Labels

Diana Thater Vows to Finish "Giant Video Project" for LACMA

Installation view of "Diana Thater: The Sympathetic Imagination" at LACMA, 2015. Photo (c) Fredrik Nilsen
Diana Thater is among the artists who lost Altadena homes and studios to the Eaton fire. News reports have mentioned that Thater was working on a so-far unannounced commission for LACMA's Peter Zumthor addition, the David Geffen Galleries. A story by Edwin Folven in the Beverly Press supplies more details.  "It's a large exterior video projection on the building," Thater is quoted. "As you go under the bridge on Wilshire, you will see this giant video project."

That sounds like the work might address concerns that the underside of the Wilshire bridge would be dark and dismal, like a freeway overpass. (See posts on that topic from 2022 and 2024.) It also raises new questions: Will the video run in the daytime or just at night? Will it become a social media magnet, tempting drivers to slow down and take videos on busy Wilshire? 

Thater lost the master tapes of the project but saved hard drives that may include digitized footage. She has vowed to complete the commission, "which now also symbolizes rebirth and rebuilding."
Underside of Peter Zumthor's David Geffen Galleries (Oct. 2024 photo)


Email Post
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
I hope Zumthor's building works really well and the Geffen does good for LACMA. But so much of the structure's mass going south of Wilshire instead of north (and it being just one floor instead of two---how many stories do most major museums contain?) and cost/operational factors make that a shaky wish.

Not sure how the subway going under mid-Wilshire, the new Lucas several miles away, the post-Covid-LA economy, the local cultural-political scene (eg, ailing Hollywood) and the burned-down sections of LA will pan out over the next 2-3 years. But things right now feel dystopic, like the early stages of SARS-CoV-2 in 2020.
January 23, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Luce said…
The LACMA Wilshire underpass had to be reinforced for terrorist bombs. Image duration before the images on the underpass walls flip are usually 8 seconds so there are no car wrecks. Inside the galleries, the paintings will be nailed to concrete walls. Yes there will be early admissions tickets to see the building empty. and I assume everyone will be compelled to watch the Wilshire traffic pass underneath. Thinking outside the box design.
January 25, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Post a Comment