The anonymous artists responsible for the short-lived Griffith Park Teahouse are returning to L.A. once again (also, the collective finally has a name: The Art Department), and this time they’re planning an “otherworldly factory dedicated to wish production, fulfillment and distribution”—all involving dandelions.
Check out our hands-on preview of the installation.
“Dandelions” will set up a surreal factory of sorts at a to-be-announced spot in an industrial area south of Downtown L.A. The free installation is set to bring a bit of dreaminess into what’s being described as a bureaucratic assembly line of dandelions. Visitors will enter the “Division of Small Things that Float on the Wind,” where millions of dandelion seeds have been gathered for the project. After perusing the installation’s Instagram profile, we’re getting an almost Willy Wonka-like vibe—just with dandelions and wishes instead of chocolate.
Photograph: Courtesy the Art Department
While we’re still a little fuzzy on what exactly you’ll see at the installation, we do know that it’ll be popping up on May 9 from 12:30 to 6:30pm, May 11 from 9am to 6:30pm and May 12 from 1 to 6:30pm. Admission is free (though donations for the artists are accepted), and a limited number of timed reservations will be available beginning on May 3. If you can’t snag a reservation—we’re almost sure they’ll book quickly—walk-ins will be accommodated.
As for the location: Look for the specific site to drop on the evening before it first opens, May 8. For now, we know it’ll be staged on a working industrial site, so long pants, long sleeves and sneakers are a must (visitors must also be over the age of 14), and visitors will also need to be able to climb two flights of stairs. Also, just a heads up that these are in fact real dandelion seeds, so allergy sufferers may want to come prepared.
Photograph: Courtesy the Art Department
The Art Department has staged quite a few floral-inspired installations in the past few years, including a shower of flower petals in a Downtown alleyway, an industrial site overflowing with jacaranda blossoms and a burn area adorned with steaks of gold.