Today is the last day to witness iwitness—a large scale public art installation made up of asymmetrical cubic photographs on display in downtown LA’s Grand Park by artists Ara Oshagan and Levon Parian. It immediately recalls graffiti artist JR’s black-and-white faces he plasters on walls—but these photographs are not of nameless mysteries. These are images that focus on elderly people’s faces, giving extraordinary detail to every line, wrinkle, and bump, with looks of terror, sadness, pride and the slow passage of time. Below the portraits, the pavement is marked with each person’s name, place of origin, and date of birth. On another end of the cube, more black writings on the pavement reveal intimate details from the nightmarish tragedy of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The recollections are astounding and now these faces reveal pain and survival too.

Public art installation by Ara Oshagan and Levon Parian

The cubic structures purposefully exclude right angles with their irregular shape indicating an imbalance or perhaps, injustice? The cubes are placed near one another, interconnecting seamlessly, so patrons must walk in between them or around them to their government office buildings. This year marks the 100^th anniversary of the controversial tragedy and the installation won’t allow us to forget.

Public art installation by Ara Oshagan and Levon Parian

Public Art Installation: Genocide Centennial
Artists: Ara Oshagan and Levon Parian
Architect: Vahagn Thomasian

iwitness is currently on view at Grand Park in Downtown LA and ends today at 10pm.
iwitness1915.org