Day 135: Imagination Next Door

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May 14, 2012 by Alex Hoekstra

It’s a little amazing to me to learn about the hidden talents of people around me.  Garage-Sale Season is upon my hometown, and as I biked through my neighborhood this weekend, I found a remarkable amount of people not merely vending vintage video games, clothes and VHS tapes (though there were plenty of all of those), but also offering their hand-made wares.  Candles and crochet, bookmarks and buttons – I even discovered that one of my neighbors is pretty handy with a lathe.  The hand-made stuff carried heftier pricetags than their second-hand neighbors, but I really dug the notion that it was actually made down the block, by a guy whose passion and creativity and skill were all previously hidden to me.  Who knew that even in my little slice of suburbia, people not only keep their daydreams, but are actively working to bring them to life.  Today’s project is exploring the neighborhood of creativity that exists in one of America’s largest cities, proving that imagination can thrive in places you’d never expect.

DIYinLAX is a written chronicle of some of Los Angeles’ most imaginative citizens.  The third in a series following different cities around the continent, it’s a book that will reveal to Angelinos and to all of us the character and creativity of our friends, neighbors and fellow daydreamers.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/394742941/diyinlax

[It’s] about how community inspires creativity and why people don’t quit their daydreams; it’s a cultural study of Los Angeles, California. This book is the third in a series about do-it-yourselfers and their creative work in different North American cities.

Iris Porter has captured the creativity of cities such as Portland and Halifax in previous publications, but calling LA home meant starting fresh with an new array of inspired makers next door.  With stories and interviews from LA’s hidden talent, DIYinLAX is sweet, sweet brain food.  Read and be inspired.  Read and be entertained.  Read and know your neighbors better.  Read and be counted amongst your city’s creative community.  But first, back this book on Kickstarter before time runs out on May 16.