The Wolfsonian Presents “Traffic!”
03 Nov 2009
The Wolfsonian–Florida International University presents "Traffic!", an installation of images of rush hour freeway traffic in Los Angeles by renowned architectural photographer Benny Chan (American, b. Hong Kong, 1965). The installation accompanies the exhibition “Styled for the Road: The Art of Automobile Design, 1908-1948.”
From 2004 through 2009, Benny Chan photographed aerial views of Los Angeles and Orange County freeways during the height of rush hour as a way of exploring the massive gridlock that confronts the city's commuters each day. His unique perspective was achieved by flying in a helicopter and using a camera that he designed and manufactured exclusively for this series. The purpose-built camera and large size of the finished prints allow the artist to represent the enormous scale of the city’s gridlock.
Chan’s primary objective was to call attention to routine traffic on the freeways by visually representing the situation in an easily accessible format. As a result, he did not photograph traffic jams caused by accidents, preferring instead to focus on daily rush hour traffic on the busiest freeways in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
With his almost omniscient perspective, in "Traffic!" Chan explores and sheds light on the conundrum of traffic as a symptom of a society unable to keep pace with its own expansion, while at the same time rendering a dark beauty from the chaotic scene.
After spending five years on "Traffic!" Chan now considers it complete. It is his hope that the work will stimulate dialogue about the traffic problem, which he views as a crisis, and will lead to proposed solutions. Chan feels that the fantasy of the West as an area of wide-open spaces easily traversed by the automobile is no longer viable, but that hopefully, over time, urban planning in Los Angeles will evolve to incorporate more areas that not only facilitate, but encourage, walking.
“Chan’s images, while of particular freeways in the Los Angeles area, are not specific to Los Angeles,” said Marianne Lamonaca, The Wolfsonian’s associate director for curatorial affairs and education.
“The immense scale of traffic congestion portrayed in these images is a very relevant problem in many of our country’s cities, including Miami. With its dense development, Miami is one of the most congested cities in the nation in terms of traffic. Chan is holding a mirror up, asking us to look at our urban environment.”
From 2004 through 2009, Benny Chan photographed aerial views of Los Angeles and Orange County freeways during the height of rush hour as a way of exploring the massive gridlock that confronts the city's commuters each day. His unique perspective was achieved by flying in a helicopter and using a camera that he designed and manufactured exclusively for this series. The purpose-built camera and large size of the finished prints allow the artist to represent the enormous scale of the city’s gridlock.
Chan’s primary objective was to call attention to routine traffic on the freeways by visually representing the situation in an easily accessible format. As a result, he did not photograph traffic jams caused by accidents, preferring instead to focus on daily rush hour traffic on the busiest freeways in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
With his almost omniscient perspective, in "Traffic!" Chan explores and sheds light on the conundrum of traffic as a symptom of a society unable to keep pace with its own expansion, while at the same time rendering a dark beauty from the chaotic scene.
After spending five years on "Traffic!" Chan now considers it complete. It is his hope that the work will stimulate dialogue about the traffic problem, which he views as a crisis, and will lead to proposed solutions. Chan feels that the fantasy of the West as an area of wide-open spaces easily traversed by the automobile is no longer viable, but that hopefully, over time, urban planning in Los Angeles will evolve to incorporate more areas that not only facilitate, but encourage, walking.
“Chan’s images, while of particular freeways in the Los Angeles area, are not specific to Los Angeles,” said Marianne Lamonaca, The Wolfsonian’s associate director for curatorial affairs and education.
“The immense scale of traffic congestion portrayed in these images is a very relevant problem in many of our country’s cities, including Miami. With its dense development, Miami is one of the most congested cities in the nation in terms of traffic. Chan is holding a mirror up, asking us to look at our urban environment.”
