ART: Second Home Serpentine Pavilion at the La Brea Tar Pits

If you’ve driven down Wilshire in recent months, you may have noticed a colorful amorphous installation occupying a large lawn at the La Brea Tar Pits. It’s called the Second Home Serpentine Pavilion, and this piece of art/architecture beckons you to come inside, to follow its non-linear corridors while enjoying the colorful play of light. The structure uses the principles of a tent, with sheets of material stretched out between lightweight poles that define the form. That form is more like a hermit crab’s shell than a normal tent. The sheets are mostly translucent, some in iridescent silver, others bold primary colors. Occasionally, a “panel” is just open air cross-hatched by brightly colored streamers. The reflections, refractions, and stained glass-like illuminations compound the visual fiesta. If you ever wondered what the view of a birthday party might be like from inside one of the mylar balloons, this is it. Where did this come from? Apparently, the Serpentine Gallery in London’s Hyde Park has hosted an annual event where a creative architect is given the opportunity design and install some kind of pavilion to showcase their creativity in a summer-long installation. This was the 2015 Serpentine Pavilion, by the Madrid-based architects SelgasCano. Now it’s visiting LA through Nov 24.