Tar Pool Project

Carl Cheng

Carl Cheng received a grant from the Art + Technology Lab to continue his investigations on the natural phenomenon of tar. The endeavor is called Tar Pool Project and is the third phase of an effort the artist began at LACMA’s neighboring Hancock Park almost 30 years ago. For the current phase, Cheng is working with the Art + Technology Lab to leverage novel technologies to activate tar in new ways. The artist has developed "art tool experiments" in his studio to work with the substance and is honing a proposal for a temporary laboratory where he could work with tar onsite and display some of his art tool experiments.

Introducing Carl Cheng’s "Tar Pool Project"

Asphalt (what we commonly refer to as “tar”), has long held Cheng’s fascination and his experiments with it as an artistic medium have had many iterations. The artist’s engagement with the Tar Pits began in 1990 when he met with George C. Page, founder of the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, to discuss the idea of making a public artwork at one of the museum’s unused sites.

For more than five decades, Carl Cheng (b,. 1942) has produced pioneering works in a range of media exploring, “technology and nature as levers, one applied to the other, in order to discover and reveal the beautiful wonders of each.” (Mark Johnstone, 2000).

Artist Website

Tar Pool Project

Art + Tech Lab Archive