Cover Image: One Teen Story - Courtney Maum

Founded on the premise that there is always time to read one story, the literary magazine One Story was created in 2002 by writers Hannah Tinti and Maribeth Batcha to give the short story the time and attention it deserves. Ten years later, One Story has been a tremendous success, with over 10,000 subscribers looking forward to the beautiful pamphlets that arrive every three weeks by mail, with one, unique short story. This September, One Story will branch out with a timely new venture that longtime Contributing Editor Pei-Ling Lue will be the editor of. In between soliciting professional writers for new work and answering an 11-year-old’s request that she help him edit his first novel as a birthday present, Pei-Ling (PLL) found time to chat with Pulp Lab (PL) about her plans for One Teen Story.

PL: Why One Teen Story? What was the project’s trajectory from desire to reality?
PLL: I always want to show my students One Story stories, but sometimes the stories are not right for the young kids to read – the protagonists are old. But I did have this one story that I’d give them, Patrick Ryan’s So Much for Artemis. It’s funny, when adults read a story, they’re like, “well, that was good.” But when I showed the kids Patrick’s story – it’s about a girl who has progeria, it’s when you age really quickly – they were so inspired. One of them did a year-long science project on the illness. I thought it would be really great to be able to give them something else. I came up with a list of like seven reasons why I thought we should do One Teen Story and brought them to our publisher, Maribeth, but after one sentence, she was like, yes, I’ve always wanted to do something like this.

PL: Aside from the audience, what will set One Teen Story apart from One Story?
PLL: With One Story, we introduce emerging writers to the world. With One Teen Story, we’ll introduce great writing to an age group who hasn’t been reading so much for pleasure in the past. We’re really catering to kids from fourteen and up, and will focus on stories with younger protagonists – stories they can relate to. One of the first stories we’ll have will be by Aimee Bender about a girl who wakes up one morning with a beard. Her mom tells her to shave it off, kids start making fun of her…I think kids can relate to feeling out of sorts like this. We’re always trying to build the short story, to propel it, to keep it alive. Also, I’d been looking into places for my students to submit their own writing, and realized there weren’t a lot of outlets for their work. We’ll be offering that to 14-19 year old writers with our contest.

One Story Series - Pei-Ling Lue

PL: Not only are you supporting the short story, you’re also supporting printed literature.
PLL: Well, like One Story, it will be available on Kindle, but unlike One Story which has a very sober cover, we’re getting graphic designers to do the cover of One Teen Story so it will feel like a little zine or chapbook, something a teenager would want to pick up if they saw it, something tangible and tactile that you’ll want to hold. Also, it’s really portable. You can read it while you’re waiting for the school bus, keep it in your backpack, you can share it with your friends.

PL: Kind of like a friendly, literary version of a slam book.
PLL: (Laughs) Yeah!

PL: Is there a relationship between One Teen Story, and its office in the Old American Can Factory in Brooklyn?
PLL: It’s a really cool place. You see people chasing each other around the hallways. You look in to see what other people are doing. Some people are creating huge pieces of artwork, or painting or designing clothes. It’s really a creative place, and it’s fun to know that you’re in a building where everyone is trying to do something new and different.

PL: You’ve mentioned Aimee Bender. Are there any other authors who will be contributing to One Teen Story whose names you can divulge?
PLL: Well, David Levithan promised us one, and Gayle Forman is in the middle of revising something for us.

Pei-Ling Lue

PL: In terms of the young writers’ contest (which closes May 31st), do you have any tips or guidelines for young writers?
PLL: Well, it’s for 14 to 19 year olds. I’d say to try and write in their unique voice instead of trying to sound like someone else, or using lines they’ve read somewhere else. Like, I had a student the other day who used the line, “he chortled” in her story, and I said to her, is this really what this character did? It’s like “guffawed.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone “guffawing.” It’s just something they’re writing because they’ve seen it somewhere else.

PL: And what if someone has something they wrote when they were in between 14 and 19, but now they’re 30?
PLL: (Laughs) They can submit it to us through our regular guidelines.

One Teen Story subscription information and submission guidelines are available here.

Founder Penina Roth - Pedro Marti

Brooklyn native Penina Roth went through several creative transformations before metamorphing into the founder of one of the most important reading series in New York. Always at her most comfortable supporting the people in the limelight, while staying out of it herself, over the years Penina has worked as a journalist, a talent manager receptionist and an assistant wardrobe stylist on music videos for Color Me Badd and Stevie Wonder. A stint in a post-production house even saw her making cappuccinos for cult director David Lynch. No small feat— if you’ve seen Mulholland Drive, you know that Lynch takes his caffeinated beverages very, very seriously. It wasn’t until 2008 while preparing articles for the The New York Sun and the The New York Times that Penina found her true calling as a hybrid muse and guardian angel for the multipurpose creation now known as Franklin Park.

