Last month the city of Los Angeles celebrated the opening of the new 6th Street Viaduct bridge. The new structure replaces the original 6th Street bridge, an iconic landmark that spanned the L.A. river, connected downtown to Boyle Heights, and appeared in numerous films and other media. The original bridge was constructed in 1932 and … Continue reading L.A’s 6th Street Bridge as urban communication convergence zone
Tag: graffiti
Maine Relations
For the first time in many years I took a proper trip during the annual academic spring break this past March. Obviously the past two years were disrupted by the pandemic, but even before that I had become accustomed to spending that week recuperating at home (or working my way through student papers). But this … Continue reading Maine Relations
Beyond Crisis Creativity conference & Carrie Furnace Visit
Last month I was pleased to participate in an exciting un-conference that took place at the University of Pittsburgh. Sponsored by Pitt’s Global Studies Center, the Global Academic Partnership Conference: Beyond Crisis Creativity: Imagining New Futures Through Art and Youth Activism brought together artists, scholars, and assorted urban interventionists from Pittsburgh and around the world … Continue reading Beyond Crisis Creativity conference & Carrie Furnace Visit
Shots from the Block: the Color Park
Since I moved to Pittsburgh’s South Side last month I have been on the Three Rivers Heritage Trail nearly every day. The nearby riverfront trail has provided me with a handy outlet for active recreation or aimless wandering whenever I feel the need to escape the hustle and bustle of East Carson street or am … Continue reading Shots from the Block: the Color Park
Shots from the Block: writing on the ground/underground
It’s January (again). As the new year begins I continue my self-imposed exile in suburban Nashville, extending the indefinite holding pattern initiated by the pandemic just a little while longer. It has largely been a favorable transition. Life is quieter here on the cul-de-sac. One of the major changes the new year has brought to … Continue reading Shots from the Block: writing on the ground/underground
City Space as Projective Medium: From Coronavirus Quarantine to Urban Uprisings
The current confluence of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and popular political demonstrations has provided strikingly urgent examples of how city space may be actualized as a projective medium. By “projective medium” I mean to describe a repurposing of urban environments wherein public space serves as a canvas not only for the circulation of artistic representations … Continue reading City Space as Projective Medium: From Coronavirus Quarantine to Urban Uprisings
City Scenes: shots from around the block
Demolition of the last building in Penn Plaza started late last month. When I stopped by the site this weekend I noticed light poles along the perimeter had been plastered with stickers reading "Homes not Whole Foods." A lot of ambivalence surrounds the development, with many housing activists and other concerned Pittsburghers seeing Whole Food's … Continue reading City Scenes: shots from around the block