TAGS: #AI #Film #Installation #Performance #Experiences
About the Project
Los Angeles’ Chinatown has long been a site of resilience, but also one facing ongoing struggles with tenant rights, evictions, and displacement due to gentrification. Our project set out to create a space where art and activism could intersect—where community members could use projection mapping to tell their own stories and advocate for their neighborhood. Supported by a USC Arts in Action grant, we designed this initiative as a way to build solidarity, amplify voices, and create moments of joy and connection through collaborative public art.
Events
In partnership with Chinatown Community for Equitable Development (CCED), we held two projection mapping workshops where community members learned how to use light and motion to transform buildings into storytelling surfaces. At the same time, USC students engaged with CCED organizers to understand the urgent issues facing Chinatown and worked alongside the community to visually translate these concerns. These workshops were aimed to create shared experiences and deepen our collective understanding of what’s at stake.
The project came to life at Chinatown Lights. We projection-mapped interviews with community members, introduced interactive installations, inviting attendees to imagine and co-create a future Chinatown that resists displacement. And because celebration is a form of resistance too, we hosted karaoke.
Intentions and Inspiration
This project was rooted in the belief that media art can be a powerful tool for advocacy and social change. We sought to create an accessible, community-centered approach to storytelling that would highlight the struggles and aspirations of Chinatown residents. Inspired by impactful initiatives like CAAAV’s 'Here to Stay' Chinatown Tenant Union Project in NYC, we aimed to reclaim public space as a medium for activism.
Through a collaborative effort between USC students and CCED, we worked to counter art-washing—where art is used to obscure the effects of gentrification—and instead create a project that truly served the community’s needs.
Team:
Project lead, Katie Luo. Creative technologist lead, Eilythia Penati. Community partner, Chinatown Community for Equitable Development (CCED). Projection artists, Xinghan Zhuang, Julianne Wong, Tina Shi, Nina Tomasevic. Graphic designer, Ulises Vera and Katie Luo. Documentation images by Johans Saldana-Guadalupe. USC Arts In Action Advisor, Lucy Zepeda. Faculty Mentors: Harvey Moon, Elizabeth Ramsey, Holly Willis.