Artwork Detail

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Orit Haj

Artist: Didier Hess

Date: 2013

Medium: Rammed earth and mixed media

Artwork Dimensions: 36 x 240 x 84 in.

County Department: Parks and Recreation

Artwork Site: Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park

Supervisorial District: 5

Current Status: On view

About the Artwork: The site-specific artwork at Vasquez Rocks, titled Orit Haj, is a tribute to the Tatavium culture of the Santa Clarita Valley. Orit Haj are words from the Tataviam language, which mean “river” and “mountain” respectively. Like the fading Tataviam culture and language, Orit Haj will also transform and dissolve with time to reveal inspiring artifacts and legends that have been left behind. 


To construct Orit Haj, the artist team Didier Hess and community members used an architectural building material called rammed earth, which is a mixture of soil and cement compacted into forms to create a solid earthen structure. Over the course of about 250 years, due to the artists’ creative modification in the rammed earth formula, personal artifacts embedded by the participants will be revealed as the rammed earth material slowly erodes. Hidden within the rammed earth is a bronze sculpture, meant for a future generation to discover.

Evoking the dramatic formations of Vasquez Rocks, the sculpture invites people to touch it and visitors to climb on it. As people return to Vasquez Rocks at various points in their lives, they will notice dramatic changes in physical appearance of the sculpture as well as the surrounding natural environment.

About the Artist: Didier Hess, a Los Angeles based collaborative led by Jenna Didier and Oliver Hess, creates interactive artwork for public places. The artists bring distinct areas of expertise to each project including lighting design, rainwater catchment design, water feature design and engineering, metal fabrication, responsive visual effects, computer programming, site-specific land art, and sustainable design. Often, inspiration is drawn from the natural forces at each project site – air, quality and currents, solar paths, persistent weather patterns and the movement of people: http://www.emanate.org/.