While researching her article on the changing urban landscape of the Brooklyn neighborhood, Crown Heights, Penina interviewed dozens of residents and merchants, and then she interviewed dozens more. “I was obsessed,” she admitted during a telephone interview last week. “I’m an excessive person with a natural inclination towards journalism. I just sat in the courtyard of Franklin Park and interviewed all these different people about why they were there.”

Franklin Park Original Exterior - Matt Roff

It took hard work, energy and a deep sense of purpose to transform a dilapidated garage frequented by drug dealers into the seductively lit cheer garden that Franklin Park is today. During her interviews with co-owners Matthew Roff and Anatoly Dubinsky, Penina became impassioned by their goal to build an entertainment compound where anyone from the multicultural community would feel at home.

Franklin Park opened for business in April of 2008. With the bulk of the 2,000 square-foot-space designated as an outdoor drinking and eating area, Penina worried that the bar would have a hard time staying prosperous through the winter months. Eager to help out a project she believed in, she talked to Roff about holding a reading in his bar. “At the time,” she explained, “I only had three friends who were published writers. David Goodwillie, Matthue Roth and Liza Monroy. I thought that this would help them, and help Franklin Park, too.” Enter scene right the combination of serendipity and timing that have been a hallmark of The Franklin Park Reading Series ever since.

Fiction fanatic at Franklin Park - Pedro Marti

Goodwillie’s first novel “American Subversive,” had just been sold to Scribner, and so Goodwillie showed up to this still obscure part of Crown Heights with his editor, Paul Whitlatch, and a sizeable public of fans of all three readers. “We had maybe sixty people,” Penina said of that first reading. “That night, I had Matthue, this eclectic Hassidic novelist/memoirist/slam poet, who had a great book out already, “Yom Kippur A Go-Go.” Liza’s book [“Mexican High”] was referred to by Paul as ‘borderline young adult,’ David was more literary fiction. David really had an impact on me, both as an aspiring fiction writer and as a reading series curator, guiding me in everything from seating to programming. That first night, Paul also gave me great advice. He said, ‘you should have a theme and book writers with all different tones.’”

Today, it is exactly that mixture of thematic coherence and tonal incoherence that has made the Franklin Park Reading Series a favorite among the public and critics alike. Recent themes such as April’s “Betrayal” and February’s “Unconventional Love” attract an eclectic mix of passionate attendees and superpowered writers who come for the energy, the talent, the affordable, cold beer, and—probably—for each other. The crowd skews on the young end: affable and attractive. Standard-issue MFA wear (unisex denim, chambray, flannel) is updated with vintage eyewear and tasteful body modification, a.k.a, tattoos.

Cover Image: Franklin Park Outside - Matt Roff

Since its founding in 2009, Jim Shepard, Heidi Julavits, Ben Marcus, Melissa Broder, Gary Lutz and other denizens of literary achievement have taken the crowded stage to impress and inspire. Some nights, the monthly series (now a New York Times and Time Out top pick) is so packed, fans cluster outside over bratwurst and Six Point ale to glean what they can from the verbal shenanigans taking place inside—fire laws prohibit the bar owners from letting too many people in.

Franklin Park’s May 14^th reading, the last one of the spring, will celebrate “Literary Journal and Small Press Night” with Tin House co-founder, Elissa Schappell, Fiddleback managing editor Daniel Long, and others. Co-hosting readings with well-known literary magazines, such as Electric Literature, is something Penina hopes to do more of in the future, as well as launch books as she did with Atlanta-based Blake Butler’s Nothing: A Portrait of Insomnia.

To her impressive roster of writers, Penina has recently added raffles, door prizes, and a pop-up bookshop. As always, admission is free and pints are $4. Another why-in-the-world-would-you-miss-it-event is Franklin Park’s movie night, a new series kicking off Monday, May 21^st. Slated to take place every third Monday, the series will include screenings of hard-to-find features followed by a Q&A’s with the filmmakers. The inaugural film will be Zak Mulligan and Rodrigo Lopresti’s, I’m Not Me. If this cultural smorgasbord makes you feel like dancing, well, you can do that too at Franklin Park’s tremendously popular weekend DJ nights or at the bi-monthly live music night, every 1^st and 3^rd Tuesday. Crown Heights: new cultural core of the big red apple.

