Loitering is delightful
October 31, 2019 – January 12, 2020

There are three artworks hanging from the ceiling by David Horvitz facing the doors outside of the art gallery. The left sign is white with black lettering that says "un reloj que persigue las sombras de los gatos". The middle sign is red with black lettering that says "un reloj reido por el viento". The right sign is blue with white lettering that says " un reloj que se queda dormido".
David Horvitz, Proposals for clocks, 2019. Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Photograph by Jeff McLane.
There is a pink painted wall with white lettering that says "Loitering is delightful". To the left of this lettering is a tall green plant hanging on the wall with a wooden planter on the floor. To the right of the lettering is smaller, undecipherable white lettering with two wooden holders for booklets. There is also a wooden bench underneath the "Loitering is delightful" lettering. There is a small grey book on the bench. 
Installation view of Loitering is delightful. Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Photograph by Jeff McLane.
The artwork installation by the artist Lani Trock includes a long blue rug with eight green colored floor pillows separated in two lines. There are three pillows on the left side, four pillows on the right side, and one pillow in the middle. There are various green and white colored plants in glass vases placed on the back of the rug. There are more green plants in glass vases placed on a short, white rectangular pedestal to the left back of the rug and to the right back of the rug. Above the rug and hanging from the ceiling are rows of flowers. The left side has white flowers, the middle has orange flowers, and the right has purple flowers. There are also white and light blue colored fabric hanging with the flowers as part of the artwork installation.
Lani Trock, the unified field, 2019. Courtesy of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Photograph by Jeff McLane.
There is one artwork hanging on the wall depicting a large, broken car side mirror by the artist Asha Schechter. There is another artwork of a very tall black motorcycle jacket hanging on a stand by the artist Ishi Glinsky. Another artwork is of wooden, geometric seats on top of a large wooden platform by the artist Lauren Davis Fisher. There is also another artwork hanging on a wall depicting a dustpan by the artist Asha Schechter.
Installation view of Loitering is delightful. Works visible (L to R): Asha Schechter, Prius mirror from Baby Barcelona (2), 2019; Ishi Glinsky, Coral vs. King Snake Jacket, 2019; Lauren Davis Fisher, Untitled (Municipal Boxes), 2019; and Asha Schechter, Black Dustpan and petals and can and fur and shards and bolt, 2019. Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Photograph by Jeff McLane.
The artwork installation by the artist Lauren Davis Fisher includes five plywood box sculptures shaped with various geometric forms and dimensions. They are placed as seating arrangements on top of a large rectangle plywood platform. To the left this artwork installation is another artwork by the artist Dylan Mira of a small white bucket placed on the floor. There is mist coming out of the bucket and power cords trailing out of it and up along the wall. To the right of this artwork, there is another artwork hanging on the wall by the artist Asha Schechter. This artwork depicts a dustpan with various objects.
Installation view of Loitering is delightful. Works visible (Foreground to Background): Lauren Davis Fisher, Untitled (Municipal Boxes), 2019; Dylan Mira, NWOT C#, 2019; and Asha Schechter, Black Dustpan and petals and can and fur and shards and bolt, 2019. Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Photograph by Jeff McLane.
There is one artwork hanging on the wall by the artist David Horvitz. It is a blue neon work with lettering that says, "whenever I take a shower, I always wonder when the water was a cloud". There is another artwork to the right of this by the artist Ishi Glinksy that is a very tall black motorcycle jacket hanging upright on a stand. The jacket has a silver studded collar and is covered in Native American political movement designs with white ink and embroidered patches.
Installation view of Loitering is delightful. Works visible (L to R): David Horvitz, Whenever I take a shower I always wonder when the water was a cloud, 2019; Ishi Glinsky, Coral vs. King Snake Jacket, 2019. Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Photograph by Jeff McLane.
There is one large horizontal photograph hanging on the wall. The photograph is of a city street sidewalk at night. To the far right of this artwork is another artwork that is also a photograph of a similar city street sidewalk at night. These photographs are both by the artist Joshua Ross.
Installation view of Loitering is delightful. Works visible (L to R): Joshua Ross, Zhani 3, 2018 and Joshua Ross, Zhani 2, 2018. Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Photograph by Jeff McLane.
The art installation by the artist David Horvitz is comprised of a large, cobalt blue painted wall with twenty-four paper posters separated into four rows of six posters per row. The posters are hanging vertically and have various black lettering in different languages such as English, Spanish, Japanese and Korean.
David Horvitz, Proposals for clocks, 2019. Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Photograph by Jeff McLane.
The art installation by the artist Dylan Mira is comprised of four paint buckets arranged in a square shape on the floor. The front row has one white bucket on the left and one yellow bucket on the right. The back row has one white bucket o the left and one pink bucket on the right. There is mist coming from the tops of the buckets and spilling out on to the floor.
Dylan Mira, NWOT C#, 2019. Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Photograph by Jeff McLane.
various sized square cushions in shades of pink, orange and red. On top of one of the pink floor cushions is a folded, fabric newspaper, and on another pink pillow is a pair of fabric headphones. Behind the rug is an orange colored bench, and behind the bench is a fabric sculpture in the shape of a circular ring and another fabric pedestal with an object in the shape of a Kleenex box. To the left side of the circular pink mat is a large fabric bird of paradise plant in a purple colored fabric planter. To the right of the circular pink mat is a brown fabric stool and a fabric side table with two shelves that have various fabric objects. There are six fabric plants hanging above the circular pink mat in various shades of pink, orange and brown hanging planters.
Megan Whitmarsh, Arts & Leisure Section, 2019. Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Photograph by Jeff McLane.
The video art installation by the artist Cauleen Smith is featured on two different television screens. On the left screen is a woman making a blue colored flower arrangement. On the right screen is the same woman making an orange colored floral arrangement. Both videos are by the artist Cauleen Smith.
Installation view of Loitering is delightful. Works visible (L to R): Cauleen Smith, BLUE SCRUBS, YELLOW SCRUBS, TRUSTEES ALL ABOVE, 2019 and Cauleen Smith, ORANGE JUMPSUIT, 2019. Courtesy of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Photograph by Jeff McLane.
In this art installation by the artist Milano Chow, there is one artwork on a white pedestal with a plexiglass cover. Under the cover is a small graphite sculptural work featuring an architectural space and an upright partition with a figure peeking out from behind it. Behind this artwork is another graphite drawing of a different architectural space hanging on a wall. There are two other similar artworks placed in the next room behind these works.
Installation view of Loitering is delightful. Works visible (L to R): Milano Chow, Room I, 2019; Milano Chow, Portal I, 2019; Milano Chow, Portal II, 2019; Milano Chow, Room II, 2019. Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Photograph by Jeff McLane.
This artwork by the artist Milano Chow is small graphite drawing and sculpture of a room with one door closed and another opened. In the center of this room is a changing partition with a figure peeking out from behind it. The drawing and sculpture also includes a black and white checkered floor.
Milano Chow, Room I, 2019. Courtesy of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Photograph by Jeff McLane.

