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Issue 8 • Spring 2010 www.ForthMagazine.com 3featured.MARCO MANNONESubjExive Journalism“Where the Elephants Roam:How a Lone Journalist Stumbled Intothe Middle of a Heated Political Battle”with photography by BONA HONGFORTH collective.SOFIYA GOLDSHTEYNArt Journalism“The Pink Bus and the Power of Trash”JULIA INGALLSLit Journalism“Louis Bayard”18Marco Mannoneon the LA ZooSOFIYA GOLDSHTEYNArt Journalism“Ports and Packages: The Plein Air Artof Bianca Kolonusz-Partee”JULIA INGALLSInvestigative Journalism“It’s the Revenue, Stupid”MICHAL ZEBEDEInvestigative Journalism“Truckers Against Sex Trafficking:‘You Can Be Heroes’”12Louis Bayard interviewby Julia IngallsE-subscribe Online. FREE!Submit your work.Go to www.forthmagazine.com.Letters to the Editor:Write to us at editor@forthmagazine.com.Cover photography by Bona Hong.All material © 2010 by Forth Magazine. Any reproduction of materialcontained herein without prior written consent is illegal.13Sofiya Goldshteyn onBianca Kolonusz-Partee

4 www.ForthMagazine.com Issue 8 • Spring 2010editor’s note.13101 washington blvd. #222, marina del rey, ca 90066www.forthmagazine.com • info@forthmagazine.comJeremy PollackPUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEFErin Peronto | PUBLISHER’S ASSISTANTEDITORIALJason Hall | MANAGING EDITORMarco Mannone | EXECUTIVE EDITORSophie Kipner | SENIOR EDITORSofiya Goldshteyn | ART EDITORJulia Ingalls | LIT EDITORSean McWilliams | MULTIMEDIA EDITORSean Manzano | SAN FRANCISCO LIT EDITORBeth Grin | SAN FRANCISCO ART EDITORLAYOUT / DESIGNSally Foster | DIRECTOR OF LAYOUT & PRINT DESIGNJessi Chow | DIRECTOR OF INTERACTIVE & MEDIA DESIGNConnie Phu | PRINT LAYOUT & DESIGN ASSISTANTConstance Cheung | WEB DESIGN ASSITANTMARKETING / EVENTSTracy Cruz | EVENTS MANAGERJennifer Kelly | INTERACTIVE MARKETING MANAGERLindsey Broadous | EVENTS COORDINATORStephanie Dozier | MARKETING COORDINATOREVENT WRITERS:Jenny Blake, Russell Boyd,Carolyn Blais, Elizabeth MansonEVENT PHOTOGRAPHERS:Bona Hong, Nicole DeVries, Nancy AccomandoAD SALESArthur James | Account ExecutiveThe times are a’ changing’… Or so it seems. Wildlife has been capturedand mistreated; California is on the brink of legalizing marijuana; thebusiness of sex and slavery in our state is prevalent and thriving; and Springis finally upon us. Hm…perhaps not much has changed at all since the 20 thcentury. Though, I will propose, from the looks of this Issue of FORTH,that we are becoming more aware, perhaps more sensitive to the issues athand.Forth Editor and Journalist Marco Mannone, in being sent to the LA Zooto “find a story that would go with our Spirng ‘Green’ Issue,” only happenedto stumble into a strange and heated debate on the LA Zoo’s elephantpreserve, discovering intense and expensive arguments as to our state andcity spending habits, as well as perhaps an overall mistreatment and oversightof wild animals in general. Forth Writer Julia Ingalls meanwhile did someinvestigation of her own into state spending, looking at the much debatedMarijuana issue—why it hasn’t been legalized and what significant pointsare being massively overlooked. Further journalism comes from MichalZebede in her wrenching investigation of Sex Trafficking in California anda surprising group of Truckers who aim to combat this horrid trade.And of course, we have some wonderful displays of green and recycledart from artists like Deb Ris and Bianca Kolonusz-Partee, as well as fromthe Sustainable Art Fair. We’re also privileged to feature fictional work byauthor Matthew Flaming and an interview with author Louis Bayard. Thisissue is truly eclectic, including varieties of poetry, art fairs and exhibits,slam art, pieces from Northern California, and a strange and interestingnew section, featuring short fiction by Forth Writer Sophie Kipner, taskedwith personifying the articles at hand and drawing them all together.In keeping with the green theme, we thought it the perfect time to go alldigitalwith Forth. As Spring is a time for renewal and rejuvenation, we’vebegun to reinvent ourselves, developing an even stronger online presenceand developing ideas for an amazing, one-of-a-kind digital magazine, tobe launched later this year. In going fully digital, we at Forth know we’renot only becoming more environmental sound, but more technologicallymodern. And we’re excited: A new digital product, with moving images,videos and slideshows where static photos used to be, play buttons tolisten to the fictional pieces read by the authors, interactive componentsto supplement great pieces of journalism. It’s all in our future, and we’reexcited to be a part of the community once again this Spring, promotingnot only the best in Los Angeles art and literature, but supporting greenartists, writers, and issues—becoming more generally aware and involvedwith our environment, both on a planetary level and a human level. Wehope you continue with us, press on, go Forth, and enjoy!Susan Leppanen | ACCOUNT EXECUTIVECONTACTads@forthmagazine.comJEREMY SHAWN POLLACKPublisher & Editor-in-Chief

Issue 8 • Spring 2010 FICTIONwww.ForthMagazine.com 5Fable of ContentsOne writer is tasked with symbiotically integrating allthe stories and characters in this issue of FORTH.of a lone Asian elephant by the name of Billy,each trunk, tusk and ear was different.The connection presents itself: Billy the elephantis anonymous note #1. One sign down; twoto go.Relieved and equally pleased with himself for solving the first clue,Morton walks with an extra hop in his step into the kitchen and turnson the television while the kettle begins to boil. The news reportersrepeat the statistics, continuing to instill fear and confuse thepeople, just as they did yesterday to an audience who has nodoubt already forgotten. Although, as is the casewith tobacco, the people keep smoking andthe severity of amnesia’s affect increases bythe minute. Special Report appears across theTV screen as District Attorney Steve Cooleystands at a podium next to Mayor Villarigosa,advocating the benefits of marijuana bothphysiologically and psychologically. Beingone of the few people listening who wouldremember that both opposed the bill at theirinauguration, a confused Morton starts tothread cause with effect. What would benefitcity councilmen by legitimizing a drugthat caused memory loss? Reconciling them,he hypothesizes that lying government officials,high turnover of imported elephants, and an amnesiaepidemic all point to a childhood saying encapsulatingit all: an elephant never forgets.Monday morning’s sunrises and Morton heads tothe zoo. En route, he hears a report onthe radio about Truckers Against ElephantTrafficking, in which they interview a localartist and animal rights activist, BiancaKolonusz-Partee. As he walks in throughthe Zoo gates, he bumps serendipitouslyinto a half-naked man with ACNAIB indeliblywritten across his ribcage. Out ofcharacter, he asks the man what it means.The man lifts his pensive eyes to meet Morton’s,takes a moment to collect his answer and thentells him it’s the name of a loved one written back-fiction bysophiekipnerCarrier pigeons anonymously drop origami-like whitenotes through his window on 7th and Grand. Each onea clue: the first written in magic marker, “Billy.” The nextcame a few days later: “Bianca;” the last, “Noah.” In his dustyoffice turned makeshift crime lab in downtown LA, squinting to readthe fine print through his grandfather’s magnifying glass in a room toodimly lit, amateur Crime Detective Morton FORTHston notices eachnote is sealed with an acronym: ACNAIB. Believing in circumstanceover coincidence, he knows he is on to something, although he’s notquite sure what.On this quiet Sunday night, Morton is a rarity. He willwake up tomorrow- unlike his co-inhabitants- rememberingwhat he did the night before. Thankfulfor his severe allergy to marijuana, he is one offew locals unaffected by the rampant, widespreadepidemic of memory loss plaguing the city sincethe drug’s legalization five years ago. After failingattempts to interact with the public, hefound no use in trying as everything he saidhad to be explained. And then, explained allover again. Left happily to entertain himselfwith matters of importance, like crimesolving, the modern day Francois Vidocq, areal life Sherlock Holmes, assigns himself toinvestigate the correlation between the highturnaround of caged Asian elephants at the LosAngeles Zoo and the increasing rates of amnesiaamong the middle to lower socio-economic classes.Perplexed for some time by the lower rates of memoryloss among the rich, Morton would take his curiositieswith him as he drove cars fullof tourists around LA ina Pink Bus, filled to thebrim with artwork madeof recycled trash. Duringone of his routine stopsa few weeks ago at theLA Zoo, he noticed achange in the elephantson display. Each visit,despite the signs thatindicated the residencyIllustrations by Yuri ElvinContinued on p. 36

6 www.ForthMagazine.compinkIssue 8 • Spring 2010busart journalism bysofiyagoldshteynPhotos courtesy of Victoria Brooks and Caroline FletcherTHE PINK BUS ANDTHE POWER OF TRASHWhen I saw my first pictures of the Pink Bus, aPepto-pink double-decker that had previouslyonly existed in my dreams alongside unicornsand cotton-candy clouds, I wanted to get onboard immediately. From its overturned bathtubbar covered with melted vinyl records, toa ceiling with an array of lampshades hangingdown like stalactites, it is a treasure troveof scraps that have been transformed into anentirely unique and surprisingly homey environment.Unfortunately for me, the bus isparked in Edinburgh, so I sought out its twocreators – Reading, England’s Victoria Brookand Caroline Fletcher.The Pink Bus was born out of Victoria andCaroline’s growing concern with trash and itsnegative impact on their surroundings. Whilein pursuit of their fine art degrees at University,they decided to use their sophomore year

Issue 8 • Spring 2010 www.ForthMagazine.com 7project as an opportunity to take their apprehensionand do something positive. They begancollecting unwanted possessions donatedby charity shops, front gardens, skips, andhedgerows, motivated by the desire to transformthem into something beautiful. Thatwas before they knew their idea would sproutwheels.In transforming a rusty old bus into an artinstallation using junk, Victoria and Carolinehoped to make a difference in the way peoplesaw their refuse and its long-term effects.They did not expect that in cobbling rubbishtogether they were also building a community.Having lived in Los Angeles long enough to letthe sprawl of the city make crossing the East/West border akin to crossing the Alps, I couldreally appreciate the importance and difficultyof their achievement. From the shopkeepersthey met in their search for just the right piecesof refuse, to the fans of comedy and musicwho got a chance to experience one-of-a-kindshows on the top deck of the Pink Bus, Carolineand Victoria harnessed the power of oldcast-off objects to build a new environment.Here they share this transformative experiencein their own words.Sofiya Goldshteyn: The most obvious questionfirst - does the bus run?Pink Bus: The bus sadly does not run. It is a25 year old Metroline. When we were preparingto take it up to Edinburgh, we did try toget it fixed, as we wanted to run it on Biofuel.We had the support of SEPA (the ScottishEnvironmental Protection Agency) but financially,we could not afford the repairs at thetime so we had to have it towed up instead.As soon as we have raised a bit of funding wewill get it fixed as we think it would look veryspectacular being driven around.SG: I know the original inspiration for thePink Bus was all the trash you saw, whatother environmental issues are a daily concernfor you and the people in your particulararea of England?PB: Air pollution. Coincidentally, since webegun our bus project, there has been a bigcampaign to encourage people to leave theircars at home and travel by public transport.This drive has been matched by investment inthe transport system, but there is still a longway to go to make a noticeable impact onthe levels of carbon emissions from cars. Wethink attitudes towards environmental issuesare definitely changing for the better, but it isat a very gradual rate. People accept that theyneed to make changes, but perhaps are unsureas to how big a change has to be made to beeffective.SG: What kind of reactions have you observedfrom people towards your projectand towards environmentalism in general?PB: The people we collect our materials fromare initially very surprised that we want totake away whatever they’ve discarded. Oncewe explain what we are using it for however,we have found everyone reacts very positivelyabout their ‘rubbish’ being re-used. We foundan old metal shop sign for Hovis bread left outin a garden and on approaching the owner hewas very protective about it, even though hehad left it in the elements (in fact he gave it tous strictly on loan, threatening to remove ourkneecaps if it didn’t get returned). We invitedhim to the unveiling of the bus with his Hovisbread signs mounted on the outside of thebus and he was so pleased to have them displayedand appreciated, he donated them (andwe got to keep our kneecaps). The attitude toContinued on p. 24

