V O L U M E 1 I S S U E 1 S P R I N G 2 0 1 1
EXPLORING IDEAS INLOS ANGELES WITH
AROTIN HARTOUNIANDANIEL JOSEPH MARTINEZ
& MARK PANGILINAN
T H E N ETW O R K O F A R T I S T, C R E AT I V E S , A N D E N T R E P R E N E U RS O F LO S A N G E L E S .
Editor-In-Chief
Christopher Paguio
inally this project has gotten off the ground and taken
off. I’m very proud to present to you LAQUO: VOLUME1
ISSUE1. It’s been almost two years since this project
started. What orginally was Lifted Living Magazine has now
evolved into LAQUO MAGAZINE. The meaning of LAQUO is a
simple and direct one. LA is an abbreviation for Los Angeles
and QUO is abstracted from the Latin phrase “Quo Vadis?”
meaning, “Where are you going?” So through this maga-
zine, we’re asking the people of Los Angeles where they
are going, specifically the youthful artist, creatives, and
entrepreneurs.
LAQUO seeks to ask the artists, creatives, and
entrepreneurs of Los Angeles about their idea’s and goals,
directions, opinions, and their influences. We seek to
capture the flow of energy that circulates within a city as
lively as Los Angeles. Many amazing things take place in LA
which give rise to many amazing people, who, often times
are not in the spotlight. With this magazine with are hoping
to establish a network that intertwines the ideas of the
underground talent to the overall city. We’re hoping to serve
as an inspiration to all of our brothers and sisters out there
who are trying to get started in LA.
bonjour reader!a letter from the editor
F We’re all about capturing what’s happening now.
So enjoy this first pilot issue. It’s small, but it’s a good bite
that’ll feed your artistic hunger. We would also love to hear
from you and have you featured in our magazine. Emails
with feedback and suggestions are highly welcomed, oh,
and send over your atwork too! We love that. Til next time Los
Angeles. Stick around for Issue two because we’ll be back!
COVER OF THE ISSUEtaken by editor-in-chief
INTERACTWe ask a question on twitter everyday.
Follow @LAQUO to join the conversation.
CONNECT WITH USTwitter.com/laquo
Facebook.com/laquo
PARTICIPATEWe’d love to hear your feedback!
As well as feature you!email: [email protected]
S P R I N G 2 0 1 1 V O L U M E 1 I S S U E 1
WE SIT DOWN WITH 19 YEAR OLD AROTIN HARTOUNIAN, AN ILLUSTRATOR AND STUDENT OF PASADENA CITY COLLEGE, AND ASK HIM ABOUT HIS INFLUENCES, INTERESTS, AND PHILOSOPHIES.
PASADENA CITY COLLEGE LATEST ARTIST IN RESIDENCE DISCUSSES ART THEORIES
AND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN ARTIST IN THE 21ST CENTURY WITH A SELECTED
GROUP OF STUDENTS.
SHOTS FROM MARK’S DAY TO DAY EVERYDAY REALITY CAPTURES THE YOUTH AND CREATIVE ENERGETIC VIBE THAT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IS KNOWN FOR.
interview with an illustratorAROTIN HARTOUNIAN
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questions for the contemporary artistwith DANIEL MARTINEZ
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F E A T U R E D I N T H I S I S S U E :
T H E N ETW O R K O F A R T I S T, C R E AT I V E S , A N D E N T R E P R E N E U RS O F LO S A N G E L E S .
hanging out with los angeles nativewith MARK PANGILINAN
¿Quo
Vad
is?
Whe
re a
re y
ou g
oing
?
AROTINH A RTO U N I A N
My name is Arotin Hartounian. I am currently 19. I was born and raised in Tehran, Iran and I moved to Autria for 6-7 months
before coming to America when I was 9 years old. So I’ve been living in Los Angeles for almost 9-10 years.
I N T E R V I E W W I T H A N I L L U S T R A T O R
How do you approach your art?
Well most often it starts with research. And to quote Daniel Martinez, “Artstarts with an idea.” That’s it. There’sno other way around it. First you getthe idea. Which is your consciousness picking up something in your percep-‐tion that really sparks something in your soul. Something that is inspira-‐tion, to say in a simple form. But it
Well I mean I always drew as a kid ever since I can remember. It was always a way for me to make sense of the world. And ge t the images of the emotions I have in my head in a way to translate them into a more wordly plane. It was another way of me learning how to communicate the things I was feeling and precieving in the world.
CITY OF RESIDENCEGlendale, California
CURRENT SCHOOLPasadena City College
OCCUPATIONSales Associate at Art Center College of Design
TOOL OF CHOICEPencil
FAVORITE STYLE OF ARTIllustration
FAVORITE QUOTE“Being an artist is hard, if you want something easier go to medical school” -David Schoffman
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starts out with an idea you have. Something that just resonates in yourconscious and spirit; something ofgreat emotion or intellectual value. So once I have the idea.. usually the idea sparks through the research I do with art history. A lot of my art works I look at other artworks from differ-‐ent periods of time in art history and also looking at the art of other artist. So it first starts out with me looking through history and trying to see how others approached art from there and trying to borrow the success of the artist and adding it to my own through research. And also making a social commentary, for example DJ Dali Lama series. What it does is that it takes... by looking at traditional Buddhist artand Nepalese, and taking that andmaking it modernized and western-‐ized, and exploring concepts such as idolizing, and that’s something I’ll talkabout more later. The reason why I put such an iconic Buddhist figure in the traditional Buddhist style art but in-‐stead placing him as a DJ which is very western and very contemporary. It’s that juxtaposition of both eastern and western art, and his spiritual presence and the connection of music and art as a spiritual expression.
