I WAS HERE is a model traffic island installation that began in Januar 2008 when it was first installed in Highways. The project began there as a response to an invitation to participate in a show by Clinton Bopp, who contacted islands of LA after finding one of the Shift Do Art signs on an island. Clinton invited me to create a traffic island for his upcoming show. Clinton was putting up panels with paintings based on his personal journey from New Zealand to LA. There was also a permanent installation in memory of those who lost their lives to AIDS that is comprised of names and outlines of people on the floor. ACT/UP LA created the installation in the late 1980s.
Given this context, the traffic island was installed with the gesture of I WAS HERE reflected in these two works. The island served as a transitional space between both installation as well as a tool to draw connections between private and public space while creating community and discussion. While the island was installed at Highways, there was an in-public art activity that involved a field trip to a traffic island. After the field trip, we collectively decided to create a series of in and out boxes and install them on the island. We few worked together to exercise our first amendment rights in a safe a responsible manner. The installation was taken down soon after but was also featured in an article in the Los Angeles Times about a month later.
Installed at Side Street Projects beginning June 2008
Installed at Highways Performance from January 2008 - May 2008.