Franklin Park Reading Series
Every Second Monday at Franklin Park
618 Saint Johns Place
New York City – Crown Heights

Cover Image: NADA Art Fair, Dia:Chelsea '12, Artis Shuk - Artis Contemporary

The New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) Art Fair took place May 4-7, in New York City. The invitational NADA encompassed a wide range of art dealers whose focus is to represent emerging and pre-emerging artists. The Lower East Side-based art fair was hosted by Dia:Chelsea’s four floors, which included an installation on the building’s roof. With this spatial availability, domestic and international galleries, by invitation only, presented their stable of artists whose works were visibly weighted on either a minimalist or kitsch aesthetic.

Artis Shuk at NADA Dia:Chelsea '12 - Artis Contemporary

The most distinct presence at NADA was Artis Shuk – a fair within a fair, located on the roof. Inspired by Israeli markets, this participatory installation created a notably approachable and accessible atmosphere. There were works available that were made to be worn in addition to pieces traditionally hung on walls. Lior Schvil’s crated wood arrangement en plein air was a platform that showcased Israeli artists’ objets d’arts in an environment that very much resembled shuks. The designer successfully conjured a sense of hospitality through the jewelry of Orly Genger and Jaclyn Mayer. Visitors were invited to try on the wearable art that gave them a sense of hospitality that was then shared by the creator, participant and spectator.

Eva Berendes - Jacky Strenz Galerie

As visitors weaved their way through the maze-like atmosphere of NADA, Schvil’s installation was contrasted by the more contemporary work of galleries, such as Frankfurt’s Jacky Strenz Galerie. Located on the fourth floor was the central sculpture by artist Eva Berendes. Her use of bright colors and geometric forms on semi-private screen changing doors garnered attention. The untitled work rendered from hand-dyed wool and a lacquered wood frame that paralleled the abstract mixed media installed on walls. Many visitors were drawn in by the dimensionality of the piece, taking time to walk around the work and watch it change from the various angles that were somewhat limited by NADA’s rationed booths.

Maria Loboda - schleicher+lange

While Jacky Strenz Galerie exhibited bright abstract works, Berlin and Paris-based gallery schleicher+lange chose to represent slick, monochromatic pieces in order to achieve a disparate effect on the third floor. Each artwork was seamlessly tied together in a minimalist fashion with sharp metals offset by pieces made with organic materials. Through the selection of natural materials and a monochromatic palette, the gallery was able to produce a calming atmosphere in the midst of NADA’s chaos. Upon speaking with the gallerist, the conversation revealed that the ideas behind these pieces were more dissonant than the installation appeared. Maria Loboda’s The Moral Antithesis of the Perfect Consonance, 2012 mixes various minerals and stones like turquoise that contain energy. In dialogue with a section of Camille Saint-Saëns’ aural opus, Danse Macabre, 1872, Loboda suspended rocks from various heights that ethereally trailed the bars of her composition.

Andrew Gilbert - Ten Haaf Projects

schleicher+lange’s visually simple yet appealing booth sharply contrasted Amsterdam’s Ten Haaf Projects elaborate use of space. Andrew Gilbert, who is of Scottish descent, tackled the history of British colonization through a melange of watercolors and found materials. The gallery’s attempt to treat the booth as a living canvas was evident; at the entrance, art fair goers were confronted with an uniformed figure, garland of fresh produce, and a series of mounted framed works. Isandlwana 24th Regiment Cleaning Lady is an assemblage that is a cypher for the naivete on the nature vs. nurture behavior during times of war. Although the entirety of the presentation maybe considered kitsch, the underlying tone of peril revealed a conscious primitivism.

There were over 60 exhibitors from 24 cities representing 11 countries at NADA’s inaugural art fair in New York.

NADA Art Fair

548 West 22nd Street
Friday, May 4: 2-8PM
Saturday, May 5: 11AM-8PM
Sunday, May 6: 11AM-6PM
Monday, May 7: 11AM-4PM

Kenny Scharf, Cosmic Cavern, 2012 - Estée Ochoa

Hodgepodge is legendary artist Kenny Scharf’s new jumble of creations on exhibition at Honor Fraser on La Cienega’s gallery row. Scharf’s new LA adventure includes another one of his 1959 tricked out Cadillac El Dorado’s and a Cosmic Cavern, 2012 installation that places you in the black lit lobe of the artist’s right brain. Whether it’s his Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble or his hyper-lovable, animated Durante Spermales, 2012 Scharf’s cartoon fantasies can turn the heaviest frown, upside down.

Kenny Scharf, New and Improved Ultima Suprema Deluxa (Cadillac El Dorado), 2012 sales lady - Estée Ochoa

It’s either something in the water in Los Angeles or Jeffrey Deitch’s reinvigorating reverence for street art that is inspiring all the fun and excitement happening in the West Coast art scene. Hodgepodge is the artist’s follow up show in the city of angels, after being included in last summer’s massively successful Art in the Streets, MOCA, Geffen Contemporary exhibition.

