Sound, space, and the city : civic performance in downtown Los Angeles / Marina Peterson

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Peterson, Marina.

Series:

City in the twenty-first century book series.

The city in the 21st century

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Urban renewal--California--Los Angeles.

Urban renewal.

City planning--California--Los Angeles.

City planning.

Sound--Social aspects--California--Los Angeles.

Sound.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (195 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, c 2010

Language Note:

English

Summary:

On summer nights on downtown Los Angeles's Bunker Hill, Grand Performances presents free public concerts for the people of the city. A hip hop orchestra, a mariachi musician, an Afropop singer, and a Chinese modern dance company are just a few examples of the eclectic range of artists employed to reflect the diversity of LA itself. At these concerts, shared experiences of listening and dancing to the music become sites for the recognition of some of the general aspirations for the performances, for Los Angeles, and for contemporary public life.In Sound, Space, and the City, Marina Peterson explores the processes-from urban renewal to the performance of ethnicity and the experiences of audiences-through which civic space is created at downtown performances. Along with archival materials on urban planning and policy, Peterson draws extensively on her own participation with Grand Performances, ranging from working in an information booth answering questions about the artists and the venue, to observing concerts and concert-goers as an audience member, to performing onstage herself as a cellist with the daKAH Hip Hop orchestra. The book offers an exploration of intersecting concerns of urban residents and scholars today that include social relations and diversity, public space and civic life, privatization and suburbanization and economic and cultural globalization.At a moment when cities around the world are undertaking similar efforts to revitalize their centers, Sound, Space, and the City conveys the underlying tensions of such projects and their relevance for understanding urban futures.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Introduction

1. A Center for a Centrifugal City

2. Mapping a Metropolis in Motion

3. Performing L.A.

4. Sonic Civilities

5. ''Los Angeles at Its Best''

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references ([159]-173) and index.

ISBN:

9781283898744

1283898748

9780812207705

081220770X

OCLC:

802049520