shine a light

The famous Chris Burden lamp posts (and Renzo Piano building) at LACMA, which is pretty much impossible to take a bad picture of. The entire courtyard has become part of what defines L.A. to me. It's a fantastic spot.

A few weeks ago my friend Robyn sent me some internet pictures of a Chris Burden-like light "sculpture" in my own neighborhood. The images showed a very typical, crowded mini mall with a row of mis-matched lamp posts. It turns out this mystery spot is at the corner of Santa Monica Blvd at Vermont in Silver Lake, a spot I drive by all the time but never noticed. (This is a very Los Angeles phenomenon, I think.)

A couple of days ago I need some stuff from a drug store (large amounts of B6: apparently the carpal tunnel wonder drug?) and I remembered that there was a Rite Aid in the the SM/Vermont mall. Errands became an art field trip. It was a delight. Form and function in a wonderfully, quirky display.

Each post has a rather scuffed up and small plaque at its base with the neighborhood and time period of its original use. There is a city lot/stockyard full of  posts lying in waiting on the ground with a bunch other utility stuff across the street–I'm sure this has everything to do with this project. I didn't internet sleuth it. I just enjoyed it.