This September’s La Tuna Fire scorched five homes and over 7,000 acres of hillside near the border of Glendale, Burbank and Los Angeles—the largest such wildfire in L.A. city limits in a half century. What was once green, dense chaparral has been turned into barren, blackened land along the 210.
But the anonymous collective behind the Griffith Park Teahouse is breathing life into the burn area with its new golden art installation, Lost and Found L.A.
Starting this Saturday, the artists will fill fissures in some of the burned out trees in La Tuna Canyon with ribbons of gold (don’t worry, they’ll be sticking to all-natural materials). In addition, the collective will dress the trail with handcrafted furniture detailed in gold. The gesture is inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi, the practice of repairing broken pottery by filling cracks with lacquer dusted with gold. The ritual isn’t meant to hide an object’s damage, but rather to repair it in a way that embraces the blemishes as a meaningful part of its history. The golden tree adornments aim to relay that same sense of reflection and renewal.
The collective has been behind a series of ephemeral works, most notably the Griffith Park Teahouse. Other projects have included a Downtown alleyway filled with falling flowers, an industrial site covered in jacaranda petals a bioluminescent beachfront experience.
Lost and Found L.A. will take place from November 4 through 12 during daylight hours; its organizers say the installation is best viewed in full sun, from roughly 9am to 3pm. Though the exact location won’t be released until Friday evening (hit up archivesandrecords.info/upcoming and follow @UpcomingLA to keep up), expect it to be an easy, five-minute stroll from the road.
