Elliott Smith’s memorial wall, the mural that was used for the cover of his album ‘Figure 8’, wasn’t looking good recently, it was invaded by graffiti and gangs’ tags, and honestly didn’t look anything like the original.
But a nice group of people, called Punk Rock Marthas, decided they had to do something for the 9th anniversary of Elliott Smith’s death. This is what they wrote on their website:
‘Everyone gets bummed when they pass the Figure 8 Wall on Sunset and it has been yet hit again by a tagger. Originally our idea was to just restore the mural with paint. But we got talking to Stephon at Solutions and Bart at Malo– and other people– and we decided to do something cooler. Because even if you think that using paint is permanent, the history of the wall clearly shows otherwise. Once we understood that it would be temporary, we went with the sand mandala theme– and recycled paper etc… We were able to really make this memorial a lot more meaningful by understanding that it isn’t going to last, so do something different. We appreciate the love you’ve shown <3 Thank you! And we are not only thinking of Elliott, but we're happy that we're able to do a charity event in connection with the wall that will put some love back in our community!’
The whole thing is made with recycled paper, and every line of every song from an Elliott Smith album has been hand written and appears on the red line, whereas the black lines are filled with origami paper cranes and various things such as maps, albums, and things Elliott liked. The white is reserved for fan messages.
Thanks to Punk Rock Marthas, the restaurant next door were even having live music, food, and a silent auction to celebrate Elliott Smith's life and raise money for Free Arts for Abused Children, which is a beneficiary to his estate.
Well done kids, over the years, I have realized how people have become attached to this wall, so you will get some love for this, you already have.
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