With the pandemic pressing pause on large indoor events Pop-Up Magazine had to re-approach their mission of sharing touching and informative stories in theater and auditorium settings, and instead took to the streets. Brooklyn, San Francisco and Los Angeles are temporarily home to their latest collection: The Sidewalk.
I had the good luck to meet up with Pop-Up Magazine founder and publisher Chas Edwards for a tour of the Los Angeles installations. In a small 1 block area around the Ace Hotel in LA's lovely re-invented downtown theater district the Pop-Up Magazine team have curated a number of stories that evoke the gestalt that is city life during the pandemic.
Hank Willis Thomas
Love is a central theme that connects much of my work. I present the question, "Who taught you to love?" because it's vital to understand how and who we love and care for. Can we create anything without love? These are important questions to reflect on. Our ideas of who is worthy of love are often shaped by the cultural messages we receive. We are influenced in ways we may not even notice by the media, popular culture, and advertising. I hope by raising these questions, people will think critically about the messages they receive from the images all around them every day.
Stories of love, loss, struggle and abandoned bicycles are creatively stashed about DTLA. Billboards, QR Codes, newsprint, and take-out menus all open intimate windows into someone's lovingly retold story, or just a some really mesmerizing jellyfish.
Exhibitions are most available from noon to 9pm. Many are simply out on the street and all you need is your eyes, or a cellphone to scan a QR code. A few require you briefly enter a building to retrieve some paper!
