The Airport Metro Connector (AMC) station is under construction along the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project and will serve as the new transit gateway to LAX. The station will feature a large integrated sculpture by Glenn Kaino that will add to the station’s atmosphere and catch the eye of many travelers.
Titled The Distance of the Sun, the sculpture will be suspended from the building’s circular skylight and is being developed in tandem with the station’s architecture. The sculpture will be a visual and cultural heart welcoming all those arriving to and departing from the Los Angeles area.
“The Airport Metro Connector — a transitory space designed as an area of connection where people are either coming, going or working — is a site of generous collision between the widest possible audience,” shares Kaino.
Kaino’s approach to making art can be described as “conceptual kitbashing” as he brings together dissimilar materials and ideas. His work has been featured in exhibitions and museums across the world.
“We’re so excited to have Glenn Kaino working on this project for this important station,” said Maya Emsden, Deputy Executive Officer, Metro Arts & Design. “His work will be a focal point that brings a universal dreamlike quality and sense of magic to the space as customers move through the airport and our system.”
Kaino’s concept for the AMC project was selected by a panel of community-based art and design professionals in 2018. Members include: Sarah Cifarelli, LAX Art Program Director; Gaston Nogues, artist and partner at Ball-Nogues Studio; Paulina Samborska, independent curator and former Curatorial Associate, Otis College of Art and Design; Bennett Simpson, Senior Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art; Christine Y. Kim, Curator of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Hamza Walker, Executive Director, LAXART, and; Nikolas Dando-Haenisch, Principal, Grimshaw.
The AMC will be located at Aviation Boulevard and 96th Street and will be the transfer point between local transit systems and the Automated People Mover being built by LAX. AMC amenities include a bus plaza, customer service center and a passenger pick-up and drop-off area. A groundbreaking for the project was held in June.
Read more about the in development artwork here.
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Categories: Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project, Metro Art