HYPERALLERGIC

Doug Aitken’s Poetic Tableau of Southern California

“I wanted to make something aggressively non-linear, using sound and music to express things that hard language couldn’t,” the artist said of his latest work.

LOS ANGELES — A cowboy hitches his horse to a post at a gas station. A coyote stalks a check-cashing spot, illuminated by neon. A woman dances alone through the puddles of an abandoned parking garage. “All of this will never make sense,” a voice repeats in Doug Aitken’s “Lightscape.” Set to a humming and thumping minimalist soundtrack, a cast of LA characters including a cowboy, a mountain lion, an actress, and factory workers act out poetic vignettes within the Southland’s varied environments, from a classic mid-century home, a drive-in movie theater, and sunny beaches, to the rugged desert landscape that extends beyond the urban fabric.

The artist’s cinematic and sonic exploration of Southern California’s myths, histories, and potentialities, told through a series of interwoven but disjointed scenes, debuted as an hour-long film last Saturday, November 16, at the Los Angeles Music Center.