Urban Canvas

On a stretch of sidewalk along Glendale Blvd. across from Echo Park there has been some trickery going on. One day, I drive by, and there's a bench covered in Yellow Flowers.....the next day, no flowers. O.k. Monkey's in track suits, flowering benches....I swear guys, I'm not smokin the crack. A few days later, the bench is covered with the flowers and the wall behind it is partially painted orange. So the other day, I take my camera along on my way to work. The bench is gone again, but just down the street, a mirrored trash can! I described it all to Jenny and she spotted an article in the LA Times that explained it all (although it was fun letting it be a mystery).

The urban instillation is constantly in a state of flux. Its a process piece created by Jason Stadel called Still Life in Memory. Evidently the whole project took a lot of finagling through the department of public works. Jason is an Echo Park resident and works at the Hammer Museum. The bench and its surroundings represent an exercise in collective memory. It's about what people remember and forget.

The bench, which I have yet to see up close, is covered with real flowers, a total of 450 of them, all with vials of water that keep the flowers fresh. I'll keep my camera handy and try and catch a photo of it, you know, if i don't forget.

The instillation will continue through the 10th of this month.