NEW EXHIBITION AT LAX TRANSLATES EVERYDAY MATERIALS INTO A CONTEMPLATIVE ENVIRONMENT
(Los Angeles, California – April 27, 2017) Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), in partnership with the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, announces a new art installation titled Translation by Los Angeles artist Olga Lah in Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Using hundreds of opened paperback books to form an undulating wall, Lah’s site-specific installation explores our life’s memories and how we choose to translate them into personal stories and collective narratives. The installation is on view for ticketed passengers in the Customs Hallway, Arrivals Level, through mid-September 2017.
Lah’s installations use everyday materials to create immersive environments that explore the space between reality and perception. Lah’s use of the paperback book in Translation demonstrates her facility with selecting a quotidian object and elevating it to represent the narrative of our life experiences. In this installation, the books are attached to the back wall of the display case and fill the case’s volume to form a cavernous, yet intimate sculpture. For Lah, the paperback book is a familiar object, one that we can materially carry in our hands, while mentally carrying the stories they contain. “My work considers our life’s journey, what is experienced and carried through into our lives,” states Lah. “By using the common paperback in my work, I am interested in what moments are translated into the greater story of our reality. The concept of translation is used as a metaphor for how our lives are informed through the interpretation of our memories.”
In her installation, the wall of books curves and bends, with varied pages on display, reminding us that life’s journey is an accumulation of events and recollections. At the far right end of the installation, the fanned book pages are painted white, an optimistic nod to the future that our personal and collective narratives will continue in the possibility of transformation and hope. For Lah, our perception of our experiences and memories is a form of translation, as we sort and select the ones that we ultimately choose to define us.
About Los Angeles World Airports Art Program
The mission of the LAWA Art Program is to enhance and humanize the travel experience by providing diverse and memorable art experiences throughout the airport. The Art Program includes temporary exhibitions, permanent installations, and cultural performances. With an emphasis on local and regional artists, the Art Program provides access to an array of contemporary artworks that reflect and celebrate the region’s creative caliber. For additional information, please visit lawa.org.
About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
LAX is the fourth busiest airport in the world, second in the United States, and was named Skytrax’ 2017 Top 10 Most Improved Airports. LAX served more than 80.9 million passengers in 2016. LAX offers 742 daily nonstop flights to 101 cities in the U.S. and 1,280 weekly nonstop flights to 77 cities in 42 countries on 64 commercial air carriers. LAX ranks 14th in the world and fifth in the U.S. in air cargo tonnage processed, with more than 2.2 million tons of air cargo valued at over $101.4 billion. LAX handled 697,138 operations (landings and takeoffs) in 2016.
An economic study based on 2014 operations reported LAX generated 620,610 jobs in Southern California with labor income of $37.3 billion and economic output (business revenues) of more than $126.6 billion. This activity added $6.2 billion to local and state revenues and $8.7 billion in federal tax revenues. The study also reported that LAX’s ongoing capital-improvement program creates an additional 121,640 annual jobs with labor income of $7.6 billion and economic output of $20.3 billion, $966 million in state and local taxes, and $1.6 billion in federal tax revenues.
LAX is part of a system of two Southern California airports – along with Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City’s general fund.
As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services, and activities. Alternative formats in large print, braille, audio, and other forms (if possible) will be provided upon request.
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Olga Lah, “Translation” LAX, Tom Bradley International Terminal, Lower/Arrivals Level Installation view #2. On view for ticketed passengers through mid-September 2017. Photo credit: Panic Studio LA
Olga Lah, “Translation” LAX, Tom Bradley International Terminal, Lower/Arrivals Level Installation view #3 On view for ticketed passengers through mid-September 2017. Photo credit: Panic Studio LA.
