Step into Concrete Oasis, a collaborative meditative space crafted by USC students across multiple disciplines. Nestled in Downtown LA, it's a tranquil haven amidst the urban buzz.
Tickle the flowers, comb the sand and bathe in light. This show is an interactive sanctuary for contemplation and play. Join us on April 28th or May 2nd and entrench yourself in a symphony of light, sound, and motion.
This is a part of Cinematic & Media-Based Installations course in USC’s Expanded Animation program.
Located at 100 S Grand Avenue, The Grand LA is accessible via the Metro E Line (Grand Ave/Bunker Hill Stop). Parking is on Olive St between 1st and 3rd.
The Grand LA (built in 2022) sits across Grand Avenue from the Walt Disney Concert Hall which was also designed by Frank Gehry.
Gehry’s vision for The Grand was to create a centerpiece for Grand Avenue that promotes community gatherings and cultural performances in an open space, in addition to providing shopping, dining and residential experiences.
KONCRETE KALEIDOSCOPE
By Christopher Bowles & Nitesh Sridhar
Koncrete Kaleidoscope is a live face-tracking and image capture experience by Christopher Bowles and Nitesh Sridhar. This panorama piece plays on the idea of a beach day in LA by allowing participants to build forms in the sand while another lays down on their beach towel, putting on their best beach selfie face. The images of sunny faces and sandy decorations mix and mingle to become a wallpaper vignette in a secluded corner of The Grand, bringing the west coast into the heart of downtown.
HOMETOWN CROSSROADS
By Shea Noland & Dulce Mejía Morales
This immersive environment installation showcases overlapped footage of various locations, thus simulating a camera obscura effect. When using 2 video channels and 1 audio input, co-creators Dulce Mejía Morales and Shea Noland generated a rorschach image within a corner of The Grand LA. Dulce and Shea used archival footage from their hometowns (El Salvador and Hawaii) to evoke a sense of nostalgia, which created a literal and allegorical crossroad for the Concrete Oasis Immersive Installation.
REWILDING
By Lillian Lin & Ian Wang
This immersive installation imagines a state of harmony between concrete and jungle.
Using 1 video channel and 1 audio input, co-artists Lillian Zunrou Lin and Ian Wang created this projection art, which pans through a panoramic footage of an unfinished site at the Frank Gehry-designed The Grand LA. As each loop ends and restarts, the space transforms into a rainforest on the skeleton of the original building, evoking a future present where nature delicately reclaims an industrialized city.
Using 1 video channel and 1 audio input, co-artists Lillian Zunrou Lin and Ian Wang created this projection art, which pans through a panoramic footage of an unfinished site at the Frank Gehry-designed The Grand LA. As each loop ends and restarts, the space transforms into a rainforest on the skeleton of the original building, evoking a future present where nature delicately reclaims an industrialized city.
DREAMSCAPE
By Quinn Liu & Zifei Zhang
"Dreamscapes" invites viewers to engage with the urban landscape in a tactile and imaginative way. By touching flowers connected to a MIDI controller, the audience becomes co-creators of a generative light projection. This projection, a surrealistic collage of the city, reflects the ever-evolving nature of urban growth. Through this interactive experience, viewers are prompted to contemplate the intersections of nature, technology, and human influence on the modern metropolis. "Dreamscapes" seeks to evoke a sense of wonder and introspection, inviting participants to explore their own dreams and visions of urban life.