Literary Los Angeles: Superclogger

I’m a little late to post this (I’ve been meaning to blog about it since June, how time flies!) but I couldn’t let Literary Los Angeles go without mentioning “Superclogger,” artist Joel Kyack’s mobile puppet show.

Kyack and his fellow puppeteers lie in the back of a white Mazda pick-up truck and perform puppet shows during rush hour on some of L.A.’s most congested freeways.   A sign tells motorists to tune to an FM station on their car radio that will broadcast the play’s soundtrack within 200 feet.   Their audience is whoever happens to be behind them on the 5, the 10, the 101, or the 405.   The plays deal with issues familiar to those stuck in traffic, like control, confinement, frustration, and anger.

“Superclogger” is sponsored by the non-profit LAXART and will be coming to the Hammer Museum after it finishes its tour of the Los Angeles freeway system on September 25.

You can read more about Joel Kyack and “Superclogger” on NPR, the L.A. Times, and elsewhere.

Sadly I haven’t run into the “Superclogger” truck in traffic yet, but I have seen the shows on YouTube.

As long as Los Angeles is dealing with the many downsides of car culture, I’m heartened to see artists finding creative ways to make the best of a bad situation.