Tuesday, October 15, 1996
By Cheryl Klein
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Interspersed between the skyscrapers and fast-paced lifestyles
that have come to typify Los Angeles lies a whole other dimension.
TRANS-sitio, a group of UCLA grads and graduate students in
architecture, calls this "hidden L.A."
They are referring to the religious murals painted in vivid
color on the sides of inner city markets and to the satellite dish
that reaches upward from a tiny yard, receiving signals from the
inhabitants’ native country, to the street corner shrine
commemorating a victim of gang violence.
These images and many more will adorn Perloff’s architecture
gallery beginning on Wednesday when TRANS-sitio presents "Against
the Wall: Re-inscribing Collective Symbolism Onto the Spaces of
‘Hidden L.A.’" The name is lengthy, but the concept behind it has
the potential to be fascinating, giving students the opportunity to
explore the ways L.A.’s Latino community (specifically in the
MacArthur Park neighborhood) brings Latin America to the United
States by spicing up reality with magic realism.
Known primarily as a literary concept, magic realism combines
the everyday world with a fantasy world. Mariana Boctor, a recent
UCLA alumna, says that this idea carries over to architecture where
Latinos convert unspectacular spaces to fit their needs.
Boctor cites a photograph of an old gas station that now houses
a Mexican restaurant. On the side of the building, its owners have
painted a life-size taco truck, complete with real windows, tires
and an awning.
"You can still see that that was a gasoline station," Boctor
says. "So what makes it magical is that that piece is still there.
If it were just this mural of a taco truck, erasing everything, it
wouldn’t be very magical. It would just be a mural on a wall."
Jose Fontiveros, another member of TRANS-sitio, adds, "They used
the idea of optical illusion to create this kind of vernacular
element. That’s one of the things we want to try to do in the
installation. We want to try to recreate this idea that comes
directly from the community."
TRANS-sitio explains that unique adaptations like this make
people feel more at home in a new land. It allows them to work with
what is available and make it their own.
"(Latino immigrants) don’t want to totally assimilate into a
culture and lose their identity," Boctor says. "A really common
thing is they’ll take bungalows that have siding and they’ll put
chicken wire and stucco over it because those are the materials
that they’re used to."
Sometimes business, rather than aesthetics, promotes changes in
a person’s surroundings. One photo in the exhibit depicts a small
suburban house at night. A blazing square of light bulbs  the
frame to an old marquis  illuminates the yard and calls
attention to the food the occupants are selling.
"Usually, if you drive down Hollywood Blvd.," says Kima
Wakefield, a UCLA alumna and participant in the exhibit, "there’s a
sign and there are lights and there’s usually a text inside of the
frame. And here it’s illegal to operate a business out of your
front yard so they have the frame. They have the advertising
without actually making it illegal."
Another industry that thrives in the overlooked portions of Los
Angeles is the botanica. Botanicas are stores that sell items for
religious ceremonies along with an eclectic mix of icons, folk art
and even spiritual advice from a brujo or witch doctor. The doors
remain locked to deter curious tourists. Only those who understand
the botanica’s mystic implications may enter.
Fontiveros offers one reason why such locations remain so
unknown.
"I think of the way Los Angeles is spread out, the way the city
has been fragmented, all these communities have been living
isolated and creating this kind of culture.
"I realized that I’d been driving by all these places all the
time," Boctor adds. "You really have to get out and look through
the cracks."
The UCLA community won’t have to look quite so hard to find this
slice of L.A. life. The Perloff gallery will feature detailed
photos, three-dimensional models and a carpet of grass.
"That grass is cut and interrupted and transformed by the
different parts of the installation," Boctor says. Like L.A., the
lawn is shaped by its inhabitants.
TRANS-sitio not only exposes new aspects of Latino culture, but
also gives students an opportunity to work directly with the
community. Ever since the School of Architecture and Urban made
plans to split several years ago, many feel that architecture has
been isolated.
"I still think it’s a shame that other schools like USC are
doing projects in the community and they’re a private school and
we’re a public school and here we are. We’re not really doing
anything with the community. L.A. certainly is a city rich with
opportunities for students to do projects."
TRANS-sitio encourages students to interact with each other as
well as the surrounding area.
ARCHITECTURE: "Against the Wall: Re-inscribing Collective
Symbolism onto the Spaces of ‘Hidden’ L.A." will be at 1220 Perloff
from Oct. 17 to Nov. 8.