This forest of city street lights, called Urban Light was created by artist Chris Burden. Despite initial appearances, the arrangement is not a perfect grid. Depending on where the viewer stands, the lamps arrange themselves in different angles and arrays. The 202 cast iron lamps once lit the streets of Los Angeles. Burden bought the first one at the Rose Bowl flea market, and soon collecting and restoring street lights became an obsession. He painted them all the same neutral gray, in order to draw the eye to all the different varieties of cast iron decoration. Burden says that street lamps like these were symbols of a civilized and sophisticated city—safe after dark and beautiful to behold. The lights all still work, and they are now powered by solar energy. They are switched on every night at dusk, and are lit until 10pm. At night, Burden says his sculpture becomes transformed into “a building with a roof of light.” Since it was installed along LACMA’s Wilshire Boulevard entrance in February 2008, artist Chris Burden’s "Urban Light" has become "an instant landmark" [New York Times]. To celebrate its one-year anniversary, in January 2009, LACMA launched an open call for online submissions of "Urban Light"-inspired photographs, videos, and writing – the result of which is colorfully presented in the book "Celebrating Urban Light". A commemorative feast for the eyes, "Celebrating Urban Light" features 150 photos, poems, and video stills chosen by Charlotte Cotton, LACMA’s curator and head of photography department, from over 1,000 submissions. The book also includes a foreword by LACMA CEO and Director Michael Govan, a preface by Charlotte Cotton, and an excerpt from a conversation between Chris Burden and Michael Govan. Click here to preview or purchase the book.

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