RED was invited to the opening of A FOREST FOR THE TREES immersive art installation in DTLA, a collaboration of artists led by Glenn Kaino. Experience a journey through a surreal forest of magic, music, and wonder—with animatronic performing trees, captivating illusions of fire that you can control with your hands, and multi-sensory storytelling, all hidden within a 28,000-square-foot space in downtown Los Angeles
This is true storytelling from beginning to end demonstrated by immersive technology. The story embraces the indigenous tribes of California, the history of our forests and what has led to the destructive out of control wildfires. A somewhat short experience (less than 45 minutes) it is simply stated, thought-provoking and it works.
As described by the Los Angeles Times review, “This wilderness is part of Kaino’s “A Forest for the Trees,” an immersive new show he created and directed inside a 28,000-square-foot Boyle Heights warehouse. The ticketed experience, which speaks to Indigenous practices around land stewardship, ecological interconnectedness and preservation of the environment, leads visitors on an hourlong journey through an actual forest with 87 redwood trees. Most are tree remnants ethically sourced from a Northern California forest and repositioned inside the space, while others are cast replicas. The forest also includes handmade sculptures, animatronic robots, original music and glimmering installations that alternately employ mirrors, light, water and shadows to create a range of visual trickery.