Loitering is traditionally considered the preserve of delinquents, teenagers, and miscreants. Generally speaking, those up to no good.

Of course, some are freer to dillydally than others. As Ross Gay reminds us in his incisive essay Loitering Is Delightful (which the author has kindly permitted us to use here), “the darker your skin, the more likely you are to be “loitering.” As Gay goes on to point out, for people of color, any public display of “non-productive delight” – from loitering to laughter – can be censured. This leads one to ponder: at which point does lingering cross into criminal territory? What does ‘loitering’ really mean? And why is it frowned upon?

Furthermore, might the gesture of standing or sitting, with no apparent purpose, contain a seed of radical potential? Could loitering offer some respite, however temporary, from the capitalist cycle of consumption and production? In a world consumed by digital devices and driven by productivity, what possibilities does daydreaming offer? Can fulfillment be found in staring into space? Is there pleasure in simply hanging out? What does it mean to be seen engaging in a seemingly aimless pursuit and, moreover, to take up public space in the process? Is loitering contagious?

At the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, visitors need neither pay for nothing to legitimize their lollygagging. Spending a long time in the gallery is not considered threatening; on the contrary, it is encouraged. Loitering is delightful posited the municipal gallery, a civic space with free admission, as a safe place to sit, look and think.

The exhibition presented the work of ten Los Angeles artists who responded in varying ways to the joyful possibilities of slowing down. Featuring work by Milano Chow, Lauren Davis Fisher, Ishi Glinsky, David Horvitz, Dylan Mira, Joshua Ross, Asha Schechter, Cauleen Smith, Lani Trock and Megan Whitmarsh, Loitering is delightful invited visitors to delight in dawdling.

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