Image: Conservation Piece, 2024. Kathi Hofer and Preserve Bottle Village Committee with RLA Conservation. Photo by Tag Christof.
“Permanence was never the test of folk art.”
— Esther McCoy from Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village
Tressa "Grandma" Prisbrey (1896–1988) began building Bottle Village in her 60s, a collection of bottle-constructed houses that became her life’s work. The site housed her extensive pencil collection, her assemblage artworks, herself, and her family. Visitors periodically visited and Prisbrey would host, give tours, sing songs, and tell stories. As an artist-built environment and Prisbrey’s home, Bottle Village is the embodiment of an evolving social sculpture. Formed in July 1979, Preserve Bottle Village Committee is a non-profit organization created to acquire and preserve the historic site when it was facing demolition after Prisbrey had to sell the site to a private developer. In the context of Prisbrey’s vision, the task of preservation becomes a question, how would she want her work to be viewed, restored, or rebuilt when she is no longer around? These imperatives become essential to providing a direction forward for Bottle Village.
The MAK Center for Art and Architecture is pleased to present a public discussion with writer, curator and art conservator, Rosa Lowinger and architectural historian and former Acting Director of Preserve Bottle Village Committee, Daniel Paul. They will discuss their individual practices in relation to the ongoing preservation of Bottle Village in the context of the exhibition Kathi Hofer and Preserve Bottle Village Committee.
ROSA LOWINGER
Rosa Lowinger is a Cuban-born American art and architectural conservator and writer. She is the founder of RLA Conservation, LLC (www.rlaconservation.com), a practice with offices in Los Angeles and Miami. Rosa is a Fellow of the American Institute for Conservation, the Association for Preservation Technology, and American Academy in Rome, where she conducted research on the history of vandalism to art and public space. Her books include: Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub (Harcourt: 2006) and the recently published Dwell Time: A Memoir of Art, Exile, and Repair (Row House: 2023). She will be the keynote speaker at the 2024 Docomomo US Conference to be held in Miami.
DANIEL PAUL
Daniel Paul began historic preservation volunteer work at Grandma Prisbrey’s Bottle Village 30 years ago, just one week after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. During his 15 years onsite, he coordinated with a noted rebuilding team, State Offices, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency for damage repair monies, he authored public facing materials, and in 1996, wrote the National Register of Historic Places landmark application that helped protect Bottle Village. Daniel holds a master’s degree in art history from the California State University Northridge. His master’s thesis presented the origin story of 1970s-era Late-Modern glass skin office park architecture.
This exhibition series is made possible by The Austrian Federal Chancellery.
This program is made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. (DCA)
KATHI HOFER AND PRESERVE BOTTLE VILLAGE COMMITTEE
April 18, 2024 — June 16, 2024