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[Exclusive] A Rainbow Yarn Bridge Arches Over LA

We caught up with guerrilla yarn artist Hot Tea about 'Migration,' his newest installation above the PCH.
Images courtesy of the artist

A rainbow of yarn arced over an oceanside LA pedestrian bridge early Monday morning, fresh from the hands of guerrilla weaver Hot Tea. Hot Tea's colorful street art—which has already brightened Hawaiian beaches and Brooklyn bridges—is graffiti's woven alternative: non-destructive and purposefully impermanent. Migration, the artist's latest work, was fashioned over night from 1,180 strands of yarn into a spectrum of 14 spun shades above the beach bound pedestrians of this Santa Monica Pier pathway.

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"The project was inspired by a trip I took two years ago to Los Angeles," the artist tells The Creators Project. "What I really enjoyed about this particular location is that you could see the bridge from above and below. My installations are often limited as to where you can view them and this space provided many possibilities in which to view it." After his recent return to L.A. for the Long Beach Museum of Art's group show Vitality & Verve: Transforming the Urban Landscape, the artist reignited his interest in the installation, eventually embarking on a third trip to the warm West Coast, armed with a wooly arsenal of yarn, and accompanied by husband-wife collective KozynDan and a couple assistants.

"The day we had decided to install was on Monday night," Hot Tea continues. "I had determined that an overnight installation would be best due to all of the security and foot traffic during the day. We began at around sunset (8:00 PM) and I had estimated that we would be working well into the morning. [
] At about 2:30 am I noticed a cop drive underneath us on the freeway and slow down almost to a stop after they had passed [
] he began approaching us and right then a big crowd of people crossed the bridge which made us look less noticeable. After that, we worked even faster to finish."

Half an hour later, and ahead of schedule, "It came down to the last two strands and I thought to myself, how did we pull this off?" Hot Tea reflects. "Especially in a city like Santa Monica where it's usually patrolled quite frequently. Either way, we had finished and now it was time to get some rest and come back tomorrow to witness how people would react to the installation."  Below, Hot Tea's multicolored Migration:

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Photo by Renee Lusano.

Photo by Brandon Shigeta.

Photo by Brandon Shigeta.

Photo by Renee Lusano.

Keep up-to-date on Hot Tea's tactile tags on his Instagram and his Flickr.

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