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LOS ANGELES COUNTY COMMEMORATES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL WITH PUBLIC ART EXHIBIT
By MassisPost
Updated: March 30, 2015
LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich
will commemorate the centennial of the Armenian Genocide by hosting
a month-long interactive art installation on three levels at Grand
Park beginning with an unveiling ceremony April 25th at 5:00 pm.
Titled "iwitness," the installation consists of an inter-connected
network of towering asymmetrical photographic sculptures wrapped
with massive portraits of eyewitness survivors of the Genocide. The
sculptures have no right angles and their irregular angular shapes
speak to an unbalanced world, continually at risk of war, ethnic
cleansing and genocide. They range in height from eight to fifteen
feet. (Visual attached.)
Conceived and constructed by artists Ara Oshagan and Levon Parian and
architect Vahagn Thomasian, iwitness will be the first ever public
art installation at Grand Park.
"This remarkable memorial honors the 1.5 million victims of the
Armenian Genocide and tells the personal stories of survivors --
first-hand eyewitnesses to one of the worst atrocities of the 20th
century," said Mayor Antonovich.
"iwitness is a temporary monument to the men and women who rebuilt
their disrupted lives and communities in the aftermath of genocide,"
said artist Ara Oshagan. "The proximity and clustering of the
sculptures alludes to, and reflects, the new communities they created
after being dispersed across the globe."
The installation offers a continually shifting perspective during the
day, as shadows cast by sunlight create a dynamic interplay between
the asymmetrical lines, shapes and forms of the sculptures. At night,
a different atmosphere and environment is created as each sculpture
in the network is illuminated from the inside.
To educate and promote discourse, audiences at iwitness walk amid
these larger-than-life sculptures to reflect on its message and the
Turkish government's continued denial of the Armenian Genocide.
Most of the men and women survivors portrayed are Southern California
residents who immigrated here to reestablish their lives. They include:
· Emmy-nominated filmmaker Michael J. Hagopian of Thousand Oaks,
who survived because his mother hid him in a mulberry bush.
· Hampartsoum Chitjian of Los Angeles, who was saved by a blind
Kurdish man.
· Hayastan Terzian of Pasadena, whose family was saved by the U.S.
Consul Leslie Davis stationed near her hometown.
· Sam Kadorian of Van Nuys, who was left for dead under a pile of
decomposing bodies and survived on his wits, courage and will to live.
With fiscal sponsorship of the project from the Lucie Foundation, the
installation coincides with the Foundation's "Month of Photography in
Los Angeles" (MOPLA) photo festival that is held every year in April.
http://massispost.com/2015/03/los-angeles-county-commemorates-armenian-genocide-centennial-with-public-art-exhibit/
By MassisPost
Updated: March 30, 2015
LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich
will commemorate the centennial of the Armenian Genocide by hosting
a month-long interactive art installation on three levels at Grand
Park beginning with an unveiling ceremony April 25th at 5:00 pm.
Titled "iwitness," the installation consists of an inter-connected
network of towering asymmetrical photographic sculptures wrapped
with massive portraits of eyewitness survivors of the Genocide. The
sculptures have no right angles and their irregular angular shapes
speak to an unbalanced world, continually at risk of war, ethnic
cleansing and genocide. They range in height from eight to fifteen
feet. (Visual attached.)
Conceived and constructed by artists Ara Oshagan and Levon Parian and
architect Vahagn Thomasian, iwitness will be the first ever public
art installation at Grand Park.
"This remarkable memorial honors the 1.5 million victims of the
Armenian Genocide and tells the personal stories of survivors --
first-hand eyewitnesses to one of the worst atrocities of the 20th
century," said Mayor Antonovich.
"iwitness is a temporary monument to the men and women who rebuilt
their disrupted lives and communities in the aftermath of genocide,"
said artist Ara Oshagan. "The proximity and clustering of the
sculptures alludes to, and reflects, the new communities they created
after being dispersed across the globe."
The installation offers a continually shifting perspective during the
day, as shadows cast by sunlight create a dynamic interplay between
the asymmetrical lines, shapes and forms of the sculptures. At night,
a different atmosphere and environment is created as each sculpture
in the network is illuminated from the inside.
To educate and promote discourse, audiences at iwitness walk amid
these larger-than-life sculptures to reflect on its message and the
Turkish government's continued denial of the Armenian Genocide.
Most of the men and women survivors portrayed are Southern California
residents who immigrated here to reestablish their lives. They include:
· Emmy-nominated filmmaker Michael J. Hagopian of Thousand Oaks,
who survived because his mother hid him in a mulberry bush.
· Hampartsoum Chitjian of Los Angeles, who was saved by a blind
Kurdish man.
· Hayastan Terzian of Pasadena, whose family was saved by the U.S.
Consul Leslie Davis stationed near her hometown.
· Sam Kadorian of Van Nuys, who was left for dead under a pile of
decomposing bodies and survived on his wits, courage and will to live.
With fiscal sponsorship of the project from the Lucie Foundation, the
installation coincides with the Foundation's "Month of Photography in
Los Angeles" (MOPLA) photo festival that is held every year in April.
http://massispost.com/2015/03/los-angeles-county-commemorates-armenian-genocide-centennial-with-public-art-exhibit/