The “Placie”: Framing Gentrifying Downtown Los Angeles on Instagram

• In Event: ICA Interactive Paper/Poster Session II
  In Interactive Poster Session: Philosophy, Theory and Critique Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

This paper juxtaposes the history of a downtown Los Angeles landmark, the red neon “Jesus Saves” sign currently on top of the Ace Hotel, with its life on Instagram. I argue that this case points to new stances toward urban historical objects performed and popularized by Instagram users and that these aesthetics mirror the logics and ethics of gentrification. Finally I posit the term “placie” with reference to Auge’s (1995) notion of “anthropological place” to theorize this Instagram trope.

Author

• Corrina Laughlin, Annenberg School for Communication at the U of Pennsylvania