L.A. NEWS was a recent project done by William Kaminski, in cooperation with Control Room. For the week-long installation, the artist constructed within the space a broadcast station comprised of four solid walls and a wire-mesh roof; in the center of the east wall was a small opening through which a video camera could record and transmit the actions that took place within; across the west wall, toward which the camera was pointed, was stenciled in red paint, “LA NEWS.” Within the space were a single white steel table and two stools, at which participants could sit to deliver their broadcasts.
For the run of the installation, the doors to the space were taken off their hinges, allowing totally unrestricted, 24-hour access to the interior from the streets of downtown. Behind the walls of the broadcast room, the artist remained awake monitoring the action from a central computer, from which footage was recorded as well as streamed live on the internet via www.ustream.com, a free public-broadcasting site, which was then embedded for viewing on the gallery’s website, www.control-room.org. The feed was also linked to a projector on the roof of the building, which cast the image onto a 9’ x 12’ screen, viewable from the surrounding streets and apartment buildings after dark.