sustainableartfairThe Sustainable Art Fair made its debut on the LA art stage this yearJanuary 15 th -17 th at the Silver Echo Gallery. The goals of the fair includednot only an exploration through art of the culture, technology, ethics, andchallenges surrounding sustainability, but also a dialogue about greenerways of making art (hint: if you’ve been ignoring your lint trap, I have someexciting news for you).Seven emerging and established artists contributed multimedia, kineticand sound installations, as well as painting and sculpture in the hopesof attracting not only art lovers and tree-huggers, but also organizationsand sponsors to assist in the creation of a larger art fair based on the samethemes. Greg Schenk, the curator of the show as well as an exhibitor, seesthe January show as a first installment of many, which will lead up to thebig fair he hopes to secure funding for (to get involved, visit http://www.sustainableartla.com). Below are some of our favorite works from the fair.Katherine Cutright, Untitled, mixed media (lint andmetal), 3’x6’x6”.Cutright is an LA-based muralist, painter, and sculptor who iscurrently making mysterious objects out of the detritus of urbanlife in a search for hidden meaning.Greg Schenk, Human Powered Device #4, mixed media(bicycle, automotive electronics, lights), 4’x6’x2’. Spin ArtWheel (Human Powered Device #2) mixed media (bicycle,wood, aluminum), 6’x6’x2’.Schenk is an emerging artist and the curator of the show. Hislatest work has been creating interactive human powered artdevices, and exploring alternative paint-making processes.Dalia Monserrat Garcia,Untitled, mixed media (bees wax andstring), 2’x8’.Garcia is an LA-based emerging artistwhose work in video, painting andsculpture discusses femininity, femaleroles, and the female self in our culture.Aaron Drake, Untitled, mixedmedia (recycled electronics), approx24”x24”x24”.Drake’s an LA-based composer andperformer whose electronic work hasfocused on notions of authorship byappropriating and manipulating digital‘objects’ such as .mp3, .jpg, .dmg, etc.,as well as recycling and redesigningdiscarded sound making devices such aschildren’s toys, synthesizers and radios.http://www.aarondrake.orgMichelle Chong, untitled (Green Piece), paper, ink (recycled stickers), 3’x8’.Chong, splitting her time between LA and Berlin, is currently exploring the formal qualities of text andworking with graphic design. She appropriates stickers, posters, websites and banners, subverting theirassigned meaning and creating new messages of her own. http://www.michellechong.comGabriel Barcia Colombo, Untitled, mixed media(suitcase, cinder blocks, video), 3’x3’x2’.Colombo is a New York-based mixed media artist whosework focuses on the concept of collecting human beings asscientific specimens, a combination of curiosity cabinets,sleight-of-hand shows, laboratory practices and theories ofhuman taxonomies. www.gabebc.com

10 www.ForthMagazine.com FICTIONIssue 8 • Spring 2010Photograph by epicharmusfictionmatthewbyflamingTHE PHOTOGRAPHAn Excert From THE KINGDOM OF OHIO

Issue 8 • Spring 2010 FICTIONwww.ForthMagazine.com 11Continued on p. 26

12 www.ForthMagazine.com LIT JOURNALISMIssue 8 • Spring 2010interview withlouisauthorbayardLOUIS BAYARDAlthough novelist Louis Bayard undoubtedlydeserves a much longer introduction, allyou need to know is that he’s as hilarious overthe phone as he is in print. Enjoy.Julia Ingalls: You’ve written five novels. Fool’sErrand was about the quest for love, EndangeredSpecies was about the quest for family,whereas the novels Mr. Timothy, The Pale BlueEye, and The Black Tower seem to be about thequest for identity.Louis Bayard: Oh, wow! That sounds good.JI: We’ll put it together as a blurb, I guess. Butdo you agree with that? What made you wantto write in the past?Photograph by Gina Eppolito“Once, without realizing it, they spent ten minutesconversing about two entirely separate topics.Alex was talking about S/M lifestyles, and Patrickwas talking about living in New York, and they didn’trealize their error until Alex said, with an air of finality,‘Well, it’s a lot to go through just for an orgasm.’”—Fool’s Errand, Louis Bayardlit journalism byjuliaingallsLB: You’re talking about binding all thistogether, that implies that I put much forethoughtinto this than I really did. What happenedis that I’ve written these two books.They were put out by a small press, and theysold decently for a small press book, but I gotan itch for a larger audience. I had this particularidea about Tiny Tim, of all people. I’mnot even sure where it came from. I was talkingto my agent, and I mentioned it, and hegot intrigued by it. This historical thing grewout of writing about Tiny Tim.I didn’t set out to be a historical novelist. I’dnever written that way before. I’d never writtena thriller before. It was really a self-educationto put that together. That’s the logistics ofhow that happened. Because the book did wellenough, the publishing industry being what itis, they kind of want you to do more of thesame thing. The next book was about a reallifeFrench detective who inspired Poe [FrançoisVidocq]. They’ve all been linked that way.There’s at least some tangential link. Maybethe second and third book, not so much. But Ican see where identity plays a part, and wherefamily plays a part in a lot of these books. Mr.Timothy is the creation of an alternative family.The Black Tower is about trying to reconnectwith his parents after their deaths. I cansee all of these things resonating.JI: The Black Tower specifically seems to bewritten at a much more cinematic clip. Thechapters come at you much faster. Was thatintentional?Continued on p. 22

Issue 8 • Spring 2010 ART JOURNALISMwww.ForthMagazine.com 13art journalism bysofiya goldshteynPORTS AND PACKAGES:The Plein Air Art of Bianca Kolonusz-ParteeBianca Kolonusz-Partee makes pictures ofthe things we ignore using pieces of the thingswe discard. Cezanne painted his Mont Sainte-Victoire over 60 times, Monet recreated hiswater lilies dozens more. The subject of industrialshipping ports may not seem so romantic,but to Bianca they are every bit as potent. Industrialports are universal gateways, throughwhich we receive nearly everything we use everyday.Not that we notice them. In fact, youmight say we make a point of ignoring them.This is particularly easy in a city like Los Angeles,where the unpleasantness can be easily lostin the endless sprawl of our mega-city. Even indenser cities like New York and San Francisco,where the cranes and docks are unavoidable,most of us are so inured to the sight that itbecomes part of the white noise of urban life.We tend to remember the Empire State Buildingand the Golden Gate Bridge.Bianca believes this is typical: “The averageperson in LA, unless they live in those areasdoesn’t really think about [shipping ports]or see them.” And yet, according to the LongBeach Alliance for Children with Asthma, theamount of air pollution blowing inland everyday from the Long Beach/Los Angeles portsis equal to that generated daily by three millioncars. Children in Long Beach face someof the highest levels of asthma and permanentdamage to lung development in SouthernCalifornia. Diesel pollution from the ports’trains, ships, cargo conveyors and trucksposes such significant risks to local residentsas cancer and premature death. “There’s allthis processing going on that you can visuallysee and smell. It’s causing the same amountof pollution and damage as it is in New Jersey,but the San Pedro and Long Beach portsContinued on p. 25(clockwise from top left) “Red Hook.” 10”H x 26”W, 2009. Recyclable materials, colored pencils, adhesives, map tacks. “Jersey Meets Manhattan.” (detail). 6-1/2”H x 62”W,2009. Recyclable materials, colored pencils, adhesives, map tacks. “Outward Inward 2” (detail). 40”H x 180”W, 2009. Recyclable materials, colored pencils, adhesives, maptacks. “Outward Inward 2” (preliminary drawing). “Outward Inward 2.” (see details above). by Bianca Kolonusz-Partee.

14 www.ForthMagazine.com ART JOURNALISMIssue 8 • Spring 2010art journalism bysarahjanebruceBLURRING THE BOUNDARIES:Art Basel Miami Sets the Tone for 2010Last December the art world breathed a collectivesigh of relief as Art Basel Miami beachgot under way. The mood at the fair was noticeablycheerier than 2008, when all the airkisses, hand shakes and fake smiles could notdisguise most participants’ fear of the comingapocalypse. Since the recession continued tobatter the art market for most of 2009, thisyear’s fair was still more subdued than the allout bacchanals of years past, but as they say,“the show must go on,” and it did.Nowhere was this more evident than atJeffery Deitch’s beachfront party at the RaleighHotel. Deitch’s annual private bash hasbecome the place to see or be seen on theopening night of the fair, and this year guestswere treated to a superb performance by indiedarling Santogold. Deitch’s role as the unofficialringleader of the downtown New Yorkhipster set now has interesting implicationsfor L. A., as he was recently appointed directorof the Los Angeles Museum of ContemporaryArt. This is the first time a major art dealer willrun an American museum, and it remains tobe seen whether Deitch’s street/pop/kitsch aestheticwill infiltrate the hallowed halls of oneof L.A.’s most respected institutions.The blurring of boundaries between thetraditionally public and private sectors of theart world was a recurring motif at ABMB. Oneof the city’s major non-profit exhibition spaces,the Bass Museum, debuted “Where Do WeGo From Here?” an exhibition of selectionsfrom La Colección Jumex—Mexico’s largestprivate collection of contemporary art. Thefair’s festivities also included the debut of themuseum-like De La Cruz Collection ContemporaryArt Space in Miami’s Design District.Home to the personal collection of Rosa andCarlos De la Cruz, the exquisite three storyspace outshone any of Miami’s current publicexhibition spaces.Los Angeles artists featured prominentlythroughout the fair and it’s festivities, fromPae White’s transformation of the Collins ParkOceanfront into a glowing village to ShepardFairey’s inclusion as a speaker in the “Art Conversations”series. Fairey’s acceptance into thefine art world from his previous categorizationas “street” or commercial artist is another indicatorof how much the landscape has changed.In his talk at the fair, Fairey stated, “I thinkthat initially, I wasn’t interested in the artworld because it’s such a narrow conversation.It’s more the spillover to the rest of culture thatI’ve been impressed by.” If the beginning of2010 is any indication, the spillover has becomea deluge.

