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Sustaining LA

Now that "the environment" is on the wider political and cultural radar, the issues of what were previously specialized and niche interests (i.e. the health of urban rivers, the protection of green spaces, the quality of our food) have become a bit more mainstream. This, of course, has its upsides and its downsides. Namely, that the simple act of recycling, to give you an example, becomes an overly symbolic act at the same time that its practice becomes more popular and more important. This is to say that artists, as much as anyone else, are currently working through the meaning and processes of these actions and what our "environment" actually consists of. What to make of this balance between symbolic acts and actual change?

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Posted Jan 23, 2008
03:06 PM
by jspiak
Tempe, AZ

Amazingly insightful! Thank you for providing su outstanding programming and for the raised awareness of the activities of artist collectives in Southern California. Extremely helpful to the field. Thank you, John Spiak Curator Arizona State University Art Museum

Posted Jan 25, 2008
08:07 AM
by fruitmappers
tucson, AZ

Fallen Fruit video is a nice piece and sends a message to people no longer intuned to the food resources around them. We in Tucson have taken a different approach we mapp the fruit locations with youth from the hood, youth groups, faith groups and others and then enter the dat into a Geographic Information System. We flyer the neighborhood and conduct interviews with neighbors to see if they want to donate excess fruit that would go to waste. We average 30,000 pounds a year and redistribute to families in need. Now we want resturants and stores to carry local fruit which is tastier and better for us and our precious earth.