I Was Here – in public art event

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Ever wondered how to turn a traffic island into a territory of art?

On March 9, 2008 Islands of LA held an activity-experiment in Santa Monica where we turned a traffic island into a territory of art. This was a community art in-public workshop where a group of LA residents came together to create and install an in-public artwork. It took about 5 hours. We began with a field trip to the island to get a sense of the surroundings and what it meant to do site-specific work. On the island we talked about the space and one person mentioned she wanted to make mailboxes.

We returned to Highways’ Gallery which had been turned into a workshop. After a brief discussion, we decided to make a series of mailboxes – both in and out boxes. We created two inboxes: a blue, Islands of LA Mail box and a Japanese mailbox with something inside. We also created two outboxes: quotes hanging from a tree and anurban scarecrow. And we installed them on an island in santa monica.

Slideshow (you may want to click on “fast” on the lower left corner)

The artwork installed was removed the next day, which perhaps means that the project is about the process, the activity of using art to create public assembly, rather than any object created. This event was related to a show atHighways Performance Space & Gallery called Right In Public. Part of the activity took place in Highways Performance Space & Gallery and part of it on a nearby traffic island.

Events & Stories at this Location

Shift Do Art Anytime - sign installed

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6 responses to “I Was Here – in public art event”

islandsofla March 10th, 2008 at 08:24

It was great working with a group of people like this…using art as a way to think about our surroundings and act in them. The mailboxes idea germinated organically and we worked together fluidly. With an open gesture to sharing ideas in the community and inviting participation, the mailboxes bring to my mind the question of connection, movement, technology and surroundings.

In the velocity of our everyday life, can we use art as a vehicle to interact with each other and to think? We did. The art we installed was removed. It forces us to focus on the activity rather than the objects we created. But it also makes me think about what is allowed to stay up and why.

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Sachiko March 12th, 2008 at 21:41

I was so upset that my mail box was already taken down! I worked so so hard on that! I felt like my right to express my art was violated!

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L. Samuels March 14th, 2008 at 09:36

I agree with Sachiko that it’s upsetting that all the pieces were gone so quickly. Yes, partly because we put time into making the objects, but also because that means the message was lost before many people got to see it. The more I think about it, the less I can wholly support the idea that the doing is enough. Or maybe that’s not phrased correctly. Of course doing is enough as opposed to doing nothing, but the creation and installation of the objects spreads the doing to all of those who interact, even if they interact passively. So, though the 8 or so of us who made the creations were all doing in various collaborative degrees, the objects were intended to spread a level of doing beyond our group. By being in a traffic island (and how would you define the difference in an island and a median?) the intention is to interact with quantities of people who pass that space. The road that needs an island, by its very definition, is a road that needs divided traffic. But, does it matter who took the pieces and where they now are? Is it different if it is a ‘fan’ or ‘the man’ (ie – the state, the government, the dot)? To one they are art, to the other they are criminal trash. If we know it’s art, is that what counts?

Regardless, I greatly enjoyed the day, the interaction, the experience of thinking, talking, producing. The installing really was just the exclamation point, not the thing itself. So maybe there is more for me to think about here in terms of where the emphasis might lie, and what is enough. The great text you write is still a great text no matter if your mother is the only one to read it or it hits the best seller list. You write it because it is in you to write it, and it must come out. Maybe this is the larger point. For these 8 strangers it was in us to get together and make art and put it out in the world, if only for a minute. And maybe the doing is plenty, and maybe the doing has actually changed my mind.

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islandsofla March 15th, 2008 at 15:29

The context of the traffic island – highly visible, limited, overlooked – plays in with the direct experience and how it extends beyond that. So, how does what we did extend beyond the 8 of us? The specific drivers who see what we did that day is one example but what about the people we talk to about this with or those who find out about it from the website or how this influences future Islands of LA activities and becomes part of a collection of voices (of activities)?

But even in our limited act on these limited spaces…when we go out and do something like this in public, how does it impact our perception and experience of the city and ourselves in it? And how will that change over time as more of these activities happen?

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Laura March 23rd, 2008 at 19:58

Being a part of this public art activity was delightful. The eight of us that came together that day and were able to create something together is fantastic. With our minds to it, anything is possible – even when we aren’t in our “comfort zones”. This experience has changed the way I view public art.. I feel we are in need for more. What we did seems small, yet feels like a big step towards creating a more beautiful society. It is regretful, however, that the life span was so short. I hope for more activities like this one to come… where we can assemble, converse, create, and possibly make change. Thank you.

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Greg Thomas May 24th, 2008 at 12:57

I love what you’re doing. I have a project intended to get people out of their cars and exploring public land when they’re passing through the desert but unfortunately the BLM has opinions about my pieces as noted on my site.

To get a better idea of my project:
http://lodesertprotosites.org/sites.html

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