New public art project destined for LAX

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A new public art project involving video creations by 17 artists and art teams is currently being unveiled at Los Angeles International Airport.

Organizers said the completed project will be on display in two permanent locations in the arrivals lobby at the airport’s Tom Bradley International Terminal. Some of the video art is already on display but a complete unveiling isn’t scheduled until the summer.

Artists were asked to create site-specific works that would appear on video screens mounted on a wall or suspended from a ceiling. The video wall at LAX will consist of 25 46-inch LCD screens in a rectangular matrix, while the ceiling arrangement will feature 58 screens placed end to end.

The project is organized by the Department of Cultural Affairs and LAX.

Artists participating in the project come from cities across the country, including L.A., San Francisco, Chicago and New York. The L.A. artists include Todd Gray, Joseph Santarromana, Hilja Keading, Ryan Lamb, Steve Shoffner and Pascual Sisto.

For the project, artists were asked to ‘address the context of LAX and the city of Los Angeles and create an impressive moving visual art environment.’

The cost of the video installations comes to $250,000, according to Sarah Cifarelli, LAX’s art manager. The money is coming from a city rule requiring city departments and private developers to contribute 1% of construction costs of capital improvement to public art.

Currently, the Tom Bradley Terminal at LAX is undergoing a series of upgrades and renovations. In 2009, airport commissioners approved $1.13 billion in construction contracts to revitalize the terminal.

-- David Ng