Katharina Gruzei’s project “LA Work Shift – Intersection of Lives and Highways” is an artistic investigation of the current work situation of Los Angeles.
Starting point for her project was a stay in Los Angeles in 2003 when she had the opportunity to experience the life situation of LA’s inhabitants. Later on she returned for a semester abroad.
The main issue of Katharina Gruzei’s work is the precariat in Los Angeles and its inherent contradictions of the idealised American Dream within a pedal-to-the-metal society.
Many people need to accept a diversity of jobs to survive and support their families in a money thriven system. Chaotic highways reflect a break down in the social fabric of society, paradoxically disconnecting people in the pursuit of the American Dream. History reveals that automotive industries promoted the car as a symbol of freedom and independence. Ironically the situation today represents the other polar extreme.
The process of this project incorporated a video portrait with interviews and a series of staged photographs of each individual.
Katharina Gruzei is actually art student at the art university Berlin.
Bonnie Hayslett
via website
31 May 2007
I enjoyed so much being a part of her project. It gave me a fresh prospective of something I take for granted everyday, the horrible Los Angeles, CA traffic and how it impacts my life as a mobile pet groomer.I love dog grooming and I don’t mind the driving most days, but if I ever quit mobile grooming it would be because of the bad drivers I have to deal with daily.