The ori.Xas find themselves outside the jump station...again. 'Bout To Get On, Artistic Directon by Anna B Scott, Photo by Andy Holtzman http://www.dailynews.com/ci_18124749?source=rss_viewed
WHAT A BLAST!
A huge thank you to my cast >>Pat Payne, Judith Scott, Staci Mitchell, d.Sabela Grimes, Paul Outlaw, Alexandria Yalje, Amy Shinson-Santo, Shelby Williams-Gonzalez, Anindo Marshal, Jahanna Blunt, Adanna Jones, and Baker Scott de Almeida
Thank you to staff of Department of Cultural Affairs and LAX World Airports, and especially the staff of the FlyAway itself for their willingness to play along, eventually ;->
We just completed 'Bout To Get On, an installation at the Van Nuys FlyAway and now I turn to getting involved with the politics around the FlyAway system that our work sought to highlight.
Did you know that you can only buy passage with a credit card on the FlyAway system?
Did you know that just last week, a report was released from their offices stating that it continues to run in the red at a tune of several million dollars a year? Worst example: the bus that departs Westwood (serving the campus of UCLA) has an average of 7 passengers for each trip. SEVEN.
Some of the things I discovered while preparing the piece would point to missed ridership and an overly narrow focus on service delivery. For example, each time I was there, at least 2 individuals required assistance from fellow travelers to get their ticket since they either did not have a major credit card (meaning they had Green Dot or some other pre-paid card service), or had insufficient funds (the last actually happened during the show while I was in negotiations with him to show me his ticket). Another thing we discovered during the show, the "tickets" expire in one hour and are mere flimsy fax paper receipts, very easily smudged!
With a series of performances and opportunities for audience feedback, even changing the ending of the show in real time, for example, 'Bout To Get On could help the FlyAway project managers and users work together to design a better system more friendly to multiple types of riders.
'Bout to Get On is absolutely fabulous, and now I am ready to go deeper with the work. So pelase, contribute, sign up for our shortcode messages, cause we just got the refractor beam harmonized: it's time to discover the rhythm of seamless transportation in LA.
Make a donation today! A fun inversion of the show might appear at an ArtWalk near you...
This installation was made possible by the generous support and/or assistance of Earnestine & William D. Scott; Mary Trautwein of reDiscover Center; Cooper Bates Photography; Stephanie Sills of Ingenuity on Call; Baba Thiam, Tailor; Baba Fasegun; Keisha Davis of Community Build, Leimert Park; Fractured Atlas; Lucy Florence; Lula Washington Dance Theater; Anindo Marshall, and Pat Payne.
'Bout To Get On is the inaugural installation of the Ephemeral Art Program of the Public Art Division of the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs in Association with The Los Angeles World Airports.
