Bettina Hubby’s Dig the Dig, at the Santa Monica Museum of Art is the first chapter of the Museum’s engagement with the revitalization of its environs and its own metamorphosis. Hubby’s on-site interventions is inspiring new ways of looking at and interacting with the Olympic/26th Street station project. Dig the Dig is embracing the construction landscape, turn what is normally seen as disruption into an occasion for celebration, and to commemorate change.
In April, Hubby began phase one of the project by augmenting Bergamot’s interior construction fencing with her own abstract painted safety cones modified to hold a weekly delivery of vibrant rugged flowers. Offerings of appreciation to the workers, Hubby’s construction cone “vases” are also serving as a bright invitation to everyone who encounters the construction site, to see it in a new light.
On May first, in time for SMMoA’s annual Gala and Benefit Art Sale, PRECOGNTIO and INCOGNITO, Hubby mounted a series of large-scale, mirrored photographs of the Olympic/26th Street site along the construction fencing. The photographs draw passers by and invite them to consider the less-obvious beauty of the dirt and machine-filled vista. In attention to drawing attention, the open air gallery is encouraging interaction with the site and the workers; perusing the photographs, visitors will happen upon, and take advantage of, the ever-present flap windows in the fence around the site. Mid-June, the second set of banners will be up and the first set repositioned on the inside of the construction site for the workers to enjoy firsthand. A third set will be erected at the end of June to face Olympic Blvd. for the passerby, as well as for the workers and Bergamot.
Finally on July 21st, from 6-9pm at the construction site at Bergamot Station, Hubby’s candle-lit and disco-ball activated Dig the Dig Dinner brought together construction workers, local business owners, friends and neighbors together for a festive potluck meal with music, installations and performances by local artists. It was free, and guests brought food and drinks to share.
