LACMA × Snapchat: Monumental Perspectives (Collection II)

Kang Seung Lee engages with recent history through a methodical process of redrawing imagery from community-based archives. la revolución es la solución! stems from activist responses to the 1991 murder of Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old African American girl who was shot by Soon Ja Du, Korean American owner of the Empire Liquor store. Lee uses kites associated with Korean memorial services and New Year’s celebrations to map out the responses of activists initiated by community leaders after Harlins’s death. Lee wishes to amplify the voices and actions of activist leaders who have worked across racial and class lines to rebuild their communities. Lee’s project was originally conceived for the 25th anniversary of the 1992 Los Angeles Uprising and is reconfigured to document the ongoing work of the Latasha Harlins Foundation, K-Town ’92, Mothers Reclaiming Our Children (Mothers ROC), as well as CARACEN’s (Central American Refugee Center) important role in bringing to light the mass deportations in the wake of multi-ethnic protests. Lee uses the transformational and lyrical qualities of animation to map virtual kites onto the sky. These kites flutter between the pain of the past and the hope for alliances and actions across communities, now and into the future

LACMA × Snapchat: Monumental Perspectives brings together artists and technologists to create augmented reality monuments that explore just some of the histories of Los Angeles communities in an effort to highlight perspectives from across the region.

In consultation with community leaders and historians, artists Mercedes Dorame, I.R. Bach, Glenn Kaino, Ruben Ochoa, and Ada Pinkston examine key moments, figures, and monumentality, while Judy Baca, Sandra de la Loza, and Kang Seung Lee explore changing landscapes and memory as a way to connect the past and the present through augmented reality experiences.

Visitors can experience the augmented reality monuments at site-specific locations across Los Angeles including Earvin “Magic” Johnson Park and Algin Sutton Recreation Center. The monuments can also be experienced by anyone around the world on Snapchat by typing in the works' titles in the Search Bar. Learn more about the project at lacma.org/monumental.