|
PAST Public Art Work Breaks Down Barriers Traditionally Placed Around Art. Visual Artist Maria Elena Gonzalez Transforms Public Housing Unit In Watts Into Magical Flying Carpet.
"Magic Carpet/Home" Provides Safe And Fun Environment For Children To Play And Imagine. Opens 24 May 2003 at Ted Watkins Park in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts and will stay on view for six months PRESS CONTACT: Julie Deamer 323.957.1777 x 17 Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions is working with visual artist Maria Elena González to realize the Los Angeles installation of "Magic Carpet/Home," a public sculpture that replicates life-size floor plans of public housing units and visually transforms them into magical flying carpets. The sculpture, versions of which have appeared in Brooklyn and Pittsburgh, is created for and installed in a public park in the vicinity of the public housing community from which the floor plan is derived. In bringing the often confined lives and living spaces of the housing units out into the open, "Magic Carpet/Home" momentarily carries its audience away from daily life to a place where homes and hopes are boundless. Crucial to the project is that the sculpture is placed in a public park where members of the housing project and surrounding communities can have direct access to the work and where it can become part of the community's daily life. The sculpture is 10ft x 20ft x 2ft high and is constructed of plywood and 2x6s. Viewers are encouraged to touch the sculpture, which is coated with a soft, thick, rubber playground-safety surface, and interact with it; use it as a bench, meeting place, or playground. "Magic Carpet/Home" breaks down barriers traditionally placed around art – cultural, intellectual, otherwise – and encourages new thought and enthusiasm for contemporary art. The gently undulating surface of the magic carpet provides a safe and fun environment on which children can play and imagine. González has witnessed one group of children playing house, literally putting the physicality of the piece into action, acknowledging physically the way the layout functions for most adults on a cognitive level. Another group of children was inspired by "Magic Carpet/Home" to imagine traveling to far off places. The fact that the piece inspired these children to reflect on their environment on the level of the spatial and the imaginary demonstrates the profound effects of the work. For its Los Angeles presentation, the artist will use a floor plan from a public housing facility in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts called Nickerson Gardens. The site for the installation is Ted Watkins Park, an ideal location because it is located in close proximity to Nickerson Gardens and other public housing projects as well as to Watts Towers Art Center, several recreation centers (109th street, Green Meadows, and Algin Sutton), several high schools and middle schools and a public library. This project has been organized by Irene Tsatsos and Annie Shaw, of Los angeles Contemporary Exhibitions. Further Details About the Artist About Los Angeles
Contemporary Exhibitions Location
Funding Special thanks to Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, Mrs. Nora King at Nickerson Gardens Residents Management Corporation, the residents of Nickerson Gardens, Claudia Moore at Housing Authority, Al Nodal, Shirley Morales, Carlos Portugal & Judy Irola, Self-Help Graphics, Killer Films, and The Project.
|
