"Junction" is a multisensory experience that will bring the history of Los Angeles to life at the speed of light.
On Friday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m., city residents will see their lives flashing before their eyes as never before, on a 60-foot video projection screen in downtown's State Historic Park. Driven by an interpretive database of media that reacts to sensors embedded in the surrounding environment, the project's sounds and images will shift with the rumble of every passing Metro train, the flow of the nearby Los Angeles River and even text messages from mobile phones.
A group of innovative UCLA students, faculty and staff — along with Walt Disney Imagineering, the California Department of Parks and Recreation and local community members — are in search of unique and engaging ways to connect with the park site, a 32-acre expanse located directly northeast of downtown and surrounded by Solano Canyon, Chinatown and Lincoln Heights. The site is historically significant as the location where the first railway depot and hotel were built in Los Angeles.
The result is a four-day multimedia experiment (additional presentations will take place Nov. 1, 3 and 4) that ties together the sights and sounds of this vibrant city. "Junction" brings to life the rich history of the people and places of this corner of Los Angeles and showcases the interwoven relationships of the city's reinventions and rhetoric, its mythologies and massive infrastructure, and the movement of its peoples — the adventurers, Spanish explorers, railroad developers, laborers, Pueblo settlers, rancheros, indigenous people and many others who trekked through the historic location of the park.
The latest module in the project known as Remapping LA, "Junction" is an initiative of UCLA's Center for Research in Engineering, Media and Performance (REMAP), a partnership between the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. Remapping LA is partially funded by a grant from the UCLA Center for Community Partnerships.
"One of Remapping LA's purposes is to explore how technology in public space can be a means for exploration and expression of local identity," said Jeff Burke, executive director of REMAP. "We want to provide a resource for local communities and other L.A. citizens so that they can engage with the history of the park site and the communities surrounding it — the physical and human geographies of L.A. itself."
"Our intention is twofold," said Remapping LA creator and "Junction" director Fabian Wagmister, a professor of film, television and digital media at UCLA. "First, to bring people together to explore the city's rich multicultural history, still unknown to so many Angelenos. And second, to reflect and discuss the nature and importance of motion in the past, present and future of the city."
Walt Disney Imagineering's involvement with REMAP is an outgrowth of its ongoing relationship with UCLA. Bruce Vaughn, Imagineering's chief creative executive, teaches "The Art and Process of Entertainment Design," an innovative course in three-dimensional storytelling, at UCLA. Along with Wagmister's engaged media production class, Vaughn's course generated an eight-month series of dialogues between REMAP faculty and students, Imagineering, and California State Parks interpretive designers that resulted in "Junction."
"Imagineering's research and development group worked with UCLA to create an energy and interactivity to draw people into the park and experience the motion and rich heritage of the local landscape," Vaughn said. The exhibit changes continually, based on visitor involvement — by text messaging, movement and the timing of nearby automobile and Metro Gold Line train traffic."
REMAP works with neighborhoods, youth organizations, public institutions and grassroots groups to explore the use of new technologies in promoting civic engagement and community empowerment. Through the use of mobile devices, networks, sensing gear, databases and several forms of media, people and communities can build and share "digital memory" collections, gather and present relevant information about themselves and their environment, and create their own representations about their history, their present and, most importantly, their future aspirations. Past Remapping LA modules have included "ImageAbility," in September 2006, and "Monumento872," a cultural urban touring event in June 2007.
Walt Disney Imagineering is the unique, creative force that imagines, designs and builds all Disney theme parks, resorts, attractions, cruise ships, real estate developments and regional entertainment venues worldwide. Imagineering's unique strength comes from its dynamic global team of creative and technical professionals, which builds on the Disney legacy of storytelling to pioneer new forms of entertainment through technical innovation and creativity. Disney is the only major entertainment company with a dedicated research and development organization, which is also a part of Imagineering.
The California Department of Parks and Recreation manages more than 270 park units, which contain the finest and most diverse collection of natural, cultural and recreational resources to be found within California -- from the last stands of primeval redwood forests to vast expanses of fragile desert, from the lofty Sierra Nevada to the broad sandy beaches of California's southern coast, and from the opulence of Hearst Castle to the vestiges of colonial Russia.
The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television offers its students a unique blend of scholarship and practical training, bringing together the highest levels of professionalism with the social mission of a public university. Its landmark integration of theater, film, television and digital media and its outstanding faculty and facilities nurture creative innovation, personal vision and social responsibility. Alumni include such notables as Allison Anders, Lee Breuer, Charles Burnett, Francis Ford Coppola, Tim Robbins, Moctesuma Esparza, Todd Holland, Gregory Nava, Alexander Payne, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Tim Robbins, Brad Silberling, John Schumacher and Audrey Wells.
The UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, established in 1945, offers 28 academic and professional degree programs, including an interdepartmental graduate degree program in biomedical engineering. Ranked among the top 10 public engineering schools nationwide, the school is home to seven multimillion-dollar interdisciplinary research centers in space exploration, wireless sensor systems, nanomanufacturing and defense technologies, all funded by top national and professional agencies. For information, visit www.engineer.ucla.edu.
The UCLA Center for Community Partnerships is the driving force behind UCLA's commitment to civic engineering with communities throughout Los Angeles. Founded in 2002 as part of the university's UCLA in LA initiative, the center is dedicated to developing partnerships between UCLA scholars and local nonprofit organizations that will improve the quality of life for Los Angeles residents. Projects are designed to support children, youth and families; to foster economic development; and to enrich arts and culture. To date, the center has facilitated and funded nearly 100 academic projects involving faculty, staff, graduate students and nonprofit organization partners, totaling more than $2 million in private donations.
UCLA is California's largest university, with an enrollment of nearly 37,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The UCLA College of Letters and Science and the university's 11 professional schools feature renowned faculty and offer more than 300 degree programs and majors. UCLA is a national and international leader in the breadth and quality of its academic, research, health care, cultural, continuing education and athletic programs. Four alumni and five faculty have been awarded the Nobel Prize.
