Silver Lake's Rowena Avenue has long been a trouble spot for travelers and residents alike, with the ongoing construction disrupting businesses and the daily comings and goings at Ivanhoe Elementary school.
Artist Bettina Hubby has lived through it all--and at some point decided it was better to make lemonade, or art.
So she whipped out her camera and documented the dig in photos taken over the course of the construction.
She's inviting locals to join her for a little exhibition of the work today, Jan. 12, from 5-7:30 p.m.
It will be based right at the construction site, and, according to KCRW, could feature a dangling disco ball.
Hubby told us a bit about the project in an email a while back:
I am quite aware of all the chaos and negative feelings the neighborhood has about the traffic inconveniences, dangers and noise, so I am proposing a project to momentarily alleviate the negativity and celebrate the construction sites and workers themselves with an outdoor art show. I know this is not what you are used to reading, but think about what a kick the neighborhood would get out of it, and the workers, who are used to being seen as nuisances, how they may be amused and pleased to be the subject matter for art.
I have made these photographs of the sites and workers, abstracted the images by making them into Rorschach patterns printed on silk and framed with construction type materials. They (about 8 of them in total) would then be attached to the fences surrounding the main construction site itself on Rowena for the one day event, like on the walls of a gallery, but outside and using the materials that make sense for the site.
Construction workers featured in the photos are also invited to the event and will, presumably, hoist the glittered ball on high.
Hear more about Hubby's project in this audio interview with Silver Lake resident Lisa Napoli:
