mobile trailers parked in a mostly empty lot, it has made Northwest Pasadena its headquarters.

According to Hopkins, Northwest Pasadena is the most densely populated area in the city, many of its residents live at or below poverty levels and nearly a quarter of whom do not speak English well. The figures may help explain attendance at the community meetings. "Honestly, every time I've been to the meetings, there haven't been any community members there," says artist Elana Mann. "This community feels like they don't have a voice," says Mann. [read more]

For Makeshift's Celebration issue, I wrote about something that never fails to amaze me whenever I come home to celebrate the holidays: the Filipino parol. In Pampanga, these large swirling bits of light add merriment and joy to any Christmas celebration, but they're also a subject of so much competitive fervor for prideful artisans. Check out how much wiring goes into one of these babies!

Additional property taxes are never really welcome. At least, one could assume that the money goes toward the right things, but when stories like this come out, it makes me wonder. Are our public servants serving the city's best interests? 

Proposition O is a bulk of public money put towards increased water quality and every so often oversight committees meet to determine how that money should be spent exactly. After combing through minutes and agendas, I realized what I really wanted to see was an easy to read document detailing possible projects, acreage, proposed budget requested and some agreed metric that shows how big a difference it would actually make. That way, I know without a shadow of a doubt that public money is being spent on the things that actually matter, not to further political agendas.

This story found me combing through so many public documents and having to run after sources. It was tiring, but I hope it at least provoked some good questions. 

Makeshift is a journal of hidden creativity. Instead of covering what the rest of the world is talking about, the magazine looks into the cracks of the world that people often overlook. 

I'm happy to say that I'm part of the magazine's first anniversary issue: Celebration! For this issue, I covered the wonderful artisan crafts of the Philippine parol. No Christmas is ever complete without seeing this glowing baubles. I'm so glad I can share how much goes into making one of these symbols of joy and holiday merrymaking.