In September and October 2004 the Art Center Wind Tunnel will become the stage for diverse experiments creating a micro-ecosystem. Prominent local artists, architects, designers, writers, film makers, performers, educators, politicians, activists, pacifists, scientists, academics and thinkers will be invited to take over some part of the wind tunnel for the six week period. Responding to this unique space and the context of the show, participants will have complete freedom to propose anything: site specific installations, film screenings, lecture series, information booths, performances, seminars, exhibits. This event will be a fusion of exhibition / fair / convention / party / meeting / classroom / exhibit / town square / performance.

Link: GardenLAb
Designers: Fritz Haeg & Francois Perrin

"The garden has evolved from a controlled enclosed space for cultivation, protected from wild chaotic nature, a place of balance between human needs and natural resources. Now that ‘wild nature’ unaffected by human intervention no longer exists, the walls of the garden have fallen. We have become custodians of a garden planet.

In 2001 the the Gardenlab program was established at Art Center to support ecological initiatives, including design studios, design / build projects, lectures and conferences. Inspired by the garden as a metaphor, the Gardenlab seeks to fundamentally shift the current self-reflexive culture of art and design education, where formal novelty, hermetic discourse and the latest software dominate. The Gardenlab provides a balance to these forces by provoking thought on the complex interdependent relationships that define our communities and environment.

The ambitious hope is that this Gardenlab gathering will, for the first time, bring together every person in the Los Angeles area who is concerned about issues of the environment and ecology."