Wallace All Faiths Chapel
Chapman University, Orange CA.
Design of a sculpture for the main worship area.Art consultant/coordinator for other artists working on the project.
Expected date of completion: Fall, 2004

Second Street Project, Los Angeles, CA.

Project Description
The intent of my proposal for Second Street is twofold. It is intended as a tribute to modern visual art and music. It is also designed to enhance awareness of the physical properties of the site itself, specifically the change in elevation between Olive Street and Grand Street and the Second Street soundscape.

The proposed piece consists of a trio of related sculptures, street furniture and planters derived from the sculptures and a paving pattern. The three sculptures are located on the east side of Second Street. The paving, street furniture and planters are the same for both sides of the street.

The three sculptures are variants on a repeated form that has been compre

ssed and elongated. The sculpture at the top of the street is made of cast iron, the one in the middle is steel, and the one at the bottom is fiberglass and GFRC. The fiberglass column is lit from within. The surface of the middle steel column reflects light. The dark patina of the cast iron column at the top of the street absorbs light. All three sculptures will have hand worked surfaces. The surface of the lighted column, for example, will have the appearance of a paper lantern. The steel and cast iron sculptures will have rich and subtle textures.


The three columns are inspired by the work of the early modernist sculptor, Constantin Brancusi, specifically his endless column. They also reference minimalist sculpture of the 1960’s and, in the malleability of their form, the influence of computer technology on artists of the 21st century. The lighted fiberglass column also acknowledges the work of Los Angeles born Isamu Noguchi, who apprenticed with Brancusi. Its form, textured surface and slender interior ribs recall one of Noguchi’s Akari lanterns.
The sculptures, in addition to being a tribute to modern art, invite an awareness of the journey up or down Second Street. The tops of the three sculptures are at the same elevation so that someone reaching the top of the hill or beginning his/her trip down the hill could site across the top of the upper sculpture and perceive its alignment with the other two and thus realize the extent of the change in elevation between Grand and Olive streets.

The street furniture and planters are variations on the forms of the three sculptures. They are made from fiber reinforced concrete and are uniformly colored. The plants chosen for the planters are in three shades of green, a repetition in color, of the three variations on a single shape seen in the sculptures. The street trees remain in their original locations. The middle and upper sculptures are lit from above by fixtures attached to the nearest light poles. The lower sculpture is lit from within by fiber optics.
The paving pattern for the east and west sidewalks is designed as an invitation to focus one’s attention on the Second Street soundscape. Titled Listening to Second Street, it is a “score” for a walk up or down Bunker Hill. The instruments are busses, automobiles, airplanes, voices, footsteps, brakes, etc. The light colored pavers mark the duration of the individual sound. The dark ones represent the silences between. This form of notation is a tribute to one of the pioneers of twentieth century music, Los Angeles born John Cage. Cage’s work encouraged one to think in terms of sound and silence rather than making distinctions between, for example, music and noise. The 4’ wide band of flamed granite pavers bumps out to capture the tree grates and extends across the sidewalk to define the areas in which the three sculptures are located. This paving scheme breaks up the sidewalks into alternating areas of concrete and pavers, thus providing specific locations for the street furniture, trees, lights and sculptures. The sidewalks thus become more of a design element in and of themselves.

Background

From a neighborhood of Victorian mansions to a slum featured in film noir classics such as Criss Cross to a citadel of high culture, the site of MOCA, Disney Hall and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Bunker Hill has figured importantly in the identity of downtown Los Angeles. Though the demographics, architecture and the very shape of the hill itself have changed over the years, Bunker Hill remains a dominant feature of the city. Rising above a flat urban core, it is a prominent site which citizens of Los Angeles have acknowledged by choosing it as the location for their major cultural and religious institutions.

Second Street is a place of transition rather than a destination. The artwork proposed for Second Street is designed to acknowledge this experience. It also recognizes the cultural institutions located atop Bunker Hill, especially MOCA and Disney Hall, venues for the visual arts and music. Geary’s Disney Hall, the dominant building on Grand Avenue, is about forms in movement. It is a dynamic structure. The proposed sculptures respond, in a measured, serial fashion to the movement inherent in the building without participating in its formal vocabulary. The scheme for the fence embraces chance operations in a manner that complements the controlled chaos of Disney Hall.

Jeffrey-Lynne Community Center, Anaheim CA.
Project Description

The accompanying image is a prototype for the tabletops of a set of furniture for the courtyard of the Jeffrey-Lynne Community Center. The tables and benches would be designed and fabricated to complement the contemporary architecture of the new center.

The tabletops themselves would be made of porcelain enamel. The primary text and imagery would be devoted to the recognition of Mexican American men and women and their contributions to the city of Anaheim. Representatives of the city and the community will research and compile the material. It will be supplemented by imagery solicited from members of the local Jeffrey-Lynne community – family photographs, pictures from their hometowns – as well as imagery from popular Mexican culture.

There are two ideas behind this unique format for presenting this information. The first is that in Mexican culture the table is the focal point for a wide variety of social activities. People gather around tables to eat whether they are celebrating holidays, marking family milestones or discussing politics. Tables such as these in the courtyard of the community center, would be heavily used by children there for daycare and after school programs, adults on breaks from evening classes and weekend groups having parties among others. The information they present would be seen and re-seen countless times because of its functional integration into the life of the center.

A second aspect of this format to consider is the idea that history is a living entity, a continually evolving phenomenon. The presentation of visual and written information about Mexican American figures from the history of Anaheim in the context of material relevant to current citizens serves to integrate the past and present and to give today’s citizens a personal stake in the ongoing pageant of Anaheim’s history. Seeing images of their own family history in the same context with recognized historic figures strengthens the bond between the individual and the community.