Traffic Islands in LA Declared Nat’l Park!
As a symbol of the treasure of everyday urbanism in our unique democracy & to protect the natural spirit of inquisitive and intelligent interchanges in this land of freedom for future generations, traffic islands and other islands of public space where people can legally assemble without a fee or additional permission have been declared a National Park. These spaces have been designated as places in the everyday happening of the city where residents can interchange, sharing and trying on ideas, for a brief moment. Islands of LA is both a National Park…and a notional park.
Our country and the residents of Los Angeles hail this as a progressive and yet conservative stance that, like the National Park System, can be supported by those on both sides of the political spectrum. It is progressive because it extends the preservation of nature to the preservation of cultural interchanges and promises that marginal public spaces will be there for future generations to enjoy. It is conservative because it is a pre-emptive strike that protects our country from those who are against democracy in public.
This is a bold move for the National Park system. Previously, the system only protected huge areas of natural terrain. But the wisdom of this country has directed the system to include traffic islands under its banner of national treasures. The decision is based on the need to protect the country’s history of public assembly and free speech. Declaring the traffic islands in LA as territories of art that generate cultural interchanges is move in line with the Park System’s heritage which is to protect national treasures.
Now we can rest assured that these neglected yet beautiful spaces of no identity will never be ruined, destroyed or dominated by one group at the expense of other groups. And it reinforces that we are in a time when different groups must be able to enjoy equal footing in the use of public space to create public spheres – places where people come together in free and democratic space to exchange ideas and discuss life and proliferate impossibilities.
We proudly salute this occasion with a commemorative sign that will be placed on over 200 islands in L.A. The easily removed signs that cause no damage reflect the intention of the National Parks philosophy to leave no trace and of the ISLANDS OF LA to serve as territories of temporary art that generate cultural interchanges while causing no harm.
There are many ways people can interchange with the ISLANDS OF LA. You can post comments to an entry in the blog or attend an activity. You can also submit content that relates, in some way, to a specific island on the map or submit a proposal for an island project or event – impossible or fantastical submissions encouraged and no portfolio or resume is required. Join the mailing list to stay informed.
Come on a help out by joining the Island Maintenance Crew, a group of volunteers helping to protect America and the new National Parks, ISLANDS OF LA.
And to be invited to an activity and informed about the Islands of LA, sign up on the mailing list.
December 1, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Who is doing this? i mean, i can’t find anything about the authors or who is writing this.
December 2, 2007 at 4:10 am
I don’t know who is behind it, but I’ve started to wonder if it matters. I kinda like thinking about the possibilities–government plot? aliens (human or not)? Lonely nutter? Kommunist Konspiracy? Devious city attempt to make us THINK we’re free? Or is it some kind of Da Vinci Code thing–anagrams that will lead us inexorably to the Truth that the gods died of lung cancer (from inhaling the smoke from all those sacrifices) a few milennia ago? (The only god who survived was the puritanical one who never had any fun, worked hard, and avoided the sacrifices. Yeah, explains a lot, doesn’t it?)
January 11, 2008 at 3:37 pm
This is sreally tupid. If this really was part of the National Parks, it would be on the government website. Seems that some idiot is just on his/her own private rant placing signs all over the city. Give me a break. Getting together and discussing things in public places? I’d rather meet at Starbucks.
January 12, 2008 at 7:32 am
Denise’s comment is interesting. Art can be many things, and often compels people to think about things they have not thought of before, But it takes an open mind, a sense of adventure, and in this case, an understanding of metaphor. Of course they are not really national parks. Did you actually go to the government web site and check? That is really fabulous. It is interesting what pisses people off.
January 12, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Starbucks or our minds…action is what matters.
The most interesting of all this for me is actually how art and this public spaces – are getting alive through signs…and how … consciously or unconsciously – it’s creating awareness… getting ppl to exchange ideas, to think and share, not just go through the city or through life with eyes and hearts closed…
Miguel, Frank, Denise, Karen, me, and anybody else that has for any reason been in this site (posted or not)…is already part of this traffic of ideas and feelings…has already given some life to it…
so, cheers to us and all the ones that will join.
