IT’S A SMOGGY DAY in Los Angeles, and the artist Diana Thater is walking up the steep, winding path toward the Griffith Observatory, one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks. Passing a gauntlet of tourists snapping photos with selfie sticks, Thater, 53, says she realizes the destination seems cliché. But as a self-avowed movie buff who creates film and video installations, Thater is also clearly reveling in the moment, pointing out the James Dean statue, the best place to get a shot of the Hollywood sign and the precise location on the observatory steps where Sal Mineo’s character bit the dust in Rebel Without a Cause. “When I was a child I was obsessed with movies,” says Thater. “I must have seen thousands.” (Perhaps that’s the inspiration for her severe bob, which is reminiscent of the hairstyle of silent film star Theda Bara.)