Dandelions - Presented by the Art Department
DETAILS:
Location: Various locations dependent on each installation. The Dandelions installation was actually held at an operational power station in Bell Gardens, California. (6700 Garfield Ave. Bell Gardens CA 90201)
Hours of Operation: Dependent on each installation. Dandelions installation was held on May 9th thru May 12th of 2019.
Parking: Dependent on each installation, but free street parking is typically available nearby.
Cost: Free!
Time Commitment: Each experience is fairly quick, lasting no longer than 30 minutes, if that. But waiting in queue to see any of these installations can take up to several hours. If an RSVP is available, as was the case for Dandelions, definitely take advantage of that to speed up your experience. If not, try to arrive as early as possible to the posted start time to avoid a long wait.
Miscellaneous: Installations, presented by The Art Department, occur once of twice a year. Please visit their website below (under “resources”) for info on previous and upcoming projects.
It usually begins with a cryptic Tweet or Instagram post alerting you that a new installation is on the horizon, featuring a nondescript image that somehow relates to the upcoming project. You won’t know how or why, but it’s enough to peak your interest. Each subsequent post will offer a little more information than the last, but it’s ultimately shrouded in mystery until the day arrives when you finally discover its secret intent in person.
Presented by an anonymous creative organization known as The Art Department, their ongoing mission is to temporarily transform drab urban locations into poetic displays of whimsy that inspire our imagination and challenge us to seek out the beauty in all aspects of life no matter how mundane. This noble aspiration has included previous works such as the Griffith Park Tea House, Petal Drop LA, and Night Life LA. No two installations are alike, so you never know what to expect, but they will always include aspects of interactive story telling, misplaced elements from nature, and an ethereal quality that only seems possible in our dreams. The Art Department effectively creates an alternate universe where fairy tales do exist, if only for the fleeting moments that we’re allowed access.
Their newest installation; Dandelions, is no exception. Taking up residence in a working power plant in Bell Gardens (May 2019), the concept is based around the power of wish fulfillment and what can be achieved if we’re allowed to see those wishes through. That’s when the iconography of the dandelion finally becomes clear since its final plume of white puff has long been considered a harbinger of our desires. You enter the power plant, immediately greeted by a green field of growing dandelions that lives in stark contrast to the concrete that surrounds it, which only heightens your sense of reality. You’re then accosted by various agents from the Department of Small Things that Float on the Wind who will grill you about the particular wish you’ve chosen until they deem you worthy to proceed. All this scrutiny will gain you the right to your very own dandelion bulb that can then be used to set your wish free into the aether. Once you’ve completed this act, you’ll walk into the installation’s grand showpiece to view the final resting place of all the dandelions that have preceded you. It’s undoubtedly an optical illusion but it resonates in your soul all the same. You’ll be ushered into one last room before you leave to be swept clean of any remaining dandelion wisps by an old Asian woman with an kind face because old Asian women with kind faces are always magical, obviously.
