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One of the nicest things on Sunset Blvd. is the Elliott Smith tribute wall. In October 21, 2003, dreary and brilliant singer songwriter Elliott Smith killed himself by stabbing himself in the heart.
Best known for the moody acoustic songs heard in Good Will Hunting, Smith had an Oscar nom in his back pocket in '97 and a contract with Dreamworks in '98.
Immediately after the reports of his death began to spread, fans in LA began writing little messages on the wall at Solutions electronics and repair on Sunset near Fountain where he once posed for an album cover. Those messages were later replaced by others and for nearly four years now it's always nice to see an ever-changing and solemn tribute to a talented musician.
Today, however, we spotted some very ugly graffiti that only made us wonder, why?
With all the things to rebel against in 2007, to pick on a memorial wall to a guy who killed himself is below low.
Every now and then we see someone tag this wall and later it's removed, but it really makes us wonder what idiot would waste his energy trying to ruin something so sweet.
photo by Sonny I. LaVista for LAist
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O M G! I hope this isn't the start of some heavy hipster riots. I can picture it now: emaciated hipsters throwing their burning compost piles at the gangster taggers, ironic mustaches alive with fury and lightweight super trendy scarves normally used to accessorize being turned into makeshift weapons.
maybe now those lazy hipsters will create a true tribute wall instead of defacing a preexisting mural that already sucked.
BTW, tags are for hags. I'd rather deal with people peeing on walls. At least you can easily wash away urine.
BASTARD.
soooo, now this will just move along the next phase of the "ever-changing and solemn tribute to a talented musician".
yeah.. its a big ugly fire extingusher tag... welcome to the city. it happens... vandals don't give a shit.
I cried when I drove past this in the morning. I'm so pissed and frustrated.
I doubt the tagger was familiar with Elliot Smith or his wall when he did this.
There's a $1000 reward for anyone who gives a tip that leads to the arrest of the person who did this.
That goes for any graffiti in this city.
I drove from Mar Vista to Downtown (and back) on surface streets yesterday and was totally bummed at how many excellent murals were all fucked up by tagging. Even my niece noticed. "Why to they have to ruin the nice art?"
Tag trash bins. Tag L.A. Xpress machines. Tag empty concrete walls. But don't tag the murals.
it's kinda hilarious that Tony thought that the person who spray-painted this area would know/give-a-shit about who Elliot Smith was.
It's not about knowing who Elliott Smith was. It's about knowing you're defacing/destroying a tribute for someone that obviously meant something to a lot of people.
What a weak tag.
I've passed by that wall many times and never knew what it was until now. It's a terrible thing to deface someone's death tribute, but I don't think we can fault someone for writing on a wall that looks like it's already defaced
I agree with all the points that you're making.
everyone hates taggers. graffiti can be beautiful, but tagging never is.
I was annoyed to discover that Elliot Smit fans took it upon their self-indulgent little selves to deface private proptery in the name of mourning the loss of a great musician. What was an OK community mural became a defaced wall with writings akin to a high school seniors year book. The wall was so much prettier before. No wonder the tagger took a swipe at it. The Elliot Smith mourners made i look like sh*t.
must. not. insult. commentors.
YOU'RE AN IDIOT #15
shit.
seriously, though, #15, i'm having a really hard time trying to think of nice ways to point out everything wrong with what you just said. the wall became as iconic as the man who was a big part of his community (he once won a free burrito at this mexican hole-in-the-wall, i read recently), and that community gave back with (at least what started out as a) subtle tribute to a great musician. i agree the little messages on top are kind of loud and yearbook-y, but they are nowhere near as utterly selfish as what this tagger has done here.
i know internet arguing is kind of pointless, but i really couldn't let your comment go.
p.s. yay for proofreading things
Taggers to artists
Are like shit, piss, and cum stained
Crackheads to humans.
Ooops, I haikued it again.
not cool.
*frown*
Immigration issue anyone?
i doubt 90% of L.A residents know or care who elliot smith was.
shit happens.
uhhh......elliott smith won a burrito at WHICH mexican hole in the wall? the mural belongs to the music accessories store, and the mexican restaurant next to it, malo, can hardly be considered a hole in the wall. as sad as it is that a posthumous tribute to an artist got defaced, it's a little bougie, honestly, to get this upset about it just because it is "the elliott smith wall". i'm sure the tagger had no clue what he was defacing, and considered it the same as any other wall. ugly tagging happens, and it sucks, but there's no valid reason for this to be any more upsetting than any other big gross tags out there--tags on people's houses, schools, or churches.
Hey Number 24!
How do you think the tagger didnt know what he was defacing with his nose right up against it with all the "writing on the wall." Of course he knew it meant something special to people. He probably tagged it because he knew it was mainly a caucasion memorial. I wouldnt be shocked.
if that's the case, then it's INCREDIBLY bougie to be getting so self-righteously upset about it, and there are a lot bigger problems to be dealt with in that neighbourhood than this.
