LAist Interview: Dave Burns of The Fallen Fruit Project

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This is part two of our three part LAist Interview with the founders of the Fallen Fruit Project.
Dave, Mathias and Austin fight for the betterment of Los Angeles on a number of fronts. In addition to their work with the Fallen Fruit Project, the collaborators submitted a proposal for an Endless Orchard to the Grand Intervention Grand Avenue park design competition organized by the Norman Lear Project and the Los Angeles Times.

Dave Burns, a Fallen Fruit Project cofounder, is an artist who currently teaches at CalArts. Dave received an MFA in Studio Arts from the University of California, Irvine in 2005. His recent video work has shown around the world in festivals and galleries including; InsideOUT, ADD-TV, Pressplay, Mix Festival and NEWFEST. Recent art projects have been shown at Track 16 Bergamot Station, OTIS, ArtCenter, Machine Gallery, WORKS gallery, REDCAT, MESSHALL in chicago, and at Artists Space in New York. Publications about his recent works can be seen in FAB magazine, SCOOP!, The Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, SUPERSONIC, Rhizome.org, PLOT magazine and Metropolis Magazine.

Age and Occupation:
39 yrs old, visual artist

How long have you lived in Los Angeles, and which neighborhood do you live in?:
Born in Santa Monica, and love Los Angeles... I currently live in Silver Lake

Why do you live in Los Angeles?
Well, as I stated above I was born here and grew up in West LA. I completely love this city and all of its neighborhoods. I believe it's really important to explore the city and get to learn the different parts. It's an incredibly diverse landscape of cultures; neighborhoods change ever few miles and all of them have great hidden secret goodies.

What inspired you to create the Fallen Fruit project?
For me, the Fallen Fruit project is really about sharing with others and learning your neighborhood. We all live in the same neighborhood and have fruit trees at our homes and share things. We independently and together have collected fruit and things from area for years. We decided to map it and write about it and take pictures, this created Fallen Fruit. We were asked to do more, organize fruit walks, create a website, etc... this has been a growing project and its genuinely rewarding for all of us. It is so great to talk to someone you dont know about fruit... it also sparks excellent stories from strangers.

What surprised you about Angelenos when you got into this project?
The biggest surprise is how much people really love fruit and love learning about their neighborhoods. We meet new people at every event who are excited to learn there is a banana tree on their the block. :-) We have heard many confessions about people not taking the time to know that there are organic yummy plums 3 doors from their home and they regularly shop at Whole Foods to get their produce. Of course, we understand, we shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, too.

How do neighbors react when you start picking fruit from common areas in the neighborhoods that you map?
It's fantastic! The fruit on lower branches are almost always picked clean, so we try to go for the higher branches where the fruit will over-ripen when not picked. We have yet to find a tree that has been picked clean. Mostly, trees get picked by the passerby for a delicious snack.

Is Los Angeles a good place to be an urban forager?
Are you kidding?! You have fruit all year long here in Los Angeles, it's terrific. There are trees in every neighborhood that yield huge amounts of food that would otherwise go to waste in either landfill or green recycling bins. Some of this fruit can be consider exotic (since you can't buy it in typical supermarkets) and other fruit is very common but better 'cuz it's usually organic. The Santa Rosa plum is excellent in Los Angeles. This is also a terrific climate for Meyer lemons (best used for baking and cooking). Black and green figs bear fruit for almost 6 months. And, of course, avocados are in season right now and can be picked by the bucket full.

What skills do you need to be a successful urban forager?
A good eye for recognizing trees and a friendly disposition.

What do you want participants in the Fallen Fruit project to get out of the experience?
A good friendly California experience that promotes conversation, good food, and hospitality. I mean, really, in many ways this is an extremely hospitable city we live in.

Do you have fruit maps of the following neighborhoods: Silverlake, Hollywood and Koreatown? How do you view them now that you've created this project?
We have maps of Echo Park and also the Mid-Wilshire area. More maps have been promised of San Gabriel, Santa Monica, and parts of Orange County... there are amazing loquat trees planted around South Coast Plaza's parking lot near Macy's (of course they were intended as decoration, but they really yummy too and ripe around this time of year).

