Speak Up LA

With Katina Papson

Hosted by the Outpost Center for Contemporary Art, Speak Up LA was a series of outdoor public mic events designed to amplify diverse voices and activate public space. At three distinct locations in Los Angeles (Hollywood and Western Metro station, LA County Fair and MacArthur Park) artist Katina Papson and I invited passersby to speak, sing or be interviewed for two minutes on an amplified microphone. Topics included immigration, homelessness, anarchy, art, hip-hop and spy-stories. The emotional, political and mundane musings of the local population took over public space as participants talked about their jobs, their neighborhoods, the happiest time in their lives, and the changes they wanted to see take place in the world.