Parallel Perpendicular, 2022

Phillip K. Smith III

West Hollywood Park

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE ARTWORK

NOVEMBER 2, 2022 DEDICATION EVENT

Five freestanding mirrored volumes composed of parallel and perpendicular planes hover above a 40-foot diameter circle of green. By day, these forms reflect the park visitors and environment as well as the surrounding West Hollywood views. By night, the mirrored surfaces become pure fields of color that slowly move through the color spectrum. These colors reflect off of each other, merging upon colors, creating new spaces of color, projection and reflection.

Parallel Perpendicular is meant to be an entirely interactive piece. This interaction can occur from a single point, like a park bench, watching the sun and clouds of the Southern California sky move across the mirrored surfaces. Interaction can also occur through movement as the reflections of trees, ground, sky and people, all of which collage together with framed images of the view in front of you. At the same time, you can approach the work and see yourself within it. Every viewer becomes part of the actual skin of the piece.

Sited in the center of the Robertson-adjacent portion of West Hollywood Park, the scale of Parallel Perpendicular is in direct response to the more intimate atmosphere of this zone. This beautifully situated area will not only provide a more pedestrian scale, but also will serve as a park entry and connector to the Robertson and Santa Monica Boulevard retail and neighborhood zones.

Parallel Perpendicular is built from a stainless steel internal framework that is wrapped with custom glass. LED lighting at the interior of the framework provides an even color field glow across the various surfaces.

Dimensions (smallest to largest):

Volume 1: 4’-0” long x 8’-0” high x 1’-6” deep (2 color fields) – single bar

Volume 2: 8’-0” long x 4’-0” high x 1’-6” deep (2 color fields) – single bar

Volume 3 + 4: 6’-0” long x 6’-0” high x 6’-0” deep (4 color fields) – L-shaped

Volume 5: 9’-6” long x 9’-6” high x 5’-6” deep (5 color fields) – T-shaped

After growing up in Southern California’s Coachella Valley, Phillip K. Smith III received his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design. From his Palm Desert, CA studio, he creates light-based work that draws upon ideas of space, form, color, light + shadow, environment, and change.

Featured in hundreds of online and print publications, Phillip is known for creating large scaled temporary installations such as Lucid Stead in Joshua Tree, Reflection Field and Portals at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival, ¼ Mile Arc in Laguna Beach, and The Circle of Land and Sky at inaugural 2017 Desert X exhibition. All of these installations are featured in his latest catalog titled Five Installations published by Grand Central Press. His public artworks are sited in Bellevue, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Kansas City, Nashville, Oklahoma City, West Hollywood, and beyond. The artist's work is also included in the forthcoming exhibition and catalog Unsettled organized by the Nevada Museum of Art and artist Ed Ruscha.

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For questions, contact Marcus Mitchell, Public Art Administrator at (323) 848-3122 or mmitchell@weho.org. For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, please call, TTY: (323) 848-6496. To learn more information about the City of West Hollywood and its arts programs visit www.weho.org/arts.