Kenny Scharf, Birdman with Spamara, 2012 - Estée Ochoa

Although Scharf began to work with spray paint and graffiti in the early eighties, his seamless ability to work in a wide variety of media is evident. He and his infamous cohorts Jean-Michael Basquiat and Keith Haring, began to work in contexts outside of gallery spaces as a rebellion against the highly academic work that was being shown at the time. In the spirit of Warhol, Scharf began to merge the highbrow with the lowbrow by incorporating pop culture into his paintings.

Ann Magnuson at Honor Fraser - Estée Ochoa

On opening night longtime friend and artist, Ann Magnuson performed her piece entitled Finism, recanting lines like, “It’s not fashion, it’s a feeling.” Recalling Cadillac’s original TV commercials, which featured glamorized calendar girls gesticulating to showcase the cars’ prime features, the actress played with toy dinosaur car accessories insisting, “Bigger is better” as she slithered around on the rooftop of The New and Improved Ultima Suprema Deluxa.

Debbie Mazar & Kenny Scharf - Estée Ochoa

Magnuson is a witty entertainer and her infamous Club 57 parties are an important part of performance art history. Finism was an incredible accompaniment piece and a testament to their friendship and kindred spirits. Scharf has always sought to incorporate his works within situations that anyone could relate to as well as, experience. His exploding, atomic mushroom cloud picnic table, Pikaboom, 2012 is a not to be missed and a must see for the whole family.

Kenny Scharf, The New and Improved Ultima Suprema Deluxa trunk, 2012 - Estée Ochoa

Kenny Scharf: Hodgepodge
April 14 — May 19, 2012
Honor Fraser
2622 South La Cienega
Los Angeles – Culver City

Cover Image: Chia seeds - Flickr Member notahipster

For health-conscious, calorie counting consumers, chia seeds are being touted as the next big thing in whole grains. Once reserved for silly sprouted terracotta figurines, the little black seeds are taking on the natural foods world, appearing in everything from smoothies to cereal.

Bob’s Red Mill , a national grain seller based in Milwaukie, Oregon, has seen the foodstuff gain fast popularity for its energizing properties and nutritional benefits. Derived from the desert plant salvia hispanica, chia seeds are packed with dietary fiber, protein, nutrients and more Omega-3 fatty acids than any other natural source, cites Bob’s Red Mill.

Seattle-based nutrition, fitness and well-being coach, Jennifer Jordan says that superfoods are an integral part of her For the Glow program, a 30-day intensive for weight loss, metabolic reset and sculpting lean muscle. “This tiny super-seed is a powerhouse of nutrition – packed with properties that can boost athletic endurance, improve digestion, and even improve joint pain and reduce inflammation,” says Jordan.

Hectares of chia - ABC Rural

When combined with liquid, chia seeds form a gel due to the soluble fiber they contain. They have the capability to absorb more than nine times their weight in water. These low-calorie wonders are frequently used for weight loss, making dieters feel full – faster and longer. For those with gluten sensitivities, chia seeds contain no gluten, making them a suitable replacement for grains like wheat, barley, rye and oats.

Jordan uses chia seeds for everything from thickening salad dressing to creating the perfect pudding (blend almond milk, chia seeds and raspberries). She encourages her clients to incorporate 1-2 tbs. of chia into their daily diets via green smoothies, fresh-pressed juices, chia pudding or salad dressings.

Wondering how else you can use chia seeds? Here are 10 ways to get you started:

Chia Seed Breakfast - Kathy Patalsky for babble

1. Soak chia seeds in milk and mix through hot oatmeal.
2. Sprout the seeds and use in salads.
3. Mix ground seeds with ground beef to make meatballs.
4. Soak seeds in beaten eggs and use this mix to make a frittata.
5. Add ground chia seeds to flour when making bread.
6. Sprinkle seeds over a salad.
7. Add whole seeds to granola.
8. Mix ground seeds with butter or peanut butter for a nutritious spread.
9. Grind seeds and mix with flour, milk and eggs to make pancakes.
10. Eat chia seeds whole and raw as a snack.

Whether you’re looking to lose weight or increase your health and energy, there seem to be a lot of good reasons and easy ways to work these “miracle seeds” into your diet.

Cover Image: Harriet Alida Lye and Sam Gordon - Book Swap

Based on a belief that “ink is where it’s at,” the Paris-based British writer Rosa Rankin-Gee started her monthly Book Club parties as a way to complement a literary magazine she hadn’t launched yet, but had in mind. Interviewed via Gchat, Rankin-Gee explains, “In today’s climate, simply launching a print magazine was not really a goer, so we decided to be practical and tie it to an event. Not just something arbitrary and drink-laden, but drink-laden and something we wanted ourselves.” Together with her friend and co-founder, Jethro Turner, the two came up with the manifesto of solidism to guide their future works. Stating that “art should be holdable, foldable—destroyable, if need be,” solidism is a belief in the touchable and tradeable, and an invitation to repurpose. “Don’t like it and you can bin it, burn it, or turn it into something else,” states their site.

