LTDW: Plan C: Some Urban Preparedness Re-Thinks
Little Tokyo, JACCC Plaza
Los Angeles, CA
opening: July 14th, 2011
duration: June 14th – July 17th, 2011
Installation and Visual Essay: Tim Durfee + amp. With Sean Donahue.
Exhibit team: Taylor Cunningham, Shaina Conway, Brian Hardy, Jeremy Eichenbaum, Ryan Enz, Lilianna Gonzalez, Geoffery Ka’alani, Mike Manolo, Sarah Needham, Bora Shin.
information…
Despite Japan’s exceptional disaster planning, the suffering and property loss caused by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami have been of a scale one would expect befalling a less defensively equipped population. Indeed, in recent years we continue to witness – worldwide - intolerable gaps between similarly careful contingencies and actual devastation, post-disaster. Perhaps these discrepancies should prompt a fundamental rethinking of our relationship to disaster preparation. Plan C revisits several assumptions emergency management agencies make when planning for the unknown in the form of three speculative proposals. Individual preparedness: The current policy of US agencies for emergency management is “every man for himself” regarding access to the essentials of life immediately following a disaster. Is it still realistic to expect all individuals to execute this level of personal responsibility? What about the homeless, or those for whom stocking up on essentials for a possible future is an unimaginable luxury? Other species hoard food during times of abundance to enable survival in times of paucity – often creating specific structures for this purpose. Public Survival Works considers a city of the future that institutes the containment of life-sustaining materials as part of its physical infrastructure. Preserving property: Choosing to live in a high-risk area, such as a location prone to forest fires, puts strain on publicly funded municipal services to preserve private property when disaster strikes. Burning Down the House: a Modest Proposal for Fire Zone Development is a form of housing that isolates safe zones from those considered expendable – allowing the natural cycle of fires to take place while people, pets, and possessions are safe. Protecting businesses: If people are without nourishment over days before help arrives, it is inevitable that food formerly acquired through commercial exchange becomes forfeited to the public good. Friendly Looting: Democratizing the Inevitable proposes ways that – before a crisis – plans could be made for the effective, non-destructive, and democratic distribution of goods from businesses that carry essentials for survival.
-from website
more information…
www.ltdesignweek.com
www.artcenter.edu/mdp/
all images shot with a Canon EOS 5D MKII
