Studio 54 Street

revenge of the electric car?

Driving towards the setting sun along North West 54th Street is a sobering ride up and down a slice of the swamp.

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The concrete underpass at the highway on NW seventh avenue is flagged by mammoth billboard structures that dwarf all other man-made things in sight. 

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But soon we are swept into a landscape of muchkin nonchitecture that is downright humbling and bewildering.  

YELLOW

Pink and Green

Chinese OOD

Stairway to Upstairs

Members Only

Package for Ala Answer 

back it up like a tonka truck

GREEN

Red, White and God

Contemporary Nonchitecture 

Taking a drive along any of the many side-roads that typify the south florida underbelly, one is quickly confronted with graphic proof that we are in fact a disgruntled developing nation in the grips of a corporate economic stranglehold unfolding. 

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the 4.1.1 on 4.20

While Floridians languish in a laughable and contrived swamp laden with antiquated notions of civility as defined by grumpy old lawmakers in their state legislature, folk in other states are leading the way to a better place where cannabis possession laws are decriminalized and medical marijuana is available to the needy.  A quick wiki-search shows just how things are progressing along the green-brick highway.

Of the sixteen states that have made bodacious gains in responding to what 80% of americans want, California can be singled out as a leader in the movement to end the War On Drugs. Since the days of olden when HighTimes was the new NORMAL and Ed Rosenthal gave way to Steve Hager,  a moment of silence for Dick Clark is just the spark to twist this post along.

The time is ripe... and so is the indica sativa hybrid.

On this recent visit to the salad bowl of america, I found some surprising treats and some disappointing dreams.  The rash of medical marijuana dispensaries is a welcome sign and the Bronze of Willie Nelson is apropos , but call me old fashioned for being a bit uneasy about legalizing Everything ala Amsterdam.  Perhaps legalizing pot and prostitution is just the thing to get SOBE back on the map.

420 is much more than a number and icon commemorating the age old cloud of spiritual enlightenment that is released each and every time cannabis smoke fills the air. 

FourTwenty is practically a National Holiday. 

There is a Cali version of the infamous cuban restaurant Versailles in Miami Little Havana where cafesito weary can get a shot of cuban blood without all those peculiar castro-hating repub-luving geezer blowhards crowding around. There is also a building that resembles a cafesito maker.

Much is free in the west coast. free love, free hot tubs, free brunch but no free air according to this sign at the flat fix gas station.

A food truck serving Flaco Tacos rolls along the very swampy La Cienega Boulevard in Culver City.

A native offers our AVAF friend a baby chihuahua with her happy meal.

Creaming, Kenny Scharf shows us how his 1959 Cadillac Coup Deville hoop da ride is the epitomy of Finism.

On this 420 O'12 can we chill and trade the War on Drugs for the War on Thugs?

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edible Utuber

Here in South Florida much of what we hold in high regard is really unsustainable. It seems that motors are reproducing faster than people and plants. But there are always cracks in the concrete of progress as seen in the Little River Market Garden. For many it is time to turn back the clock on corporate food dependency.

Swampstyle can also be found in South Los Angeles thanks to Ron Finley, our modern day Fiacre patron saint of growing.

Plant something every day, good nourishment and libation comes from sustainable lifestyle.

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a Safer Swamp

South Florida has a style all its own. When it comes to industry, it mostly relies on the packaging of luxury to sustain the allure that draws wealthy visitors back. And nothing attracts the well-heeled better than the spending festival know as Basel.

Now, I know it's not December because Miami is sweltering in an early summer pollen loaded haze, but ABMB is un-seasonably in the news... swampy economic entertainment news that is.

Recently the lackadaisical Morley Safer of TV 60 Minutes fame has once again dabbled in a bit of gonzo journalism by revisiting the unsavory fact that even in tough times contemporary art sells. His mouth-full-of marbles commentary focused with sharp wit on the the swamp and its ABMB uber-elite with their deep-pocket investments on contemporary art.

No commentary on contemporary art is complete without bespeckled Jeffrey Deitch. In Safer's expose Saint Jeffrey reminds Droopy Dog Morley that the art elite does not forget but certainly forgives past peccadillos of the media elite. It's tough to tell one from the other.

No this is not Deitch's ride. Trecking among the hoods of Miami, art can be found in the most unsuspecting places, such is this low-brow tire tread spotted on a candy-red hummer in the Design District

Meanwhile back in the fair video, Safer seemed as perplexed as the customers with a mumbo jumbo sales pitch of a well regarded curator twisting and spinning to justify a tangle of home depot stuff passing for valuable commodity.

The Basel art fair may be here for only one week but Wynwood galleries keep up the momentum year round. If you like street art but dont want to go outside, you can acquire this graffiti making contraption for a paltry 5 figures, respirator not included.

Meanwhile back at the fair video, dealers from Paris and elsewhere around the world are seen surrounding themselves with celebrities, collectors and the village people for a flurry of economic high-jinks. With no allegiance to place, these folk come and go like pop ringtones.

Basel may be gone for now but if you need a room full of art, this resurfaced tires assemblage by Hannes Bend is on view in a Wynwood gallery. There is a market for $50 paintings, as there is clearly a market for $5,000,000 works, but sadly there is no market for $5,000 art.

The swamp is a playground for speculation as evidenced by the behavior of those intent on capitalizing on art and the deluge of oligarchs that migrate here in search of trendy treasures and titillating nights.

In closing be aware one never knows where the next blue-chip treasure will be unearthed, like this early Andy Warhol drawing found amongst the rummaging at a yard sale. Authentication not included.

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