size variable | watercolor, glitter and iridescent medium on cut paper, magic string, fluorescent lighting fixtures with colored gel overlays, LED light panels, reflective Mylar | 2011 | Solo Exhibition | Fullerton College Art Gallery | Fullerton, CA
Great River Mashup is a variably-sized multi-component installation developed through my observations and imaginings of the Los Angeles River. The piece was first installed at Taylor De Cordoba gallery for my solo exhibition Myopic Spring Tangle. It has no precise formation, allowing it to be reconfigured for subsequent exhibition spaces.
In this version for Fullerton College Art Gallery, I wanted reflections to overwhelm the visual space. Both walls and floor were covered with reflective Mylar sheeting. The combination of floating fluorescent fixtures with all the hanging cutouts became a visual maelstrom of disorienting proportions — closer to the chaotic nature of a ravaged Los Angeles River basin after a flood, sun streaming through parted clouds, dancing off the river torrent, illuminating the tangled mess.
As it traverses the city, the L.A. River is funneled into a narrow concrete channel built solely to control seasonal flooding. It is a space both forgotten and unseen, filled with elements natural and manmade — the essential character of man’s relationship with nature, concentrated and distilled. Swaths of urban detritus carried by the runoff become ensnared in the tangle of wildlife: frayed shopping bags, tangled nylon string, shredded clothing, strips of printed matter festoon the leaf-stripped branches, jetsam flapping in the breeze like Tibetan prayer flags. While the narrative is deliberately ambiguous, the work aims to reveal a sense of natural meddling gone awry while also engaging on a psychological level.