Artwork Detail

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fireguide for Fire Station 128

Artist: Tanaka, Haruko

Object Date: 2012

Medium: Ink on paper

Department(s): Fire

Supervisorial District: 5

About the Artwork:

Haruko Tanaka created a fireguide for Fire Station 128, a series of 17 photo-based collage artworks that reference the history, practice and culture familiar to every firefighter. To facility personnel, these photographs are a visual tool that can aid in fire training, and, to visitors, these photographs offer a brief yet illuminating submersion into firefighting culture. Each image is comprised of one main background image overlaid with a map-like grid and numbers specific to aspects of the photograph, from the year of the first discovery of gold in California to the number of seconds in which firefighters must be ready once the station alarm is sounded. Artist Haruko Tanaka also included a legend that facility personnel can use as a reference tool when talking about the multiple meanings of each photograph.

About the Artist:

Haruko Tanaka has called Los Angeles County her home for nearly 20 years and resides in Altadena. She is an interdisciplinary artist working in photography, film/video, installation and collaborative relational workshops and events. She said, "When making art, I am usually thinking a lot about the rich diversity of cultural knowledge that we all possess and the creative ways with which to unearth, present, and honor them through image, sound, space, and interaction." Tanaka received her B.F.A. from the University of Southern California and her M.F.A. from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). She has exhibited at numerous galleries and arts organizations in Valencia, Pasadena, Moorpark, Highland Park, Santa Monica, New York, Baltimore and Toronto. To learn more about her work, please visit www.kissoftheworld.net.