The Hammer Museum’s Venice Beach Biennial

By Dean Henderson

The Hammer Museum’s Venice Beach Biennial, an open air art exhibition, will take place July 13-15 on Ocean Front Walk. Fifteen Venice boardwalk artists will be among the nearly 50 artists exhibiting their work during the free three-day event. The Venice Beach Biennial (VBB) name is a reference to the famous Venice Biennale in Italy that draws visitors and artists from around the world.

The focus of the VBB is local rather than international, being part of the Hammer Museum’s three month long Made In L.A. 2012 exhibit series. In years past, before Venice was trendy, low-rent studio space attracted artists to the area and an artist’s community was born. This was, in a sense, a return to Abbot Kinney’s original vision of Venice as a center of art and culture. Inexpensive studio space is a thing of the past, but a large community of artists remains, some with national or international reputations.

During the annual Venice Art Walk, local artists open their studios to the public, and there are far too many to visit in one day. Not all of our artists work in studios and exhibit in galleries, a number of them set up in the open along the Venice Boardwalk to create and sell their work. Under the current vending ordinance, that number has grown. Aside from its bizarre and disturbing instance of politicians determining what is art (and jewelry is not art, according to the L.A. City Council. Tough luck Tiffany and Faberge), the ordinance has forced out most, but not all, commercial vendors of mass produced items, opening up space now filled with artists. Perhaps “artist” is not a title that applies to everyone painting, drawing, or otherwise creating and selling on the boardwalk. Fortunately, the City Council has left it for the public to decide what constitutes good art.

The VBB brings together boardwalk artists and more established artists, taking the latter out of their comfort zone of studio gallery and museum, and places them all along Ocean Front Walk and Windward Plaza. Artists working in a wide range of media including sculpture, video, ceramic tile, performance, paint, installation and photography will be part of the VBB.

Longtime local Venice artist Arthur Moore assisted in the selection of Boardwalk artists invited to participate, and his best selling painting, Funky Pussy, is the image appearing on all VBB promotional material.

More information is available at

www.madeinla2012.org

Two Views of the Zip Line: Zipped, Not Taxed

By Dean Henderson

The vote for the zip line at Windward Plaza was probably a foregone conclusion, possibly a classic example of bait and switch salesmanship. Regardless, at its May 15 meeting the Venice Neighborhood Council voted (with some dissension) to approve a proposal permitting a 3 month trial period for a zip line at the beach. After the fiasco of the big wheel, any project promoted by the Recreation and Parks Dept. would likely be an improvement.

Ian Green, co-founder of Greenheart/Flightlinez and 3 of his staff gave a brief presentation illustrating previous projects as well as artist’s renderings of the Venice pavilion zip-line proposal. Two of Greenhearts staff members are Venetians and will be teaching classes and workshops to area children; one of the 15 conditions recommended for the proposal.

Among other conditions attached to the project are that the zip-line be removed at the end of the 3 month trial. And that permanent structure is subject to review by the City of Los Angeles and the California Coastal Commission and the VNC. Also, that 2/3 of the gross revenue received by the City of LA is spent on maintenance and services at Venice Beach. And also the VNC reserves “meaningful consultation” rights regarding maintenance and services. Other conditions cover security, lighting, signage, a monthly review of operations by the Parks and Recreation, LA Council District 11, the VNC and community members. Finally, Condition 15 permanently rejects the “Great Observation Wheel” aka Big Wheel.

Public opinion during the comment period was evenly divided. With criticism of the project including the view that the zip-line may be a president for other commercial ventures and Venice does not need an attraction, the beach is the attraction. One community member commented that the parks are public and should not be made a revenue source. This is exactly what the Parks and Recreation does not seem to understand. In years past the city was able to maintain the beach and it facilities without having to resort to commercial partnerships. When most of the buildings along Ocean Front Wall were residential and there was little commerce on the beach area, the city found money to clean restrooms and remove garbage. Now that Ocean Front Wall s almost entirely retail and dining and “Silicon Beach” is a buzzword, the city can no longer pay for services it had in the past.

Where did the tax receipts go? Business license fees or the city’s share of the massively increased property values (via tax) that even in this post real estate bubble time are still far above the not so distant past.

The crux of the issue is not any individual project. The Big Wheel stunk, the zip-line seems far less intrusive and more in harmony with the community. But why must we be told that these sorts of projects are needed to pay for services our tax monies once covered? If this is to be the new model for funding city services then there will be more ventures such as the zip-line and the Big Wheel  here in Venice and throughout the City. The limit will only be reached when the public says NO but at the VNC, on May 15,that did not happen.