Tale of Three Cities by Rosa Rankin-Gee - Book Swap

The idea for a Paris-based Book Club and a sister literary mag took place on an evening back in January of 2011. With two of her close friends from Durham University living in London and Berlin, the title for the literary magazine came quickly: A Tale of Three Cities, a printed journal to showcase the best work from “Europe’s Golden Triangle.” Recognizing that it takes less time to organize a party in Paris than it does to launch a lit mag, Rankin-Gee and Turner focused their energies on the Book Club first.

They envisioned the club as part salon, part book swap, centered wholly around a love of solid books. “You have to have a book to get in,” explains Rankin-Gee. “It’s the passport, password, dresscode. Apart from that, anyone can come, young, old. The bar we do it had normally had a super exclusive door policy, but on our night, if someone has a book, they are welcome.”

The Carmen, Paris - Book Swap

The bar in question is the illustrious Carmen, former home to the French composer Bizet. Complete with gilded ceilings, frescoes and a golden birdcage, it’s the velvet personification of a book lover’s wet dream.

The first Book Swap party took place in February of 2011, and has been occurring monthly ever since, drawing crowds of up to three hundred people. Tale of Three Cities launched in October 2011, featuring writing from Zadie Smith (White Teeth) and Literary Death Match founder, Todd Zuniga, along with illustrations, photography and other delicate things. A work of art in itself, the first issue was a hand-numbered, limited edition run put out by the independent British publisher, Ditto Press, and it’s sold (by hand, of course) in such fashionable Parisian landmarks as Colette, Agnès B, and the Hotel Americano.

Not to be outdone, the namesakes of the two other cities in question have their own Book Clubs, now too. London’s takes place at the Soho House on May 28, 2012. Berlin’s is launching at the Berlin Soho House in June.

Self-described as a collector of moments, Rankin-Gee is thrilled with the Book Club’s success. “The reception amongst our generation to the idea of solidism has been nothing but positive,” she explains. “I think it’s because it’s not really a concept you can scoff at. It’s timeless, simple, and lifts to the sky something we are all scared of losing. There will be a strong backlash before the Nostradamus predicted death of books.”

A recipient of Shakespeare & Company’s Paris Literary Prize for her novella, The Last Kings of Sark, Rankin-Gee is currently working on her first novel about a young man named Benjamin and two people who live in a phone-box. International readers can purchase a copy of Tale of Three Cities on the magazine’s shop—it will arrive in a delicate envelope, sealed lovingly by London editor, Alex Tieghi-Walker.

Soho House, London
40 Greek Street

The Carmen, Paris
34 Rue Duperré

Soho House, Berlin
Torstraße 1

John Ahearn, Frieze Projects, Frieze New York, 2012 - Katy Hamer for Pulp Lab

Frieze Art Fair made it’s debut in New York on Randall’s Island, with the VIP opening on May 3rd and is open to the public from May 4th-7th, 2012. The fair, stemming from London, has made its entrance into New York and not long after the onslaught of fairs just a short month ago (the Armory, Volta NY, Scope, etc.). Not knowing exactly what to expect, hundreds of New Yorkers and those who have traveled from all over the globe for this event, made their way to Randall’s Island via various transportation options including a ferry running from 35th street in Manhattan, shuttle buses, and also just the basic taxi ride. The blossoming of spring has the island booming with greenery; tree buds exploding, grassy green pastures, and the hue of the nearby East River shifting in the natural and motorboat elevated tide. Pulp Lab invited Brooklyn based art writer and seasoned art world maven Katy Diamond Hamer to provide an in situ perspective on the market vibe, the crowd, and the contemporary art which has been brought from cities all over the globe.

Upon first entering the large, gleaming white tent, one is met with the billowing strips of fabric that aren’t unlike the exaggerated rib cage of an extinct, prehistoric mammal. Inside the North entrance, the room opens up and unlike the Armory, is spacious and airy. The booths are evenly spaced and not overly saturated with artwork. The first booth encountered was that of New York based artist John Ahearn. Ahearn, part of Frieze Projects, curated by Cecilia Alemani, has a booth where he has set up a temporary studio space and has accepted commissions allowing him to work in-situ for the duration of the fair. Both John and his partner Rigoberto Torres are making plaster cast portraits of anyone who requested a piece. The interested party was responsible to make a down payment of $3,000.00 and will end up with his/her painted bust, according to the artist, whether they like their likeness or not.  In the booth are a series of portraits called the South Bronx Hall of Fame dating from 1979. The series of works are a range of characters from friends to family members. Each piece captures a personality and resonates with not only a time, but a community of people. Ahearn also has taken part in the Head Start Program in the Bronx, located in the lower levels of the Andrew Freedman House, in collaboration with the Bronx Children’s Museum. He is interested in merging community and social issues along with art making, bringing familiar faces inside and memorializing them in painted plaster. The artist talks about his project as a method and way of slowing down and getting to know someone. Ideally he said, I would prefer at least two hours with every subject, the personality will reveal itself in the finished product.