People, taggers don't care about anything that means anything to anybody -- your mural, your store, your house, your library (Edendale Library was tagged last week), or your life (a Hispanic woman was shot by taggers in Pico Rivera a couple weeks back).
my bad, guest 24. but only about the 'hole in the wall' part.
-guest 18
s'cool, 18. just thought it amusing to think of a place with valet parking as a hole in the wall. anyway, smith was a part of his community as much as any white hipster can be a part of a neighbourhood that has been steadily gentrifying for the past 15 years. i'm not saying that there aren't wonderful things that do happen, and connections that are made, but for the most part, there is still tension there, and as caliking01 pointed out, that's probably reason #1 (if there was, in fact, a reason and it wasn't just a random tagging like 27 points out) that the mural got tagged. my point is, if something important gets *purposefully defaced*, it's probably not an act of pure evil. undoubtedly there's a reason the perpetrator was upset enough to do it.
--24
sorry anonymous cowards,
but taking a huge roller, dripping with paint, on something that is clearly a memorial to someone, is evil, ignorant, and obviously intentionally douchey.
it has nothing to do with the ever-changing face of LA, it has to do with someone being an asshole. period.
Probably some kid from the local middle school who's part of a tagging crew, it's still an urban landscape people as much as we see gentrification taking place, still some tough kids in the community, who for the life of them do not know the difference hipster memorial from a urban outfitters distressed t-shirt, I know this is very disgraceful, doubt this kid knew any better though...people of our community psshhh
And you say that culture is not a crime. Well when it's forced down someone's throat it is.
I'm generalising here but I guess the person who did this may have been somewhat connected with hip hop. So I wonder what he would think if someone tagged one of the many tupac tribute walls. Assuming he was a avid tupac fan.
Ooops sorry an* avid tupac fan :0
i love it when people throw around terms like "hipsters" and pretend that it isnt going to make them look like jealous losers.
also the concept that someone needs to "protect" a memorial tribute wall that was set up totally spontaneously after someone stabbed himself in the fucking heart and left a suicide note on a Post-It is ridiculous and makes one think that the author of said nonsense has been sniffing too much spray paint himself.
Oh, OM. I feel so ashamed going to bars and cafes and stuff. I wish I could be as real you. You sound so, oh i don't know, down with shit, y'know. How do you stand living in L.A., where everyone is so fake and stupid, when you are so cool and smart? I was wondering if you could meet me at Starbucks sometime and give me some pointers. Call me!
Caliking,
you are a most detestable troll.
-A Mexican Who--Unlike You--Is Careful Not Have Xenophobic Suspicions Regarding Something No One Really Knows Too Much About
for chrissakes tony, stop insulting people who don't want to register. "guest" is no different or more cowardly than the millions of commenters who aren't using their offical first and last names as handles. i don't see you yelling at them. just STOP it.
i dont "yell" at registered users because they tend to be far less trollish, even those who use handles.
what i usually tell people is, if they are going to come here and criticize us in comment after comment, then back it up by putting their real name next to it.
if you consider that more insulting than commenting negatively in the shadows anonymously, then we'll have to agree to disagree.
what's a "caucasion"? i assume you mean white? cuz a good portion of latinos and middle eastern folks are considered caucasian too.
anyways, i doubt the tagger cared much about the memorial or even bothered to pay attention to what was on it.
if someone means to refute my claim that walls are painty, they can tell me to my face instead of removing my porst! PORST!
Man. I'm so, so incredibly sad that somebody would do this. Despite the intentions behind it or whether the dude knew he was defacing someone's heartfelt emotions, it just comes off as unnecessarily harsh. Kinda like when someone gets hurt by a person's casual cursing.
One of my friends 'spaced me the link to this article and I reposted the picture on my Flickr with a caption explaining why it was so upsetting to me (and other Elliott fans), and nobody had anything mean to say back. Well...there were very few comments at all, but you get my drift. :)
http://flickr.com/photos/karlajeandavis/1278965271/
I suppose Flickr doesn't get as many 12 year old forum-dwellers.
i visited this wall in june(2007), and i signed the wall with one of my favorite song titles(which is now where there is blue paint right through the center)...it was one of the nicest things i saw on my whole trip, and now you get this. some inconsiderate individuals who could care less on the impact one man had on all who listened to him. honestly, it's pretty sad to me, i came over 1500 miles to see the wall, and it was beautiful, now, it is still nice and all, but it's been defaced; oh well, okay...hopefully this gets removed soon, so the wall can be as fabulous as it was before it had a huge blue word sprawled all over it.
peace out.
So many people are upset by this, why doesn't someone ask the music store owner if he "owns" the wall, or who does, and see if a collection could be taken up to get the original artist to re-do it.
Or everyone pick a day to show up with paint and little brushes and do what you can to restore it.
The same tagger(s) destroyed the beautiful mural at Sunset and Hyperion. I just noticed it and the Elliot Smith wall this weekend so I imagine they happened at the same time. It really depresses me.
Why do they have to call him a mouse? I know he's a little on the whimpy side, but c'mon man.