Oceanwide Holdings started a project they could not finish, and now, the artists of LA have found a new canvas.
Oceanwide originally planned to have a skyscraper constructed and eventually made into luxury apartments, but in 2019, the project came to a halt because the company essentially went bankrupt. The building has since been abandoned, neither demolished nor finished, which has posed a few issues for the public. The huge building is taking up space and the citizens of LA are fed up.
Oceanwide claims that over $1 billion has already been put toward the project, but the cost was underestimated and they are no longer able to afford to finish the project. The abandoned building had remained untouched since 2019, however, as a form of protest, a large group of LA graffiti artists decided to decorate it.
The skyscraper is now covered from top to bottom in tags, which are the creative signatures of graffiti artists. The artists snuck past security and into the building to leave their mark and their reasoning as to why varies. Some artists stated that they wanted to address the fact that the money wasted on this failed project could have been put to greater use especially considering the huge homeless population in LA. Others simply wanted to be part of the historical moment.
In response to the uproar this abandoned building caused, the city ordered Oceanwide to clean the graffiti off the skyscraper by February 17th. Oceanwide clearly did not have the funds to do so, leading the city council to take it into their own hands. The city council approved $3.8 million for the removal of the graffiti.
Many wonder why the city is willing to spend so much money to remove harmless art when there are more urgent and important issues that need attention. It seems ridiculous to spend such a large amount of money to clean the abandoned building while ignoring the fact that it still needs to be either demolished or completed. Realistically, Oceanwide will not be able to complete the project, so even after spending such a pretty penny for the cleanup, the building will still take up space and benefit LA citizens in no way.
Is the graffiti meaningful art or just vandalism? The bigger question is whether or not the city of LA is handling the situation correctly. As big corporations continue to upset the creatives of LA, will more artistic protests arise?
