A Wall For Rememberance

by Sharon R.

"Figure 8"

4334 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California

This is the original site, where Elliot Smith's 5th Album Cover was shot. On the cover, the singer just stood there, shy and quiet as usual. Gray, black, white, and red compose the main color theme. There were no highs but pure bland, fragile and sensitive emotions reflected from the color scheme. A little anxiety and a lot of insecurity. Black, white and red all melt into color streams, going all over the wall. In some degrees, it expressed silent angers, confusion, and lostness since the streams are expanding out of the surface area of the wall and reaching into nowhere. To the contrast to the streams, the singer is purely gray and black. No vivid color. No energy. A little bit sick and uncertainty.

This is the exact representation of Elliot Smith. His songs are always quiet and best for playing at mid-night. It seems that he is trying to capture all the small, sensitive emotions laying in our hearts and carefully wrapping around it to protect them from broken. If I can use three words to summarize the artist, that will be quiet, sick, and beautiful.

After struggling with depression, alcoholism, and drug addictions, the singer finally silently ended his own life in 2003. This wall located on Sunset Blvd became the memorial place for countless singers' fans. As quite as the singer's personality, the wall just silently sat along the street. Sometimes, there would be flowers by the end of the wall. Most times, it was just an ordinary wall, carrying a piece of quite memory and a short life story; it is too hard to notice, and too easy to miss.