Issue 8 • Spring 2010 INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISMwww.ForthMagazine.com 15investigative journalism byjuliaingallsPhotograph by ElPablo!IT’S THE REVENUE, STUPIDWhen I think about marijuana, I think aboutdistrict attorney Steve Cooley. Bongs, innerclarity, and cancer patients simply don’t exertthe same visceral pull as the man who wantsto be the next state attorney general. SteveCooley is my personal figurehead of dope.The D.A. grants few interviews, but hispositions are well known. Over the past year,the Los Angeles City Council has draftedseveral proposals to attempt to regulatethe 137 medical marijuana dispensariesoperating with permits in the city of LosAngeles. On each occasion, the D.A. has saidthat he will prosecute those who attempt tosell marijuana. Compromises, addendums,even thousand-foot proximity limits fromschools do not soften his political stance.Apparently, Mr. Cooley thinks of voterintent as more of a survey.But what a survey. According to a Galluppoll, 54% of Americans in the west supportinglegalization. With dispensaries facing a varietyof perplexing legal issues, it may be simplerto just outright legalize it. As of January2010, there is a bill in the state assembly tolegalize marijuana and place a $50 tax on eachounce sold. People familiar with additionand multiplication vouch for the economicfeasibility of the plan, and the subsequentfinancial boon to the state.So what is the dark side?Many people in law enforcement feel thatmedical marijuana dispensaries are perfectfronts for crime/terrorist organizations. Oddlyenough, fronts are not exclusive to drugoperations. Perfectly legitimate businessescan set themselves up as fronts for lazy retiredcrime families. An otherwise pleasant seemingcoffee shop on the West Side of Los Angeleswas, for years, run by an unscrupulous Asiancrime family with very insecure hairnets. Andwas the coffee remarkable? No.Then there’s the problem of setting up aboard to regulate medical marijuana. Wheredoes the money come from to appoint a boardwho will watch over the dispensaries? Whatabout malpractice insurance? How will thelaw be written, if everyone is far too stonedto do it?The state assembly has a much better plan.Legalizing marijuana without classifying itas a medical substance will eliminate thornybureaucratic issues, close doors to Evildoers(who are currently battling to be recognizedas a separate entity from jazz fusion band theEvildoneIts) and boost revenue.Or will it?Continued on p. 29

yland16 www.ForthMagazine.com Issue 8 • Spring 2010poetry bybowmanF-STOPTrout feeding in the current,creek steaming in the cold;we stood in the willow brake,highway out behind us,looking for the moose we’d seen.I wondered if sex would be the sameafter what we’d read about the grizzlies,how the smell, during their early falleating, struck them. You counted towardsmenstruation: guard set on the cycle,nights wary on the tarp.A sweep of bluebirdsbanked above the mist.Your camera clicked. Earth, fullof urges, listed from star to star.NORTH FORK OF THE NEWThin oil for the cold car.Paint peeling off the Subaru.Leaves on the windshield wipers,chocks behind the wheels.A place you can rent for cheapabout five miles out from town,Game Land boundaryrunning along the ridge.Morning or night,something to conjure by,like seeds after a burn:good weed in a glass jar,a stack of songs on the dusty floor,a broken-in pair of boots.Photograph by mljannise

Issue 8 • Spring 2010 INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISMwww.ForthMagazine.com 17investigativemichaljournalism byzebedeTRUCKERS AGAINSTSEX TRAFFICKING:“YOU CAN BE HEROES”The fastest growing criminal enterprise inthe 21st century is human trafficking. Surprised?So was I. Even more of a surprise isthe role played by the United States. Eachyear, 50 thousand people are trafficked intothis country, making America a main destinationsfor modern-day slaves. The top citythrough which these victims enter the US isthe glitz-and-glamorous city of dreams, ourvery own Los Angeles.But in the words of Tzighe, a victim oftrafficking here in LA, “there is hope.” Hope,which sometimes comes from rather curiousplaces.“She was young. I don’t know how young,because it was dark and it’s hard for me to tellblack peoples’ age,” began one trucker’s story.Help was coming, I thought, from a worldthat was drastically different from my own—comfortable, liberal, all-embracing LA.It was Lyn Thompson who realized thattruck drivers have an unusual proximity to humantrafficking, and are thus ideal for identifyingvictims. Her initiative Truckers AgainstHuman Trafficking aims to stop sex trafficking—especiallyforced prostitution—byreaching out to these members of the truckingindustry.As a result of the organization, the NationalHuman Trafficking Hotline, to whichity. Since the LAPD and the FBI rely heavilyon tips and leads, these calls have provenfundamental to the liberation of traffickingvictims nationwide.Here’s what’s remarkable about this. Thesepeople care. These truck drivers from middleAmerica are incredibly concerned and morallycompelled to take action. Obviously notall of the truckers care, but a few of them do,and these few are spreading the word throughthe network of truckers like gospel through agrapevine.“Personally, I think anybody that ignoresit, I’m not sure I wouldn’t want to give them abloody nose,” said Scott Weidner, President ofTransport for Christ.As I spoke to these individuals with backgroundsso drastically different from my own,I guiltily found myself wondering why theygot involved. Why do they care?So I asked them. I asked them the questionthat I have so often asked myself. Theiranswers are dispersed throughout the wordsthat follow. I suspect that for the truckers, it’sa matter of human dignity and personal pridethat leads them to feel sympathetic towards thesex slaves; more sympathetic, that is, than theaverage American newspaper reader—sympatheticenough to take action.an anti-slavery organization in Oklahoma.Women in Trucking is an affiliated group,as is Transport For Christ, an organizationworking to diminish the demand for prostitutionamong truckers. “We started this seekingGod,” explains Lyn Thompson, a devoutChristian from Oklahoma and the founderof Truckers against Trafficking. “Everythingwe do is based in prayer.” Again, a foreignworld, I thought. But it occurred to me thatLyn’s reason for caring—religion, conservativism—hadsomething fundamentally in commonwith my own concern. I care about sextrafficking because I care about sex. That’sthe fault of my conservative, religious mother(who grew up in the bubble of Jewish CostaRica), and the resulting sex-is-special upbringingfrom which I no longer try to break free.In October 2008, Lyn and her co-founding5 daughters put on a human traffickingawareness conference, where Phil Gazely, SocialJustice Advocate on Human Trafficking,was invited to speak. Phil mentioned the roleof gas station attendants in identifying traffickedvictims, which he hopes will become“a movement.” The gas station outreach ideabegan in the mind of Kevin Bales, president ofFree the Slaves and a key player in America’sfight against human trafficking. Lyn decidedto take the idea one step further.Lyn’s awareness campaign directs truckers, hasSince then, she’s been educating truckersreceived countless calls from drivers across the THE VISIONARIES about the issue, and raising awareness nationwidecountry concerning human trafficking activ-via radio shows, websites, webinars,Illustration by Yuri ElvinTruckers Against Human Trafficking beganas an initiative of Chapter 61 Ministries,Continued on p. 30

subjExivemarcojournalism bymannonePhotography by Bona Hong

WHERE THE ELEPHANTS ROAM:How A Lone Journalist Stumbled Into theMiddle of a Heated Political BattleWRITER IN A CAGEBilly has no idea what he’s done wrong.Just another confused statistic behind bars,sentenced to life for a crime he never evencommitted. Now, without any means to pleadhis case, the 23 year-old is slowly losing hismind. Celebrities, politicians and activistshave been fighting over him for several years,and a major trial – with a $42 million price tag– is set to go to court this spring. Advocates forBilly’s life-sentence declare he is getting exactlywhat he deserves, while critics denounce hiswrongful imprisonment as a cruel means to anend that could result in his premature death.Billy happens to be an Asian Elephant, butthat is beside the point. This is a life or deathsituation, with millions of dollars flutteringthrough the air and a Mayor’s reputation atstake.But I digress… There is simply noway I could have known that going to theLos Angeles Zoo to write up a “routineenvironmental story” would lead to uncoveringa conspiracy filled with politics and money,death and cover-ups. After all, us writers areno different than the restless animals pacingthe Zoo’s cages: waiting for the Muse to getclose enough to the bars so we can lash out likestarved lightning and get a taste of inspiration.I know this now… In fact, at the dawn of thishorrible new decade this may be all that I trulyknow. My official assignment was to go to theZoo and prance around like a jerk to indulgeForth’s latest asinine theme: how “Green” isL.A.? Well shit, it doesn’t take Al Gore to driveover the Sepulveda Pass and see the browncloud of death choking us all to realize we aredoomed, doomed, doomed.But enough with diving-board theatrics…let’s jump head-first into this murky cesspooland swim beyond our depth. Humble arts &literature publications still in their infancy aresoft targets for the flaming arrows wieldedby powerful organizations such as the LosAngeles Zoo in conjunction with the City ofLos Angeles – so, it is safe to say, the Forthstaff can expect a few fires around the editorialoffice soon. Let’s not forget that as of 1997,the Zoo became its own city department, witha clearer voice to the City Council and moredirect control over its operations. Money is atstake here… and lots of it.WELCOME TO THE(FAKE) JUNGLEI went to the Zoo without an angle ora care (and slightly hungover). Followinginstructions, Forth photographer Bona Hongand I checked in at ticket booth 11 for ourfree guest passes. With time to kill, we decidedto check out a gift shop where I purchased anelephant mask: the best $7.99 I ever spent.Bona suggested I wear my sunglasses over it sothat I could “blend in.”Gangs of pregnant women pushing babystrollersgawked at the Elephant Man. Iinstantly became an attraction, Mr. King ShitFreakshow -- more stimulating than the 1,100depressed animals laying around behind barslicking their genitals. As a child I adored zoos,the concept of zoos, even the putrid stench ofzoos. When my parents took me to the BuffaloZoo (the third oldest in the nation) I wastransported to a new and exotic world. Butnow, years later, they don’t really mean thatmuch to me any more. In fact, I can’t evenremember the last time I’ve been to a zoo.We entered the Administration Buildingto meet with its public relations and marketingdirector, Jason Jacobs. He greeted us warmlyand lead us to a golf-cart, zipping us througha maze-like path.“So I know nothing about zoos,” I held myrecorder up, bored out of my skull, “where doall these animals come from?”“You can trace all of their ancestries backto their wild relatives, but a majority of theseanimals are the latest of several generations tobe born in captivity.”I never thought of it that way. You go tothe zoo and imagine all the daring adventuresbehind catching each animal and shippingthem across the globe, but in reality, they allcome from a long-line of domesticated lifers.Except for the lions. They were acquiredthrough the Wildlife Waystation who rescuedContinued on p. 20

But you can read all of this in a brochure, andsince I’m in the magazine business, I droveback to the West Side without a story.No story, that is, until I began Googling theZoo for research. It turns out that $42 millionmud-pit, and the solitary elephant it intendsto house, has been the subject of heated debatebetween various warring factions of this cityfor several years now. In addition to countlessanimal-rights activists, TV legend RobertCulp has been trying to egg on a lawsuitagainst the Zoo in conjunction with real estateagent Aaron Leider since ‘07. They allege theZoo withheld medical care to their elephants,confined them in too small an area, and evenused bull hooks and electric charges to controlthem. To top it off, this vocal celebrity activistis claiming construction for a new elephanthabitat will be an epic waste of taxpayer’sdollars – especially during a time of economicdespair. The California Supreme Court hasdenied a petition by the City to review aCourt of Appeal’s decision in September of‘09 allowing the animal welfare suit to go totrial. So despite L.A.’s evasive efforts, the gavelcomes down sometime in March / April andthe Shit Show will commence.Curious about all of this, I decide to callup Mr. Leider himself to pick his brain onthe lawsuit he is filing against the City, askinghim, “On what legal grounds are you suingthe City?”Leider informs me, “There is a law that statesthat the City cannot keep acquiring propertythat it cannot maintain. The elephants areconsidered property, and the death-rate clearlyshows that these animals do not fare well incaptivity. It costs approximately $156,000annually to care for a single elephant incaptivity. This is on top of the $42 million toexpand the exhibit. As taxpayers we’re payingfor all of this and will continue to pay for thesuffering of these animals. It’s our right to dothis.”It turns out, us Angelinos are “only”coughing up $36 million as $5 million of theproject’s budget was made in private donations.But still, that ain’t exactly pocket change. Andthe question remains: is any amount of moneyable to prevent these animals from dyingprematurely? I ask Leider, “Fifteen elephantshave died there since 1968, correct?”“They only claim twelve because three ofthem were leased to the Zoo, so they don’ttechnically consider them their property. Youhave to understand, this new exhibit wasapproved in ’06 when the Zoo lied to the CityCouncil about these deaths, covering up allthe facts, saying the elephants were perfectlyhealthy. Seven years ago, there were fourelephants: Tara, Gita, Ruby and Billy. Taradied in ’04 at the age of 39 (the average lifeexpectancy of their species in captivity is intheir 40’s, while in the wild they can live up to70). Two years later, 48-year-old Gita droppeddead – literally – in her outdoor paddock.Believing 47 year-old Ruby was on her lastlegs, the Zoo preemptively “retired” her to thePerforming Animal Welfare Society sanctuaryin San Andreas to avoid another death on theirhands with this multi-million dollar project inthe works. The sanctuary gives them access to100 acres of land and even a Jacuzzi for themore arthritic members of their family. It’s themost humane alternative for them right now.”“So this thing is set to go to trial soon,right?”“Yes. We won in the Appellate Courtand the City desperately doesn’t want togo to trial with this. Just in the preliminaryhearing, the stuff that leaked about the Zoothey were freaked by. The City went to theSupreme Court to try and overturn this, andthe Supreme Court shut them down. So justthe fact that the City did that is a sign ofdesperation. If they have nothing to hide, thenthey should have nothing to worry about.”“What kinds of things are they concernedabout?”“For example, out of all that grandconstruction going on over there, you haveto realize a bulk of that is for people and notthe elephants. These special trees that they’regoing to be planting that will make it look soContinued on p. 27