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Katie Peterson Contemplates The Ecosystem In “Streetlight Storm”
03 Nov 2009
21 December 2009 – 30 January 2010
Scottish artist Katie Paterson, one of the most exciting and closely watched artists of the moment, has been commissioned by Vauxhall Motors to create an art work on the theme of re-inventing British classics. Paterson has taken a British seaside town as her inspiration, and will create a work for Deal Pier. Along the length of the pier, out to sea, the lights will flicker in time withlightning storms as they occur live across the globe.
Starting on the winter equinox, the shortest day of the year on the 21st December, “Streetlight Storm” will take place throughout the darkest months of the British winter, silently conveying the weather patterns of a whole planet. In this contemplative and evocative place, the gentle flickering of the lights will unfold between dusk, darkness and dawn, reflecting on the water through the night, contrasting with the drama of the lightning strikes that spark through.
Pairing the commonplace with the sublime is a recurring theme in Paterson’s work. Viewers can gaze out to the horizon from the pier as these everyday streetlights connect the imagination with faraway places and the Earth’s ecosystem at large. A simple concept, yet expansive in scope, the work will connect people with diverse geographies, collapsing distances and timescales, the artificial and the natural.
Central to Paterson’s practice is collaboration and this commission is no exception as the artist works with technologists, engineers, meteorologists and lightning scientists within the UK and internationally. Ambitious in scale, “Streetlight Storm” will fuel new cutting-edge partnerships and innovation and reflect Vauxhall’s use of advanced technologies and ethos of excellence in design and engineering. The theme of re-inventing British classics chimes with Vauxhall’s own work reinventing the car as we know it in the form of the Ampera, its first electric car.
Katie Paterson said, “I am interested in the way the ordinary and the otherworldly intersect, and much of my work uses everyday technologies from doorbells to record players and connecting with vast and intangible phenomena such as dying stars and the moon). I hope the work’s universal content will ignite the imagination of many.”
Katie Paterson is a member of the Vauxhall Collective 2009. “Streetlight Storm” is supported by Vauxhall Motors and Albion Gallery, in partnership with Turner Contemporary and Whitstable Biennale.
Scottish artist Katie Paterson, one of the most exciting and closely watched artists of the moment, has been commissioned by Vauxhall Motors to create an art work on the theme of re-inventing British classics. Paterson has taken a British seaside town as her inspiration, and will create a work for Deal Pier. Along the length of the pier, out to sea, the lights will flicker in time withlightning storms as they occur live across the globe.
Starting on the winter equinox, the shortest day of the year on the 21st December, “Streetlight Storm” will take place throughout the darkest months of the British winter, silently conveying the weather patterns of a whole planet. In this contemplative and evocative place, the gentle flickering of the lights will unfold between dusk, darkness and dawn, reflecting on the water through the night, contrasting with the drama of the lightning strikes that spark through.
Pairing the commonplace with the sublime is a recurring theme in Paterson’s work. Viewers can gaze out to the horizon from the pier as these everyday streetlights connect the imagination with faraway places and the Earth’s ecosystem at large. A simple concept, yet expansive in scope, the work will connect people with diverse geographies, collapsing distances and timescales, the artificial and the natural.
Central to Paterson’s practice is collaboration and this commission is no exception as the artist works with technologists, engineers, meteorologists and lightning scientists within the UK and internationally. Ambitious in scale, “Streetlight Storm” will fuel new cutting-edge partnerships and innovation and reflect Vauxhall’s use of advanced technologies and ethos of excellence in design and engineering. The theme of re-inventing British classics chimes with Vauxhall’s own work reinventing the car as we know it in the form of the Ampera, its first electric car.
Katie Paterson said, “I am interested in the way the ordinary and the otherworldly intersect, and much of my work uses everyday technologies from doorbells to record players and connecting with vast and intangible phenomena such as dying stars and the moon). I hope the work’s universal content will ignite the imagination of many.”
Katie Paterson is a member of the Vauxhall Collective 2009. “Streetlight Storm” is supported by Vauxhall Motors and Albion Gallery, in partnership with Turner Contemporary and Whitstable Biennale.
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