Inconspicuous Monuments
Archival Recordings 28
Every neighborhood has a structure that, by simply existing, helps shape the community it is built in. Often this impact goes far beyond any intended use case, even for buildings that are particularly important like libraries, schools, or churches.
West Angeles Church. Los Angeles, 2021.
For as long as I can remember, the West Angeles Church building on Crenshaw between 30th and Jefferson has been there. Although I have never attended, my mother has been a devout member of the church for over twenty years and taught Sunday school there for much of that time. Through her relationship with the church, the influence that it had on the community as a whole was very clear to me. From an architectural perspective, the building had a unique facade that set it apart from the other structures in the vicinity. I always felt that it was significant not only to the area but to the city as a whole. So you could imagine how surprised I was to see it unceremoniously torn down.
West Angeles has an incredible new cathedral located a couple of blocks south of it's previous location. It is a modern reflection of the church as it exists today and, based on what my mom has shared with me, serves the needs of the growing congregation in ways the old location was not equipped to. But it's hard to look past the history that was lost when the old campus was torn down. The construction of yet another mixed use apartment building in it's place is a sad commentary on gentrification encroaching on South Los Angeles. Often the value of structures like this are not acknowledged until they are gone.
Archival Recordings Updates
It's hard to believe that I have been working on Archival Recordings for almost a year! The project has grown in some significant ways and I look forward to taking things even further in the near future. With that in mind, there are a few changes on the horizon that I want to share:
Archival Recordings will be digital only and published monthly from now on. This seems like a good rhythm for me right now and allows me to more time to come up with interesting things to write about. Subject to change in the future, of course.
The paid tier (printed zine subscription) is being discontinued next year. I have two more zines to send out to those of you who subscribed. One of them is going out next week (just gotta get to the post office) and the final zine in the series is due in December. There will definitely be more printed Archival Recordings zines next year but they won't be a part of a subscription. More news on that below..
I have started a new newsletter called Nontxt based around my design/self-publishing/art practice! All future Archival Recordings zines will be self published under my Nonstndrd Creative project along with my art and illustration books. Sign up below if you're interested, it's on Substack now but I'll be migrating it to Ghost (like Archival Recordings) sometime early next year.
Kwasi Boyd-Bouldin
That's all I have for this month's Archival Recordings, stay safe out there y'all and see you next month.