January 25, 2008 at 5:55 pm
This is offensive and is endemic of the kind of relational aesthetic art that irritates me to the core. Work like this does little more than reproduce the colonialist power dynamics that have led to international conquest of native peoples since white people decided that their ideals, their enlightenment, was a gift, a gift not asked for or taken well, to give to other foreign people across the world, a gift that knocks with a smile and stings with a bayonet. Way to go. Keep spreading democracy dude.
National parks are there for a reason. They have a very well understood relationship to national identity and frankly are underappreciated nowadays. National parks are about preserving what came before us. They are for unadorned, uninterrupted nature.
This project seems to want to declare a traffic island, a human-made, city planned part of the urban environment as a national park but ignores the offensive nature of such a comparison. Your project leaves me with the message that there is a wilderness out there. and who populates it? Why, the native inhabitants that heretofore left these spaces unused (setting aside the fact that they are there for a reason, to facilitate movement across the urban landscape).
Put simly, your project is a colonialist endeavor that does little but equate the neighborhoods you infect with your signage (which does little more than mimic the Banksyesque artification of urban neighborhoods) with a jungle, a forest, a desert, and by extension makes the people who actually live their untamed animals in need of your dialogic help.
Please stop doing this.
I only write here because your work is actually getting press, and I am concerned that this will legitimize this project and that other people will actually buy into the idea that this kind of half-assed intervention actually promotes your conception of the public good. I’m sure the mainstream media loves your kind of work for its overt embrace of the gentrification that is destroying the very neighborhoods you cordon off in your cynical and pretentious desire to self promote, and help those who never asked for it. Cograts. You are well on your way to Basel.
January 26, 2008 at 1:38 pm
i looked to see where the Islands are and they don’t seem to be targeting areas of gentrification. some are in very nice areas of Santa Monica. how is it possible to gentrify Santa Monica? actually, this is kinda interesting, what would it mean to gentrify an already gentrified place? anyway, I think the national park signs are funny, uplifting and inviting us to think differently about the city.
January 27, 2008 at 7:49 am
Anonymous like you, thanks for your thoughtful response. Islands of LA does not have an intention to be colonial, gentrifying, cynical, pretentious or about self-promotion.
Regarding the national parks project, which is one project of Islands of LA: the intention in declaring traffic islands as national parks is to equate open and free discourse with unadorned nature because we believe that both are treasures that should be protected and preserved for all people who wish to enjoy them. We also believe that in all cultures, there is a history of discussion, dialogue and cultural interchange that this project celebrates, invites, supports and protects. Discussion is natural to all humans. The neighborhoods around these islands (which are in all socio-economic areas of the city) have people who enjoy and appreciate dialogues and those who don’t. We welcome those and the wealth and diversity of their experiences and history. For those who don’t value open discussion and sharing of ideas, they can ignore or criticize the project. They can choose not to participate just like people can choose not to visit a national park if they don’t like nature.
Islands of LA believes there is room for different lifestyles and points of view and don’t wish to impose dialogue on anyone but rather make it available in public space and, in so doing, question the presence and role of art and dialogue in public space (and the public sphere). We believe this revitalizes communities (rather than gentrifies them) and that this is anti-colonial for several reasons. For example, this project invites a sharing of other points of view which colonialism does not do. It also believes that all people have the capability and history of rich discussion in their communities. This is to suggest that everyone has their own enlightenment, knowledge and imagination which we wish to promote and share in public.
Your comments are welcome whether it by supportive or not (unless they are inflammatory and are more interested in verbal violence than a healthy discussion). Islands of LA is an ongoing thing, evolving, shifting with and from the interchanges it generates.
Cheers,
Islands of LA
January 27, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Ok, I don’t live in LA, I wasn’t born in this country, and I hate cars, so you can discount me as a crazed, alien East Coaster. But I really disagree strongly with this post about colonialism (by Anon like you–Alu), and with its tenor of moral outrage. I think it’s the kind of wooly thinking that gives the Left a bad name.
First off, the term “colonialism” is really only abusive name-calling if it is not defined and the reason for its use justified. So what is colonialism? I assume it is, roughly, the appropriation or taking control of territory by an external force of superior power. (Very rough and hasty def.)
