dimensions: 8in x 10in
page count: 350 pages
production: smyth sewn binding & pantone spot color
vellum insert sheet
Introduction:
Chapter 1 explores how Ed Ruscha’s meticulous documentation of Los Angeles streets foreshadowed tools like Google Street View, creating an early visual archive of the city.
Chapter 2 focuses on changing geographies, this chapter traces how maps and records evolve alongside shifting landscapes, businesses, and urban structures.
The 3rd chapter challenges colonial cartography by centering Indigenous mapping traditions rooted in memory, culture, and relational knowledge of the land.
Through personal collections—from Instagram feeds to photos of mundane objects—the 4th chapter examines how individual memories shape collective portraits of the city.
Investigating theories of simulation and representation, the last chapter considers how Los Angeles blurs the line between constructed image and lived reality, with iconic signs like the Hollywood and Beverly Hills signs standing in as symbols for entire places.
Quote pages, chapter diviers, and index pages mimic a text editor, positioning each thought within a mediated, screen-based environment.
The silver background mimics a continuous digital surface that connects chapters like open windows on a desktop. It represents the interfaces we use to view and interpret the city: maps, browsers, screenshots.
Promotional designs for the book launch and performance, taking place at Griffith Observatory