Otto Karvonen
INTERVENTION AND OCCUPATION IN LA (January 3rd, 2006)
Hello everyone, we have been very busy here in the land of Santa Claus, preparing Christmas presents for all you folks around the globe. And between the heavy working sessions we have had some heavy drinking sessions, sitting on our minimalistic Scandinavian furniture, remaining dumb in total darkness. That’s Finland in a nut shell; sounds quite frightening, doesn’t it? But you can believe that LA has been served to us in a similar kind of nutshell, colored by myths and just a shade of reality. I guess many of the Civic Matters participants are active with the myths connected to LA which is quite a natural and interesting way to approach an unknown city. But that gives me the idea that maybe I should just try to forget about all those myths and approach the city as some kind of ignorant explorer that develops own myths from observations on location. I don’t know what that means exactly, we’ll see…
I’m not saying that I will come to LA empty handed. I have created all kinds of tools for exploring the urban setting and I have actually made a proposal for artistic activity in LA:
I’ll put together a couple of Urban Space Occupation Kits (see ottokarvonen.com > works > ) out of materials collected in LA. In general the kits can be used for an endless variety of purposes depending on the site and the imagination of the user. When listing all possible purposes for the Kit, I have once mentioned planting a tree. As there are already fruit trees growing and bearing fruit on public ground of LA, then why not plant some more trees to feed the people? I think I could work this idea out more carefully with the Fallen Fruit as they are some sort of experts in the field of trees and public space in LA. It might be the case that all the planted trees don’t survive the tough conditions of the street. But with the Urban Space Occupation Kit it is the action that is most important.
I was very impressed when I read about the work of Fallen Fruit, because of the way they are mapping the public space. I’m looking forward to take part in their actions; tracking public lemons and eating them sounds just great. It’s a nice thought that even though I have never visited L.A. there are those lemons hanging on the trees just waiting for me and I own them as much as anybody else. (Maybe I like the idea so much because in Helsinki where I live all the fruit trees planted in public parks bear fruit that is poisonous. Now isn’t that sick?).
I was impressed by many other thins as well and I’m looking forward to happily drive my bike all around LA. I’m sure my explorations will lead me to new and unexpected paths…
-Otto
p.s. for the Urban Space Occupation Kit I would need small and lightweight plastic traffic cones, barrier tape, some clothing referring to street construction workers (a vest or something). Like in the photos of the work made in Helsinki but with local color schemes of course. And maybe I would also need some trees to plant. These materials are probably sold in one place which is hopefully quite easy and quick to find.