Simply put, it’s a documentation ofmy life. I number all the pages in mysketchbook and try to date the pagesto kind of show my development ofan artist , and it kind of shows myinfluence, what I’ve been to exposedto as far as arts and culture. As withmost sketchbooks it’s just where Iwork out my ideas and gather all theinspiration that I come across and then refer back to it, almost as a referencematerial. It’s also overall the mostimportance of the sketchbook is ex-‐perimentation. I collect all these dif-‐ferent inspirational things that capture the attention of my soul or resonating emotions and then just experimenting
with them and what concepts come about. And how I can develop the basis of the concept and also the basis of thevisual vocabulary-‐how I orchestratethings together using my skills in drawing and painting.
Yes. It’s all in the sketchbook, probablybecause it’s the most accessible one.But recently I haven’t had a chance towork in my sketchbook because I’m currently working on a larger piece.You pick out the things you like andyou decide to pursue a certain ideathat you’ve explored in your sketch-‐book onto a larger piece, and I’m cur-‐
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I N T E R V I E W C O N T .
So I’ve been focusing more of my at-‐tention on finalizing one of my largepieces rather than working on newideas. So not as often as I would like to, I would like to go out sketching more. Taking notes and inspiration, but real-‐istically it doesn’t happen as often with
and school.
Well, being an illustrator myself, I do value a lot the merit of draftsmanship and just how visual stimulating a piece looks. So having my background as a draftsman and an illustrator I do place special importance on the aesthetics
of it. I mean the concept of the piece isvery important, but if the piece is notvisually stimulating and doesn’t draw you in, the concept won’t get trans-‐ferred. So in a way if I develop an ideain my sketch, at first it has to be veryvisually pleasing to look at. From thenif I like how it looks I will go on to de-‐velop and explore the concept more totry and explain why I chose the certainvisual vocabulary and imagery that Ilike. And from then if I look at it andsee the piece is very comprehensive
visual imagery with a little bit of con-‐cept behind it. And if I like how it looksand if it looks like it would stimulatethe viewer, then I’ll start developingthe concept. So drawing the viewer inby how overall nice the visuals look,drawing them in by the craftsmanship,and then raising questions after draw-‐ing it. But looking at it and liking how it looks like, I ask, “What’s the meaning behind it?” So that’s the process that I go through with starting and develop-‐ing my ideas.
Well of course greatly. There is a
in art that is more characterized by being in Southern California and Los
been around, the schools I have been to, and the people I learn from all have distinctive West Coast or specifically Southern California style. For example, schools like Art Center, which I have been involved with, and Cal Arts, and all the students that have been in that circle all have a distinctive approach to art, whether it’s figurative art or
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an illustration of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenaain Gyatso
Who is the Dalai Lama?
Dalai Lamas are the most influenial figures in the Gelugpa
lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetans traditionally belive
the Dalai Lamas to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara
or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and patron
saint of Tibet. It’s said that Bodhisattvas are enlightened
beings who have postponed their own nirvana and
chosen to take rebirth in order to serve humanity.
right now there is a lot happening in LA as far as art hotspot withing the whole. So being involved in this whole mess that is going on, culturally and artistically, has greatly influenced the way I go about making my art.
I guess overall pursuit in the long run is.. well I plan to work as a commer-‐cial artist doing illustrations. Which is more of my means of surviving, my bread and butter. It’s just the way I’ll approach making money in art, but also my overall long term goal of what I’m doing in my life’s work on is studying the human need to create art and seeing how different human be-‐ings in different culture periods have approached art making and what func-‐
tion art serves… basically art history. But yes, exploring the human urge and need to create art. I mean this interest first came when looking at works of cave paintings and hearing the reasons why prehistoric human beings felt the urge to express these ideas and thoughts in their head and try to bring it into life with art. And then how art from there developed taking on a dif-‐
in relation to their life and the culture they’re in.
That’s one thing I’ve realized is that art making is a very spiritual experience, past the function it serves socially and past the means of how it’s been just job for people to make money. It also
has a very strong root in spirituality. And to quote an artist I’ve been look-‐ing into, an artist by the name of An-‐drew Jones, or Android Jones, and one of his quotes quite simply talks about is how art is the fruit of consciousness. The process of art making happens as the consciousness in humans develop. And as human beings gain conscious-‐ness of their world around them, art becomes a way to communicate how they perceive the world. And there’s a really strong spiritual connection.
My life goal is as far as learning about art is understanding how different cultures approach different art and the
an artist makes his/her art is a direct commentary of how they perceive the
what’s going on around them.
