Orange Barrel Media (OBM) is pleased to announce the launch of the Sunset Spectacular at 8775 Sunset Blvd. The innovative full-motion digital media tower was created through a public-private partnership with the City of West Hollywood and is estimated to generate on average $3 million in annual revenue for the City to reinvest in the broader regional cultural and creative community.
Following a juried design competition with submissions by world-renowned architects including Zaha Hadid and Gensler, the City of West Hollywood selected the team of OBM and Los Angeles-based Tom Wiscombe Architecture to create the most architecturally and technologically advanced billboard in the U.S. The Sunset Spectacular is the result of an over five-year process and is the first digital out-of-home media on the storied Sunset Strip in over ten years. The project reflects the City of West Hollywood’s commitment to creative innovation that honors the rich legacy of billboards on the Strip.
Designed by Tom Wiscombe, the Sunset Spectacular reimagines the possibilities of outdoor media and was the recipient of the AIA|LA Next LA Honor Award. The one-of-a-kind three-sided sculptural form features two digital displays facing east and west with an inhabitable interior space that will be activated by interactive and immersive cultural programming, public art projects, and events. A multi-use public plaza at the base of the structure is currently under construction.
“We’re thrilled to launch this project, which has been more than five years in the making, and exemplifies OBM’s commitment to developing media that supports community investment and public art. The Sunset Spectacular redefines the possibilities of out-of-home media from a design, content, and business model standpoint, and there is no more fitting place or partner than the City of West Hollywood,” said Pete Scantland, CEO of Orange Barrel Media.
“Our partnership with Orange Barrel Media is just the kind of forward-thinking way of doing business the City of West Hollywood prides itself on. It is a great example of how the public and private sectors can work together to benefit the entire community. Not only does this partnership foster the arts in our city, but it also financially supports programs critical to our seniors and at-risk members of our community that are particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said City of West Hollywood Community and Legislative Affairs Manager John Leonard.
The Sunset Spectacular goes beyond traditional advertising to enliven the surrounding area and create an exciting new civic space that benefits the city and community. As part of the initiative, OBM and the City of West Hollywood developed “Arts on Sunset,” an ongoing public project that displays newly commissioned and specially edited works of video art, animation, photography, and more for residents and visitors to enjoy. Arts on Sunset is curated by Diana Nawi, Los Angeles-based independent curator and the Co-Artistic Director of Prospect.5 New Orleans, for OBM and will feature the unique works of emerging and internationally recognized artists, with an emphasis on Los Angeles-based creatives. Initial commissions include work by The Propeller Group, Nick Cave, Pipilotti Rist, Catherine Opie, and Cauleen Smith.
he inaugural project by The Propeller Group (TPG) is on view from April 24 through June 30, 2021. Employing their signature cinematic visuals, TPG’s new series of videos traces the afterlife of unexploded ordnances left in landscape of Vietnam following the mid-century American invasion, a spectacular exploration of history’s lasting and visceral effects in the present. Further details on TPG’s project are below. It will be followed by the work of Nick Cave, which will debut in the late spring. Cave’s text-based video is an outgrowth of a project in which he affixed the words “Truth be Told” to the exterior of a building in Kinderhook, New York, in the summer of 2020. This monumental declaration led to a legal battle over the use of public space and the right to expression and has inspired the artist to revisit this phrase in different ways for projects in multiple cities. West Hollywood is the perfect setting to host Cave’s work and to challenge the way we think about the possibilities of the public sphere. Pipilotti Rist is creating a new work for this platform in conjunction with the opening of a major survey of her work at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, this summer. Catherine Opie and Cauleen Smith, both heralded for their groundbreaking work in photography and film, respectively, will debut works in the fall of this year. The works featured through Arts on Sunset will reach an estimated audience of 500,000 people daily.
Key Facts and Figures
- Learn more at orangebarrelmedia.com/sunset-spectacular
- Location: West Hollywood, California, 8775 Sunset Blvd Dimensions: West Face: 48’5” x 25’3” East Face: 31’ x 22’8” Site Area: 13,600 SF
- Architect: Tom Wiscombe Architecture
- TWA Project Team: Tom Wiscombe, Jose Garcia, Chris Arth, Sam Flower, Xavier Ramirez, Luciano Menghini, Kiran Nayak, Michale Royer, Sarangan Sinnarajah
- Structural: Walter P Moore, Los Angeles Detailer: DBM Vircon, Vancouver, Canada Civil: JLA, Los Angeles
- Electrical: GLUMAC, Los Angeles
- Geotech: Geotechnologies, Los Angeles
- Landscape: Fletcher Studio, Los Angeles
- Media: Display Devices Inc, Golden, Colorado Lighting: KGM, Los Angeles
- General Contractor: Arbib Construction Inc.
- Superstructure Fabricator: Northern Manufacturing Inc, Oak Harbor, Ohio Electrical
- Subcontractor: Bauer Electric Services
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