“from sea to shining sea”

“from sea to shining sea” (FSTSS) is a sculpture, video and sound installation that takes a site-specific choir performance as a departure point. The a href=”http://www.c3la.org/” target=”_blank”>C3LA Choir will perform at White Point Military Reservation, within a decommissioned long range naval gun casemate where guns were never fired for their intended purpose. The final installation will move into Angels Gate Cultural Center, reconstructing the spatial and theatrical context of the live performance piece as a sculpture, video and sound installation. Borrowing its title from the last line of the song “America the Beautiful”, the project utilizes declassified logistics data from White Point Military Reservation as parameters to deconstruct and rearrange the song. Through the process of breaking down language by isolating and reorganizing the musical and linguistic components of “America the Beautiful”, the piece reconsiders the song’s history, to subvert its poetic, benevolent, and hopeful narrative. The project responds to San Pedro’s militarization process as a coastal city and the historical significance of the site. With a rich history of immigrant populations, San Pedro’s history also aligns with WWII notions of national security, as they still relate today to patriotism and xenophobia. FSTSS connects the history of this militarized, man-made landscape to the normalization of the U.S.’s exceptionalism to legitimize military interventions worldwide, and its ambivalent relationship to the displacement of immigrants and refugees, often a direct result of such interventions. FSTSS repurposes a site of military destruction, reclaiming the space through a collective audio-visual experience. There will be two performances:
Saturday September 9 2017
6:30
7:00
Location:
Paul D. Bunker Battery
White Point Nature Preserve
1600 W Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro, CA 90731 There is no car access to the site, so please plan accordingly. Bring comfortable shoes and allow at least 45 minutes after arrival by car, as there is a hike from the parking lot at the White Point Natural Preserve to the site of the performance at the top of the hill, the Paul D. Bunker Battery on the East side.