So let’s look at the art project. As I understand it, the project is on traffic islands. So what are traffic islands? They’re tragic little strips of “nature” isolated between streams of traffic. How did they get that way? The land was appropriated by a City Planning Authority, which carved the islands out from both nature and neighborhood, under orders from the collection of corporate interests—call it the “Auto-Industrial Complex” (apologies to Eisenhower)—that was and remains the colonial power here. Through its paid-for city administration, the Complex appropriated the land, ruthlessly cleared and paved it, stamping its “Car Culture” firmly on the landscape, and then left the islands, in a cynical gesture, as a kind of unpaved surplus that bears pathetic witness to the all-consuming power of the Auto-Industrial Complex itself.
In other words, the islands were brought into being by a colonizing force–and they advertise it. They are symbols of the colonization of our living spaces by “Car Culture,” and by that collection of industries that created Car Culture. What this art project is doing (as I see it) is one way of trying to TAKE BACK those islands from their colonial masters—to convert them from something that symbolizes the isolation of the colonized into something that can be convivial.
I think Alu has fundamentally misunderstood the power dynamic involved in colonialism. Colonial masters have power that they exercise violently and ruthlessly (when they feel so inclined) against/upon the territory they occupy. So does this art project wield that kind of power? Of course it doesn’t. Could this art project level or obliterate the islands overnight? Of course not. But if GM gave the order, the City Administration could and would.
Put simply, Alu has misunderstood who the colonial power—and who the “Enemy”—is. Alu has decided that some LA artists are colonial powers (yeah, right), and that the City Planning Authority is—well, as taken-for-granted as nature–or God? So Alu rails against the evil “colonialism” of the art project, while defending the wisdom and non-invasiveness of the City Planning Authority, which sensibly created traffic islands “for a reason.” I know, it sounds surreal.
What gets me is that Alu is all angry about colonialism, and yet has such fawning respect for State Authority. Talk about the fascist mentality: Artists bad; bureaucrats, good. What! (I hear Alu cry) Am I claiming that the City Administration is a (gasp) colonial power, owned and operated by external forces? Am I suggesting that it is something other than a shining example of government by, with, and for the people? Why, shucks, I guess I am suggesting that. But look at it this way, even if I’m wrong, what I’m saying can’t possibly be sillier than trying to compare this art project with the murderous colonial invasions once perpetrated by assorted European nations and now enthusiastically pursued by the “democratic” US Government.
February 2, 2008 at 7:05 pm
I’ve been to many national parks all across the country including Alaska and the Dept of the Interior oversees them. And these simple medians with fruit sellers and beggars and bums sleeping under the trees should not be called National Parks. By the way this is what I’ve observed many times along Glendale Blvd close to Berkeley Av in Echo Park. I vote for removing those signs and replacing the compact dirt with sod. Here in Eagle Rock our medians have trees and grass and are well maintained.
February 6, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Can any one explain Sierra Madre Blvd. in Pasadena. Divided road, 40 MPH , no parking. How can this be a National Park? Isn’t there a fee to go to a National Parks?
February 7, 2008 at 11:06 am
As a matter of fact, no, there is not necessarily a fee in national parks. This seems little known in the country as a whole, but the Mall in Washington DC, and the Lincoln Memorial, are both national parks–and they’re free, and they are probably the best-known places for public political action in the nation. (There are also roads that are national parks–such as the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.)
As you can probably tell, I live on the east coast, not in CA, but I think it’s great that someone is reclaiming traffic islands in LA as national parks–thus making it clear that they belong to “we the people,” and are usable by us–absolutely WITHOUT A FEE.
March 5, 2008 at 10:57 am
I saw one of the National Park signs at the corner of National and Military on the west side.
My first thought was, how interesting and great! People are finally taking an interest in public space and making it better. I have now visited the website and I am a little disappointed. I thought this was a grass roots organization with the goal of improving the public spaces around them, not making signs mimicing National Park signs and calling them art.
I think idea of improving these islands and making them city treasures is a great one. (Look at the LA Angeles, the New York Cows, and in my home town of South Bend, IN the fire hydrant paint to look like people) The National Park theme is a good marketing tool to get people interested (it got me).
