Sophie Thalbauer (Esslinger) / Group IX, Nov 99 - Mar 00

I WISH I WAS IN L.A.

4/14/00 to 4/17/00

MAK Center at the Mackey Apartments, 1137 - 1141 South Cochran Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

Austrian architect Sophie Esslinger presented several projects based on her experience in Los Angeles. In "pico boulevard," Esslinger documented a one-week walk along that thoroughfare utilizing an aerial photograph of the route in combination with pictures of details taken along the way. With "images," Esslinger projected descriptive passages lifted from film scripts onto the windows of the Mackey Apartments. Taken out of context, the sequence of the images resulted in a new story. "the carbench as a piece of urban furniture in los angeles" posited the creation of a new urban space for events, a plaza (or parking lot), furnished by the cars driven there. Esslinger's experience of L.A.'s car culture led her to design a "hydraulic platform for people in big car parks." Intended to provide perspective to a viewer lost in a sea of cars, the hydraulic platform also functioned as a bar.