Kamen Stoyanov / Group XXXIV, Apr 2012 - Sep 2012

MATERIAL AND CULTURE

9/7/12 to 9/9/12

MAK Center for Art and Architecture at the Schindler House, 835 N. Kings Rd, West Hollywood

Artist Kamen Stoyanov started growing tomatoes in the courtyard at the Mackey Apartments during his first week in Los Angeles. The resulting project, Stoyanov's Tomato Product, reflected different layers of artistic production and the urge to make something real in our increasingly digital environment. Conceptually, the project began as a literalization of the popular Facebook game, Farmville, in which players grow virtual crops. Using the garden of an historically significant building, Stoyanov considered the space of the garden as an artist's studio; Los Angeles and the city's virtual (e.g. cinematic) self; and the contemporary and historic class issues around gardening and farming in Southern California. At the Schindler House, Stoyanov presented the work in an installation of video, sculpture, and the artist's signature tomato soup.