Roundhouse Shrines
Olga Koumoundouros
October 25, 2014 – December 7, 2014
The Bowtie Project
Roundhouse Shines by Olga Koumoundouros is a site-determined artwork using the neglected foundation of a historic train turntable at the Bowtie Project. For this work, Koumoundouros has constructed a 90+ foot long wooden table that bisects the center of the roundhouse and mirrors the topography of the ground, forming its own undulating horizon line. Rectilinear benches made from salvaged rail yard planks line the table and shade canopies provide relief from the sun while simultaneously acting as demarcations of the 12 stations of the clock. The entire structure including the roundhouse floor and its native debris are coated in a multicolored gradient of acrylic house paint.
For the closing, Koumoundouros has conceived and produced a short performance where she will conduct 12–20 performers through a series of movements that engage the circular shape of the Roundhouse and it’s river adjacent location. The piece is set to a soundscape of music, voices, and environmental noise, and will conclude with the performers feeding the audience.
Roundhouse Shines is sandwiched between the thriving biodiversity of the Los Angeles River and areas of light industrial use, an active commuter railway, homeless encampments and burgeoning private development. In this new work, Koumoundouros grapples with the multiple histories of displacement, renewal, and both generative and speculative growth.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Olga Koumoundouros makes installations, sculpture, photos, and social practice events that explore the psycho/social effects of the single family home and the idea of the American Dream. She uses the single-family home as rhetoric to discuss the frailty and ideological construction of home ownership and its relationship to human sustenance. Recent solo exhibitions include We made life here for a little while, Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Off-site, Altadena, CA (2013), Dream Home Resource Center, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA (2013) and Wall Works: CART-What Do We Need to Get By and How Do We Get There?, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA (2011). She received her MFA from the California Institute for the Arts and is represented by Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects. She lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
SUPPORT
Paint for Roundhouse Shines provided by Do it Best Hardware, Home Depot, PAR Paint Company, Ace Hardware and Sherwin-Williams through ExchangeWorks.