Campfire Talks and Guided Hikes
Art Center's Wind Tunnel, September 18 - October 16 2004

Los Angeles Urban Rangers initially formed for the 2004 GardenLAb Experiment – a large-scale ecology-themed exhibition at Art Center College of Design, curated by Fritz Haeg and François Perrin – for which we created a relatively simple installation space with faux campfire circle and log benches; produced the limited-edition Los Angeles Urban Rangers Official Map and Guide; and organized a series of public events both within the exhibition space and throughout the surrounding neighborhood.

Thoreau Goes to Los Angeles

How can we write about nature in L.A.? Why have nature writers shunned this megalopolis? Why should L.A. in fact be a mecca for nature writing? Why would an interest in cities save nature writing from being so terribly boring? Ranger Jenny Price explores these questions and more as she surveys a wide range of urban nature stories that this literary genre has entirely ignored. Join her as she describes our connections to nature in L.A. through such topics as mango body whips, murdered chihuahuas, the social geography of L.A.’s air, and the saga of the L.A. River – which is arguably the most important L.A. nature story of all.

End Landscaping: Los Angeles Freeway Gardens

Everyday, countless Angelenos whiz along the freeway at many miles per hour without noticing the landscaping at their side. Join Ranger Emily Scott to learn more about who manages these edgy green spaces, which plants cover the more than 8,000 acres of sinewy freeway “gardens” in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, why various flora are chosen for their ornamental value and/or abilities to endure drought, buffer sound, control erosion, resist weeds, and even counterbalance auto emissions. Discover, also, the wonderful world of “transportation art,” intended for maximum community pleasure and minimum driver distraction. Finally, consider how and why these areas – first pitched as ideal picnic stops for leisurely Sunday afternoon excursions – are now almost entirely access controlled, or off-limits to embodied exploration and occupation.

Los Angeles and the Nature of Time

How we experience time in Los Angeles is structured by everything from cell-phones, which seek to minimize it, to movies featuring natural disasters in town, which seek to maximize it. Both are examples, however, of living only in the present. Ranger Bill Fox will help us rediscover time across a longer spectrum in Los Angeles – from the La Brea Tar Pits to the Forest Lawn Memorial Parks to the Mt. Wilson Observatory. Along the way we’ll detour into the human neurophysiology of time, how to make lava for Hollywood, and why Los Angeles has the largest collection of faux classical Italian sculpture in its gardens.

Hunting and Gathering in the Big City

Often when we think of hunting and gathering, ancient or “traditional” cultures come to mind. In many of America’s greatest cities, however, the urban poor still forage for wild and domestic food simply to meet their daily caloric needs. These resources are not just limited to discarded trash, but include wild and feral urban animals such as birds, cats and dogs, fish, and rodents. In cities like Los Angeles, those without daily food security may also be forced to trespass onto private property in order to collect fruits, nuts, and other edible plants. Join Ranger Pete Alagona as he explores L.A.’s networks for finding, collecting, sharing, and preparing these urban foods. How do these foraging activities change traditional notions of human ecology, hunting and gathering, and ecological resources? And what do these practices – and our reactions to them – say about urban America today?

Toxic Tourism in Los Angeles

Ranger Donna Houston explores the toxic history of Los Angeles from the perspective of environmental justice. Participants will learn about the history and politics of environmental justice activism in Los Angeles as well as become acquainted with some important sites of environmental struggle via a virtual toxic tour of the city. Toxic touring is a way of reclaiming landscapes blighted by industrial pollutants and wastes as places of community and cultural memory. Toxic touring involves developing different strategies for ‘walking in the city’ in order to recover histories suppressed through the often violent reorderings of L.A.’s urban and industrial landscape.

Alley CAT (a special guided hike, departing from and returning to the Wind Tunnel):

Led by Ranger Chris Kahle, the alleyCAT tour will explore several alley sites located between Art Center’s Wind Tunnel exhibition space and downtown Los Angeles. This is both a driving and walking tour with multiple stops, so be prepared to carpool/caravan and hit the alley trails. We will encounter illegally dumped trash, graffiti and tagging, as well as sublime views and wildlife. Your ranger will lead you on an encounter of these urban landscapes to spark discussion on their current state and provide a forum for participants to share their own reactions and visions. Alleys are a world away right behind our homes, a lesser-explored touch-point between public and private urban space.

Industrial Habitat: The Baldwin Hills

Did you know that the only canine that can climb trees lives in the very heart of Los Angeles? Ranger Therese Kelly will share the story of the rare Gray Fox whose crazy feats also include living amongst 400 bobbing oil derricks in a massively degraded habitat. The Baldwin Hills – heavily industrial yet ecologically fragile – is set to become the largest urban park in state history. Rising 500 feet above the L.A. basin, the Baldwin Hills command impressive views to the Santa Monica Bay, the San Gabriel Mountains, the whole of developed Los Angeles, and even Point Dume. Come learn about this fascinating brownfield site in the middle of the city, which supports a rich array of native plants, insects, and animals.

Sustainability vs. Sprawl: Revisiting Banham’s Four Ecologies

Long maligned as the poster child of smog, sprawl and unsustainable development, Los Angeles has in the past few years surprisingly emerged as a leader in “green” urbanism. The three “greenest” buildings in the U.S. are located in Los Angeles, pioneering efforts in integrated watershed management throughout the L.A. River basin, locally-based efforts to reclaim abandoned industrial lands for parks, gardens and open space, and innovations in transit planning in the L.A. region are just a few of the growing number of important “green” designs, plans and policies shaping the city. Join Ranger Alan Loomis as he explores the beaches, the foothills, the freeways, and the flatlands of Green L.A.