Despite my relative proximity to it, LA is not a city I’ve had much occasion to visit. But I was there last week, with Tamara! Here are a few snaps I took in-between fieldwork interviews and client pow-wows. Most of these are from Venice Beach, with the exception of the last shot, which was taken in Burbank.
Clad in familiar brands (LA Lakers, Spongebob Squarepants, USA), this pile of patriotic aliens comes across as just another family of worn-out tourists.
The face, three ways.
Upper left is a riff on Shepard Fairey’s original Andre The Giant Has A Posse sticker. This one reads “Chopstick Charlie has one crazy posse,” then lists Chopstick Charlie’s dimensions at 5′ 11″ 150 lbs. (Note: If you are easily offended definitely do not look too closely at the nose and lips stickers).
I discovered a moment of serenity and geometry in the midst of the madness.
Magritte and the Surrealists are clear influences here.
It’s all about the body.
The neon juxtaposed with this message of environmental consciousness comes off as deliberate irony! See Tamara’s Out and About: LA for her shot of this unique dry-cleaning establishment.
Tags: aliens, andre the giant, environmentalism, graffiti, lakers, los angeles, magritte, out and about, posse, shepard fairey, spongebob, street-art, surrealism, USA
Perhaps the brand-friendly aliens should pay a visit to the environmentally friendly cleaners? I love the don’t feed the fish sign. I don’t remember seeing any fish there?!?!? And now I know that popcorn is not good for fish.
Comment by Tamara Christensen 02.08.12 @ 11:37 am[...] Julie and I both captured images from this Burbank dry cleaners. She focused on the environmental sustainability while I was enamored by the sustainability of their service! [...]
Pingback by All This ChittahChattah | Out and About: Tamara in LA 02.08.12 @ 1:35 pmShepard Fairey documents the “new posse” stickers seen in the wild on his site -http://obeygiant.com/bootlegs – something about that particular bit of street art that invites people to mash it up – perhaps more than anything else. I’ve seen dozens over the years. Nice find!
Comment by Steve Portigal 02.08.12 @ 1:48 pm