GIRLSCHOOL founder

in partnership with GIRLSCHOOL for LAPhil

1.

What was the last book you read and loved?

I'm currently reading Killing Commandatore by Haruki Murakami. I just read You Are A Message, as well. And before that, Persepolis. Like many parties, I was late to the Persepolis party, but am so glad I made it.

How do you organize your books? 

Books are the only thing I accumulate. I have two overflowing big bookshelves in my tiny apartment. I organize them messily by: fiction (which is most of it), graphic novels and art books, cookbooks, and then "other" which means all of my embarrassing books on consciousness, emotional intelligence, business, or self-improvement. Don't judge: I live in LA, I run a business, and I'm trying hard to improve at being a person.

2.

1) Ottessa Moshfegh

We were in youth orchestra together, and I never knew she had all of that acid in her when she was over there playing the flute. She's wicked. I love it.

2) Rose Greenberg

I want to buy all of her Things.

3) Vladimir Nabokov

I am not too cool to love Nabakov. He is one of the very best. He dances with words, and he goes there.

4.

What grabs you about Yoko Ono’s work? / Has her work affected your work?

Her openness and generosity. Her non-invasive approach to art-making. Her instruction pieces that only happen in the imagination of the listener or reader. Her sense of humor and irreverence.

/

Living inside her work for the past 8 months with our collaborators at the LA Phil and our team has changed my brain. It's transformative to inhabit someone's work; to try on their ideas and their taste; to live in their energy. It's also humbling, and of course, totally mysterious. I feel like I know how this woman and artist's mind works, and I feel this strong connection to and understanding of her work, but I also know nothing about her at all. She is a stranger, a myth, a mother, a lightning rod, an 86-year-old woman with a gift for penning Tweets of pure fire.

Is community important to you? / Where do you find your kindred spirits?

Community is the most important. I find it through making cool things with my community at Girlschool; through my friends that I've made in creativity, music, and creative business; and sportsy things. For an indoor violin kid who never played sports and mostly read books, I sure do love to run, move my body, all that stuff, and I have some deep friendships rooted in fitness. I also have a small but mighty family, whom I love and am grateful for. And I've lived in my neighborhood for a really long time. I'm an East Sider. That will mean something to you if you live in LA.

And what do you think the community of the future looks like?

Fluid. Generous. Kind. Plastic. A safe place to try things, to make mistakes. A teaching place, not a telling place. Soft; not rigid.

5.