La Quo

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

6

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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?