Houses and Homes II

Houses and Homes II from Carina Downing on Vimeo.

I grew up in Fillmore, a community surrounded by mountains, orchards, crops, and lots of open space and wilderness. The city is quiet and slow paced, with clean air and clear skies.

Since I moved to Long Beach in 2007 I’ve been trying to figure out why, despite my liking Long Beach for many reasons, I still feel like I could not make Long Beach my home. When I think of the differences between the places, the foremost thing that comes to mind is the Sespe River, the last un-dammed river in Southern California, which provides water for plants and animals in the Los Padres Forest and for the orchards of the Santa Clara Valley. Slow moving and natural, the Sespe River and Wilderness is the backdrop and symbol for what it is like to live in Fillmore.

I’ve searched for an equivalent in Long Beach and found the Los Angeles River, however its waters are severely polluted with flow from storm drains and constrained into a cement channel; plants, animals, soil and rocks are nearly non-existent. Historically however, the City of Los Angeles was built at the banks of this river and its waters sustained the community, as well as many species of plants and animals. Channelizing the river helped the city grow to the metropolis it is today, making new homes possible for some, while taking away the habitat of others.

I have worked on Houses and Homes II to explore this importance of rivers to these communities. I interviewed individuals from Long Beach and Fillmore to learn about their feelings and experience with the Sespe and Los Angeles River. I’ve been able to form intercommunity relations and explore the benefits of collaboration and connection with people who are not typically involved in the field of art.

Houses and Homes II was displayed in February of 2009, at the Maxine Merlino Student Gallery at CSULB. In the initial installation, the videos of the Los Angeles River and the Sespe River were projected onto opposite walls of the gallery and the sound of people talking about their experience of the Sespe or Los Angeles River played out loud in the space.