22 www.ForthMagazine.com LIT JOURNALISMIssue 8 • Spring 2010BAYARD. Continued from p. 12LB: Cinematic is probably a good word forit. I definitely wanted to keep that moving. Iwas just remembering a key thing in the writingof that book for me—I usually just writethe whole way through, and then read it allwhole way through, but because I was goingon vacation and I didn’t want to bring mylaptop—see, these are the way things happen,like these silly little things—so I just printedout what I had. I was astonished by how muchfat there was in the book. There was a lot oflarding—most of it, research. One the trapsof being a historical novelist is you do a lot ofresearch usually, and then you want to shoehornit in there wherever you can to reassurepeople that you’ve been working really hard,and you deserve a gold star for all your hardwork, and then you go back and read it withan unbiased eye, and think, “I really don’tneed that. Readers don’t really need to knowthat.” I wound up scissoring away a lot of thatstuff, and the result was so lean that it forcedthe whole book in that direction. I liked thatit was moving so rapidly.JI: It really does accentuate scenes. For example,the scene in the morgue at the beginningat the book with the piano forte in the nextroom, is incredibly realized. It’s fun to read becauseyou’re there, you know.LB: Good. That came out of research, whichis where a lot of great ideas come from. I readsomething about the morgue and how themorgue-keeper lived in the same building, andhis family was next door, that was inspired bythe reality of it. I was fascinated by that juxtaposition.JI: It comes across really well.LB: Good!JI: To give you your gold star for all your research.LB: [Laughs.]JI: You got a master’s degree in journalismfrom Northwestern. You must have alwayswanted to be a writer from when you weregrowing up. Why did you choose journalismas opposed to trying to write fiction directly?LB: I should say my college senior year thesiswas a book of short stories. If somebodyhad rushed a printed collection and turnedme into the next David Leavitt—I’m trying tofigure out who was the ideal at the time—um,I would have gone that way, but nobody wasrushing to publish these, so I liked the ideaof journalism because it I thought it get meout in the world and introduce me to somemore reality than I had experienced at thattime in my life. Since I had anticipated goinginto journalism, I realized I would need toget some clips. I thought a master’s programwould be the best way to go about doing that.I left there fully convinced that I was going tobecome a newspaper reporter. But I couldn’tget a self-respecting newspaper to hire me. SoI became a flack in Washington and stayed onthere in that capacity for various people andorganizations. And eventually became a freelancer,which is what I’ve been since ’95.JI: Wow. Congratulations on that.LB: I’ve served a lot of masters. A lot of thework I’ve done is not by-lined. I write junkmail, I write newsletters, I’ve paid the bills in alot of different ways.JI: Is that difficult to switch from one style ofwriting to another? How do you make surethat your writing remains what you want it tobe when you do a lot of commercial work andthen you get back to fiction?LB: I do the fiction work the first thing in theday. I’m at my freshest. If you wait longer inthe day, things always come up. It’s like thosepeople who put off exercise until 4’o’clock,something happens, the phone rings. I writeas long as I can, which some days is all day,and some days it’s just an hour, but I try to getat least an hour a day. The discipline comes instopping and going on to the other stuff thatis frankly less interesting but is more immediatelyremunerative. I’ve developed a prettygood balance over the years. I sit down and doit. Any professional writer just kind of has todo it. That’s how bills get paid. You don’t havetime to futz around. But we all have our ownprocrastination tools.JI: It seems like you consistently write reallyhilarious, wonderful columns. I’m thinkingspecifically of the work you do for Salon.com.Specifically, there’s an essay you wrote called“Attention: All You Memoir Fabulists.” Myfavorite example is Walt Whitman’s ‘Songof Myself’ where you say, ‘Reviewers haveflagged the following line: Do I contradictmyself? Very well, I contradict myself.’ Andyou say, ‘We should change the second line to‘Sorry.’”LB: That article was prompted by an exampleof a memoirist who had been fabricating herstory. People saw it as a fabrication, but really,the issues we think are uniquely modernhave an ancient providence. And the wholequestion of telling the truth about one’s lifelies outside of time, because we all tell fictionsabout ourselves and our lives, whether we’reconscious of it or not. We’re all fictionalizing.It’s a vexed area, trying to decide if somethingis fiction or non-fiction and where the line is.JI: Would you consider doing a novel in aslightly more contemporary historical periodlike the 1960’s or the 1980’s?LB: I would love to. I’m not wedded to horsesand carriages by any means. The book I’mworking on now, half the story is told in themodern day. It’s really quite refreshing notto have to ask myself, ‘What the hell wouldthey be wearing?’ I have this basic frame ofreference. On the other hand, I found to mysurprise I had to do almost as much researchabout modern day stuff because there is onlyso much in the world I experience on a dailybasis. It’s taken a lot more work on the frontend than I thought it would.JI: Is the book about the Elizabethan “Schoolof Night?”LB: Yes.JI: And the contemporary period that you’reworking in, is that literally modern day?LB: It’s literally modern day. It’s like, now.And it’s Washington, D.C, where I live. In away, I’m revisiting some of the terrain of myfirst two books. And using a little more comedyas well. Or trying to, anyway. It’s interesting;I’m right in the middle of it, and I’m consciousthat I’m using different registers. Thehistorical tale is set in 1603 England and has amore tragic register. The modern day is moreof a caper, has more of an antic quality. I’ll beinterested to see when I do the critical stuff ofre-reading the manuscript, whether those differentregisters come together or clang againsteach other.

Issue 8 • Spring 2010 LIT JOURNALISMwww.ForthMagazine.com 23JI: How much time do you allow yourself toedit your work after you write it?LB: Part of it is that when I have it to whereI want it, I send it to my editor and she goesthrough it pretty diligently. I make response toher edits. The Pale Blue Eye was substantiallyre-written between the first and second draftsbecause of what my editor rightly suggestedabout structure and shape of the story, thingslike that. But I don’t know. I give myself a fewweeks to go through it and hack away at it.Usually, it’s hacking away. Most writers are likethat. We write more than we need to. There’sa great quote by Roger Ebert, in an obituaryfor Paul Newman. I think they quoted RogerEbert saying, “He spent the first half of his careerfiguring what to put into his acting, andthe last half deciding what to take out again.”I think that’s true. As you get older, you realizeit’s much more of a taking out. You knowthe stuff, you know you don’t need as much.That’s the mistake I see in aspiring young writers.They blast you with words. They wanttheir voices to be heard. It’s hard to convincethem they could be heard much better if theyjust pare away a lot of that stuff.JI: It seems it also has to do with structuringit so you don’t get lost in tangents—which, Isuppose, is the same as cutting it down.LB: Sometimes it is a plot fix. I honestly thinkplot is relatively easy to fix, or it can be. Thestuff that can’t be fixed is if the voice is insecure.For that reason, I always take the longesttime with the first chapter. The current book,I spent several weeks on the first chapter, becauseI wasn’t happy with the voice, and whothe narrator was, and it took me a while toget fine with it. Once you get that in place, itgoes much faster. There’s no substitute for asure, confident voice. Plot--you can lift thingsup, move things around. In The Pale Blue Eye,I actually removed an entire character. Not amain character, but a secondary character. Sheserved no plot or function, she was there reallyjust to entertain me. And that was harder in away than killing off a character, to remove acharacter entirely. It requires a lot of juggling.In the end it was worth doing.JI: What do you think is your ultimate ambition—well,that’s kind of a strange question.Let me put it a different way.LB: [Laughs.]JI: Do you feel accomplished? Are you lookingto write ‘The Perfect Novel’?LB: I don’t know. I think I may have givenup on writing the next “Great Gatsby.” I thinkthat falls to one or two people in a generation.I like writing in genre, I like the idea of writingentertainments. I have no belief that mywork will necessarily outlive me. But I thinkyou can write some thoughtful things in thecontext of genre. Some of my favorite writershave been genre writers. Raymond Chandler,Ruth Randall, Patricia Highsmith, in the sameway that Dostoevsky did, but they do it in thecontext of a particular entertainment form.The trends I like in literature today is that alot of those genre lines are being blurred, andyou’re seeing people like Michael Chabonwriting detective novels.JI: For a while there, it seemed that literaryfiction was at an incredible remove from plotor narrative based fiction. I think it’s good toweave them back together. I think either extremebecomes dull, but if you somehow interweavethem.LB: I agree. I wonder how much of that hadto do with academia. For a while, in parts ofacademia, the whole idea of a story was cast indoubt, the idea that fiction should tell a coherentstory. I was rather frustrated with the ideathat we should always remind our readers thatthis is fiction. I love the illusion of being sweptup into a story, and not having the writer constantlynudge me and say, “This is just fictionyou’re reading.” Well, I know that.JI: Do you pick the cover art on your novels?LB: I get to weigh-in. I suppose if I ever choseto exert it, I would have veto. I try to be openmindedabout it, because I recognize that Idon’t always know what works in the marketplace.If I truly hated a cover, it wouldn’t fly.It becomes more of a collaboration betweenme and my editor and my agent. I feel luckyto have a team helping with this stuff. Authorsare frequently not good at anything but writing.We’re not good self-promoters or marketers,and certainly not visual artists.JI: Why do you think that real-life 18 th centuryFrench detective Francois Vidocq [a principalcharacter in The Black Tower] is no longeras well known as his fictional counterpartSherlock Holmes?LB: That’s a question I asked myself. One ofthe reasons I wrote the book was to make himbetter known in America. He was back in the19 th century—his memoirs were best-sellers onboth sides of the Atlantic—he was well-knownenough that Poe and Melville and Dickenscould allude to him, and readers would knowwho he was it. I’m not quite sure what happenedto him. I’m not sure why he ended upin the dustbin of history. I sometimes wonderIf it’s the funny spelling—the ocq at theend of the name—people don’t know how topronounce that. Holmes, of course, is such aneasy thing to spell.JI: That’s sad, but you’re probably dead-on. Ihave to admit my ignorance: I had not heardof Vidocq before I read The Black Tower.LB: I hadn’t either, until I read the Murdersin the Rue Morgue. That was the first time Isaw his name in print. Because the characterDupin was immediately at pains to elevatehimself above Vidocq’s example. It’s like, whois this guy? It’s a slaying of the father impulse,saying ‘I’m better than this guy.’ Kind of likeHolmes would later do with Dupin. There’sthis whole history in detective fiction of thenext generation of detective rising from theashes of the previous one.JI: Who is the 21 st century’s detective? Whoembodies that?LB: Among the writers currently out there? Ithink the model is still Chandler and Hammet.I’m not sure we’ve had our 21 st centuryguy yet.JI: Do you think the prevalence of crime dramaon television could be the template?LB: Maybe that’s it. Maybe it’s the forensicscientists. All the CSI guys. The idea that wecan solve crimes by putting attractive peoplein laboratories.JI: Don’t forget the cool music.LB: Yeah, the cool music. And these very dramaticlighting effects! Which I’m thinking inany laboratory would be like, “I can’t see.”These like, Chiaroscuro compositions. “Cananybody see through their microscope? I canbarely see you.” Louis Bayard’s new novel is The School of Night.