Now go the next step:
Plant flowers, install art pieces, plant grass and continue to get people involved, but do we really need more signs?
[note from Islands of LA. Various activities an projects have happened and/or are in the plans.]
March 5, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I think that this project is the product of naval gazing assholes. This morning a park was “tagged” by these people in my neighborhood. We are dealing with prostitution, homelessness, and gang violence and they want to mark the locations that these are happening in as “forums of thought and creativity.” Way to miss the point. But I am sure it makes you feel really good about yourselves while actually doing nothing.
March 11, 2008 at 6:39 pm
thank you for the Islands of LA National Park sign on Olympic in WLA, somewhere Westbound around 26th or so… i was having a rather nasty day, stopped at a red light with my car engine ready to break down at any moment, and i nearly peed my pants laughing when i saw your IoLANP sign
keep it up, you cheeky buggers 
March 12, 2008 at 6:33 am
I’ve seen the same sign on Olympic and 26th. My mistake was that I assumed the entire Water Garden complex was designated a national park. What with it’s rolling meadows and bubbling springs, I had thought momentarily that it had rightfully claimed it’s place in the pantheon of national parks. And to stretch the metaphor a bit further, let’s add Los Angeles pedestrians to the endangered species list! And dangle more of those beautiful butterflies from the overhead power cables and stop lights! I love it!
April 2, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Now that you have made my home a National Park, I eagerly await the official assignment of Park Rangers, and will be happy to volunteer to “man” the parking permit box or campground as needed.
(Keep up the good work in making us smile and laugh, ignore the ignorant, and to some of these commenters: Your sense of moral outrage is duly noted, stamped, and filed in the Vogon Display Department for further review.)
April 2, 2008 at 9:11 pm
I pass by a small island at the West end of the Third Street bridge on the way home after I do volunteer work. The sign gave me a good chuckle.
Jim
April 24, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I pass by the sign at MLK and Liemert Park everyday, and I think it’s great! I like the idea of what you’re trying to accomplish, and I can only hope the push for “National Park Status” is made with a “tongue-in-cheek” frame of mind.
I think you will find, however, that you will be creating a risk to life and property by having this “living, breathing” space for artists, street vendors, etc. These traffic islands are there to separate one flow of traffic from the other, and over the years have seen their fair share of jumped curbs, rollovers, illegal U-turns, and the often spectacular ends to police chases. In most cases, the only damage done are bent wheels and chipped concrete. I’d hate to see a vendor’s cart (and the vendor, for that matter) turned into so much steel scrap and flesh pulp by a car that takes a turn to tightly.
Your heart is in the right place – logistically, I don’t think it’s “doable.”
April 24, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Thanks for your comment Kent. Sensitivity to context is a central aspect of Islands of LA. Its true that some traffic islands are small and nothing more than signs can be put on them. But, having visited over 100 islands in L.A., I have learned that others are quite safe, due to their size and context, and can have a few or even many people using them. Some islands are huge like this one in Venice. There are even some islands with benches or bus stops, here are 3 examples (1, 2, 3) or paths worn in by years of jogging.
It seems traffic management is one aspect and it may be what spawns the creation of an island, but other community needs and concerns are often integrated. For example, there is an island last week in Echo Park that the fire department used to raise money from…they where there with empty boots in their hand, asking for donations. (Here is a banner and posters they put up for a week.)
Given this, it seems that these islands can be turned into territories of art and activities can transpire in a safe and responsible manner. To participate in an activity just sign up for the mailing list to be notified of upcoming activities .
April 27, 2008 at 1:32 pm
I only skimed most of the previous posts so forgive me if this has already been mentioned. I find it highly ironic that these “open spaces” are being celebrated as if they were set asside for people to come together when most of them that I have seen are the remains of the old Pacific Electric Railroad System. They did once bring the city and it’s inhabitants together in an amazing way, but not in the form of open space. Rather as an amazingly effective network of public transit. To paraphrase “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, “Why do I need a car? LA has the best public transit in the world.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Electric_Railway
April 27, 2008 at 6:19 pm
There are many traffic islands and some, although I haven’t found that a majority are remnants of the electric train car system. The ones that are do are artifacts and documents that are a testament to the Great American Streetcar Scandal. For those who don’t know about the collusion between corporations in the 40s to dismantle the electric street car system nationwide, check out these links: About, InTransition. This is a fascinating and important part of history and Islands of LA will do a project about it, please email if you would like to be involved.
