A public art installation of 20 parking meters (altered) and wired for sound. Each meter was placed in a public context including bookstores, parks, outside galleries, city hall, malls, arts organizations, bookstores etc. When the viewer fed the meter with a quarter, they got 15 minutes of sound.
This project grew out of a proto-type that was made for the "Breaking Barriers" exhibition at the Santa Monica Museum after the LA insurrection. 20+ meters were wired for sound were placed throughout Los Angeles, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Pasadena and Orange County. Artists and writers with HIV/AIDS and their friends and family were commissioned to write texts for the tapes which are placed in the meters. When the viewer feeds the meter, a tape plays. When the time runs out, the meter is then silent. Money collected went towards a fund that supported artists with AIDS in the fabrication of their work. This project opened December 1st, 1994 and ran initially for three months. The project lasted for four years. Many meters were also included in a number of gallery and museum group shows.
All the quarters were deposited into an account that was given to artists with HIV/AIDS to finish a last body of work before they died, through Side Street Projects, a nonprofit artist run space. REVIEWS>
All Artists/Writers
Roberto Bedoya
Amber Dawn-Noland
Eric Gorden
Jeffery Herr
Steve Maher
Mark Niblock-Smith
Jordan Peimer
Mike Reynolds
Michael Rosenberg
Julia Salazar
Jeff Sullivan
Al Winn
All Locations
Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA
West Hollywood City Hall, West Hollywood, CA
City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department Lobby, Los Angeles, CA
Highways Performance Space, Santa Monica, CA
Huntington Beach Art Center, Huntington Beach, CA
Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
LA Eyeworks, South Coast Plaza, Orange County, CA
Long Beach Museum, Long Beach, CA
Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies, Re:solution, Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center, Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Midnight Special Bookstore, Santa Monica, CA
Plaza de la Raza, Los Angeles, CA
Rio Hondo College, Whittier, CA
Robert Berman Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Santa Monica AIDS Project, Santa Monica, CA
Santa Monica City Hall, Santa Monica, CA
Side Street Projects, Santa Monica, CA
UCLA at the Armand Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Watts Towers Arts Center, Los Angeles, CA