Title of Work: Monument to Los Angeles
Date: 2016
Medium: HD video

Monument to Los Angeles acknowledges the city’s history and celebrates it as an industrial metropolis. In the late 1800s, wealthy citrus growers lined their roads and driveways with California fan palms making oranges and palm trees symbols of wealth and sunshine. Today, the orange groves have disappeared but palm trees of all varieties have been embraced as icons, suggestive of the area's surf and beach culture, among other things. The region’s light and air was once promoted as a cure for many illnesses including nervousness, hay fever, and tuberculosis. The unique climate and pervasive light has attracted artists, writers, businessmen, and the motion picture industry. Presently, the entertainment industry creates thousands of images, with actors pretending to be something other than themselves, and distributes them to the rest of the world.