Our recent project, ”Hyperion-Son of Uranus”, is an installation for the new Environmental Learning Center for the Hyperion Wastewater Treatment plant. Processing millions of gallons of waste per day, it is the last stop for all of Los Angeles County’s waste before heading out to the ocean. The infrastructure to process this waste has grown proportionately to development in Los Angeles over the last 100 years and we wanted to create a visual time-stamp of where we were at.
We created a sculpture (named in honor of the greek god which the plant shares his name) that is a visualization of sewer infrastructure in LA county in 2009, the year of our being commissioned. The south facing exterior wall is treated as the entirety of LA County, broken into a grid, proportional to the Thomas Guide grid. Deformation of the surface was determined by pipe dimensions within the wastewater network to determine a new topography for LA, one based on experiencing the invisible infrastructure beneath us which handles our waste.
We proposed reclaimed cal-trans roadsigns as our sculptural medium by which to interpret this grid. Thanks to the generous support of Cal-Trans, District 7, we collected signs from their dumpster for over two years to find the necessary material to laser cut all the parts. Big thanks to the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs for believing in us. This was our first public art commission and we are grateful for their awarding us this opportunity. Also, big thanks to Ed Henry, Josko Kirigin, the Flix FX crew and everyone else who helped make this happen!
