Dear DTLA — Belin Liu

From July 2015 to February 2016, Ace Hotel and WeTransfer launched an art project called Dear DTLA, combining Ace’s real-world billboard at the Downtown Los Angeles property with WeTransfer’s digital content-sharing.

With the billboard as a blank canvas, I was fortunate to help reach out and work with some amazing artists in LA and around the world to design a visual experience. Each artist created corresponding digital components — from GIFs and photographs to interviews, songs and even origami instructions — available for download through WeTransfer, expanding the work’s reach worldwide.

Dear DTLA invited eight artists — Brian Roettinger, Mariana Fernandes, Robert Montgomery, Cali Thornhill DeWitt, Stefan Marx, Wonwoo Lee, Yung Jake, and Ana Brotas — to send a message to Downtown Los Angeles and on deardtla.com, which documented the monthly progression of the series.

Project Concept | Branding | Website | Artist Curation
Summit Creative International Engagement / Experiential Award, 2016

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Brian Roettinger | Los Angeles | July 2015
Download: GIF of billboard art in progress

Mariana Fernandes | Italy | August 2015
Download: A short documentary of the artist’s studio and Fabrica workshop

Robert Montgomery | UK | September 2015
Download: An audio interview with the artist

Cali Thornhill DeWitt | Los Angeles | October 2015
Download: Progress shots and photos of the artist’s studio

Stefan Marx | Germany | November 2015
Download: A Smallville Records song

Wonwoo Lee | Korea/UK | December 2015
Download: Playful snapshots of the artist’s life and what inspires him

Yung Jake | Los Angeles | January 2016
Download: Songs and digital artwork

Ana Brotas | Portugal | February 2016
Download: Instructions for building an origami boat from billboard artwork

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