24 www.ForthMagazine.com ART JOURNALISMIssue 8 • Spring 2010PINK BUS. Continued from p. 7environmental awareness is slowly changingin households but by being able to take people’swaste and turn it into something visuallyunexpected and entertaining is a very effectiveway of promoting change.SG: You didn’t know from the beginningthat you wanted to use the bus as a performancespace, right? What are the unique benefitsof having such an unusual venue?PB: When we first begun the project, I don’tthink we thought past the bus being anythingmore than an installation piece. But after holdinga party on the bus to celebrate our degreemarks and thank everyone involved, it becameclear the atmosphere on board was completelyunique. As a venue, the atmosphere is instantas soon as you enter the bus, and the intimate‘stage’ at the front of the top deck creates aperformance experience like nothing else, particularlywhen watched from the double bed.SG: I bet! What are your favorite parts ofthe bus?PB: We love our double bed on the top deck,which became one of our performers, thecomedian Paul Foot’s stage as he conductedbedtime story shows from it to a pajamacladaudience. We also have a ‘love corner’for our romantically inclined visitors whichis complete with Mills and Boon wallpaper,pink chandeliers, posters of great lovers (KylieMinogue and Jason Donovan, Barry Manilowand Rod Stewart) and a velvet heart that singslove melodies when squeezed (we were veryexcited to haul that treasure out of a skip stillworking).We find that although we put the bus together,there is still new angles to see it fromand things to find, particularly as on everyflat surface we have papered up old newspapers,song sheets and discarded documents sothere is always something waiting to be read.SG: That ‘s awesome! What was the best partof working on the bus for you guys?PB: We felt the most rewarding part of creatingthe installation was meeting the peoplewho donated all their unwanted possessions.As well as gathering items from our local community,we also had a team of charity shopvolunteers who collected up all their unsellablestock for us each week. Although charityshops try not to throw away a lot, they haveto get rid of items that they can’t shift and soit ends up in a landfill. Even now, despite thefact that the bus is packed to bursting withobjects, we can remember where the pieceswere found, why we chose them and who theywere given by. We both feel that the best partof using recycled materials is the history of theobject that is contained within it.SG: That’s beautiful, and you really feellike you’re looking at something specialwhen you see any of the objects on your bus– especially the stuffed animals, those reallystruck me and made me think about theirpast lives. And of course, all ordinary objectshave such lives.PB: Yes, Germano Celant sums this up wellin “A Bottle Full of Notes and Some Voyages,”in which he discusses Claes Oldenburg’s andCoosje van Bruggen’s interest in the mundaneand everyday objects: “It is on the stage of the‘everyday’ of the world of things and objects inthe world, that the self, through the process ofits imagination, gambles with constructing an‘alternative’ to the world, a history and identityof its own.” It is this identity that interestsus; how is it that individual people can sometimesproject something of themselves ontoinanimate objects and make them their own.It is this essence that we are tried to capture.SG: What are some of your favorite objectsyou found for the bus?PB: When we were looking for the bar materials,we found an old curved bath surround ina front garden on top of which we melted onvinyl records to make the perfect bar top. Oneof our favourite finds was a car seat cover with“pink wheels” written on it which is now onthe driver’s seat. This particular item we rescuedfrom the bottom of a skip. At times itfelt very much as though the bus had alreadycreated itself and then exploded, scattering itscontents, and our task was to put it back together.It was a very organic process.SG: What are some of the ideas about wastethat you’d like to impart on your viewers?PB: Most of the objects we gathered had alreadybeen designed and manufactured tofulfil certain functions and had since becomeobsolete. Redeploying them in a new environment,brought a new perspective and challengedthe roles they were created for. Wehope that by doing this we inspire the potentialin the huge amount of objects we waste.SG: What were some of your influences orinspirations for the Pink Bus?PB: The root inspiration was ChristophBuchel’s exhibition, “Simply Botiful,” an installationpiece set within a warehouse inLondon’s Brick Lane. The show is a series ofillusions, playing on the psychological and environmentalconnections we have with materialobjects.We strongly connected with the carvedout habitats that Buchel created. Like Buchel,we like to impart something about the peoplewho once owned the objects and that sense ofremnant energy prevents it as merely being apile of rubbish. Our visits to the Whitley estate(an expansive post- World War 2 housingestate in Berkshire, Reading) that housesa wide range of different people have furtherinspired us, meeting people and photographinghouses and driveways that display similarhoarding, with some people creating cocoonsof protection built around their individual livingspace.Celant has a great quote about this: “Theself is constantly confronted with the irrepressibleoscillation of the things of the world,and risks getting lost in the labyrinth of theirinfinite travels. In order to avoid that loss andto face down the terror of being drowned inthe world’s avalanche of objects, the self triesto capture some of these things, to make themits own, it gives them personal value, whetherpositive or negative.”In a similar way, we have become drawnto observing how people hang on to so much.The way they are kept, stored, hoarded, cantell us something about their lives. It is likelythat our interpretation is not the actuality, butwe have satisfied our own need to understandhow these objects function within people’slives.SG: That’s really interesting, viewing theworld as an avalanche of objects, and makingup your own histories based on the waya person hangs on to their stuff. I hope youkeep sharing the bus with people, the discussionsand thoughts it stimulates are reallyworthwhile… Speaking of sharing, whatis the next stop for the Pink Bus?

Issue 8 • Spring 2010 ART JOURNALISMwww.ForthMagazine.com 25PB: We are currently applying for fundingto take the bus to a series of Festivals comingup throughout the year. The bus has recentlybeen the anchor exhibit to The Royal West ofEngland Academy’s Autumn Exhibition andwe hope that other galleries will be interestedin showing it. The bus is also for sale and soif it is snapped up by someone it will provideus with the funds to continue making worktogether. We feel the bus is best when it’s inhabitedand so our goal is to keep bringing itto new audiences. We also get people bringingtheir unwanted possessions on board and takingthings away from the bus so it is continuallyevolving.SG: I love the interactive aspect of that! AndI’d really like to see what your artistic processwill evolve into next. Have you startedthinking about your next collaboration?PB: The next idea we are exploring involvesstorage facilities. We are inspired by the ideaof the secrets, the excesses and the forgottenin storage warehouses. We are currently lookinginto taking over a floor of a storage facilityand creating installations in each of the baysfor an audience to walk around. The eerie atmosphereand voyeuristic element we feel willprovide a memorable viewing experience.SG: Sounds creepy and fascinating in allthe right ways. I can’t wait to catch up withyou then, I’m sure it’s going to be amazing!PORTS. Continued from p. 13seem more remote.”Bianca’s keen attention to the ‘forgotten’parts of our landscape began before she movedto Los Angeles for graduate school, but it wasthere that her professors recommended shelook at the work of photographer Allan Sekulafor ideas on how to get closer to her subject.Sekula would hang out in longshoreman bars,befriending the denizens and eventually gainingunprecedented access to shipping yards,ferries, and their inner workings. Bianca knewthat as a woman, building friendships withlongshoremen in the comfort of their wateringholes would not be right approach for her, soshe tried to find her own way in. “I just had tobe a total nerd about it – I studied the maps,and I spent a lot of time [at the ports].”Yet her initial plein air sketches for theport series proved challenging, to say theleast. Plein air work is a constant battle withthe elements: fading light, shifting spatialrelationships, lousy weather. Bianca eventuallytransitioned into using video to capturedetails of the port landscape, upon which shewould base her collages. This was not a transitionwithout some angst since Bianca is quickto lament the way technology can remove usfrom directly experiencing the world aroundus. But in this case, the video camera has setBianca free: “I am now using technology toget closer to the landscape. With video I havemore time to look at the birds flying in, I havetime to look at the water, the air, the movementof things.”Bianca sees meaning in the details of theseplaces society ignores. “We’re disconnectingtoo far from the landscape, the further weget away from it the less we care about whathappens to it.” The ports are our dirty secret,the cost of a consumerist lifestyle. But Biancais not out to proselytize or point fingers. Toavoid knee-jerk reactions, she even refrainsfrom incorporating corporate logos or othersuch easy targets for capitalist critique. “Thework for me is very political and very environmental,but I would never have it be overtlypolitical…It is a place you can have your ownthoughts.”But Bianca’s work eschews the coolly detachedintellectualism of ‘thoughtful’ or ‘political’art. It is, unequivocally, beautiful. Andwhile it is nothing new for an artist to bringthe ‘forgotten’ or abject into the gallery – KikiSmith and Paul McCarthy have made longcareers of it – few have addressed such uglythings with such formal beauty.The striking intricacy of Bianca’s cityscapesis revealed when your face is five inches fromthem, your eyes endlessly running over tinystrips of every color and pattern imaginable.As soon as you take a step back, the illusion ofpainted lines springs up, the meticulous stripsturning into brushstrokes. Citing Cezanne asa big influence because of the way he coulddefine a space with just a few planes, Biancahacks away at her structures until only themost integral lines are left. The visual depth ofthe collages, especially the largest work Outward-Inward2, is enhanced by the fact thatsome colored strips have been pasted over andover, the layers raising away from the gallerywall like mountains on relief maps. She likensthe visible thickness to the erasure marks sheleaves when drawing, a tangible record of herprocess.The joy of discovery comes when a line ofink gives way to the hatch pattern of a securityenvelope or the vibrant red of what surelymust have been a candy wrapper; Bianca’s mediumis not limited to paint or ink: she is makingart from packaging. In this case, the mediumhas and obvious intrinsic connection tothe message. Shipping ports are the universalgateways to the cheap, prepackaged goods thatfuel our lives. Goods we consume; packagingwe throw away. It seems ludicrous to think ofthe billions spent designing the perfect wrapperor box for everything we consume, whenit all winds up in the trash heap. Our trashis incredibly expensive, and also highly designedfor maximum aesthetic appeal. Bianca’sshredding renders this packaging anonymous,breaking it down into its most basic components,and using those to rebuild our cities invibrant color.When Bianca first started to use packagingas her medium, she was really proud of herselffor being so green. However, her Prius-ownerlikeself-satisfaction didn’t last. Bianca didn’tgenerate enough trash to populate her collages.Soon friends and relatives from around thecountry were called upon to carefully gathertheir most picturesque packaging, box it, andmail it in. The irony to convey the environmentalimpact of importing while receivingpackaged trash in the mail did not escape Bianca.“It made me realize that I’m just as attachedas anybody to all the packaged stuff wehave.”Despite seeing marshland destroyed beforeher eyes, Bianca is positive about the future ofour environment, “I feel like I’m hopeful. Thelandscape is stronger than anything we cancreate.” Since the last time she painted at theOakland port, some of the industrial propertyhas been converted back into marshland; thereis even a new park. At this rate, we may oneday look back on Bianca’s urban port-scapes asrelics of a faded past, nostalgic for trash in ourunsullied future, wistful for our own MontSainte Victoire.

26 www.ForthMagazine.com FICTIONIssue 8 • Spring 2010PHOTOGRAPH. Continued from p. 11

Issue 8 • Spring 2010 SUBJEXIVE JOURNALISMwww.ForthMagazine.com 27ELEPHANTS. Continued from p. 21lush and natural? They’re going to be electrifiedbecause the elephants will knock them down.They will be put there for our aestheticpleasure.”“So if you win this lawsuit, what happens tothe construction? Does it stop cold-turkey?”“Not at all. The new exhibit is there tostay. What we’re proposing is to release Billyto a sanctuary where he has freedom to roam.The Zoo can then place half a dozen smallerspecies which coexist into that space and letthem have more freedom.”“Sounds reasonable. So what can peopledo to support your cause?”“The people of Los Angeles should rallytogether and ask Mayor Villaraigosa to keephis promise that he made before he was electedto place Billy in a sanctuary. He stated publiclyand repeatedly that elephants do not belong inzoos and should be sent to larger preserves.”A little web surfing reveals that the Mayordid, in fact, endorse Billy’s freedom a coupleyears back. May 13 th , 2005: “I have believed forsome time that a zoo is not an appropriate placefor an animal as large as an elephant. I thinkwe need to move the elephants out.” April 12 th ,2006: “I’ve said for a long time that I think weneed to take the elephants our of our zoos. I believethat.” April 19 th , 2006: “I don’t think zoos arebig enough to house elephants. Nature preservesare more appropriate places for elephants.”I have no choice but to call the Mayor’soffice and demand some sort of explanation.Why would Villaraigosa use Billy as acampaign gimmick, only to change his mindonce he was elected? I get as far as Press AideRachel Kruer, who encourages me to send heran e-mail that she will forward to the “properchannels.” Days go by without any response,so I follow-up with the Press Aide over thephone and she tells me, “I’m looking into it,but we’re not sure yet if this is something wewant to officially comment on or not.”If the Mayor is too scared to make astatement, surely the PAWS sanctuary willhave something to say about this, right? Kindof.“If the Zoo should decide not to keep Billy,and if we make critical statements about thempublicly, then it might cause problems. I don’tthink it would be wise for us,” president andfounder Pat Derby told me over the phone.“What is the conflict of interest here?Can you at least tell me if you endorse theirhandling of Billy?”“We’ve complained for many years.There are some improvements with their newexhibit, but we’re opposed to bringing in moreelephants with Billy. It’s an incredible amountof money to spend for such a small space.”“What kind of trouble can the L.A. Zoocause for your sanctuary?”“If we’re openly antagonistic, I fear thatif the Zoo ever did decide to send Billysomewhere else, they would not considersending him here. We would happily takeBilly if that situation ever arose.”“Well if we can’t discuss the present, howabout the past? They sent Ruby to you a coupleyears back. Is she still alive?”“Ruby is alive and doing wonderful.She has bonded with three other AfricanElephants.”“Why did they send her to you?”“They sent her to the Knoxville Zoo atfirst, and she did not do well there at all. Theyhad to bring her back, and they had no otheroptions, so they sent her to us. And we’retotally thrilled that they did.”“Too bad they can’t do the same for Billy.”“I think there is an incredible amountof arrogance. If Billy has so many neuroticbehaviors, and they’ve had him since he wasfour, they are obviously not doing somethingright. There are no guarantees that they will,even with a different space.”THE ELEPHANTIN THE ROOMOf course, the Zoo has claimed to havelearned from their mistakes, and the newPachyderm Forest is supposed to be a splashymonument to their newfound wisdom – likeContinued on p. 28

