As the drought in Southern California carries on in its fourth punishing year, depleting groundwater reserves and demanding large scale restrictions on usage, Californians are regularly forced to confront and appraise the more unsustainable aspects of contemporary American life. …

Who chooses the paint color for graffiti abatement in Los Angeles? — by Ian Besler i. Two Square Miles of Paint Last year the Office of Community Beautification in Los Angeles oversaw enough painting in its efforts at graffiti removal to have covered each letter of the Hollywood Sign with roughly nine inches of solid paint — about 1,800 variously colored coats rolled out across the face of…

Promotional Campaigns and Infrastructural Props In an effort to promote the retrospective “NYC 1993: Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star,” which was on exhibit between February and May, 2013, The New Museum in New York commissioned Manhattan-based creative agency Droga5, known in the advertising industry for its forward-thinking marketing approaches, to create a campaign…

Panoramic Vision, Earth Browsing, and Model Making The city of Google Los Angeles is bursting with palm trees, edged by sparkling beaches, and even features a Hollywood sign, much like the conventional Los Angeles that many people know so well from film and television. There’s a bustling port at its south end, teaming with massive cargo ships…

or: Some (Scale) Models That I’d Like to Know I. The Scale Model as Spiritual Redemption Why look for two-dimensional forms to fit orbits in space? One has to look for three-dimensional forms — and, behold, dear reader, now you have my discovery in your hands! What is the role of the scale modeler? And what are the intentions of the maker? Conventionally, the scale model…