{"id":811,"date":"2011-02-12T11:22:31","date_gmt":"2011-02-12T01:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.meganix.net\/pavement\/?p=811"},"modified":"2011-02-12T11:41:30","modified_gmt":"2011-02-12T01:41:30","slug":"wacko-stencils-guest-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meganix.net\/pavement\/2011\/02\/12\/wacko-stencils-guest-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"Wacko stencils (Guest spot)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canberra writer Doug Fry<\/strong> has been travelling in the USA. This is his second guest blog about <\/em>Pavement Graffiti.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Wacko, the self-described “premiere pop culture emporium of Los Angeles”, is located in the Los Feliz area \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a suburb that’s affluent by real world standards, but decidedly middle class in LA terms. The store is part of a trifecta of hipster shopping opportunities on the eastern end of Hollywood Boulevard \u00e2\u20ac\u201c just next door is Ozzie Dots, a novelty costume specialist that also carries overpriced second hand clothing. Barely a block away is Goodwill, the USA’s (approximate) equivalent of Salvos\/Vinnies-type thrift chains. So, if you need a costume for Halloween when you’re in LA, Ozzie Dots and Goodwill can provide the clothing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Wacko, on the other hand, will provide the accoutrements.<\/p>\n

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The store sells all manner of trinkets and novelty items (Japanese conceived, Chinese made), along with a decent selection of books \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a lot of indie and one-print-run-only titles, along with more ‘mainstream’ books covering everything from the early days of punk to the final days of the Manson Family. Finally, there is a permanent gallery space tucked up the back of the store; when I visited, the gallery was displaying a series of airbrushed paintings that were, as best I could tell, attempting to convey Alice In Wonderland-via-Dante’s Inferno (with LSD as the catalyst, and Dr Freud as executive producer).<\/p>\n

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I never established why the steps and pavement in front of Wacko have become an apparent mecca for stencilling and graf. Sure, its customer base would undoubtedly include a good many street artists, but what’s the ritual here? Do they celebrate their purchase of a marijuana-themed toilet seat by adding their latest stencil to the sidewalk? Or did someone arbitrarily spray the space one night, and unwittingly spawn a meme? Is this customer-customised livery actively encouraged by store management? And how does the City of LA feel about this communal modification of its grimy pavement?<\/p>\n

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Canberra writer Doug Fry has been travelling in the USA. This is his second guest blog about Pavement Graffiti. Wacko, the self-described “premiere pop culture emporium of Los Angeles”, is located in the Los Feliz area \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a suburb that’s affluent by real world standards, but decidedly middle class in LA terms. The store is <\/p>\n

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