famous art – IAMNOTASTALKER

February 13, 2019February 12, 2019

Salvation Mountain from “Into the Wild”

Desert X 2019 is finally up and running! For those who missed the 2017 iteration, the large-scale biennial exhibition features temporary art installations dotted throughout the Coachella Valley. This year even boasts a few works at the Salton Sea! Since the Grim Cheaper and I never miss an opportunity to visit the area, we headed right on out there with some friends last weekend to check the pieces out. And they did not disappoint! (You can see some photos of them here and here, as well as pics of those located in other parts of the desert here, here, here and here.) During our journey, we also made our regular pilgrimages to the North Shore Yacht Club, Bombay Beach, and Salvation Mountain. The latter, a colorful manmade bluff located in the CDP of Niland, I have visited copious times over the years (including in April 2015, when the above photo of my mom, my grandma and me was taken), but somehow failed to ever blog about it. And the time to change that is now!

[ad]

Salvation Mountain was the creation of Vermont native Leonard Knight who found his way to the desert in 1984 with the intention of constructing a monument to God’s love. He first settled in Arizona and got to work building a hot air balloon stitched with the words of the Sinner’s Prayer and a simple message spelled out in large red letters: God Is Love. But every attempt at flying it failed. Then, one fateful weekend, he headed to the Salton Sea with a friend. Immediately taken with the area, he soon returned, hot air balloon in hand, and settled upon a desolate 5-acre patch of dusty land to try to pilot it again. It was a lost cause, though. Leonard’s balloon would never take flight. Defeated, he switched gears and decided to instead erect a small temporary monument at the site before leaving town for good.

Leonard never left, though, and that small temporary tribute soon became a large mountain fashioned out of cement, sand, and discarded trash he acquired from the local dump. The mound was then painted over with colorful designs and the same messages and prayer that had been stitched onto the balloon. Unfortunately, the building materials proved too heavy, though, and within four years, the original Salvation Mountain toppled. You can see what it looked like before the collapse here and after here.

The failure did not deter Leonard and he soon began construction on another mountain, this one built of adobe and straw, as well as local junkyard trash, which proved much more sustainable. The mountain was then covered over, once again, in gallons upon gallons of paint, much of it donated. Knight constantly added to the structure, growing it and enhancing it and adding paint as needed. Maintaining the site became his full-time job.

During his almost thirty-year tenure, he lived in a small truck on the premises, sans running water, electricity or air conditioning, and used nearby hot springs to bathe. (I believe Leonard’s truck is the one pictured farthest away with the word “Bible” on the side in the photo below, though I haven’t been able to confirm that.)

As a plaque placed by the E Clampus Vitus organization at the base of the mountain explains, “Leonard found ‘religion’ mid-life; he found frustration as well. All religions were too complicated for Leonard. He saw it all very simply: repent to Jesus Christ and be forgiven of your sins. His struggle for a simple faith took him across the United States to end up here in Niland; he never left. For just under 30 years, without the benefits of electricity or running water, Leonard passionately labored daily to create a message for the world to hopefully see: “God Is Love.” Embarrassed to call himself an artist, Leonard perfected his artistic technique using only what was at hand, what he could scrounge at the local dump and what was donated by the faithful or the curious.” Salvation Mountain was definitely a labor of love.

In the late ’90s, Leonard built an annex to the mountain in the style of a traditional Navajo hut, aka a “Hogan,” using 9,000 bales of hay, more acquired trash, and tree limbs.

The exterior of the Hogan is unique in and of itself . . .

. . . but the cave-like interior is downright fascinating . . .

. . . especially the tree branch ceiling

I mean, come on!

And it is even more spellbinding from above!

Leonard also constructed “The Museum,” a small two-room alcove built into the side of Salvation Mountain, at around the same time,

Serving as an altar of sorts, visitors place notes, gifts and offerings in the tiny domed space.

Sadly, after years of suffering from dementia and diabetes complications, among other health issues, Leonard was moved into an assisted living facility in December 2011. He passed away there on February 10th, 2014.

His message lives on, though, thanks to legions of devotees who have taken on the job of maintaining and preserving Salvation Mountain.

Due to their efforts, the place is still welcoming visitors today – and is more popular than ever, largely thanks to Instagram.

Slightly reminiscent of Whoville, Salvation Mountain is a true work of art that has to be seen to be believed.

Though entirely over the top, at its core is a very simple message of love.

The Salvation Mountain experience is an interactive one – visitors are encouraged to explore, touch, and photograph.

There is even a pathway to climb to the top . . .

. . . as my mom, who is extremely afraid of heights, is pictured doing below.

Along with the colorful mountain, there is other unique scenery to enjoy.

Not surprisingly, Salvation Mountain has found its way to the screen, most notably in the 2007 biopic Into the Wild.

In the film, Tracy Tatro (Kristen Stewart) and Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch) get a tour of Salvation Mountain from none other than Leonard Knight himself.

In 1997, Huell Howser interviewed Leonard and toured the mountain in the Season 7 episode of California’s Gold titled “Slab City,” which you can watch here.

Howell returned in 2009 to interview Leonard for another episode of California’s Gold, Season 11’s “Desert Adventures,” which you can check out here.

