The Beat and the Buzz: Inside the L.A. Art World

The Beat and the Buzz is one-third a history of the Los Angeles art world since 1970, one-third about the psycho-dynamics of how people make it, or don't, and one-third art world gossip and stories. The book demonstrates how "who you know" is one of the prime requisites for success. More specifically, the book demonstrates the importance of the people you know who will support you, who will "lend their name" on your behalf, who at crucial junctures will promote you and your endeavors. The thirty-three narratives that comprise The Beat and the Buzz represent a cross section of the art world and reveal how people define themselves and the art scene at particular junctures in its history. The books deals with the art world that Artforum is likely to review, the moneyed art world of hope and hype where Basel Miami, the Armory Show, or Frieze may or may not be the holy grail, depending on whom you ask. Included in the book are Ed Moses and Alexis Smith, Elyse Grinstein and Cliff Einstein, Dagny Corcoran and Tom Lawson, Javier Peres and Heather Harmon, Emi Fontana and James Hayward. The Beat and the Buzz reveals distortions that make up a crazy picture of the art world. It is more of an album, a series of sketches, than a coherent narrative. It is about the lived experience of some of the people who make up the L.A. art world, a history that in time becomes codified as art history. The book clarifies and also complicates the many factors that make up the fuzzy algorithm of art world success.