Silent Planet debut event draws artistic crowd

Halloween weekend, as anyone would expect, was jam-packed with spirited events and themed parties throughout Los Angeles to celebrate the holiday that embraces creativity and implores us to be juvenile. For Silent Planet — a new arts collective emerging on campus — it was the perfect time to host its first event. 

After passing the initial white curtain that serves as the entrance to the Alley, the event, which was cleverly titled Monster Alley, was filled with hundreds of people celebrating Halloween who were ready for a rave. Hosted in downtown Los Angeles, Monster Alley was a perfect tap into an underground arts scene at USC and the local area. 

Featuring DJ sets from CZARA, Yesterdayneverhappened, brainb0mbs, ariannbrotherhoood and superwhiteguy9 and music from Crystal Cathedral, the Halloween-inspired rave created a space that felt free and spirited. Similar in genre and atmosphere as other parties such as Subculture Party and Heav3n, Monster Alley was a space for queer people and people of color to celebrate in a space that felt truly inclusive. 

“The type of music itself, like hyperpop, and this kind of music is very different from what would be normally played at USC parties,” said Grace Zhang, a sophomore majoring in law, history and culture and American studies and ethnicity and a designer for Silent Planet. “If you see the crowd itself, people are a lot more creative … That’s something we wanted to create — for people to be able to express themselves.”

In comparison to Subculture Party and Heav3n, Monster Alley provided the same environment but was more accessible to USC students, according to Zhang. Helen Hu, a sophomore majoring in computer science who attended the event, said the welcoming space is what drew them to attend. 

“In a place like USC where it’s predominately white, I think it’s great to find spaces that are mostly [filled with] people who are queer, [people] of color,” Hu said. “I think there’s a beauty in that we’re all into the same niche type of interest.” 

Alongside the live music, jewelry-makers Harlot Hands and Fuchsia Peach Rings sold handmade necklaces and rings while tattoo artists @icedwines and @artbyptp offered a flash sheet selection of their work. The event was not only a place for live music and dancing but also allowed artists to share and promote their work — which is Silent Planet’s main intention, according to Durga Arjun, one of the co-founders. 

“What we really want to do is both write about [artists] and then give them a platform through which they can share their work,” said Arjun, a junior majoring in economics, narrative studies and international relations. “We know that we’re able to pull a good audience; we know that the people who we are pulling are people who are interested in this stuff.”

Silent Planet is a central hub for creative talent in the USC area that acts as a canvas to highlight artists’ voices through editorial coverage, networking support and event production. A self-described passion project by co-founders Arjun and Tyler Sinness, a junior majoring in narrative studies, the arts collective focuses on community and collaboration. 

In opposition to mainstream art publications or event companies that, according to Arjun and Sinness, can at times be unwelcoming, Silent Planet’s prioritizes writing about and supporting smaller artists who don’t get covered as often but are still producing professional-level work. 

“It’s important to us that we feature the voices of course that historically do not get the same representation in media,” Sinness said. “The wonderful thing that I saw at Monster Alley, and what I suspected, is that our community is incredibly diverse, incredibly queer and so inclusive of everyone.”

According to Hu, a big part of the reason they enjoyed the event was that it felt authentic in its effort to champion diversity. 

“It’s a platform for queer [people] and [BIPOC] and that’s exactly who it’s run by, and I think it’s great that it’s actually run by people from the communities that it’s reaching out to give a platform to,” Hu said.

In addition to focusing on a diverse pool of talent, Silent Planet is also committed to highlighting an array of artistic mediums rather than focusing on just one, Sinness said. From student film screenings to intimate house shows, the group showcases a variety of work.

What started out as a late-night brainstorm session in January between Arjun and Sinness on their front porch  has quickly grown into an arts community that is founded on the connections they’ve made and the relationships they’ve fostered with creatives on campus. 

“I think putting the Monster Alley event together and being able to put our Instagram page together and seeing the following growth has really shown us that we can build something incredible just based off of the friendships that we’ve made here,” Arjun said. “We value these people, we value their work, we want to see them shine.”

As the Silent Planet team basks in the success that was their launch event, Arjun said they are now focused on recruiting and preparing for the slated release of its editorial magazine next January. Rather than aiming for a specific style or niche, Silent Planet aims to follow the lead of the artists it features instead. 

“I think that the biggest problem that we’ve had with current publications is that it’s a top-down curatorial aesthetic,” Sinness said. “It is one person who is dictating how other artists are going to make the magazine or publication look. Rather, we are trying to base our aesthetic off of quality rather than aesthetic … The whole point of our platform is to feature individuals’ art and to do that we have to be a canvas for creatives, rather than an aesthetic choice.”

Although Monster Alley was a designated success, which was made abundantly clear by attendees at the rave, it is just the beginning for what Silent Planet hopes to accomplish with the community it’s building. 

“We really love that we were able to create that sort of environment where people just felt really free to be able to let go and just be silly for a little bit,” Arjun said. “We want to continue creating spaces where people will just feel good about themselves and feel free to fully express who they are without any type of roadblock in the way.”