Heidi Klum hosted a challenge at Salvation Mountain in 2013 for a Season 8 episode of Germany’s Next Topmodel.

That same year, the site popped up in Hurt’s “Somebody to Die For” music video.

Coldplay’s 2015 “Birds” video was partially shot at Salvation Mountain.

As was Kesha’s 2017 video for “Praying.”

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Salvation Mountain, from Into the Wild, is located at 603 Beal Road in Niland. You can visit the mountain’s official website here.

August 6, 2018August 8, 2018

The “Portal” Light Installation

Today’s locale can be filed in the hidden-gem-that-is-not-a-filming-location category, much like the Barthman Sidewalk Clock in New York. (Well, it’s not really a filming location, but more on that in a bit.) This one is located in Los Angeles, though, and is a definite must-see under-the-radar spot. Looking back, I can’t remember how I first learned about Portal, the unique light installation tucked away in Little Tokyo’s Weller Court shopping center, but as soon as I did I was transfixed. I pored over images of the site, practically drooling, and immediately added it to the tip top of my To-Stalk List. But when I ventured out there a few weeks later, I was shocked at what a hard time I had locating the art piece. Walking around Weller Court, I could not seem to find it anywhere and no one I asked (even two local cops patrolling the area) had any clue as to what I was talking about (though the cops were intrigued and asked me to report back to them if I ever did track the thing down as they wanted to see it themselves). The lack of awareness on the subject was surprising considering Portal’s current popularity on Instagram. I finally managed to pinpoint the installation after about thirty minutes of searching and figured a blog post was in order so that my fellow stalkers don’t have to suffer the same confusion I did.

[ad]

Portal is the work of visual artist Akiko Yamashita, who was commissioned by the owner of Weller Court in 2014 to jazz up a lackluster exterior hallway leading to the shopping center’s elevator and rear entrance/exit that fronts East 2nd Street.

Her vision, which consists of 7,000 colorful light pixels that bounce and dance around the small corridor, was completed the following year.

To create the piece, Yamashita embedded individually addressable LED strips into the floor, sides, and ceiling of the 271.5-foot passageway.

Illumination continually moves throughout the strips, shining different colors along the way, resulting in a virtual light show.

Though the installation runs 24 hours a day, it operates intermittently, which is why I had a hard time finding it.

As you can see below, the passageway doesn’t look like much when Portal isn’t running.

But when the lights go on, it is pretty darn spectacular.

And it becomes even more so at night, as you can see in these images.

The “show” reminds me a bit of the Main Street Electrical Parade at Disneyland, though it is not set to music.

As I mentioned, Portal has become an Instagram favorite, popping up all over the grid of countless feeds. The installation also won A’Design Award & Competition’s Silver Award in the Lighting Products and Lighting Projects Design category for 2017-2018.

If you find yourself in downtown L.A. looking for something to do, I highly recommend stopping by Weller Court to catch a glimpse of Portal. To save you the headache of pinpointing it, here is a breakdown of its exact location. The easiest method of reaching the installation is via the 200 block of East 2nd Street, as the passageway serves as the shopping center’s rear entrance. Portal is located just beyond the staircase pictured below.

Portal can also be reached from the inside of Weller Court shopping center, which is located at 123 Astronaut Ellison S Onizuka Street. The entrance to the marketplace is pictured below.

The installation is situated directly across from the main entrance through the doorway with the red awning that is denoted with a pink arrow in the photo below.

And in the interest of being thorough, here’s a close-up image of that doorway, which serves as Portal’s entrance.

Thanks to fellow stalker Walter, I learned that Weller Court makes an appearance at the beginning of the Season 3 episode of Highway to Heaven titled “All That Glitters” as the spot where Charley Trapola (John Pleshette) hocks fake gold necklaces.

The hallway that now houses Portal is very briefly visible in the scene.

At the beginning of the 2008 action flick Hancock, John Hancock (Will Smith) is seen sleeping on a bench situated just outside of Weller Court, in front of the Bank of the West outpost at 123 Astronaut Ellison S Onizuka Street, Suite 101.

In the Google Street View image below, the pink box denotes where the bench was placed in the scene.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Portal is located in the hallway leading to the elevator on the southern side of Weller Court shopping center at 123 Astronaut Ellison S Onizuka Street in Little Tokyo. The corridor also serves as Weller Court’s East 2nd Street entrance, which can be found on the 200 block of East 2nd Street, in between South Los Angeles and San Pedro Streets. Kinokuniya, one of my favorite area book/gift stores, is located on Weller Court’s second level directly above Marukai Market. And Demitasse Cafe, one of my fave L.A. coffee shops, is just down the block at 135 South San Pedro Street, as is Kyoto Gardens from Her, which can be found on the third floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Los Angeles Downtown at 120 South Los Angeles Street.

