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The two-and-a-half hour, six-channel video component of A Voyage of Growth and Discovery follows the existential journey of Baby IKKI as he wanders through a festival of "radical self-expression" in Nevada's remote Black Rock Desert. The installation evokes the festival's fantasy-like environment, which is both folksy and grand a mixture of fairground, playground, hippie commune, and the futuristic architectural aesthetic of R. Buckminster Fuller.
A Voyage of Growth and Discovery will be exhibited in the same studio space where it was first conceived of and developed. By opening the studio to the public, West of Rome calls into question the traditional division between the artist's public and private spheres: the studio, which is normally reserved as a secluded, private space, is now turned inside out as it becomes the official site of public presentation.
Bringing the visitors to the Farley Building, where the studio is located, serves as yet another occasion for West of Rome to highlight a part of the city outside the art-world's usual path, making the installation highly interesting in terms of both its history and its present state. Ethnic diversity and a large population of creative professionals have long characterized the neighborhood of Eagle Rock, which only in recent years has seen a dramatic process of gentrification. Tucked in the hills of North-East Los Angeles, the Farley Building once served as a self-storage facility and is a typical construction of the local landscape.
"A Voyage of Growth and Discovery" by Mike Kelley and Michael Smith
May 26th - August 26th 2010 at
The Farley Building
1669 Colorado Boulevard
Eagle Rock
Los Angeles, CA 90041-1435
Wednesday to Saturday: Noon to 7pm
Sunday: 1pm to 6pm
