For those of you born after 1952, this will likely be your only Year of
the Water Dragon. I am told it is the peak creative year of all the
sixty years of the Chinese zodiac. That doesn't surprise me, as Los
Angeles in 2012 reminds me of New York in the late seventies--the city
is such a political and economic monstrosity that the masses are simply
tuning it all out to create.
I'm
sure most readers of this site know by now that I don't much like the
city at a political level (and, it follows, at an economic one) but I do
like its culture. Even here, however, things can go either way. And I detect it is like this in many other cities across America--the local politics are simply too corrupt to devote much attention to, and the local topline culture only mimics the politics. A
scant two years ago, for instance, the Ring cycle that LA Opera
produced ran to farce for many--and nearly broke the twenty-five year
old company to boot--but now things are on an even keel again, maybe
even better than ever. I also have to admit I'm not fussy for the whole
idea of the soon wrapping Pacific Daylight Time
extravaganza--these shows have largely touted the whimsical and the
static in a time when fine arts need more gravitas and kinetic
expression--of which there is plenty, but it doesn't have marketing machines behind it. And let's not talk about Hollywood's output in recent
years--but even here, the indie scene is the only scene.
The most historically grating thing about LA culture,
however, and yet now also the most promising as well, at least for me,
is linked the perilous state of New York commercial publishing. For a
long time--decades--commercial editors in New York have not brought to
light the best of LA, but rather the books that best describe their
own hackneyed vision of the place: gritty detectives, vapid landscape,
surfer boys. Now, thanks to Kindle (left coast, that) and the Espresso
Book machine, LA has far more elbow room in fiction and fine letters. I
expect we'll see a flourishing as local authors simply elect to bypass
the New York mills should they continue to move at less than real time, and in less than good faith,
on their manuscripts.
We don't need to get into the gangsta wars
in any arts, even hip hop, to put our best creative self out to the
world. The plain truth is that economic crisis when conflated with
economic support makes for the kind of unstructured time essential to
creativity. When you meet the Water Dragon this year, engage, embrace.
Peace and boat drinks,
Joseph Mailander
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