Test Site No. 13: The Signs Are Everywhere

The Semi-Tropic Spiritualists presented their new work The Signs Are Everywhere, which included interactive signage and a pamphlet distribution station installed on the sidewalk outside 6012 York Blvd. This is the former location of the historic Free Tract Society, which closed in 2019.

The Free Tract Society was founded in 1897 and moved its headquarters to Los Angeles in 1900, five years before the establishment of the original Semi-Tropic Spiritualist camp in Los Angeles. The Free Tract Society created print materials with the purpose of proselytizing their beliefs, spending their final decades operating out of a large storefront on York Blvd. From there, they distributed their materials proclaiming messages of salvation and damnation.

As part of the early spiritual and cultural milieu of the original Semi-Tropic Spiritualists, we were interested in exploring the memory of this unique LA institution which, like the Semi-Tropic Spiritualist’s camp, has now disappeared. The Free Tract Society operated by using technologies of mass communication from their day to spread their often apocalyptic messaging to the community and world. We borrow the forms of street-corner evangelists and religious tracts to continue our ongoing series of works that connect these historical models with current instances of media mass communication and the spread of apocalyptic rhetoric. 

This project was presented as part of the York Blvd. Road Concert, curated by Stephan Van Dyck and students from OxyArts.