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I N T E R V I E W C O N T .
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danielmartinez
with
DANIEL JOESEPH MARTINEZ IS A NATIVE OF LOS ANGELES AND IS PASADENA CITY COLLEGE’S 2011 ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE. HE IS
INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FOR HIS POLITICALLY CHARGED ART THAT HAS BEEN EXHIBITED INTERNATIONALLY SINCE 1978. HE EMPLOYS DIVERSE
MEDIA TO ADDRESS THE NATURE OF DEMOCRACY, CITIZENSHIP, CULTURAL MEMORY, AND “THE FUTURE OF THE SPECIES.” MARTINEZ IS ALSO A PROFESSOR AT THE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY OF IRVINE WHERE HE TEACHES A CLASS
QUESTIONS F O R T H E
CONTEMPORARY
ARTISTDuring his week of residency at Pasadena
City College, Daniel decided in order to maximize his presence on campus as a
resource, he will hold a 3-day class in which he titled, “Everything you wanted to know about the ar t, ar tists, graduate
schools, galleries, theory, reading and anything else you can think of, but were afraid to ask. Or a taste of something both sweet and
sour and bittersweet.” Students were invited to the class based on their future goals and their involvement with
ar t. A series of discussions were held where questions
were raised on what it means to be an ar tist in the 21st
century–a vital question for any contemporary ar tist.
WHY BE AN ARTIST?
WHO ARE WE AS HUMAN BEINGS
IN THE 21ST CENTURY?
WHERE DOES POWER
EMINATE FROM?WHAT’S
THE MOST POWERFUL
TOOL AN INDIVIDUAL
HAS?
WHY SHOULD ONE TRAIN AND
EDUCATE THE BRAIN?
WHY DO YOU READ AS AN
ARTIST?
WHEN DO YOU GET SICK AND
TIRED AND GIVE UP?
WHAT IS QUALITY WORK?
AS AN ARTIST, WHAT ARE
ONE OF YOUR RESPONSI-BILITIES?
WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO
GIVE UP AS AN ARTIST?
WHY IS ART BASED ON A RETINAL
EXPERIENCE?
YOU CANNOT MAKE ART IF YOU DO NOT KNOW
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE 21ST CENTURY
THE CONVENTIONAL SOCIETY TRAINS YOU TO MAKE “DECORATIONS” TO PROTECT THE
CONSCIOUNESS OF OUR CULTURE. IF WE FALL, THE CULTURE FALLS
MAKE ART, READ EVERYDAY, AND ENGAGE
IN DISCOURSE.
BUILD A LIBRARIES FOR OURSELVES.
DON’T LEAVE A NEW PLACE WITHOUT SEEING
ITS ART.
DON’T BE SOCIALIZED AND BRAINWASHED
EVERYDAY.
NEVER BE AFRAID OF ANYTHING YOU DO NOT
KNOW.
INVENT A PARADIGM YOU WANT TO LIVE IN.
KNOWING VS UNDERSTANDING
DECIEVING YOURSELF TO FEEL GOOD IS LIVING IN
IGNORANCE.
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hanging with la native mark pangilinan
CITY OF RESIDENCEPasadena, California
CURRENT SCHOOLPasadena City College
TOOL OF CHOICEYashica FX-D
FAVORITE QUOTE“touche”
MARK
SO WHAT KIND OF ART DO YOU LIKE TO MAKE?
I just like making things and just go-ing with it. Whatever I find and feel like, but when it comes to shooting, everything is candid with what I do. I don’t really have a favorite because I just really try out everything.
WHAT ARE SOME OF MEDIUMS YOU WORK WITH?
What medium? Women. I like to work with women. Mostly candid though. I also like to draw and shoot with my camera. And even do col-lages and such.
SO TELL ME ABOUT THE TOOLS THAT YOU USE.
I use a Yashika FX D which is a 35 mm film and I use a Nikon D3000 and I use my MacBook.
P H O T O S B Y M A R K2 0 1 1
SO WHAT ARE SOME THINGS YOU ARE WORKING ON?
At the moment I am working with this blog. It’s a brand new blog that we’re creating and it’s called Arti-san’s Archive. We’re doing a lifestyle blog. I’m sure you guys been on a lot of lifestyle blogs. And I’m doing work with another blog Shakethehand which is another thing going on. And there are a couple little project
shoots that I have going on where my subjects are women and their beauty of their ways and their pro-cess of beautifying themselves.
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HAS LIVING IN LOS ANGELES INFLUENCED YOU?
Cause I grew up on the
everywhere around LA;
Hollywood, La Puente, West Covina–I grew up
even the suburbs even though theres nothing
AND WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO WITH THE PICTURES YOU TAKE?
I usually just have my flickr or my tumblr or I do things for websites, blogs, and I do shoots for whatever.
F L I C K R . C O M / P H O T O S / S H O T B Y M A R KM A R K S M E L L O W.T U M B L R . C O M
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT MATTER TO PHOTOGRAPH?
in the house I’ll just shoot any
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¿QUO VADIS?
But unfortunately I have to put that on
US $4.95
CANADA $5.95
WHEREARE YOUGOING?