We know it’s only Tuesday, but there is something to look forward to this weekend!

I’ve been browsing through the new Lomography store in West Hollywood, and was impressed by the sheer size of the space. Two floors of ultimate lomo experience. Not only do they have every product imaginable, but they also hold really creative workshops that are intimate enough for you to make new friends and highly engaged with the city of Los Angeles.

All photos via Lomography

One event to look forward to is their Diana Mini workshop this Saturday from 1-3 pm. Already own a Diana mini camera? Free entry. Or, get a loaner with a free roll of film and shoot your Saturday afternoon away in the streets of Los Angeles.

They will also be throwing a Light Painting Workshop on March 23rd where they will be teaching you how to create stunning, highly saturated images of light streaks from one of their loaner lomo cameras.

Then I would suggest a restaurant for lunch that is down the street from the store called Hugo’s. I saw it on the Food Network’s, “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” and it was a special breakfast episode. This place is packed, but the wait wasn’t too bad (around ten minutes?)

I had the “Pasta Mama” dish for brunch which consisted of fresh pasta scrambled with eggs, garlic, parsley, Parmesan cheese and Hugo’s special seasoning. It’s a simple dish that originated as a last minute hearty breakfast of delicious leftovers. And lots and lots of garlic! Here’s a pic of the “Pasta Papa” dish which is basically the Pasta Mama + Bacon, chicken italian sausage, and scallions.

Photo via Ithaca Times Art Blog

On March 1st, OK Go released its RGM video for the single, “This Too Shall Pass” off their newest album Of the Blue Colour of the Sky. Known for their outrageous, low-cost, and highly innovate viral music videos, OK Go, surprised us yet again with their collaboration with Synn Labs. The video was shot in a two story Echo Park warehouse and was directed by James Frost. One of the most elaborate and complex Rube Goldberg machines I’ve ever seen…(Didn’t know it had an official name and its own wiki page!)

What an amazing feat.

Even better! There will be an official launch party for OK Go THIS FRIDAY @ LACMA! Tickets are only $20 and can be purchased here.

The MAK Center presents How Many Billboards? a public art exhibition that showcases 22 contemporary artists all over Los Angeles. The exhibition which goes from February to March 2010, will also include a reception, public panel discussion with some of the artists, and an open topped bus and bicycle tour that takes visitors on a tour of all 21 billboards around Los Angeles.

By David Lamelas

By Jennifer Bornstein

By Kenneth Anger

By Kerri Tribe

By Yvonne Rainer

Entire list of participating artists include: Kenneth Anger | Michael Asher | Jennifer Bornstein | Eileen Cowin | Christina Fernandez | Ken Gonzales-Day | Renée Green | Kira Lynn Harris | John Knight | David Lamelas | Brandon Lattu | Daniel Joseph Martinez | Kori Newkirk | Yvonne Rainer | Martha Rosler with Josh Neufeld | Allen Ruppersberg | Allan Sekula | Susan Silton | Kerry Tribe | James Welling | Lauren woods

Kimberli Meyer, the Director and master mind behind the installation had always wanted to showcase fine art on billboards, especially in Los Angeles because of its strong presence within the city landscape. And since the recession, this proved to be a boon for Meyer as more billboard space became available.

It’ll be interesting to attend the public panel discussion to see why artists and curators and chosen the locations they did, and what relevance the art had toward that respective part of Los Angeles. All the information, as well as a Google Map of the 21 billboards can be found here!

Non-profit organization, 826LA presents Chickens in Love, an online pledge-a-thon, fundraiser, full-length album, and one-day music festival. 826LA workshop students, ranging from 7 to 13 years, wrote these songs in an 826LA workshop titled Songwriting with The Submarines, led by singer/ songwriters John Dragonetti and Blake Hazard of The Submarines.