May 30, 2012December 6, 2013

The “Forever Marilyn” Statue in Palm Springs

Back in December the Grim Cheaper’s boss, while on vacation in Chicago, spotted a huge statue of my girl Miss Marilyn Monroe towering above the Michigan Avenue skyline and texted me a picture of it. Well, as you can imagine, I just about lost my mind upon seeing the looming bronze effigy and told the GC that we had to get out to the Windy City as soon as possible to stalk it. As it turns out, though, Marilyn ended up coming to me! A few months after learning of the installation, which is named “Forever Marilyn”, fellow stalker Lavonna informed me that it was actually being relocated to the West Coast – to the corner of Tahquitz Canyon Way and Palm Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs to be exact! So I immediately called up my parents, who live in the Coachella Valley, and told them to keep me abreast of the bombshell’s status so that I could stalk it as soon it was installed, which, thankfully, did not take long. “Forever Marilyn” was finally unveiled last Thursday evening and I dragged the GC right on out to the desert to see it the very next day.

[ad]

“Forever Marilyn” was originally constructed in 1996 by American-realist sculptor Seward Johnson as part of his ICONS REVISTED series. The design was based upon the famous 1954 photograph of the starlet taken by Bruno Bernard, aka Bernard of Hollywood, during the filming of The Seven Year Itch’s iconic subway grate scene (the location of which I blogged about way back in June 2008). The statue did not make its debut until 15 years after its inception, though, when, on July 15th, 2011, it was unveiled as a temporary installation in the middle of Chicago’s Pioneer Court. Of the work, the now 82-year-old Seward states, “In this series, ICONS REVISTED, I am trying to discover what makes an image stay with us; become something more than its one moment in time. Marilyn has come to represent beauty, and the white dress blowing up around her is a type of teasing sensuality. There is something about her pose: the exuberance for life without inhibition, which is quintessentially American. It expresses an uninhibited sense of our own vibrancy.” Because The Seven Year Itch was the first MM movie that I ever saw, the image of the starlet trying to hold down her billowing dress has always been one that I’ve held extremely close to my heart. As photographer Mark Anderson asked in the October 2008 issue of Vanity Fair, “Who ever forgets the first time they saw Marilyn Monroe?” So true!

“Forever Marilyn”, which was constructed entirely out of bronze and stainless steel, measures 26 feet tall, 17 feet wide and weighs a whopping 34,300 pounds. It is owned by The Sculpture Foundation, Inc., an educational organization that provides public exhibitions and works of art to various communities around the globe.

Earlier this year, it was decided that the Coachella Valley would be “Forever Marilyn’s” next temporary stop and, on May 7th, a crew of six dedicated men began the dismantling process before the blonde bombshell embarked upon the long journey to her new home. (You can check out some fabulous photographs of her cross-country drive here.) Of the move, Seward said, “I am very pleased that Marilyn will be on view in Palm Springs. It was, after all, a location of her own choosing, and I assume she was drawn to the beauty and stillness of the landscape.”

As you can see here, the positioning of “Forever Marilyn” in relation to the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago was quite deceiving and made the statue appear to be much taller than it actually is. As the GC and I made our way down South Palm Canyon Drive towards the sculpture last Friday afternoon, I kept expecting to see it towering over the short one- and two-story buildings that make up Palm Springs. When we finally did come upon the icon, I was quite shocked as she is much shorter than her Chicago surroundings made her appear. Don’t get me wrong, “Forever Marilyn” is HUGE, just not as huge as I had originally anticipated.

“Forever Marilyn” is honestly one of the coolest works of art that I have ever seen in my entire life and I was literally pinching myself the whole time I was stalking it. I have a feeling that I will be making regular pilgrimages to see it when visiting my parents in the desert over the next year.

I am absolutely IN LOVE with the photograph below that the GC took of “Forever Marilyn”. I think it is can’t-take-my-eyes-off-it stunning and if we had any blank wall space left in our apartment, I would so have it blown up and framed.

I would be remiss in my blogging duties if I did not mention here that located directly across the street from “Forever Marilyn” is a statue of Lucille Ball that was designed in 1995 by the husband-and-wife sculpting team of Emmanuil and Janet Snitkovsky.

I actually stalked the statue, which is titled “Lucy Ricardo”, way back in May of last year for fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, whose mom is a HUGE Lucy fan, but I never got around to blogging about it.

While doing research for today’s post, I discovered that I had unknowingly stalked another of Seward Johnson’s statues while in San Diego back in 2008. The 25-foot-tall “Unconditional Surrender”, which is part of a 2005 series, recreates the infamous photograph of a sailor kissing a nurse in the middle of Times Square on August 14th, 1945 – the day that the end of World War II was announced. I saw the piece at Tuna Park Harbor, just outside of The Fish Market Seafood Restaurant, in downtown San Diego. It has since been relocated to New Jersey for restoration, but according to a May 28th, 2012 Los Angeles Times article, a replica of it is currently being created and will eventually be on permanent display at the seaside park.

Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here. You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here. And you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: ‘Forever Marilyn’ is located at the northwest corner of South Palm Canyon Drive and East Tahquitz Canyon Way in downtown Palm Springs. The statue will be on display through June 2013. You can visit the “Forever Marilyn” Facebook page here. The “Lucy Ricardo” statue can be found directly across the street from Marilyn on the northeast corner of South Palm Canyon Drive and East Tahquitz Canyon Way, in front of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.