Galeria Plan B, Berlin, Installation view, Frieze New York, 2012 - Katy Hamer for Pulp Lab

Outside the realm of social art is the world of commercial art, for which the fair exists. This year, many of the booths are filled with lush, rich paintings. Galleries, both domestic and international, present a variety of works on canvas, ranging from contemporary representation to abstraction. There are several familiar, recognizable artists (for those with a pulse on the contemporary art world) and many lesser known artists as well. The selection is refreshing. Artists like Adrian Ghenie, exhibiting with Galeria Plan B in Berlin is an example of an artist making work following a long historical tradition on painting the figure. However, in a contemporary way, he negates, or cancels out several parts of the figure and the environment, allowing the viewer to fill-in the blanks with his or her personal experiences or interpretations.

Kate MacGarry London, Installation view, Frieze New York, 2012 - Katy Hamer for Pulp Lab

Another painter making marks that appear somewhat familiar, however foreign, is Florian Meisenberg, from Kate MacGarry, London. These works, if more obscure in nature, conjure up and utilize a familiar painted language, similar to that used by Kandinsky, but still fresh and new. Berlin based, Contemporary Fine Arts, is showing large scale paintings with biomorphic shapes, similarly diagrammed like an exaggerated paint-by-number; however, with gradations and areas of metallic sparkle interwoven with traditional medium. Gavin Brown, based in the West Village, NY not only has paintings on display, but actor/director Mark Ruffalo was present, cooking sausages over a grill.  Not an average occurrence in an art fair, Ruffalo is the founder of Water Defense and is collaborating with the gallery to present and raise awareness towards clean energy and safe drinking water on a global level.

Cover Image: Artist Gian Maria Tosatti and Curator Alessandro Facente Frieze New York, 2012 - Katy Hamer for Pulp Lab

Other galleries to look out for include, Beijing based Long March Space showing video by Ran Huang, Paris based Galerie Jocelyn Wolff (*note the work of artist Guillaume Leblon), and Corvi-Mora, based in London and showing various artists including a sculptural installation piece by artist Roger Hiorns, which is emitting foam, not unlike the work of another London based artist, David Medalla.

Frieze New York
Randall’s Island
Friday & Saturday 12-7PM
Sunday & Monday 12-6PM

Cover Image: Scott Taylor for Pulp Lab

How do tweens use social media? Tween correspondent and style contributor Radical Rosa gives us her expert opinion on the subject. She uses a variety of social and communication media to stay connected with friends, but Fantage is her favorite social game, because it allows her not just to hang out, but also get creative by writing stories and then making movies using the avatars.

PL: What is the difference between hanging out in person and hanging out over Facetime or Skype?
RR: I like hanging out with my friends in person, of course, but it’s so much easier to just get on your computer and see who’s there.

PL: Who’s on Fantage?
RR: Everyone at my school pretty much. All of the 5th grade girls and half of the 5th grade boys.

PL: What is Fantage? Is it a game or is it something more?
RR: Fantage is a place that you can get together with your friends wherever they are around the world; and a place where you can meet new people, too. Fantage has more than 100 places to go to and about 50 games to play. You can go shopping, dress up your character, or do some runway modeling and get “money” for it. It’s like human life except it’s a safe chat. The rules about what you can and cannot say are pretty strict.

First Frame of Fantage - Scott Taylor for Pulp Lab

PL: When and how did you discover Fantage? Do you tell other people about it?
RR: All of my friends used to play a game called club penguin. I got bored with it and someone in my school. So I checked it out and a month later I was a premium member. All of my friends, except for the boys, have now switched.  My friend Mena was skyping with me and suddenly she said she had to go. I asked her where and she said a super secret site that almost no-one plays on. I asked her, “You mean Fantage?” She looked at me and said, “How did you know that? Are you psychic?” I said, “No, I just saw you in the Star cafe.” I said, “You use the same user name as everywhere else, you dressed just like you do in real life and you’re saying the same things.” I guess we’re not that different wherever we hang out.

