This mixed media performance and installation charts a psychogeographical path through the City Heights neighborhood of southern California, where the artist grew up. 44th and Landis combines visual traces of the neighborhood’s early Victorian years and motifs drawn from 1980s urban pop culture. This installation takes the form of an ephemeral sculptural environment comprising hundreds of cut paper forms divided into 5 structures. The installation also incorporates an experiential soundscape spread over fourteen handmade paper speakers.
Mixing imagery appropriated from video games, Victorian paper dolls, and 1980s urban pop culture, the work evokes the external and internal worlds of a child navigating the streets of a city pressured by waves of disinvestment and gentrification. Integrating memory and fantasy, and public and private histories, 44th and Landis offers insights into a complex American neighborhood’s past and present. Presented as a solo exhibition for The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in 2012.
KPBS Video Story on 44th and Landis:
Exhibition Video:
MCASD Artist Talk with Margaret Noble:
Live Performance:
Credits:
Bridget Rountree; Lead Illustrator: Ciara White; Assistant Illustrators: Caroline Brand, Angela Marie Ilagan, Tina Milz, and Sendy Santamaria; Fabrication Support: Fab Lab; Creative Support: Mauricio Chernovetzky and High Tech High, Funded by The San Diego Foundation and The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.