April 6, 2012

Whose Hanging Bears Are These?

Many of us want to know who's been tossing these stuffed teddy bears up onto wires all over Los Angeles. With their bright plushy bodies and pastel pink eye masks, the bears have been seen the last couple of months hanging above Sunset Blvd., Hyperion Ave., and other major thoroughfares throughout and around LA , including in Silver Lake, Los Feliz and West Hollywood.

The Newbie is rolling briefly out of hibernation to take a best guess at the answer: Hearts Challenger, also known as Hearts Revolution. It's not entirely clear what Hearts Challenger/Revolution is all into (music? ice cream? t-shirts? organized rebellions?) other than hanging these bears, but evidence is mounting:
  • Their zine links to a Tumblr page with dozens of hanging bear photos
  • According to a bio, their name comes from a song by a UK an English riot grrrl band named Huggy Bear
  • Their Twitter followers say things like, "I see your bears everywhere!"
  • Their ice cream truck, which seems to have a home in the Franklin Hills, has similarly fluffy and pink-masked adornments
And finally, in response to a direct Twitter question from yours truly, the response came simply with a link to the bear photo Tumblr.

Case closed? Or hung jury?