Artist in Residence: Los Angeles Artist Census
The Los Angeles Artist Census is a data research project organized by Tatiana Vahan, Art in the Park’s Artist in Residence. The Los Angeles Artist Census Office, located at Art in the Park, was a practical and conceptual organizing space for the Los Angeles Artist Census. The office contains a growing analog library of reports by organizations and artists on the local and national art industry as well as information on data collection and analysis. Office documents are color coded to corresponding categories: Reports, Data Analysis, Social Network, Question Building, Graphic Design, and Administration.
Modeled after the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey which collects data on people in the US to determine how federal and state funds are distributed each year, the Los Angeles Artist Census will gather much needed statistical information on the quality of life of artists living in Los Angeles. The data will include information like total debt, debt from student loans, housing, healthcare, and employment information. Statistics and data that are gathered will be compiled, analyzed, and made available as a public resource to artists, art institutions, funders, policy makers, and the public, via a website and publication. The concepts of biomimicry and mutualism are woven into the organization of the Los Angeles Artist Census which will use its data to more holistically reimagine the social and economic webs of the local art landscape.
https://losangelesartistcensus.com/
Tatiana Vahan is an artist living in Los Angeles. Her work critiques and manipulates the economic constructs of the art industry and attempts to create greater financial and symbolic value for herself and other artists.