Occupy LA (various forms)

Before You Begin (A Note On Maps):

I urge you, the dear reader, to know Map-Territory Relation. That is, know the relationship between an object and a representation of that object. The Representation is an abstraction (higher concept made literal) derived from something, or is a reaction to it. The Representation (the map) is not the thing itself (the territory). Do not confuse models of reality with reality itself.

Also go with this knowledge by Gregory Bateson: “We say the map is different from the territory. But what is the territory? Operationally, somebody went out with a retina or a measuring stick and made representations which were then put on paper. What is on the paper is the representation of the man who made the map; and as you push the question back, what you find is an infinite regress, an infinite series of maps. The territory never gets in at all […] Always, the process of representation will filter it out so that the mental world is only maps of maps, ad infinitum.” (1972)

Furthermore, reflect on the Diary of Tristan Shandy, so detailed it would take the author one year to set down the events of a single day because the map (the diary) is more detailed that the territory (life) yet must fit into the territory. This diary would consume the writer for the course of their life and can never be finished.

P.S.
Synedoche- part of something that is used to refer to the whole thing (pars pro toto) or a thing (the “whole” is used to refer to part of it (totum pro parte)

AND ONWARD:

On a Sunday in October, I journeyed via Metro Rail into Downtown Los Angeles. I needed to see Occupy LA for myself and study it's social mechanisms and microcosms and create a cognitive map as well as feel the energy of the American Autumn (following the Arab Spring). Occupy LA is formed in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and similar demonstration encampments across the USA and around the world. It is the second largest such encampment in North America, after New York City. Occupy LA is officially sanctioned by the City of Los Angeles, with the camp allowed to exist on the public park grounds around LA City Hall indefinitely. LAPD provides protection and keeps the peace and does not seem to be the enemy to the movement. LAPD's headquarters is across the street. I headed toward the Occupy Los Angeles encampment at City Hall. Thoughts and observations as follows. I see dozens of tents. I see booths giving free food away, I see a library, I see an open-air free classroom. I hear them speak of what it means to be a "minority" and economic babble. Vegans. Bicycles. Some elitism and pampered rich kids who can camp out for fun and games not because they have no where to go. Some genuine anarchists, activists, environmentalists, and the like. Some families. Various ethnicities are well represented. I see a Latino man and his young daughter. He is talking to her about recycling outside of their tent. The homeless men and bag ladies that usually camp out around here for non-demonstrative purposes have been displaced to Fletcher Bowron Square, adjacent to the Triforium. Even the homeless have had their spaces co-opted and gentrified. They do not hang around Occupy LA's encampment and ask for food and such because they do not wish to be involved and are intimidated. They merely want a quiet place to sleep and be in solitude. There is a definite energy in the air. Something large and powerful feels like it is happening. I feel there is hope for humanity. My generation might not be complacent after all. Many around my age group are here. There are recycling facilities, solar panels. I see a man with a shirt that says: Not Arizona, Not Wisconsin, this is CALIFORNIA. I see the bacon-wrapped hot dog vendors have set up near the vegan booth. This makes me laugh. I see the corporate high-rises in the distance through the afternoon haze, the very symbols of capitalism and greed and mechanisms that this encampment exists in opposition too. Personally I view skyscrapers as vast sculptures. I see the Yemen wall with its photos of massacred demonstrators. My eyes tear up. I am moved. The whole site inspires me. Do not dwell on my intial likening it to some "fauxhemian" lazy Coachella/Venice/"trustafarian" non-sense. This is in fact an awe-inspiring place beyond rent and bills and advocating with a visible presence, alternative thoughts and aspirations. I continue to El Pueblo, the historic heart of Los Angeles. Here is a festival sponsered by McDonald's and WalMart and various other companies. They have "occupied" the area around Placita Olvera and provide a counterpoint to Occupy LA. I continue on to Chinatown, with its humble streetscapes of businesses and services for the Chinese and Vietnamese and Latinos of the area. I walk through the Central Plaza (Sun Yat-Sen Square) and over to Chung King Road where I see art in a studio space as well as take note of The Public School. Here in their own words "THE PUBLIC SCHOOL is a school with no curriculum. At the moment, it operates as follows: first, classes are proposed by the public (I want to learn this or I want to teach this); then, people have the opportunity to sign up for the classes (I also want to learn that); finally, when enough people have expressed interest, the school finds a teacher and offers the class to those who signed up.THE PUBLIC SCHOOL is not accredited, it does not give out degrees, and it has no affiliation with the public school system. It is a framework that supports autodidactic activities, operating under the assumption that everything is in everything."

Fascinating. I eat at Hop Louie restaurant as the sun begins to dip lower. I walk through old alleyways, so lovely in their unrestrained urbanity.

  I get back on the Metro and head home. Much like life, this day has ended in an anti-climactic descent.