As a child I awoke on Saturday mornings to the sound of hammers echoing through the canyon. I watched as foundations were poured and then abandoned. After leaving for college, I would return each break to find empty lots filled, nightlife on previously industrial streets, the places I knew replaced by apartment buildings and galleries.

My experience is not unique.

The built environment of Los Angeles is constantly evolving: expanding into undeveloped land, building upon existing structures, and repurposing space to new uses. This fall I will be undertaking a thesis in art, exploring the phenomena of urban development and redevelopment in LA. I will be examining the unintended results of these projects: the skeletons of buildings left incomplete, the afterlives of abandoned sites, the states of dilapidation and construction between one existence and another.

This spring I was fortunate enough to receive a grant to fund my research on the topic, primarily though photography of states of change and transformation in the city. This project, reacquainting myself with Los Angeles and what it is becoming, has occupied my time in the few weeks that I’ve been home this summer, and will again after I return from Seattle.

I more than welcome any contact regarding this project or related topics.

Kai

This map indicates several areas of interest around downtown and Northeast LA, though my project is not limited to this region.