On another note, Islands of LA is not celebrating these islands so much as it is converting them, turning them into territories of art to create community, discussion, interchange and explore the use of available public space rather than only comment and bemoan the loss of it.
May 1, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Is this a gimmick to get the federal government to pay for the watering, gardening and upkeep, when it is really Villaraigosa’s job to do all of this?
June 6, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Construction of one of these new “parks” at the intersection of Main St and Alameda St near Chinatown disrupted my commute for over a year. I think I know why it took so long: some amateur City manager probably specified that the work had to be finished within a zillion years, giving the contractor the lattitude to build this island at snails pace. Driving past this site every day for over a year, having to go through a couple extra traffic lights which were always red when I needed them and added at least 5 minutes to my commute, frustrated me like nothing else. Was it necessary to allow the contractor so much time???
The finished product looks nice–nothing to write home about–but it serves its purpose and adds a little greenery where there was none before. However, I don’t buy the propaganda that islandsofla.com is selling. This town needs massive investment in infrastructure, including street and traffic improvements, public transportation, and parks, to name a few. Under the category of parks, these so called parks are not even a drop in the bucket, maybe they are a drop in the ocean, and contrary to what is being promoted here, these spaces are at best just a distraction from our society’s real needs. And distraction are never intended to be the real solution to a problem, quite the opposite, their objective is to hide the problem.
June 9, 2008 at 10:44 pm
I took the time to read most of the posts on this bulletin, and larry, you’ve stolen (borrowed) the words right out of my mouth. A gimmick. This is the first thing that popped in to my mind. The whole “Nat’l Park” thing really grabbed my attention while driving the ambulance I work on with my partner through the intersection of Alameda and Gage. What the heck is that? National Park?! The Statue of Liberty, Yosemite, Mount Rushmore are a part of the National Park Service (NPS). A dirty ol’ “street” island should not be deemed a national park. Channel Islands, indeed part of the NPS. Islands of LA, what’s the dealy yo? What are your “real” intentions? This looks/sounds like the beginning of some thing else. What do you want the publicity for? I’m not saying that in any way, shape or form your project is dumb or any thing like that, I just think it should probably have a different title. Any one have ideas for a different project title? Please chime in. Respectfully yours, FOS.
June 10, 2008 at 9:08 pm
I’m glad you are thinking about this issues and the city. Someone once said to me, History is made by those who show up. One way to understand this project is to come out and participate in a couple of the activities and experience for yourself whether the project is meaningful and compelling. Check out the Calendar and show up to an activity.
Also, this is not a gimmick, it is a serious, inviting work that compels you to think and interact with your city. The Nat’l Park sign is a part of the project, a metaphor that draws analogies between the public space of traffic islands and another public domain. The Nat’l Park metaphor challenges us to look at the use of available, marginal/overlooked public space in highly visible areas of the city for inquisitive, challenging discussion that is a great treasure to our democracy and should be protected.
But the challenge is more than to look. It is to use our available public space. So come out and participate in an event. Or maybe doing something on your own in public space to engage with our city.
June 14, 2008 at 7:58 am
cristian, are you saying islands of la is making these parks? i dont get that. i think these traffic islands are made by the city and islands of la wants to use them to talk about things in our city. a good discussion in and of itself may not change things but it could foster that.
June 18, 2008 at 1:06 pm
click here for a picture of Islands of LA Nat’l Park in Silverlake
July 9, 2008 at 1:19 pm
We are a community organization with a dreadful expanse of concrete and cement calling out for green art/ We have been desperately raising money to try to create green islands, then I saw the island at 6th and Norton [more or less] and thought “national park”??? are they serious. So I would really appreciate being able to talk to someone who knows how to make this happen. By the way, we are having a fundraising block party to celebrate our 29th birthday as a federal historic district on July 27. Is anyone interested? And why can’t we use the funds the city is sitting on to build parks –they say islands aren’t parks…