Home to 60 Million

The West Coast is more so an idea than a place, and on March 6th that idea took us down to Los Angeles to truly figure out what makes up the place I’m lucky enough to call home. Guided by the question “Why are some people able to see around corners in ways others are not, and in doing so, shape how we see ourselves in the changing world?” This journey began with understanding the aspects of that question. Many of the people that I see as changing the world come from the West Coast, or if not, their work is done on the West Coast, but why is that? I found myself falling into this loop constantly during the project where I would just ask myself why. Then find the answer, then why again, and it gets to a point where I have to accept that there may not be an answer. Eventually, however, I was able to find an answer to why the West Coast is home to so many innovators and people who excel in their field. When you boil it down, this place has it all, and that’s what is so attractive about it. It brings people of all sorts, creating a symbol of diversity and innovation. 

Just based on the driving question I could tell I was going to enjoy this project, the sorts of ideas are ones that I have strong opinions on and I knew I could create an argument to support those ideas. Building off our previous project of “The Crazy Ones” and what it takes to be an impact maker, I already had a good idea of the types of people we were looking for that meet the description that in the driving question. The definition of what makes a crazy one that I came up with so many months ago was “a crazy one is someone who does things differently and is willing to do whatever it takes to make their vision a reality.” Fast forward to now, that still applies and just a simple switch of words from ‘crazy one’ to ‘person who sees around corners’ gives us an answer to the first half of the question. 

Here’s To The Crazy Ones

When looking into specific examples of these people, Walt Disney and Frank Gehry were among the names, and when it came to writing paragraphs about how they used their visionary ability to craft the identity of the West Coast, I had much more enjoyment in writing than I typically would. When researching Frank Gehry and architecture as a whole, I was really fascinated by how much of an impact the world and time period had on creating these buildings. Looking at it now, I’m not sure how I hadn’t thought of it but everything revolves around people’s beliefs, and that’s evident when we look at architecture from different periods. Cathedrals like the Notre Dame or Sagrada Familia don’t just have high ceilings for the sake of it, but rather because the architect wanted to have the audience look up as a metaphor for looking up to the gods which was a belief that vast population had at the time of creating it. Knowing this makes me appreciate architecture more than I already do, and allows me to understand different parts of our trip in more depth. 

Another aspect of this project and arguably the biggest was the West Coast, and more specifically the identity that comes with it. We looked at this identity through different lenses, and in Jordan, Nathan, and I’s case, that lens was unreal realities, which was what my video ended up being based on. Without a doubt, this is where I had to push myself the most and try to understand different perspectives. This concept of an unreal reality was such a blurry topic to me that I couldn’t even begin to fathom how I was going to create a documentary about the West Coast from this angle. Starting off by thinking unreal realities are just theme parks, but that idea was quickly gone as I wasn’t thinking enough about it. Then I pivoted towards social media and how that in itself creates a world that seems real when maybe it isn’t, and although I still believe that to be true, I was back to the drawing board and had to look further outside the box. Finally coming to a conclusion after many conversations with both Ms. Willemse and ChatGPT, unreal realities are not just fantasies, but the building blocks of a collective identity that dares to envision the impossible and make it real.

This project started by having two sides that would come together to tell the bigger story, however, as time went on and the trip was quickly approaching, we sort of strayed from the idea of seeing around corners and focused more on the West Coast aspect. Looking into the itinerary there wasn’t a minute that we weren’t doing something, but that’s what makes these trips so special, all the moving parts come together creating a week to never forget. A few places caught my eye when doing research, the Walt Disney Concert Hall as I knew what went into making that, the Griffith Observatory, and Luna Luna which is something I’ll never see anything like again; and upon arrival, they didn’t disappoint.

Since my topic was unreal realities, Luna Luna was a big focus for me, but connecting that to the West Coast was a bit of a struggle as I thought to myself, “How can something that started in Germany be unique to the West Coast?” When looking into it though, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Luna Luna is an art carnival where a variety of artists from all over the globe come together to create a place of wonder, and that in itself is largely a thing that the West Coast does, takes something as simple as a carnival, and takes it to the next level by adding components you wouldn’t necessarily think of adding. When I saw this place in person, it was so much better than I imagined. Even the outside of the building being just a rectangular warehouse played into the idea of it being some sort of wondrous place, as you step into music and colour. Knowing that this location was going to have to be in my documentary I surprised myself by getting the work done early and then being able to enjoy the place with the remaining time. I’ve never been a talkative guy and going up to random people and asking them questions is far from my forte, but it had to be done, and although I only talked to a worker for about 2 minutes, I got insight that I later included in my video.

A trip to Los Angeles isn’t complete without at least one visit to Disneyland, and for us, it was two. I’ve never been to any Disney parks before so I  didn’t know what to expect, but whatever I was expecting wasn’t right. Comparing it to what I know, like the PNE or Silver Dollar City when we went last year, it’s nothing like it. Disney is a concept, a concept that so many people relate to and live their lives by without even knowing it. Everything in this park is there for a reason and has meaning, that meaning being different to whoever shows up with whatever life experiences they’ve had to influence their perceptions. Disneyland is arguably the biggest unreal reality there is, so this part of our trip was dedicated to my video. Originally I thought filming in such a busy place with so many different noises was going to be a problem, however, I realized that I could use that to my benefit by showing how important this place is to so many people’s lives. I did feel like an idiot walking through the busiest part of the park speaking my script to no one, and I did get some funny looks, but I somehow managed to get past that which is something I’d never think I’d be able to say. Going into this trip knowing we’d be spending over 30 hours in this one place, I wasn’t too optimistic, however, I did find myself enjoying the majority of the time there and would say it was worth it. Don’t get me wrong, I won’t be going back, but I’m glad to say I have been to Disneyland. 

On paper, Luna Luna and Disneyland sum up the West Coast, and in person, they just confirm that. The demand for something new and unique by everyday people living in this part of the world is why Luna Luna is sitting in Los Angeles today rather than where it originated in Germany, and why Disney’s first park was in Anaheim. In this constant pursuit to fulfill our desires, whether those be experiences, products, or opportunities, the West Coast is always seeking a dopamine rush, and that’s why these places not only exist but thrive to this day.

Returning from this trip I had a lot to do, and creating a full documentary was the main task, and to get to it quickly, it didn’t go to plan. Originally my group consisted of Jordan, Nathan, and myself, but I felt like that wasn’t working and I was creating everything for the three of us. That’s when I decided to sit down and just talk through the situation with Ms. Willemse, where we came up with the solution to create the video as my own. Honestly, this is what I wanted from the get go, I know I say I’m big into teamwork but this was never going to work as the three of us all had contrasting views of what our video should be. Despite this hiccup, I managed to film, record, and edit a documentary that I was proud of, one that is of the style of Logan Wickstone, and it’s nice to say I did that. Reflecting on everything now, there are definitely things I would’ve done differently, the main one being pushing myself to relate every location we went to to my bigger theme of unreal realities and the West Coast. We went to the places we did for a reason, but in the time that we had I couldn’t find that reason, and that’s something I’m a bit disappointed with. There is no need to lose sleep over it though, because at the end of the day, I’m proud of my work and that’s all I can ask for.

Trips like these give me a new appreciation for what goes into the places that make up the West Coast. This trip has taught me that there is a reason for everything and nothing is just there without purpose. People have demands and those demands are met through different aspects of life such as entertainment, art, and nature, and being able to see how that happens is something I’ll be forever grateful for. This experience would never be possible without the relentless work of both teachers, so all I can do is thank them.