THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 2006
15 artists reinvent their wheels
The MAK Center takes a new look at L.A. car culture and the traveling exhibit.

"It's definitely a car culture and tight in space. There's barely any greenery. We're
crammed in around the car culture as opposed to the other way around," said
"Carmada" artist Dawn Kasper, 29, who planted a real garden in the bed of her
pickup truck because she, like many young Angelenos, can afford a car but not a
house with a yard.

In her native Germany, Vordermaier had been thinking about doing a carbased
installation project, but "Carmada" didn't fully take shape until a trip to Los Angeles,
when she noticed that Amencans relate differently to their cars than do Europeans.

When people spend hours each day in their cars, sometimes eating there, applying
makeup there or storing their belongings there, the cars can become almost like a
second residence.

"Here the car is more of a psychological room than for Europeans, who just use it
like a machine. Here it's a living space," Vordermaier said.

On the basis of her "Carmada" proposal, Vordermaier was awarded an artist's
residency at the MAK Center for Art and Architecture at the Schindler House. For
the last six months, she has been living at the Schindler-designed Mackey Apartment
House and recruiting local artists to participate in "Carmada," as well as designing
her own "Carmada" project. (The Bronco overrun by mushrooms - representing the