Connection in “Something in Common”

In a city as vast as Los Angeles, it’s easy to feel alone. When I moved here in August, I felt like everything was too big and impersonal, and I longed for connection and community. 

One Saturday, I took the Metro Expo line to 7th Street, walked to the Los Angeles Central Library and checked out the “Something in Common” exhibit. The space felt charged with curiosity, creativity and so many stories. Suddenly the city started to feel a little smaller, a little more manageable. 

“Something in Common” highlights 10 L.A.-based interest groups, ranging from the Cloud Appreciation Society to the Roller Pigeon Club. Each organization defines community differently, whether that be through group scuba diving trips for the L.A. Black Underwater Explorers or a shared appreciation for the smallest parts of our universe by the Microscopical Society of Southern California. 

After Microscopical Society member Robert Forrester passed, his son-in-law John Schneider and granddaughter Erin Schneider created a musical rendition of Robert’s original “Fantasies in Crystal” microscope slideshow, which plays in the background. The score consists of a pump organ and adapted viola, giving the space an eager energy.

Exhibit curator Todd Lerew started the project to emphasize how the library fosters a sense of belonging and how we as humans find community. While Lerew started his research pre-pandemic, he said coronavirus heightened our need for connection.

“Before the pandemic, we already knew that it was worthwhile to highlight the library as a gathering place and all of these unique communities and little worlds that make up Los Angeles,” said Lerew, who serves as the director of special projects for the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. “When the pandemic hit, that loneliness became front page news and something we’re all experiencing in some way. I think we’re still trying to figure out how to come back together again and what community looks like.”

In the spirit of community, the exhibit is largely interactive. Visitors can find new recipes in “Desserticide, aka Desserts Worth Dying For,” from the L.A. Community Cookbook Archive. They can also attempt to solve the L.A. Breakfast Club’s traditional cryptogram, a puzzle dating back to the 1930s. 

One of the most powerful parts of “Something in Common” is a guestbook in the middle of the room that invites visitors to answer, “Where do you find your people? What connects you to others?” Pages are filled with guests who find their community at concerts, museums, grocery stores, movie theaters and skate parks; however, there are also entries that admit to feeling isolated and without community. 

Lerew wanted the guestbook to open a dialogue about where visitors feel a sense of belonging or struggle to find those connections.

“Los Angeles can be a very isolating city to live in. We’re all in our cars and everyone’s so busy and spread out,” Lerew said. “These are cliches, but there’s some truth to it. People who have newly arrived have yet to find a community that they can call their own. It can be sad, but I think having that outlet and knowing that there’s a space and a public conversation around that can be helpful.”

Despite the exhibit’s inspiration from serious subject matters like loneliness and depression during the pandemic, “Something in Common” is anything but somber. Text floats in overlapping cloud shapes, often painted in bright oranges, purples and blues. Christine Wong Yap’s “Belonging” banners include quotes from library club members expressing their gratitude and joy. And of course, the San Diego chicken mascot costume, on display from the Baseball Reliquary, is hard not to smile at. 

One of Lerew’s goals was to feature “interesting and underrepresented” communities in L.A., including the Feminist Center for Creative Work. 

“It felt very affirming to have [FCCW] seen as an active community that was present and showing up regularly,” FCCW executive director Sarah Williams said. “Often, arts organizations don’t have that sort of visibility, and I think that’s something that we’ve really worked hard to foster.”

The open layout of the exhibit also helps visitors visualize how communities are fluid and evolving. We can all be part of something bigger, whether we think of it as a formal organization or just a place to hang out with people who share our hobbies or beliefs. The importance is intentionality and a bit of optimism.

Seeing the exhibit inspired me to build my community a little more every day. I met a girl at the New Student Convocation while we were both searching for the Annenberg banner, and now we get groceries and boba together (always fruit-flavored drinks because neither of us like milk tea). I sat down with a really sweet transfer student during the Wednesday Trojan Farmers Market, and it turned out we both went on a maritime field trip to Dana Point Harbor in the fifth grade. My Spanish 3 partner and I talk about music and movies between conjugations (and I’m excited to hear his “Midnights” review tomorrow). Connecting with other people takes time, but if there’s one thing I learned at the library, it’s that we’ve all got something in common.

“Something in Common” is on display until Nov. 6 at the L.A. Central Library.