What is your role in the Civic Matters exhibit at LACE?
We were one of many different artists' groups whose work addresses issues of community activism and municipality.

What do you hope to show your visitors from Scandinavia about Los Angeles?
That we really do have amazing fruit bearing trees all over Los Angeles. Some of them told us they found a great avocado tree close to the hotel where they were staying in Hollywood. It was covered in ready-to-pick avocados.

What's the largest yield of fruit that you've managed to obtain from a single tree?
We do not ever pick for bounty. We pick to share. So we really only pick the amount of fruit we can carry at a given time.

What do you think of the Not a Cornfield project? Do you think it complements your project or speaks to your mission statement?
I think the Not a Cornfield project is similar yet very different. The mission of these two projects seems to head in two different directions. Not a Cornfield seems very much like a site-specific project. Fallen Fruit is interested in mapping what already exists and ask people to learn about what is already here, to meet new people, and share your extras with others. These activities can be done at any time of year in any area of Los Angeles.

What fruit is ready to be harvested now?
Avocados, lemons, grapefruit, oranges, bananas, loquats... coming soon will be figs and plums!

Please share a recipe that you use for one of your fruit hauls?
Plum Jam is a favorite and really easy to make! Here are great easy to follow instructions.

What's your preferred mode of transportation? How often do you ride the MTA subway or light rail?
I like walking best, but I do drive regularly and take the MTA subway or Greyhound when I can. The Bicycle Kitchen is an amazing group that promotes biking here in Los Angeles (myself I am not a biker but I love to see people bike around Hollywood and SilverLake).

What's your favorite movie(s) or TV show(s) that are based in LA?
The Loved One is pretty amazing and not often seen.

Best LA-themed book(s)?
Hollywood Babylon

Share your best celebrity sighting experience.
I love seeing Angelyne driving her pink corvette makes me smile. She is truly Los Angeles.

In your opinion, what's the best alternate route to the 405?
Oh, if you are referring to traffic, I just won't do it. I go to the movies or the Hammer Museum or something else to pass the time.

What's the best place to walk in LA?
Anywhere. It's amazing what you see by walking around.

It's 9:30 pm on Thursday. Where are you coming from and where are you going?
You will find me melting my heart out at Bikram yoga.

If you could live in LA during any era, when would it be?
Myself, I look forward to the future. This is truly a young city and getting more mature and interesting all of the time. I can't wait to see how the neighborhoods and urban landscape evolves over the next twenty years.

What's your beach of choice?
Venice Beach for many reasons ( I grew up going to Venice Beach so its kinda nostalgic for me ).

What is the "center" of LA to you?
I personally believe that LA doesn't have a center, which makes it somewhat unique in comparison to other major American cities. Most cities are built around a focal point, however LA has a much more complex and less centralized topography.

If you were forced to live in a neighboring county, which would you choose? Ventura County is a wussy answer.
I would live in San Bernardino County for sure.

If you could live in any neighborhood or specific house in LA, where/which would you choose?
If I left Silver Lake I would move to Boyle Heights. Its a fantastic neighborhood that is about 100 years old with beautiful charm. I really like a lot of things about that area.

Los Angeles is often stereotyped as a hard place to find personal connections and make friends. Do you agree with that assessment? Do find it challenging to make new friends here?
Yes. Completely. I think that LA is a very challenging place to come to alone or with few friends. It's not the kind of town where people go out and meet after work much, and although most people are friendly, it's often hard to get to know someone new. It really seems to take a long time to make good friends.

What is the city's greatest secret?
Maybe the tunnels under downtown Los Angeles?? We used to go hang out in the them when I was a teenager.

Drinking, driving. They mix poorly, and yet they're inexorably linked. How do you handle this conflict?
Don't do it. Don't let anyone do it.

What do you have to say to East Coast supremacists?
Then why are you here?
or: Making comparisons between the East Coast & the West Coast is really boring. What do you do for a living? (grins)

Do you find the threat of earthquakes preferable to the threat of hurricanes and long winters?
Ehh, can't control nature. Just keep extra supplies with you for the "big one."

Where do you want to be when the Big One hits?
I honestly don't worry about it at all. However, I would prefer to not be in my car at the time.