28 www.ForthMagazine.com SUBJEXIVE JOURNALISMIssue 8 • Spring 2010ELEPHANTS. Continued from p. 27suddenly realizing that keeping a Sperm Whalein a fish-bowl might not be such a good idea,after all. The Zoo touts it as a groundbreakingachievement while the critics say the new3.6-acre paddock will be inhumane. Why thediscrepancy? Well, for one thing, the averagefree elephant wanders anywhere from 10 to50 miles a day in the open. Confined to 3.6acres, no matter how pretty it is, might not beenough to maintain their mental health.Yes, it turns out animals – like people – goa little Joaquin Phoenix if they are coopedupin small spaces for long periods of time.“Zoochosis” is defined as such: zoo animalsexhibiting signs of extreme depression andrelated psychological conditions as they strugglewith the confines of their captivity. Accordingto critics, Billy’s frequent head bobbing is anindication that he’s losing his bowling ballsizedmarbles – as this obsessive behavior hasnever been recorded in the wild. The GreaterLos Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA) claimsit’s a “comforting or thumb-sucking behavior.”Accordingly, if Billy were to use his trunk topour gasoline over himself and light a match,the Zoo would probably claim he was “chillyand wanted to get cozier”.These aren’t Sesame Street allegationsby any means, so it’s time to hear the Zoo’sperspective on all of this. I get their PR manJason Jacobs on the phone, who berates me,“I just don’t understand how you came to theZoo to write up an environmental story, andnow all of a sudden you’re asking about ourelephants. How does that happen?”“Look, man. I stumbled into this thing bypure accident.”“This wouldn’t be the first time the activistshave sent a reporter out to us to do a hatchetjobon what we do.”“I’m not an activist. I’m a journalist. Tobe perfectly honest, I don’t care to endorseeither side. It’s my job to take a story apartand examine the pieces.”Jason sighs heavily, “Do you know howmany people are protesting this new exhibit?Twenty at the most. Do you know how manypeople visit the Zoo every year? Over onemillion. The people who are making this anissue represent a small minority.”“So why do they try to make this anissue?”“They are making an issue out of thingsthat have happened in the past and halftruths.”“Half truths? What’s in it for them,financially or otherwise, to make up theseallegations?”“They’re animal-rights activists. Theydon’t… they just don’t believe in elephants…or that any zoo should have elephants.”“So they’re anti-elephant?”“They just don’t understand that ourelephants are treated very differently todaythan they were 20 years ago. We don’t bringthem inside at night any more and chain themup. That hasn’t happened since 1993.”“So what’s their problem? Why don’t theyjust back off?”“Animal-rights activists will never behappy. They will get celebrities and stage pressconferences at the Zoo or in front of City Hallbecause they want to attract media attention.And if you get media attention in Los Angeles,you have it across the world. Our animalsreceive excellent care, and our new PachydermForest will be larger than San Diego’s AfricanElephant exhibit. We have the San DiegoZoo’s support on this. I mean, what are LosAngelenos supposed to do? Drive hundreds ofmiles north to the PAWS sanctuary and spend$200 a person to see the elephants? They don’teven let children under 13 go there.”“So why did you guys send an elephant tothem in ‘06?”“That was our African Elephant, she wasan older female, and we felt the sanctuarywould be best for her. Also, we wanted tofocus on Asian Elephants and PAWS had aherd of African Elephants, so we thought thatwould be a good fit.”“Is it basically a nursing home for oldelephants?”“There is a need for sanctuaries. They’refor animals who don’t have options. But if allelephants were sent there, how is the averagefamily supposed to show their children thesemagnificent animals? Can you imagine a worldin which the only way to see an elephant is in abook or on TV?”“That’s a compelling point.”But the question remains: is our ownconvenience worth the suffering of any animal?The centerpiece for the Zoo / City’s argumentis that the children of Los Angeles “deserve”to see these animals in person. More andmore, I am beginning to believe that seeingan elephant is not a right, but a privilege. Aprivilege that we should most likely earn.Jason concludes our conversation bysaying, “Look, it’s my day off and I need tocook up some ribs. I would be more thanhappy to talk to you about this more in person.If you would like to go down with me to SanDiego and see their African Elephant exhibit,I think you will realize what we’re doing hereis special. We’re not hiding anything. We takeour mission very seriously.”There is something to be said for an animalloverwho eats ribs. It would seem logical thatthose who love and care for animals should bevegetarians, but who am I to argue that someanimals deserve to be protected from poachingwhile others deserve to be sliding throughour colons? Jason encouraged me to contactCouncilmember of the 4 th District, TomLaBonge. The 4 th District has jurisdiction overthe Zoo, and LaBonge would be a good personto speak with on the City’s side. Instead, I getone of his “representatives” on the phone.“So Jason gave me the Zoo’s perspective onthis situation, and with the impending lawsuitcoming up, I wanted to get the City’s take onthis.”“Uh, can you be any more specific?”“The people who are making theseallegations, what do you think they’re angle is?What are they trying to get out of this?”“Um, I don’t mean to be evasive, but I feellike you should ask them that question?”“Well, is there anything else the Citywould like people to know? Anything the Citywould like to clear up?”“Um… I don’t know what is unclear. Idon’t really know what you’re asking.”“The allegations are false. The case isunfounded. So there is no issue as far as theCity is concerned, correct?”“No, we’re not saying that. We’re saying wehave confidence in the City attorney’s office todo a good job. Councilman LaBonge supportsthe Zoo wholeheartedly and has since he waselected in 2001, and this case is no exceptionto his staunch support of the Zoo.”“Staunch support despite the allegationsthat the Zoo’s only elephant is exhibiting signsof severe stress and mental agitation due to hiscaptivity?”“The Zookeepers, the people who dealwith this elephant on a daily basis, assure usthis is just the elephant’s way of anticipatingbeing in contact with them.”“So his constant head bobbing is justgood-natured, social body language?”“Uh… the bottom-line here is, the peoplethat care for Billy every day, they know himvery, very well. They have a very specialrelationship with him.”

Issue 8 • Spring 2010 JOURNALISMwww.ForthMagazine.com 29FORGET IT MARCO...IT’S THE L.A. ZOOClearly, the Zoo has a relationshipwith Billy that is so obviously special, this“representative” of Tom LaBonge did notwant to be mentioned by name. Not since the2008 Presidential Election have two politicalsides been so diametrically opposed to eachother. And, as usual with any Shit Storm, theFacts get buried under tons of feces while theOpinions reign supreme. All I can make outof this mess is that just as we don’t blame thetroops fighting in Iraq for following orders, wecan’t point fingers at the Zoo’s diligent stafffor this whole elephant debacle. No sir. Asusual, the problem lies within Management.Access to too much money with not enoughoversight is a tune we’ve been forced to listento for a while now -- and I don’t know aboutyou, but my ears are bleeding. Has greedpermanently infected the very last fibers ofthis great nation’s DNA? Is there no cure tothis chronic corruption?Jesus. Listen to me ramble. Here I wasgoing to the Zoo to find out how “Green”they are, and I come back with the elephantequivalentof Chinatown. What’s next?Elephant incest? This much is clear: AsianIs therechronicno curefor thiscorruption?Elephants are fucked. They apparently havetwo choices in this world: lose their minds in acage, or get hunted for ivory in their quicklydwindlingnatural habitat. Come to think of it,us humans pretty much face the same dilemmaevery day. It turns out, Zoochosis ain’t just foranimals. Herded along highways and crowdedinto cubicles, are we really any better off thanBilly or his fallen comrades? When you take astep back (and it’s any two-bit journalist’s jobto do just that) the entire Modern Conditionis so utterly insane it’s hard to take sides anymore.That the City of Los Angeles is spending$36 million for elephants that we shouldn’teven have in the first place… while 82,000human beings are left starving and sick on itsvery own streets on a nightly basis… is too depressingto fathom. Tell you what, L.A. -- thenext time us taxpayers have to cough up $36million, it sure as shit better be for a state-ofthe-arthomeless shelter on 6 th Street in downtown,where the nightmare of the human soulknows no end. Otherwise, you run the risk ofa good, old fashioned riot -- the kind whereman and elephant alike can stand together inthe righteous conviction… that basic moraldecency is still worth fighting for… even inthis unfair city we call our home. REVENUE. Continued from p. 15REVENUE: THE LAW,AND THE GROWERS“You gotta look at how the governmentworks,” Jeff Joseph, the owner of thedispensary Organica, explains. He’s beenrunning Organica since 2007. The majorityof his clientele are card-carrying cancerpatients. As a State Board of Equalization taxpayingbusiness owner, he has a sharp graspof revenue, and the keen understanding ofhuman nature that anyone dealing with thepublic on a regular basis must possess.“[The government] has two differentaspects. They have taxation, but they alsohave law enforcement. The laws that they’reenforcing, that’s their business. Their businessis not law changing. That’s our job. The lawmakers want to represent their constituents.But until the constituents’ voice is loudenough, they don’t really want to do anything.It’s a hot potato. Law enforcement is going tointerpret the law to benefit them. Everybody’sgoing to interpret the law to benefit them,whoever’s interpreting.”When asked about the potential revenueprovided to the government by taxation, Jeffsays, “Let’s look at this way.“They already have a revenue basis. Thepeople who are able to actually enforce the lawalready have the revenue base. They look at thetax as a threat to the revenue base.”But this fear about a threat to the revenuebase is not purely on the side of the law. Iflegalization were to become a reality, howwould large-scale marijuana growers feel abouttaxation?It should be noted that interviewing largescale growers is a bit like using carrier pigeons;it doesn’t seem like it’s going to work, but itdoes, somehow. As it happens, large-scalegrowers in California are pro-legalization.They foresee that if marijuana is legalized,large-scale corporations will take over, and a“King of Beers” situation will result, turninghomegrown growers into the equivalent ofmicrobreweries, whose high-end product willattract the discerning buyers.Since the first wave of dispensaries opened,these large-scale growers have witnessedan increase in their sales. In some places,such as Humboldt county, growers feel thatlegalization would “bring legitimacy to a veryold industry.”But taxation does not necessarily excitethem. Much like law enforcement, they aresomewhat reluctant to part with a revenuestream that is working for them, in favor of anuntested method.So what is the solution?As Jeff says, “[The law is] enforcing thestatues that are there. We get the other sidesaying, well, people voted for this, we want tosee this happen. You got a conflict of interest.People need to make a clear law. That’ll be thefirst thing.”LAWSUITS AND FEESBefore a clear law can be made, however,it’s much better to start suing people. At least,as of March 2010, this seems to be the solutionof city attorney Carmen Trutanich, who fileda lawsuit against Organica, among others, toprevent over-the-counter sales of marijuana.But not to worry. Public advocacy groupAmericans for Safe Access filed a counterlawsuitagainst the city on behalf of thedispensaries.The lawsuits were prompted by theFebruary 3 rd signing of a city council billlimiting the number of dispensaries to 70.The law hasn’t quite taken effect, as its passagehinges on the city approving the fees that thedispensaries will pay to remain in operation.It’s the revenue, stupid.

