Beep beep!
For the nine months after August 5, 2001, an unauthorized freeway sign announced a previously impossible-to-see exit for the 5 North off of the 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. One could finally anticipate the biggest highway on the west coast and get in the exit lane ahead of time, avoiding a five-lane Tokyo Drift only necessary because the existing marker was miniscule, unilluminated, and placed nearly at ground level on the other side of the freeway.
The bootleg sign — an exquisite simulacrum of Caltrans workmanship — was a “guerilla public service” performed by one of L.A.’s finest sign painters, Richard Ankrom. A still-active Major Weirdo in a Good Way®, Ankrom is responsible for lettering at some of L.A.’s most beloved restaurants (and at my favorite wine shop).
But it’s his documentation that goes wayyyyy in, drawing equally on the image fidelity of public access television, the spectacular absurdity of Ant Farm crashing a car into a wall of TVs, the zaniness of 60s science fiction serials, and the excruciating how-to detail of Primitive Technology.
I can happily report that almost nothing has ever made me want to break the law as much as hearing Ankrom slowly drawling like a cyborg, insisting that, “For clarity, the 5 shield belongs on the overhead signs. I have taken it upon myself to manufacture and install these missing guide signs to ease the confusion and traffic congestion at this section of the 110 Freeway.” Oddly, few things have gotten me going like watching him apply zinc chromate primer or Pantone 293 or a whole constellation of twinkling reflectors to his masterpiece.
People talk a lot about changing our cities. We want to “move the needle”. We organize and scream and protest. But the anarchic desire to just do something completely necessary —and completely unasked — is filling my cup tonight.
No one:
Richard Ankrom: Guerilla Public Service, 2011
Because we (sadly) so infrequently touch on the subject of unhelpful government signage, please also spend some time in The Center for Land Use Interpretation’s archive of blank plaques on federal land. You will probably won’t be disappointed.
Bye, y’all. Thanks to one Sharanya D. for the tip about Ankrom’s project. :)
love,
alex
ʕ ·ᴥ·ʔ SOON: the case of the missing DragonBall Z fan site …… burnin’ that sweet, sweet incense clock …… did Byzantine scented bricks really exist?? GOD I hope so.