All month long at the 356 S. Mission Road art space nestled in the sparse, industrial Arts District of Los Angeles, New York-based artist Jonathan Horowitz will assemble his latest work, 590 Dots, with the help of hundreds of participants. In the neighborhood? The collaborative project is open to any passersby willing to dedicate an hour of their time to crafting a perfect 11-inch dot using only black acrylic paint and an 18-inch canvas. Before they leave, participants are presented with a $20 check hand-drawn by the artist.
(In conjunction with Jonathan Horowitz’s large-scale installation, Opening Ceremony will launch "DOTS" 2014 Jonathan Horowitz and Opening Ceremony, a capsule collection of jackets, tapered pants, and tote bags later this month. More on this in coming posts.)
Last weekend, a few of us at Opening Ceremony Los Angeles paid the space a visit and tried our hand at painting these dots. Luckily, the artist was present and explained that we should approach the painting like “a machine” and strive for a circle as clean, consistent, and evenly textured as possible. Once each brushstroke feels like it can no longer improve upon the last—time to put down the brush.
Before we got to work, Horowitz added, “Once you make a mark, you can’t take it back.” True to the artist’s careful, meticulous form, he later corresponded with us via email about the 590 Dots project.
NOAH ADLER: How did you connect with Opening Ceremony for this capsule collection?
JONATHAN HOROWITZ: A couple of years ago, I had an idea to make polka-dot fabric where every dot on the bolt would be drawn freehand by a different person, so no two dots would be alike. Not practical, I know. Because fabric wants to be made into stuff, I spoke to Humberto [Opening Ceremony's co-founder] about the idea, and he was into it. We settled on every dot in the repeat being different, and Opening Ceremony designed this really cool updated Mao suit.
Did you choose Los Angeles specifically for the 590 Dots installation?
I chose 356 Mission Road more specifically. I wanted to incorporate the making of the work into the show, and it seemed like the perfect place for it. Things are more in flux there than at your average exhibition space. There’s always so much going on and so many different people passing through. It’s got a great feeling of community.
How does this installation correlate to your previous installation, 402 Dots, Line, and the One Note Samba, held at Karma in New York?
The dots in that show were all made prior to the exhibition and in different places. It was presented as a finished work with a few other pieces that inter-related. It was more of a traditional art show. For LA, the show opened with a blank wall and on the first day, everyone who came was invited to make a dot. All the dots are being painted on site over the course of the first month, and there are events and performances happening concurrently to help bring people in. The Opening Ceremony component is important too. You can look at the wall of dots as like an unrolled bolt of fabric.
Why did you choose to incorporate public participation into the process of the 590 Dots show, as opposed to the traditional format of your New York show?
How the work gets made is a
(In conjunction with Jonathan Horowitz’s large-scale installation, Opening Ceremony will launch "DOTS" 2014 Jonathan Horowitz and Opening Ceremony, a capsule collection of jackets, tapered pants, and tote bags later this month. More on this in coming posts.)
Last weekend, a few of us at Opening Ceremony Los Angeles paid the space a visit and tried our hand at painting these dots. Luckily, the artist was present and explained that we should approach the painting like “a machine” and strive for a circle as clean, consistent, and evenly textured as possible. Once each brushstroke feels like it can no longer improve upon the last—time to put down the brush.
Before we got to work, Horowitz added, “Once you make a mark, you can’t take it back.” True to the artist’s careful, meticulous form, he later corresponded with us via email about the 590 Dots project.
NOAH ADLER: How did you connect with Opening Ceremony for this capsule collection?
JONATHAN HOROWITZ: A couple of years ago, I had an idea to make polka-dot fabric where every dot on the bolt would be drawn freehand by a different person, so no two dots would be alike. Not practical, I know. Because fabric wants to be made into stuff, I spoke to Humberto [Opening Ceremony's co-founder] about the idea, and he was into it. We settled on every dot in the repeat being different, and Opening Ceremony designed this really cool updated Mao suit.
Did you choose Los Angeles specifically for the 590 Dots installation?
I chose 356 Mission Road more specifically. I wanted to incorporate the making of the work into the show, and it seemed like the perfect place for it. Things are more in flux there than at your average exhibition space. There’s always so much going on and so many different people passing through. It’s got a great feeling of community.
How does this installation correlate to your previous installation, 402 Dots, Line, and the One Note Samba, held at Karma in New York?
The dots in that show were all made prior to the exhibition and in different places. It was presented as a finished work with a few other pieces that inter-related. It was more of a traditional art show. For LA, the show opened with a blank wall and on the first day, everyone who came was invited to make a dot. All the dots are being painted on site over the course of the first month, and there are events and performances happening concurrently to help bring people in. The Opening Ceremony component is important too. You can look at the wall of dots as like an unrolled bolt of fabric.
Why did you choose to incorporate public participation into the process of the 590 Dots show, as opposed to the traditional format of your New York show?
How the work gets made is a