Where to find the best (free) film in town? LAX!

The best free film in town just may be at the arrivals terminal named for Tom Bradley at LAX. Four hours of films by 17 video artists, collectively titled SEE CHANGE, are debuting this week on two video installations, all funded by the Percent for Art program, which dedicates a portion of the cost of construction (in this case, of Bradley) to the creation of public art.

For $250,000 (a whole heckuva lot less than a half hour of TV) the artists were commissioned to create site-specific works, mostly silent, that run on a continuous loop to soothe, provoke and/or distract weary tourists. They were even tweaked in a special TV-style “control room” in a utility room nearby, which is closed to the public.

"Mission Control"

On the south end of Bradley, just next to the cafe, is a video wall that’s five monitors by five monitors; on the slightly quieter north end is a “film-strip” of 59 monitors that snakes along the ceiling above a sitting area. Sarah Cifarelli, who manages public art for LAX, said: “I think it really enhances the space. It can provide a bit of a respite, a break and take in some art work.” She said the dominant themes of the works include environment, people, nature and movement.

We watched one funny film by Patty Chang and Noah Klersfeld that tracks the path of a luggage bin containing a plant as it wends its way through the maze of the baggage handling system at LAX.

Public reception on Saturday June 16 from 5-8pm