Web development for artist Mel Chin’s The Tie That Binds
I’m happy to have launched the website for artist Mel Chin’s land art project, The Tie That Binds, part of CURRENT:LA Water, Los Angeles’s inaugural public art biennial.
Originally from Houston Texas, Mel Chin is known for works that require multi-disciplinary, collaborative teamwork that conjoin cross-cultural aesthetics with complex ideas.
The Tie That Binds begins at an 18-acre post-industrial lot along the LA River known as the Bowtie . Visitors, who are guided through eight unique, drought-resistant sample gardens, can then commit to creating a mirror garden in their own yard. Participants receive a blueprint for one of the 512 different designs and instructions on how to plant, establish, and maintain their mirror garden. The newly planted gardens in yards all over the city are meant to reflect a future drought-resistant, collective landscape for LA.
Our team worked closely with Mr. Chin to determine the website’s direction, establishing that its primary purpose would be to drive public visitation to the Bowtie (rather than, say, serve as a “catalogue” or archive). The website, along with the project’s identity and graphic materials, was designed by LA-based designer Tom Kracauer; I provided WordPress and mobile-responsive front-end development; and Amanda Wiles, of Mel Chin Studio, handles maintenance of content.
Thank you to the project team for a great experience; and thanks also to LA arts organization Clockshop for putting us all together!
Check out The Tie That Binds.
Posted August 2016