PL: How much time do you spend playing Fantage? What’s interesting?
RR: I am on Fantage every time I’m allowed to use my computer. What I think is really funny on Fantage is that you have to constantly come up with new names to describe things that you’re not allowed to talk about. For example, we used to use “bf” for “boyfriend.”  Then they banned it. We we used “beb”—they caught on to that, too.  Here’s the whole list and where we are now: bf->beb->veb->vev->vav->viv->v!v.

PL: You mentioned a social aspect of Fantage, how do you relate it to the social media platforms you are currently using?
RR: I’m also using Google +. It’s not really designed for my age group. On the upside, you can say whatever you want and you’re not restricted from words like e-mail or hair dye, but you can’t exactly have a character you can bring places. There’s not a lot of games on Google+.

PL: What do you think about social media?
RR: They’re awesome. It’s great to be able talk to anybody anywhere. I have friends in Germany, too, and I can just talk to them or play games with them just by clicking a button instead of going on an airplane for 10 hours! My mom couldn’t do that when she first moved here, she couldn’t even do e-mail, she just wrote letters. And I can see any of my friends on all of my electronics in seconds.

Sandy Kim's Sky High book signing - Estée Ochoa

The Avant/Garde Diaries is currently presenting Transmission LA: AV CLUB, curated by the recent Hall of Fame inductee, Mike D from the Beastie Boys. The new exhibition at the MOCA, Geffen location, is a 17 day interdisciplinary “FREE” festival featuring the work of 16 contemporary artists, musicians, designers, filmmakers, and chef. The festival is as much a showcase of Mike D’s personal insight on the avant-garde as it is an experience of how audio and visual art forms complement and influence one another, through a variety of mediums. The event’s logo design embodies Mike D’s artistic concept, depicting the letters A (for audio) and V (for visual) as an inextricably fused force.

Transmissions LA: AV CLUB is another sensational success for MOCA’s director Jeffrey Deitch while Mike D continues to prove his superlative taste and describes the exhibition as a dream of what his house could look like. The usual art-loving, cultural tastemakers were in attendance opening night; Sam Trammell, Shepard Fairey and Donovan Leitch and Chris Gartin of io/LA. The artist roster includes Cory Arcangel, Sanford Biggers, Peter Coffin, Jim Drain, Jim Drain/Ara Peterson, Family Books, David Jacob Kramer, Will Fowler, Jonah Freeman/Justin Lowe, Ben Jones, Robert McKinley, Mike Mills, Takeshi Murata, Ara Peterson, Public Fiction, Tom Sachs and Sage Vaughn.

Robert McKinley, Coffee Bar - Estée Ochoa

Chef Roy Choi is also named on the artist roster. His infamous LA Kogi Korean-Mexican fusion, BBQ food truck catered opening night while Santigold graced us with a Coachella encore. Santigold’s costume designer, April Roomet was in the house putting on all the finishing touches to her own artistic creations. The bands stage wear was as colorful and visionary as the art being celebrated. The musical curation also includes DJ’s Dam Funk, Z-Trip, Diplo and the Mad Decent crew.

Ben Jones, Roadtrip: Pt. 1 Tunnel, 2012 - Estée Ochoa

Ben Jones Roadtrip: Pt. 2 Journey, 2012 - Estée Ochoa

Ben Jones’ (Paper Rad), Roadtrip: Pt. 1 Tunnel and Pt. 2 Journey, 2012 is the Matterhorn of the festival. His video installation is a moving day to night adventure. The animated desert seamlessly covers the entire surface of the room as his much loved cartoon sun falls and rises as the moon. If Jones’ install is the “Matterhorn” then collaborative partners, Ara Peterson and Jim Drain’s, Pinwheels 2004/2009/2011 are the “Small World Afterall.” Their kaleidoscape is a set right out of Charlie’s Chocolate Factory.

Cover Image: Jim Drain & Ara Peterson, Pin Wheels, 2011 - Estée Ochoa

Sage Vaughn’s pastel butterfly vortexes and swirling wreathes imagine passages to other dimensions and express the full bloom in the cycle of life. Peter Coffin’s Untitled (Lines), 2012 is yet another environment to experience neon rainbow lightning. The presentation showcases the international debut of a hand-crafted Concept Style Coupé by the show’s sponsor Mercedes-Benz. Good design is after all good business. The auto installation is a collaboration between the curator and design and branding branding industry leader, Robert McKinley. The showcase is accompanied by headphones playing a soundscape composed by Adam Horowitz. McKinley also created an operating coffee bar installation surrounded by a water moat with a mini motor boat circling the patrons.

Takeshi Murata is known for his colorful seething video projections and astonishing animation pieces. He is most notable for refiguring the experience of animation but his Popeye, 2012 refigures the iconic narrative. The piece is a dim portrayal of a very vulnerable Popeye – a Popeye who is a factory worker that stuffs spinach in cans and visits the recent graves of Olive Oyl and Sweet Pea.

