The Boy Mechanic/Los Angeles is a web-based project sponsored by Viralnet, the annual online journal of the Center for Integrated Media. Viralnet's editors Matias Viegener and Tom Leeser invited Ms. Brooke to create an Internet version of her ongoing photo and video project that documents the history of lesbian bars in cities across the U.S. and Europe.

The Boy Mechanic examines public memory, shifting urban spaces and sexual identity through narratives about public identity and social space. The project takes the installation's original mapping and photography elements and reworks them into a unique multilayered, interactive experience that examines the role that physical place plays in a highly mobile and networked society.

In describing the site, Ms. Brooke states: " The Boy Mechanic/Los Angeles website is a means for disseminating the material to a wider audience than the time and space boundaries of an exhibition context permits, and it will also function as a research tool for networking with those who can contribute their knowledge to the writing of this anecdotal history." The website project can be experienced at http://www.theboymechanic.com

Contact: Center for Integrated Media at the California Institute of the Arts (661) 291-3003 or email im@calarts.edu

California Institute of the Arts, CalArts, the first U.S. higher educational institution to integrate the visual and performing arts under one roof, is recognized as the nation's leading laboratory for the arts. Housing six schools--Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music and Theater--CalArts embraces creative cross pollination among diverse art forms and traditions, and strongly encourages each artist to pursue his or her vision within a broad context of social and cultural understanding.