Alan Nakagawa is an interdisciplinary artist with archiving tendencies, primarily working with sound, often incorporating various media and working with communities and their histories.

He is currently the Artist-in-residence for Kaya Press, a small literary publication focusing on Asian and Pacific Islander American and Diasporic literature. Nakagawa is composing a micro opera based on each book published during Kaya Press’ thirty-year history. Kaya Micro Operas will be presented at One Archive/ USC in February 2025 as Part of the USC Visions and Voices series.

Nakagawa is also currently the artist-in-residence at the Gerth Archives, California State University Dominguez Hills, assigned to the National Coalition for Redress and Reparations collections, which consists of materials pertaining to the campaign that led to the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.

His first book, “A.I.R.Head: Anatomy of an Artist in Residence” was published in January 2023 by Writ-Large Press. It maps his artistic trajectory that led to his nine artist-in-residencies in six years.

For LUMINEX 3.0, Alan Nakagawa presents Conical Sound: Simon Rodia / Antoni Gaudi for South Park, an audio mash-up of recorded acoustics of two architectural works; the Watts Towers here in Los Angeles and the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain. It is part of the artist’s ongoing series of sound works, titled Invisible Architecture. With this installation, Nakagawa highlights the tactility of sound waves and the concept of omnipresence, creating a third space that’s invisible but real.

This project is supported by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and Watts Towers as well as the University of Barcelona, with special thanks to Artbound.

www.alannakagawa.com
www.pbssocal.org/shows/artbound/clip/alan-nakagawas-conical-sound