Organization: LOS ANGELES NOMADIC DIVISION
Mission: LAND IS A PUBLIC ART INITIATIVE COMMITTED TO CURATING SITE- AND SITUATION-SPECIFIC CONTEMPORARY ART PROJECTS, IN LOS ANGELES AND BEYOND.
Activities: BLKNWS: LAND PRESENTED A CITYWIDE PRESENTATION OF KAHLIL JOSEPH'S BLKNWS, A CONCEPTUAL NEWS PROGRAM TAKING THE FORM OF A TWO-CHANNEL INSTALLATION CONNECTED TO A NEWSCAST THAT BLURS THE LINES BETWEEN ART, REPORTING, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND CULTURAL CRITIQUE. BLKNWS WAS BROADCASTED AT SITES ACROSS LOS ANGELES, WITH A FOCUS ON SOUTH LOS ANGELES AND BLACK-OWNED BUSINESSES. SITES RANGED FROM COMMUNITY HEALTH CLINICS, BARBERSHOP, COFFEE SHOPS, OFFICE BUILDINGS AND RETAIL STORES. EXPLORING FILM AS A POWERFUL COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE THAT CAN BE MANIPULATED THROUGH ITS ESSENTIAL VISUAL AND AUDIO COMPONENTS, BLKNWS REFLECTS UPON THE CONTEMPORARY PERIOD UTILIZING FRAGMENTS OF POPULAR CULTURE, ARCHIVAL MATERIAL, AND FILMED NEWS DESK SEGMENTS. HISTORICAL ICONOGRAPHY SITS SIDE BY SIDE WITH ORDINARY IMAGES FROM OUR DAILY LIVES. WHEN EXAMINED THROUGH JOSEPH'S LENS, THESE IMAGES ARE STEEPED WITH AN UNUSUAL PERCEPTION OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY THAT DOUBLES AS THE ARTIST'S ETHOS, INHERITING A NEW LIFE OF REFLECTION AND SIGNIFICATION. THE DICHOTOMY CONSTRUCTED BY THE DEVICE OF THE SPLIT SCREEN POLARIZES THE IMAGES EMPLOYED, FRAGMENTING THE NARRATIVE AND FORMALIZING THE IMAGES FOR THEIR POETIC AND POLITICAL POTENTIAL. THE WAYS IN WHICH THE NEWSCAST IS COMBINED AND COLLAGED BECOMES AS SURREAL AS OUR CURRENT CULTURAL CONDITION. THIS ITERATION OF BLKNWS AIMS TO BRING THE WORK TO ITS LARGEST AUDIENCE YET, REACHING PEOPLE IN THEIR EVERYDAY ENVIRONMENTS.
LOS ANGELES WATER SCHOOL: INITIATED BY OSCAR TUAZON: LAND IS THE PROGRAMMING PARTNER FOR OSCAR TUAZON'S LOS ANGELES WATER SCHOOL (LAWS). THE PROGRAMS BUILD A GENEALOGY OF THE COMPLEX LIFE OF WATER IN LOS ANGELES, THROUGH THE LENS OF LOCAL HISTORY, ARCHITECTURE, POLITICS, AND ART. THROUGH THIS COLLABORATIVE PROCESS TRACING HOW WATER CONNECTS DIVERSE COMMUNITIES WITHIN LOS ANGELES AND ACROSS THE CONTINENT, WORKING FROM A MICRO TO MACRO UNDERSTANDING OF POLICY AND INFRASTRUCTURE, LAWS CREATES A SETTING FOR THE EXCHANGE OF CROSS-DISCIPLINARY IDEAS AND LEARNING. IN FY20, LAND HOSED A PROGRAM EXPLORING AROUND THE LA RIVER BASIN INVITING INDIGENOUS ARTISTS, FILMMAKERS, AND ACTIVISTS L FRANK, JOLIE VARELA, ANMARIE MENDOZA AND KRIS HOHAG AND DEVELOPED A COMPREHENSIVE WEBSITE TO SERVE AS AN ONGOING PROJECT ARCHIVE AND RESOURCE.
FUTURE CONTINUOUS: LAND (LOS ANGELES NOMADIC DIVISION) PRESENTED FUTURE CONTINUOUS: PRESENT STREAM, AN ONLINE SERIES OF THREE ANTHOLOGICAL EPISODES FEATURING CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS AND SCHOLARS RESPONDING TO THE SHIFTING NECESSITIES OF OUR MOMENT. FUTURE CONTINUOUS: PRESENT STREAM IS CREATED BY DANIEL R. SMALL AND PRODUCED BY DAVID MATORIN. THE SERIES WAS ORIGINALLY CONCEIVED AS A PHYSICAL EXHIBITION BUT PIVOTED TO AN ONLINE FORMAT DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. FOCUSED PRIMARILY ON ARTISTS WORKING WITH RESEARCH-BASED METHODOLOGIES, PRESENT STREAM ACTIVATES THEIR INQUIRIES BY INTERMINGLING SPECULATIVE WORKS OF ART WITH DISCOVERIES AND ANALYSIS FROM A DIVERSE SELECTION OF INVITED SCHOLARS AND EXPERTS IN FIELDS INCLUDING VIROLOGY, PHYSICS, ROBOTICS, AND URBAN HISTORY. PRESENT STREAM IS A DOCUMENTARY SERIES THAT PRESENTS NEW AND INNOVATIVE FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION THAT FOREGROUND THE PRIMACY OF ADAPTABILITY IN RECENT CONTEMPORARY ART. THE THEMES OF EACH SEGMENT WILL CONTINUOUSLY CIRCLE BACK TO QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE LIMITS, BOUNDARIES AND PURSUITS ENTAILED BY OPERATING UNDER THE UMBRELLA TERM, "ARTIST." IT WILL SEEK TO INTERROGATE WHICH DEFINITIONS OF THE TERM STILL HOLD TRUE AND WHICH APPEAR VESTIGIAL IN OUR SHIFTING PRESENT. PRESENT STREAM WILL EXPLORE PARALLEL AND COMPETING VISIONS OF WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR BOTH ART AND THE WORLD IT LIVES IN. IN PRESENTING BOTH HOPEFUL EXAMPLES OF PROGRESS AND NEGLECTED SIGNS OF CHANGE, THE SERIES STRIVES TO MAP OUR REAL EVOLVING FUTURES.
NTEE category: Arts, Culture & Humanities