Site-specific installation by: Swen Leer
Dox Contemporary, Prague / Czech Center New York &
The General Consulate of The Czech Republic in Los Angeles

Highway signs are always right. Not in a political way but by way of conveying a fact. In our time of social-media-fed competing narratives, “alternative facts” and fake news, the road sign seems to be one of the last anchors of truth that everyone can agree on, left and right. It is a true icon of Los Angeles, a city of freeways and cars, of people commuting to and fro, many hours a day, each day.

Arguably, road signs are the most read and trusted literature of Los Angeles, if we can call them that. On the one hand, they are a powerful symbol of progress of the last century, and of mobility. On the other hand, however, they represent the evidence of our technological rampage that has led us into a real climate crisis.

The installation, The Sign, plugs into this a-priori factuality by mimicking the iconic freeway signage, while communicating an unexpected message: “Your children WILL hate you – eventually”. The text is speculation about the future of our society as well as a deeply disturbing existential thought that has probably crossed the mind of most parents. Their kids are 
the ones who will pick up the tab of our celebrated economical progress – a religion of economical growth at all costs. Placing the iconographic freeway sign into the interior of the LA Convention Center creates an absurd situation for the viewer, conveying a disturbing message in the matter-of-fact form they have recently seen getting off the freeway to get to the LA Art Show. And the message stands, after all – highway signs are always right. Right?