Sandy Kim's book fans at Family Books installation - Estée Ochoa

The show offers art, film, food, music, coffee and books, Family Books. The Los Angeles independent bookstore’s pop-up store presence was the absolute cherry on top. The store even hosted a remote book signing slideshow of Sandy Kim’s new photo book, Sky High.

Mike D is an originator and true innovator. His “avant-garde” curator insight in Transmission LA: AV CLUB picks up where he left off and continues to lead new ways of thinking and seeing.

Transmissions LA : AV CLUB
April 20 – May 6, 2012
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
152 North Central Avenue
Los Angeles – Little Tokyo

MUSIC SCHEDULE
APRIL 19: Santigold
APRIL 20: DJ Tito Cruz / Mike D / JJAMZ
APRIL 21: Stones Throw DJs featuring Peanut Butter Wolf, Dam-Funk, J.Rocc and Jonti
APRIL 26: Jeremy Sole / Fat Lip/ Egyptian Lover
APRIL 27: Special Guest
APRIL 28: Z-Trip
MAY 3: DJ Harvey / James Murphy
MAY 3: TBD
MAY 5: Diplo and Mad Decent Crew

Flickr Member aqhong - Spicy Pie

The best pizza in southern California might not come from a restaurant, a counter or even a truck. Especially for those partial to New York-style “Neapolitan” pie, there’s a chance that the best pizza within a day’s drive of Los Angeles can be found at the Spicy Pie stand at Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif, over the two weekends of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

It is only during that time (and on the same grounds a week later, during the country music-themed Stagecoach Festival) that Spicy Pie slings its slices. Husband-and-wife team JJ and Chris Parent have been making the big, floppy slices of pizza since 2000, serving them exclusively at large festivals. At Coachella alone, the Parents operated four different stands inside the Club and one at the festival’s campground. There’ll be no rest for the weary, either; after three straight weekends in Indio, Spicy Pie gears up for a summer season that involves stops at Sasquatch, Bonnaroo and Outside Lands, among other festivals.

Pulp Lab caught up with JJ Parent during Coachella to talk pizza, festival life and the panic that ensues when witnessing the crowds gather outside a festival’s gates.

PL: Tell me about the origin of Spicy Pie. How did you and Chris get started? And how was the
decision made to be a festival-only business?
JJP: We grew up snowboarding in Vermont. One winter we decided to take a road trip in a 1969 Dodge camper van instead. There was rock climbing in Joshua Tree and surfing in Mexico. Every day was an adventure. We wanted our lives to reflect everything we had discovered so we tried food vending. The seasonal aspect of it left room to continue our road trips.

Coachella 2012

PL: What’s the best part about working a festival like Coachella?
JJP: The best part about working at festivals is seeing the transformation from field to festival back to field. The amount of energy it takes to make it all happen is simply amazing. The one collective goal for everyone involved is to make sure the ticket holders are blown away and have a fantastic time.

Coachella is our first festival of the season so we have two months of preparation. There is grinding, welding, repairing, replacing, oil changes, permits, problem solving and organizing.

PL: How big an operation is Spicy Pie? Is it you and Chris, and then you pick up booth workers at each individual festival?
JJP: My husband Chris and I started Spicy Pie in 2000. It was just the two of us until our first All Good Festival. When long lines of cars started arriving we panicked and called a local employment agency for extra workers. One of those workers went to Virginia Tech and that was the beginning of the Spicy Pie team. As we went along that one worker brought in his band mates, fellow students and family members. Then those people brought in their family members. We pretty much created our own extended family. Once you have suffered through a muddy east coast festival together you can pretty much get through anything. Our success is because of our team.

Cover Image: Chris & JJ Parent, Founders - Spicy Pie

PL: I’m sure you get a ton of requests for a food truck or a brick-and-mortar restaurant. Why has Spicy Pie never opened its own storefront or truck?
JJP: A Spicy Pie storefront restaurant? I don’t know about that. If we have a bad day at work, it’s okay because you know all the hard work will be over in a couple days. If you have a bad weekend you have a whole year to get over it till the festival happens again. I’m afraid it would zap all the good right out of us. We also home school our daughters (ages four and six) and that takes a lot time and effort.

With four different stands within the venue itself and a fifth at the campground, Spicy Pie continued to be one of the most sought-after food options at Coachella. The pizza itself is the perfect fuel for a music-and-booze-fueled party, and the generous size of the slice makes paying the inflated cost of concert food (a plateful of Spicy Pie cost $7 at Coachella) less traumatic.

Spicy Pie
Various festivals throughout the summer