Vine on Vine
A Los Angeles Artwork, 9 Years in the Making
I moved to Los Angeles in 2013. As is the case for many new residents, my first months were tough ones. I felt endlessly lost, both spiritually and geographically. Neighborhood names blurred together. Highway exits were constantly missed. 110 vs. 101, are you kidding me? Daunted by the city’s sprawl, I felt compelled to produce an artwork that could help ground and connect me to my new surroundings.
Vine, the looping video app, was the hot new social technology of the moment. I was entranced by its ability to create highly compelling content in mere six-second clips. Inspired by Ed Ruscha’s modernist approach with “Every Building on the Sunset Strip”, I decided to capture the entirety of one of LA’s hallmark avenues using this brand-new medium. Which street to document? The answer was a no-brainer: Vine Street.
Using just my iPhone, the Vine app, and a tripod, I spent six weekends walking nearly the entire length of Vine Street, shooting locked-off videos that documented all facades along both sides of a 1.3-mile stretch of the street. My intent was to create a modern time capsule of L.A., much as Ruscha had done before me.
Here’s the next in the series to help you see how they’re stitched together:
Though the 170 videos are in the can (← see ALL of them stitched together), this project is still far from complete. To bring it to life, I’m looking to mount 170 tablets in a narrow, white-walled gallery. The two long walls of the room will each display 85 screens in single, horizontal rows, showcasing brief, six-second moments of the entirety of Vine Street as I captured it in 2013.
I also plan to integrate audio, using ambient sounds from the videos:
To fund the gallery exhibition, which I intend to produce in Los Angeles, I’ll be selling the 170 videos as 1/1 NFTs. Beyond acquiring a portion of the entire artwork, collectors will access exclusive benefits, including:
- A private social channel where I’ll share the gallery production process, and be available for regular Q&A
- Invitation to a private, opening night gallery event
- A personally guided walking tour of Vine Street
- “Producer” title within exhibition promotion (Hollywood, baby!)
Though I’m well-immersed in Web3, I’m still researching which blockchain and platform to build and launch this project on. If you’re a developer/dev team with bandwidth or a digital artist with wisdom to share, please ping me on Twitter. (I’ll also be looking for an L.A.-based event producer to help with the gallery show.)
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“Every Building on the Sunset Strip” has proven to be a timeless artwork, capturing an everyday street with the modern technology of the time — a still camera and a pick-up truck. I believe Vine on Vine is poised to carry the torch, and hopefully open the door for other modern visual artists to follow.
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Hey! It’s Dan here. Thanks for taking the time to read about Vine on Vine. Follow @VineOnVine on Twitter, or follow me on Medium and I’ll post updates here. Bonus points if you share this article with others!
