Good morning, it’s Tuesday, May 26 and you can expect a cool and cloudy morning with a bit of sun in the afternoon (high 60s.)
The best spots to get your Insta photos at the new LACMA, according to an expert.
Challan explores LACMA. (Photos by Alex Zaragoza/L.A. Material)
Last month, the new David Geffen Galleries at LACMA finally opened following years of controversy, with a $724-million curved concrete structure that has generated radically divided opinions.
But forget what architecture critics have to say: What do the people who visit the galleries with the grid top of mind think? The ones who have dedicated years to posing in flattering contortions between the lampposts of LACMA’s “Urban Light” installation; the ones who know exactly where to get the cutest angle for Instagram and the most engaging shots for TikTok?
Which spot within the new David Geffen Galleries’ winding halls will become the backdrop to photos you see posted all over social media?
To find out, L.A. Material contributor Alex Zaragoza sought out an expert: a content creator who has amassed more than 5.4 million followers on TikTok. On the resulting romp through the galleries, Challan (one name only) offers skilled and very funny advice on how to shoot your own art-adjacent candids.
THE SHORT WEEK AHEAD
TUESDAY: This is the final week before the June 2 election, so expect a nonstop deluge of candidate messaging in your mailbox and on your screens.
WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY: The semifinals and finals for the Scripps National Spelling Bee will air Wednesday and Thursday night. Good luck to the three L.A. County regional winners who qualified for the competition: Oliver Halkett (8th grade at Mirman School), Olive O’Brien (8th grade at WISH Community School) and Elyssa Chen (5th grade at El Segundo USD).
SATURDAY: Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural & Bookstore will host its annual Celebrating Words art and literacy festival in Pacoima with creative workshops and musical performances.
In-person early voting will also expand to more than 100 locations around the county Saturday.
Join L.A. Material’s Antonia Cereijido in conversation with architects and critics for “A LACMA Therapy Session,” a chance for Angelenos to process their very complicated feelings about the new David Geffen Galleries, a building nearly two decades in the making. A collaboration with our friends at Punch List and Los Angeles Review of Architecture. Sunday, June 7 at 4m at the Barnsdall Gallery Theater. Tickets are $15 but only $5 for LA Material paid members.
READING MATERIAL
GOOD NEWS IN GARDEN GROVE: The threat of a massive chemical explosion at a damaged chemical tank in Orange County has been “eliminated,” officials said Monday, but some evacuations remain in place surrounding the Garden Grove aerospace facility.
L.A.’S REAL RESTAURANT MVPS: L.A. Taco interviews the dishwashers who hold L.A.’s favorite restaurants together.
MEET THE WORLD’S OLDEST DRAG KING: Yes, this 81-year-old has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. A housecleaner by day, Elsie Saldaña performs as El Daña by night.
THE POPE VS. SILICON VALLEY: Pope Leo XIV called for robust regulation on artificial intelligence in a sweeping manifesto that also decried out the “culture of power” driving the AI race, the Associated Press reports.
IF YOU MUST: Eater LA has updated their terminal-by-terminal guide to eating inside everyone’s least-favorite big city airport (yes, LAX), including a surprisingly good cheese shop in Tom Bradley and a resurrected, chef-driven Santa Monica restaurant in Terminal 3.
UPDATE: In last Thursday's newsletter, we linked to a story that incorrectly reported how many years Santa Monica Pier has ranked among California's most polluted beaches. The beach has been one of California's most polluted for five years.
REAL ESTATE LISTING OF THE WEEK
Wallace Neff’s Shell House in Pasadena
Photo via Compass
Twentieth-century Southern California starchitect Wallace Neff might be better known as the progenitor of the Spanish-inspired California Style. But his true obsession was his so-called “bubble houses” — his solution to the postwar housing crisis, which involved inflating a giant balloon and coating it with concrete. Despite being cheap and easy to build, Neff’s igloo-shaped housing-for-the-masses never really took off in the U.S.
The last remaining Bubble House in the U.S. — and Neff’s own former home — is back on the market in Pasadena.
The carefully restored architectural marvel is listed for $1.95 million. You won’t be getting much house for your money — it’s a mere 1,204 square feet, with two bedrooms and a single bath. But it does come with a bomb shelter buried approximately 15 feet below a detached studio space.
AND FINALLY… A poem to pair with your morning coffee: “The Lovers” by Timothy Liu.
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