Semi-Tropic Spiritualists
In 1905, the Semi-Tropic Spiritualist association purchased a tract of land outside the city limits of Los Angeles. The tract was divided into small parcels for permanent dwellings, which surrounded a large central park. This park was set aside as a public meeting place for the Semi-Tropic Spiritualists to host camp meetings, including lectures, séances, investigations and tests. At this site, a community formed around a shared search for knowledge extending beyond the conscious mind.
In 2012, we saw an article online referencing the development of the “Semi-Tropic Spiritualist Tract,” a previously unoccupied plot of land located in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. As artists whose individual practices had addressed esoteric beliefs such as Spiritualism, this name caught our attention. Further research lead to blog posts by a local community activist documenting years of attempts to preserve the space, which had remained open land since the days of the original Semi-Tropic Spiritualists. However, by the time we discovered this site, the Artís townhouse complex was already in progress.
Though the last physical traces of the Semi-Tropic Spiritualists in Los Angeles were disappearing with their park, we decided to re-claim their name and their mission. We were interested in Spiritualism and its history as a model for exploring ideas of faith and skepticism, belief and charlatanism, as well as for the development of a space dedicated to investigation and the search for knowledge.
Because we discovered the Semi-Tropic Spiritualists through the loss of our home site, our project has always been nomadic. We create our own campsites and temporary communities, often traveling to other locations of alternative, visionary activities, such as the utopian ruins of Llano del Rio, and the complex, conflicted remnants of The Hatchery in Badger, CA. Our placelessness has allowed the project to grow and develop freely and expansively. However, we are always drawn back to sites of origin, to the physical traces left behind. The development of the Semi-Tropic Spiritualist Tract marks not only an instance of gentrification claiming rare open land within the city, but also pushing out historical memory and intangible spiritual energy.
We would like to claim an area at the center of the Artís townhouse complex to return the Semi-Tropic Spiritualists to their original home. There we propose to permanently install two banners, which display the symbols that represent the core values of the Semi Tropic Spiritualists. Between these two banners we will place three nested pyramids, which form the campfire at the core of our community, now restored to the heart of Semi-Tropic Park. The pyramids hold gold candles that burn with a perpetual flame.
In 2012, we saw an article online referencing the development of the “Semi-Tropic Spiritualist Tract,” a previously unoccupied plot of land located in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. As artists whose individual practices had addressed esoteric beliefs such as Spiritualism, this name caught our attention. Further research lead to blog posts by a local community activist documenting years of attempts to preserve the space, which had remained open land since the days of the original Semi-Tropic Spiritualists. However, by the time we discovered this site, the Artís townhouse complex was already in progress.
Though the last physical traces of the Semi-Tropic Spiritualists in Los Angeles were disappearing with their park, we decided to re-claim their name and their mission. We were interested in Spiritualism and its history as a model for exploring ideas of faith and skepticism, belief and charlatanism, as well as for the development of a space dedicated to investigation and the search for knowledge.
Because we discovered the Semi-Tropic Spiritualists through the loss of our home site, our project has always been nomadic. We create our own campsites and temporary communities, often traveling to other locations of alternative, visionary activities, such as the utopian ruins of Llano del Rio, and the complex, conflicted remnants of The Hatchery in Badger, CA. Our placelessness has allowed the project to grow and develop freely and expansively. However, we are always drawn back to sites of origin, to the physical traces left behind. The development of the Semi-Tropic Spiritualist Tract marks not only an instance of gentrification claiming rare open land within the city, but also pushing out historical memory and intangible spiritual energy.
We would like to claim an area at the center of the Artís townhouse complex to return the Semi-Tropic Spiritualists to their original home. There we propose to permanently install two banners, which display the symbols that represent the core values of the Semi Tropic Spiritualists. Between these two banners we will place three nested pyramids, which form the campfire at the core of our community, now restored to the heart of Semi-Tropic Park. The pyramids hold gold candles that burn with a perpetual flame.
Map of The Semi-Tropic Spiritualist’s Tip and Semi-Tropical Park from “Baist’s Real Estate Atlas Surveys of Los Angeles,” 1912
Architectural plan of the Artís townhouse development, with black dot indicating proposed site for permanent installation
Semi-Tropic Spiritualists with models for proposed permanent installation
Semi-Tropic Spiritualists as close as we can get to the former Semi-Tropic Park without trespassing
Semi-Tropic Spiritualists is a project by Los Angeles-based artists Astri Swendsrud and Quinn Gomez-Heitzeberg, started in 2012.
This ongoing series of performance works and objects explores the history of spiritual and occult belief in Los Angeles through the Semi-Tropic Spiritualists, an organization that created a campsite meeting place outside the city limits of Los Angeles in 1905. Spiritualism has described itself as a science, a philosophy and a religion. We are interested in this system as a model for exploring ideas of faith and skepticism, belief and charlatanism, as well as for the development of a space dedicated to investigation and the search for knowledge.
The Semi-Tropic Spiritualists have exhibited their installations and performance works at Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles; The Vincent Price Museum, Los Angeles; Shangri-La, Joshua Tree, CA; and Chime & Co., Los Angeles, among other locations. Both artists received their MFAs from CalArts in 2008.
www.semitropicspiritualists.com
This ongoing series of performance works and objects explores the history of spiritual and occult belief in Los Angeles through the Semi-Tropic Spiritualists, an organization that created a campsite meeting place outside the city limits of Los Angeles in 1905. Spiritualism has described itself as a science, a philosophy and a religion. We are interested in this system as a model for exploring ideas of faith and skepticism, belief and charlatanism, as well as for the development of a space dedicated to investigation and the search for knowledge.
The Semi-Tropic Spiritualists have exhibited their installations and performance works at Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles; The Vincent Price Museum, Los Angeles; Shangri-La, Joshua Tree, CA; and Chime & Co., Los Angeles, among other locations. Both artists received their MFAs from CalArts in 2008.
www.semitropicspiritualists.com