30 www.ForthMagazine.com INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISMIssue 8 • Spring 2010TRUCKERS. Continued from p. 17awareness conferences, and wallet-sized cardswith detailed instructions on how to identifya victim.Why truckers? A massive amount of sextrafficking takes place at highway rest stops,truck stops and gas stations. Usually, victimsof sex trafficking put on a smile for their buyers;they’ve been threatened from their pimpsthat if they do otherwise, they will be beatenand tortured, or their families will be killed.But if a girl sees one client repeatedly, a relationshipmay begin to form, and eventually shemight trust him enough to confide. Transientpopulations—like truckers at a truck stop—are ideal in the eyes of traffickers, because themen won’t be there long enough to “rememberher face, or form a bond,” explains Lyn.In addition, the victims “are transportedprimarily across interstate freeways,” says PhilGazely. “What we’re doing is getting peopleto be our eyes and ears.”Truckers, then, are in a two-fold uniqueposition to spot victims of trafficking. Theinitiative is to educate these truckers about sexslavery, to help them identify the signs, to informthem that the “prostitutes” they encounterare not all there of their own volition.THE HEROESOne massive truck stop in Ontario, justhalf an hour outside of LA, is particularly notoriousfor “prostitution.” In fact, prostitutiongot so bad, that the city of Ontario had to putup a fence around the station to keep the prostitutesout. Nevertheless, the problem persists.Chaplain Michael DeBay, who permanentlyministers out of a trailer at the Ontario truckstop, told me “I hate to say it but they’re likecockroaches, those prostitutes.”At night, truckers at the Ontario stationand elsewhere find themselves uncomfortablysolicited by a bang on their truck door,or a shout over the radio: “any guys lookingfor some company?” In the words of StephenKing, truck driver, “You’d be in your truck andthey’d be beating on your door and you’d tellthem no, go away.” But most truckers didn’tturn down the knock at the door. The organizationTransport for Christ is devoted primarilyto preventing truck drivers from turning toprostitutes.“There’s always a good handful of truckdrivers,” says Chaplain DeBay, “that make itbad for the rest of them”—that is, by havingsex with prostitutes, thereby tainting the truckerreputation. I’ve come to learn that truckersgenerally care a great deal about maintainingan honorable reputation. Dave Bowman,trucker and head of Christian Truckers Network,alludes to the problem: “Now we’re gettingour reputation damaged and tattered by asmall group of truckers who will haul anythingfor a buck including human slaves.” In otherwords, truckers are not only the heroes, butthe villains of the story. Or at the very least,accessories to the villains. And it’s up to thetruck driver to reclaim their dignity—muchlike the sex slave whose dignity has been ruthlesslystolen from her.In LA, an estimate of 10 thousand womenare currently being forced to work as prostitutes.But the typical truck driver has no reasonto suspect that when he calls for a prostituteover the radio, he may well get a sex slaveinstead.“Most truckers think these women aredoing it just to make money, and treat themjust as prostitutes,” says Stephen King, whohas been a trucker for 15 years. Now that he’sbeen taught to recognize the signs of trafficking,he has spotted a great deal of suspiciousactivity.In August, Stephen was chatting with aman who (due to the economic crisis) had recentlylost his home and was living out of hiscar at a truck stop. He told Stephen that hehad seen a vulnerable young girl offering herservices. The two men reported the situationto the national trafficking authorities. Later,they learned the girl was 15 years old and beingheld against her will.At a different truck stop, Stephen spotted2 girls with a suspicious man. This caught hisattention because one of the girls had a blackeye. When the man went to the bathroom,the 2 girls entered the chapel, where theyfound Stephen, approached him, and said “weneed help.”Because these girls are being moved all thetime, they have no idea where they are. An inabilityto identify surroundings, coupled withthe confusion that naturally follows, providesan important red flag for truckers who are onthe look out.One anonymous trucker reported the following.When a young woman asked himif he wanted to buy her services and he declined,she said “you see that white Cadillacover there? I’m gonna get the hell beat outof me if I don’t bring back a certain amountof money.”Similarly, Keith Thomas, a trucker fromIndiana, reported a “young girl knocking continuallyand desperately on his truck door.”Had he not heard about Truckers Against Traffickingearlier that week, “I would not havethought of human trafficking. I didn’t evenknow human trafficking existed until I heardLyn on the radio.”* * * * * * *The above cases might lead one to believethat once awareness has been raised, truckersmerely help out because the crime literallycomes knocking at their door. After all, it’sharder to take action when sex trafficking ismerely a headline in an easily closeable newspaper.LAPD’s Kimberly Agbonkpolor, ProgramManager of the LA Metro Task Force AgainstHuman Trafficking, explains: “As long as we asa community ignore [trafficking] it will continueto flourish.” A fundamental step whichis often overlooked is the acceptance of humantrafficking. “We as a society still cannotgrasp how slavery can exist today; we see it assomething that we have abolished hundreds ofyears ago,” explains Daphne Phung, Founderand Executive Director of California AgainstSlavery.But, if these vast amounts of women arebeing forced to sleep with 25 men per day,“someone has to see it,” says Kimberly. Thetruckers do. But it takes more than that; Kimberlydescribes a fear-induced silence in somecommunities, which prevents people from reportinginstances of human trafficking.In other words, the blunt proximity tohuman trafficking is only the foundation ofthe truckers’ concern. What enables them toovercome the fear, potential repercussions, oreven laziness to report suspicious activity is, Ipropose, a personal connection to the crime.Bear with me for a few paragraphs as I indulgein an anecdote to prove my point:I was mid-interview with a victim of humantrafficking in LA. As she told me her horrificstory, her face was only a few inches awayfrom mine. Curiously, at the moment whenher second wave of tears was on the verge oferupting, I found my mind wandering. Shit.I’m going to be late to this dinner. The dinnerwas in half an hour, with a friend of a friend ofa friend, who was quite well connected. I stillhad to pick up a bottle of wine—or a box ofchocolates—where does one buy fine choco-

Issue 8 • Spring 2010 INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISMwww.ForthMagazine.com 31lates in this part of Los Angeles? How muchmoney should I spend on them? Oh my god,It’s 5:42. If she’s not done talking by 5:43 I’mgoing to have to interrupt her.“She was never convicted! My traffickerdid six months of house arrest, and that wasit!” The tears had begun.Perla is a woman of remarkable strengthwho thought she was following the Americandream when she was transported from Mexico;instead, she was locked up in an LA sweatshop and forced to work as a slave. After 40days, she managed to escape, in spite of threatsfrom her trafficker that her children would beharmed.“Perla, I’m so sorry, but I have to go,” Isaid. “Do you think you could finish up inabout one minute?” I really did feel bad. Ifelt worse than bad. I felt horrified—whatthe hell have I become. Here was a victim ofmodern-day slavery, and I didn’t even have thecourtesy to let her finish her story. This was atale of extreme injustice, of helplessness andhopelessness; this was a violation of basic humandignity.Why didn’t I seem to care?After tormenting myself for a bit, itdawned on me that something was missingfrom this case. Sex. Perla had not been forcedinto prostitution, but into sweat shop labor.Even with the injustice of trafficking literallystaring me in the face, I was simply notas moved as I had been when, for example, Ispoke to a woman, Gaby, who at 13 had beenforced to have sex with 10-20 strangers a day.When Gaby was done with work, her pimpwould put salt on her vagina and tie her upbefore simultaneously beating and raping her.I’ll admit: Perla’s story, which was not one ofsexual exploitation, didn’t haunt me in thesame way.Consider who else cares, enough to takeaction. Daphne Phung, founder of CaliforniaAgainst Slavery,* was appalled to learnthat when young girls are bought and soldfor sex, the girl frequently gets blamed insteadof her trafficker (as a result of society’s inabilityto grasp modern-day slavery in America).Daphne first encountered trafficking when shebegan writing her senior thesis on sex slaveryin Southeast Asia, where she was born.More directly, the Coalition to AbolishSlavery and Trafficking in LA uses a survivorcenteredapproach to combat the phenomenon,training liberated victims to speak outagainst human trafficking.Over the past year, I have spoken to somany who fight against human trafficking (socialactivists, victim therapists, human rightslawyers), and I’ve come to the conclusion thateveryone who cares enough to take a stand ispersonally connected to the issue.What about our truckers. How does traffickingrelate to them—especially the non-Christians, or the ones who sleep with consentingprostitutes—on a personal level?Many help out of guilt. I spoke to severaltruckers who had slept with a prostituteat least once in their past. After they learnedabout human trafficking, they began to wonderwhether they had purchased sex from aconsenting woman. “I didn’t realized theywere being forced into it,” said one trucker.* * * * * * *There is one part of the story that I havenot yet explained. One has to wonder whythese good-natured, altruistic truckers areprone to prostitution in the first place. Theanswer is simple: Loneliness.“They’re out there on the road and they’relonely. And these prostitutes—they know it,”says Chaplain DeBay. As Keith Thomas putit, “you’re gone so much that your kids growup when you’re not around. I’ve been married30 years to the same girl, and that’s pretty fortunate.Most of these guys don’t make it withthe same wife, because they’re away so often.”Another driver sat in her truck for 5 dayswithout stepping outside or speaking to anyone.Hell, these truckers are so lonely that inaddition to rambling on, they started throwingmy questions right back at me: how didYOU get involved in fighting human trafficking?And I was happy to talk to some of them,more than others. (Becoming a trucker is a lotlike becoming a professor—many times, peoplego into the profession due to a lack of socialskills.) During one interview, I thought tomyself, Poor thing. He just wants somebodyto talk to. So I listened for a little while.Chaplain DeBay said, about a driver whohad come to confession earlier that day, “I’llprobably never see that guy again. That’s thebeauty of this in a way.” Thus it seems thatthe victims of trafficking aren’t the only oneswhose faces are forgotten within the transientworld of the truck stop.* * * * * * *IN SUM ANDIN CONCLUSION“I know God hates injustice,” says LynThompson. It’s her closeness to God, and Hispresence in every aspect of her life, that fuelsher. “It’s not just a Christian issue. This is anissue of humanity,” says Scott Weidner. And,for the truck drivers, I can’t help but return tothe words of Dave Bowman, “It is a matter ofpride in being a trucker.”Truckers against Trafficking reaches out todrivers with “you can be a hero.” A hero haspride. A hero has dignity. A hero does notsleep with sex slaves or transport them. Whynot become a hero.* * * * * * *The tale of Truckers Against Trafficking,then, is a 3-part story; that of the victim, thevisionary, and the hero. But these storylineswere not as separate as I initially expectedthem to be. Even I, the spectator, managed tobecome intermingled.When I spoke to Keith, I was touched byhis dedication to basic human decency, andto helping others. “It’s a ‘me’ mentality outthere,” he said. “If you’re continuously thinkingabout ‘me,’ then your life gets pretty miserable.”“Wow, that’s a lot of wisdom right there,”I said, to which he replied with a blush of alaugh. I went on, “I’m a writer and I thinkabout those issues all the time—helping others,making your own happiness. You knowwhat I mean?” He did.And then I thought: I’ve really come tolike this trucker who’s on the other end of thephone, somewhere out there on the road. Irather hope things turn out alright for him.Against all odds, a trucker ended up beingthe person in this story with whom I identifiedmost. Perhaps it’s through forming these personalconnections with one another, by diggingdeep to the basic shared level of humandignity, that little by little, we too can becomeheroes. * California Against Slavery needssignatures by March, for their proposal tostrengthen anti-traffi cking laws inCA through ballot initiative.Sign now at californiaagainstslavery.orgor visit castla.org to get involved.