From there, the kids had the opportunity to write their own music and lyrics in their own bands. The result was a full-length album titled, Chickens in Love, with 12 songs from 826LA students who then had their songs covered by Los Angeles-based musicians including, She & Him, Fiona Apple, Cold War Kids, Tim and Eric, The Submarines, Summer Darling, The Happy Hollows, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Dum Dum Girls, The Growlers, Crystal Antlers, and The Pity Party. Check out some videos of the original songs, followed by a sample track of the recording artist who covered it:

The Peeps: “Mamacita”

Coldwar Kids cover of “Mamacita”

The Taco Shells: “Mexican Food”

Summer Darling cover of “Mexican Food”

The Gummy Bears: “So Sleepy”

Fiona Apple’s cover of “So Sleepy”

The public can listen to these songs and bid on their favorites, with all proceeds going directly back into the organization itself, that will help fund writing and tutoring workshops for kids in L.A. (Pledges of $30+ will also be tax deductible!) When the bid closes on April 30th, 2010 the band that raises the most money will win the ultimate bragging rights with the 826LA Gold Record! The one-day Mini Music Festival showcasing Chicken in Love songs will also be held at the Echoplex on March 6th

Support children’s literacy and creativity through this great cause! Pledge now!

Last summer we threw a benefit art auction for our dear friend Justin Van Hoy, from THIS Gallery, who was battling cancer. The night, as many of you recall, was a huge success, as Poketo along with 40 other artists raised $11,000+ for him.

We are happy to announce that tomorrow, will be the opening day/ reception of THIS Gallery in Highland Park from 7-10 PM. Expect nothing less than AWESOME. Just looking at the roster of artsits involved gets me excited.

Many of the artists involved in the show have also worked with Poketo in the past including Mel Kadel, Chris Bettig, Travis Millard, and Amanda Vissel to name a few. With such an inspiring gallery/ music/ community space like THIS in Highland Park, Justin and crew are inspiring examples of how art can be more of a collaborative/ neighborhood endeavor, and how diseases like cancer is merely a bump in the road when a vision as strong as THIS is too awesome to be ignored.

Hope to see you guys there!

THIS Los Angeles Gallery
5906 North Figueroa St.
Los Angeles, CA 90042
7-10 PM

As far as I know, this was the first art walk of its kind for Echo Park. Our good friends Heather and Marc Mertens put this together. Got to visit some amazing studios, the most memorable being sculptor Peter Shire. You probably know his brother, Billy Shire of Soap Plant Wacko and his gallery here in LA.

Peter has been an Angeleno native, specifically Echo Park since childhood. His studio is massive, over 10,000 square feet, complete with every tool imaginable, sculptures all over the place, and a library of design books. Here is Peter Shire and his wife, Donna Shire.

We picked up some of these ceramic cups from Peter’s studio, each one splattered with rad colors, all one of a kind.

Also got to meet Ricky Kim of Evil Monito. We have corresponded via email years back, when Poketo first started in 2003. At the time, Ricky sent me his rad toy he created with AdFunture and we sent him some wallets. Crazy how it took 6 years to finally meet, super cool guy.

The Grill ‘Em All truck was out front. Probably the best looking truck and logo I’ve seen yet. They make burgers.

Mr. Marc Mertens, one of the brains behind the walk.

Visit Echo Park!

Taken from Arts for LA website:

Join Arts for LA at the Los Angeles City Council meeting TODAY to give public testimony regarding the value of the Department of Cultural Affairs.

This motion will go before Council for a vote this TODAY. Show the City Council the power of the arts community by attending the council meeting. We need to remind Council of just how important the arts are to Los Angeles.

This would be a serious detriment to the development and nourishment of the arts and culture in Los Angeles! Even if you can’t attend the council meeting tonight, spread the word!

Radiohead has announced on their website yesterday that they will be performing at The Music Box Theatre at the Fonda on January 24th where all proceeds will go to the Oxfam Haiti Releif Fund. It’s every man for himself (since 8 P.M. (PST) last night), as these tickets will be auctioned off to winners of the bidding war on Ticketmaster. Be quick! The bid closes Saturday night…

Knowing Thom Yorke’s reputation for being highly anti-Hollywood and being very low key, this is a very admirable move on his part using his celebrity for something good. I’d always thought Yorke and the rest of the band would settle somewhere in seclusion in the UK. I imagine a place that kind of looks like the Shire with green green grass and lots of sunlight, but it seems they’ve all been making appearances in L.A.

Speaking of Thom Yorke, who else is stoked about him performing at Coachella this year! Those tickets will also be on sale TODAY starting at 10 am!! For those of you who have never heard him DJ, what do you imagine it would sound like? I’d always thought it would sound like W Hotel lobby music. You know, really minimalistic, acid-house or something. Gladly, I was wrong! And it’s actually RAD! PARTY TIME @ 7 MINUTE MARK.

…Unce Unce Unce Unce Unce Unce…

Happy Friday everyone!