Island Hopping

  Do Not Enter - SHIFT, Do Art Anytime - Islands of LA Nat'l Park 
  Originally uploaded by ISLANDS OF LA.

Ari Kletzky is the artist behind the "The Islands of LA Nat'l Park" and "Do Art Anytime" signs placed on asphalt and concrete islands in and around the city. More than a few have appeared here in the Arts District, and they are not dissimilar to Richard McDowell’s Skid Row way finders.

Composed to briefly fool the eye, and when it registers that the color composition is not official, you read the message.

Klezky questions what institution defines public space and how it is used to create community. McDowell identified the institutions that inflicted a desecration of public space within a community.

The LAT reports on the urban island signs:

Kletzky's aim is as multilayered and unconventional as the city it embroiders, drawing attention to islands of every shape, size and intention. "The signs are a way to start a conversation and an education," says Kletzky, whose project is still in the exploratory stages. "They are a gesture. An appetizer that inspires an appetite. I'm looking to generate discussion to explore use of public space by turning islands into a work of art."

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In times past, Kletzky points out "public spaces were limited, not everybody had access. This goes back to the Acropolis, maybe further," he says, citing an essay written by an urban planning professor named Margaret Crawford that had a particular resonance to him. "[In the past] those excluded -- minorities, women, the poor -- went elsewhere: their homes, yard, etc." But there is something very democratic about the traffic island. "We can take hold of these public spaces," he says. "It's a chance to make the city seem more accessible."