BEYONDpoetry bychesteraaronNEMATODESOver the last thirty-five years I have collectedeighty-five varietiesof garlic from seventeen different countries.They differ in:appearance, size, skin colors, number of cloves,taste.To defeat the gophers, I plant in wood boxeswith wire bottoms.Planting-time: September through November.60 boxes, 150 cloves planted in each box.I harvest May-June, hang them in shade forthree weeks.Some varieties do not survive soil-change,weather-change.Some do not survive gophers and/or wildturkeys.Some are diseased and doomed even beforeplanting.For fifteen years I have sold my garlics all overthe world.Then, suddenly, two years ago: the worstharvest ever.I lost close to 80% of my entire crop of raregarlic varietiesnot to gophers or turkeys or diseased seed butto nematodes.Nematodes: microscopic parasites in the soil.The best defense against nematodes: predatorynematodes.They eat those nematodes living in the soilbut do not eat the garlic.In a telephone call to a woman farmer in TexasI described my tragedy. She did not say a word.Over the next two months, in the mail or UPS,I received packages from farmers all over thecountry.Farmers to whom, over the years, I have givenfree seed.I have recovered about 90% of those rarevarieties I lost.I fed predatory nematodes into the soil andplanted.This year’s crop looks like it might be the bestever.

SADIE(French Germinadour, a HardneckPurple Stripe Garlic)My father was born in Russia, mymother in Poland.They grew garlic in our garden inPennsylvania, near Pittsburgh.If I had an ear ache Poppa pushed agarlic clove into my ear.If I had a toothache Momma mademe chew garlic cloves.In combat, in WWII, in Germany,Russian troops did not havepenicillin.I would see Russian soldiers pullgarlic clovesfrom their pockets to rub on theirwounds.I am convinced my cat Sadie lived arecord twenty years,because of her love for garlic. Why?The gophers she killed and ate haddigested my garlic.Sadie became addicted. She wouldnot eat kibble or milkunless I squeezed a clove of garlicinto the bowl first.She preferred a variety calledFrench Germinadour(sent to me years ago, fromMarselly, by Lise-HeleneTrouilloud.)One morning I saw Sadie comingacross the field to greet me.She did not see the Red-Tail Hawkdrop out of the cloudsand plummet down through thesky.I did not have time to scream. I didnot have to.Apparently alerted by the feel andsound of compressing wind,Sadie, at the last moment, floppedover onto her backand clawed at the chest and belly ofthe hawk.The astonished hawk lifted itselfout of range of Sadie’s claws and,deserting several floating feathers,climbed back into the sky.Sadie was not a soldier, Russian orPolish or American,but she could fight to save her life.Thanks to garlic?paintings bymichaelshankmanTEENY BIAGGIO(Transylvanian, a Softneck Silverskin/Artichoke garlic)Teeny Biaggio is twelve years old.Her mother brought her to my farm to interview mefor a paper for her sixth grade English class.We sat outside, on the deck.When, suddenly, several bats flew out from under the eavesTeeny ran screaming into the house.“Teeny,” I said, “bats eat thousands of mosquitoes a year.Bats help us live.”Teeny said, “At camp, every summer, I get sick from mosquito bites.”The first night of the full moon Teeny’s mother brought Teenyto help me plant garlic brought to me from Transylvaniaby Professor Robin Miller of Brandeis University.Teeny and I dug fifty holes in the soil.I placed one tablespoon of bat guano in each hole.“What’s bat gu-wanno?” Teeny asked.“Bat-shit. It has nitrogen and other elements the clove needs to grow.”In June, when I harvested, the Transylvanian garlic was themost beautiful of all the varieties produced in all the boxes.I sent a card to Teeny, at Summer Camp, telling her the news.Teeny Biaggio sent me a card from Summer Camptelling me she had not been bitten by one single mosquito.Why? Because Teeny Biaggio had taken my suggestion that shemake a mix of crushed garlic and olive oil and spread it on her skin.“I am going to write a paper,” Teeny said,“about why I love bats and bat-shit.”With his recent paintings,Michael Shankman revealsinteriors and exteriors ofcollapsing homesteads fromsuburban areas of Colorado,the area where he grewup. Centuries ago peoplemigrated to this uninhabitedfrontier to build new lives,full of promise. Shankmansees similarities in thepresent-day migration ofhopeful newcomers whocontinue to make their wayto this mountain region, tobuild their homes amongthe skeletal remains of theirpredecessors’ dreams. Thepopulation of the FrontRange has nearly doubledin twenty years, alteringthe landscape dramatically.Where once there wasopen space and farmland,suburban sprawl nowextends to the horizon.Shankman’s small, square,modular panels mimic thestandardization of newlydeveloped enclaves, theirmodesty a reflection of theirfragility. The artist defineswith paint brushes andpigments the inescapablereality that we have come nocloser to finding Utopia inthe American West.

Slamurban art art & literature“EVERYDAY” BY MIKE MCGEEEveryday I rewrite her name across my ribcageso that those who wish to break my heartwill know who to answer to laterShe has no idea that I’ve taught my tongue to make pennies,and every time our mouths are to meetI will slip coins to the back of her throat and make wishesI wishthat somedaymy head on her belly might be like homelike doubt to doubt resuscitationbecause time is supposed to mean more than skinShe doesn’t know that I have taught my arms to close around herclocksso they can withstand the fallout from her AutumnShe is so explosive,volcanoes watch her and learnterrorists want to strap her to their chestsbecause she is a cause worth dying for

Artwork displayed are part of the VoxHumana Live Art Performance, whichtook place at the LA Art Show in January2010. (CREDITS: Woman’s Face, oppositepage left, is a collaboration between Retnaand El Mac. Geometric below is by Kofie.City with the boy, right, is by Mear One.)Photography by Tommy TungMaybe somedaytime will teach me to pick up her piecesput her back togetherand remind her to click her heelsbut she doesn’t need a wizard to tell her that I was here all alongLadylet us catch the next tornado homelet us plant cantaloupe trees in our backyardthen maybe together we will realize that we don’t like cantaloupeand they don’t grow on treeswe can laugh about itthen we can plant things we’ve never heard ofI’ve never heard of a womanwho can make flawed look so beautifulthe way you doThe word smitten is to how I feel about youwhat a kiss is to romanceso maybe my lips to yours could be the penance to this confessionbecause I am the only one preaching your defunct religionsitting alone at your altar, praising you out of faithI cannot do this hard-knock life aloneYou are all the softness a rock dreams of beingthe mistakes the rain makes at picnicswhen Mother Nature bears witness in much better placesSo yesI will gladly take on your oceanjust to swim beneath youso I can kiss the bends of your kneesin appreciation for the work they dokeeping your head above water

Writing & Art Workshops, Groups, & ReadingsWRITING - WORKSHOPSBEYOND BAROQUE681 Venice Blvd.Venice, CA 90291www.beyondbaroque.orgHEART & SOULHEALING ART CENTERTuesday Creative SoulsWriting Workshop, 7pm1167 North Lake Ave.Pasadena, CA 91104www.cr8ivesouls.comLA WRITERS LABwww.lawriterslab.comTHE CORONET WRITERS LABfor Scripts and Plays1625 Las PalmasHollywood, CA 90028www.coronetwriterslab.comMore Resources forWriting Groups & Workshops:www.lawritersgroup.comhttp://www.myspace.com/writingworkshopslaWRITING – OPEN READINGSTUESDAY POETRY, 9pmDa’ Poetry LoungeGreenway Court Theatre544 N. Fairfax BlvdLos Angeles, Ca 90036www.dapoetrylounge.com1st & 3rd TUESDAYS POETRY,7:15pmTuesday Night Café Project120 Judge John Aiso StLos Angeles, CA 90012www.tnkat.orgWEDNESDAY OPEN MIC, 8pmVelvet Guerilla CabaretUnUrban Coffeehouse3301 Pico Blvd.Santa Monica, CA 90405www.velvetguerilla.comWEDNESDAY WORLD STAGELITERARY SERIES OPEN MIC,9:05pmAnasi Writer’s WorkshopWorld Stage4344 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CAwww.theworldstage.org1st SUNDAY FREEOPEN READINGS(except Aug., Sept., Jan.), 5pmBeyond Baroque681 Venice Blvd.Venice, CA 90291www.beyondbaroque.orgART - WORKSHOPSPAINTLAB2912 Main St.Santa Monica, CA 90405www.paintlab.netLOS ANGELES ARTASSOCIATIONWednesday Drawing Workshop atthe Lynn Studio, 7:30pmSanta Fe Art Colony2349 S. Santa Fe Avenue, Studio CLos Angeles, CAwww.laaa.orgTEALE STREETSCULPTURE STUDIO11847 Teale StreetCulver City, CA 90230www.tealestreetsculpturestudio.comDESIGN AND COLLAGEWORKSHOPSWest Los Angeleswww.mitzitrachtenberg.comLOS ANGELES CENTER FORDIGITAL ART107 West Fifth StreetLos Angeles, CA 90013www.lacda.comTHE JULIA DEANPHOTO WORKSHOPS801 Ocean Front Walk,Studio 8Venice, CA 90291www.juliadean.comMore Resources forArtist Groups & Workshops:www.veniceartcenter.comwww.artschools.comTo have your group, workshop, or reading listed in Forth, please email us at editor@forthmagazine.com!FABLE. Continued from p. 5wards so his heart can read it. Morton imaginescrawling inside the man’s lonely ribcageand from the inside, next to his heart, he seesthe name: Bianca. Connecting the dots, hecrosses sign #2 off his invisible list, althoughhe’s now faced with having to find her.His favorite crime thriller writer, LouisBayard, is giving a talk tonight on his newbook, The School of Night, at The LawrenceAsher Gallery in Beverly Hills. He heard Louisis one of the few unaffected by amnesia, buteither way, it’s worth the risk; Louis wouldn’tforget what’s already been written. At the gallery,whilst looking at himself in a mirror, henotices ACNAIB reflecting from behind him,barely in view. Turning around in haste, hewalks over to a visually arresting installationpiece- a featured landscape made from coloredpencils, product packaging, adhesives and maptacks, to find none other than Bianca Kolonusz-Partee’ssignature on the bottom righthandcorner. He finds the artist in the crowdand explains the series of events that have ledhim here, to be standing right in front of her.Bianca discloses what she believes to be thecause he’s been searching for. As it turns out,Cooley is allegedly behind an elephant salivatraffickingscam, pocketing more money thanwhat he could get if the laws were reversed.The natural laws of supply and demand, sheexplains. The room now redolent of weed asthe two share notes, trying not to breathe intoo much.Morton quickly learns the following keyfacts: the city has been covertly selling elephantmemory on the black-market for anaudacious fee. Cooley has been using the zooas a cover for trafficking these elephants intothe city, using and disposing them one by one.Billy, the longest-lasting elephant to date, hasproven to be a valuable resource as his memorydepletes at snail’s pace in comparison. Affluentcustomers are told through the grapevine thatrubbing fresh Elephant saliva in a slow, circularmotion on one’s head cures amnesia. Soldas “Elephant Ram juice,” the cellular componentsin the saliva are believed to stimulate thehippocampus; the fastest route for absorptionbeing through the head.Outraged by the sexual nature with whichthe “Elephant Ram Juice” is extracted and applied,Bianca and Morton jump in the PinkBus and head towards the zoo. Picking upmore trash along the way, Bianca assemblesscraps, wrappers and tin into artwork in theback. After summoning help from all themembers of Truckers Against Elephant Trafficking,support was not light. Hundreds of18-wheelers begin to break through the lockedgates at the zoo to rescue the tortured animals.Witnessing the act as each long-necked giraffe,cuddly wombat, hissing hyena and kind-eyedelephant cram into the trucks, Morton realizeshe’s stumbled upon sign #3: Noah. Smilingrichly like the Cheshire Cat, he dusts off hishands as a bona-fide crime detective.The next morning, as the smog settles onceagain along the LA skyline, the unsuspectingzookeepers arrive to find thousands of art installationsin each cage, where Billy and hisfriends stood just hours before. Each statuemagnificently sculpted and poised as if it werethe animal itself. Looking in awe at a sea ofenergetic, bright colors, decoupaged fabricson wood and bedazzled eyes of rhinestone, thezookeepers and visitors notice nothing out ofthe ordinary, simply because they couldn’t rememberthe difference.

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