In Esthetic Dentistry in Los Angeles, Alfredo Barsuglia investigated the role teeth plays as a status symbol in this city of fame and beauty. With a population of 3.9 million, L.A. has more than 1,600 dentists. Barsuglia created a full-color book that included images of 60 advertising signs for esthetic dentistry, in addition to interviews with several dentistry professionals and a sociologist. He also presented a sign for a fictitious dentistry office that was publicly displayed, with recordings it engendered on a telephone answering machine. This project emerged from previous themes in Barsuglia’s work, Food and Oral Hygiene.

Andreas Fogarasi created a series of works researching different notions of “public” in Los Angeles. As part of his ongoing project Public Brands, he identified the branding strategies used by cities and real estate companies to represent highly socially-segregated parts of the region. In Donor Recognition, Fogarasi focused on the ubiquitous signage in cultural institutions that acknowledge financial supporters. Using frottage (graphite rubbing), the artist transformed these displays of economic power and vanity into shades and patterns of gray. He also showed sculptures based on informational displays used by the creative industry.

Identifying the conflict between Los Angeles’ emphasis on beauty and the omnipresent expectations of apocalypse, Wulf Walter Boettger attempted to grasp this dialect in Trauma (n) Desire. In the first part of his project, he focused on an intricate, anatomical drawing from 1690 by Govaert Bidloo which featured the dissection of a head cleft by trauma. Using architectural animation software and 3-D printing technology, he created a model derived from Bidloo’s drawing. As a complement, Boettger employed the silicone material used to simulate skin in life-size “love dolls” as a covering for the interior walls at the Schindler House. In the presence of such a naked doll, the “skin” materials exploited an artificial material to add an animated, tactile dimension to Schindler’s spaces.

In Carmada, Sonja Vordermaier explored the notion of Los Angeles as a steadily moving city. On Saturday, August 26, 2006, along with 14 other local and international artists, Vordermaier spent a day driving through neighborhoods and on freeways in cars decked out as self-contained, mini art exhibitions (see also: www.carmada.org). The car projects employed sound, collage, interactivity, and more as they engaged themes of the car-as-living-room and symbol of freedom, identity, and privacy. The day concluded with a parking lot party and film screening. In the final exhibition, Center, the artist presented photographic and film documentation of the Carmada expedition.