April 25, 2015

Artist whitewashes a crappy old motel, including the palm trees that surround it.

"As you walk the western edge of the trendy hamlet of Silver Lake on the city’s storied Sunset Boulevard...  you’ll see dozens of people standing precariously in the middle of four lanes of traffic to Instagram the piece, which is about as social-media ready as a public art piece could possibly be...."
Projection, as the work is named, could have been staged at any of the city’s derelict motels, really. But [Vincent] Lamouroux—who lived in the neighborhood years ago—had his eye on this one in particular. The Googie-style sign on top reads Sunset Pacific but everyone here calls it the Bates Motel, partly because it’s on the corner of Bates Street, but mostly because this moniker appropriately conveys its freaky Psycho vibes.

Vacant for over a decade, the motel’s ability to attract drug activity and gun violence has turned this stretch of Sunset into a kind of no-man’s land. During his days as a city councilman, LA’s mayor Eric Garcetti tried unsuccessfully to rehab it, sell it, then demolish it, calling it “one of the most troublesome properties in the city.”
No trees were hurt. They were sprayed with an impermanent "shading compound" that is intended to be used on trees. Not for art projects, but to protect them from heat and insects.

A very nice art work. I approve.

16 comments:

Fandor said...

Ah, Christo without the fabric.

ngtrains said...

Really nice looking. too bad it will wash off if they ever get rain.

Ann Althouse said...

"Ah, Christo without the fabric."

Yes. Also Louise Nevelson (and a million hobbyists who've made assemblages and then spray painted them all one color).

Ann Althouse said...

"Really nice looking. too bad it will wash off if they ever get rain."

They need rain so badly in California that it will be worth it.

And it might look interesting as the ugly underlayer emerges through the streaming/melting whitewash.

Laslo Spatula said...

"And it might look interesting as the ugly underlayer emerges through the streaming/melting whitewash."

I was thinking the same thing. Would be great for a time-elapse photography project.

I am Laslo.

madAsHell said...

It's a blank canvas for taggers.

eddie willers said...

Googie-style sign

First saw that word on the Fabulous Las Vegas Sign post of yours.

And here it rolls around again so soon.

I loved this architecture and there were quite a few examples in 60's Atlanta. Felt like George Jefferson.

Wince said...

"White privilege!"

Wince said...

Where's Tom Sawyer when you need him?

RecChief said...

I didn't know Instagram is a verb

Quaestor said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Auntie Ann said...

FYI: L.A., including the Silver Lake area actually *did* get rain today.

Richard Dolan said...

The Nevelson constructions are usually black -- e.g, the one in lower Manhattan opposite the FRBank. This reminds me more of an architect's mock-up of a project, often made from white cardboard, which sometimes will include a mock-up of trees to give a sense of scale. The point of a mock-up is to give a sense of the volumes and spatial relations between elements of a proposed building. This whitwashing does that nicely with the elements of an existing building -- a mock-up to actual scale.

Nice.

Phil 314 said...

If, instead, he took a photo of the hotel and via photoshop created the same effect, would it still be "art"?

kzookitty said...

Missed a spot!

I would've preferred flamingo pink.

kzookitty

Anthony said...

Meanwhile, in Spain, they're bluewashing the whole town.