Happy Birthday Mike Leslie

NB and I went down to the visionary junk shop Happy Birthday Mike Leslie yesterday and did a news story on the store. (If the “Play” link doesn’t work, try “Download.”)

Mike Leslie, shopkeeper Jacob Berendes and Mike Leslie

I put up some photos on Flickr. To get a sense of the store, look at this photo at the highest resolution. Yes, that’s a fabric giant squid hanging from the ceiling.

I love this store. It is like revolution in action. Or like something better than revolution in action.

Reminds me of the Diggers’ “free store” Trip Without A Ticket:

If Someone Asks to See the Manager
Tell Him He’s the Manager

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From Mr. Berendes’s manifesto:

opening up this totally messed-up store in new york or even providence would be, to me, not as fun, or as vital. in both of these places there exists a scene for “avant garde expression” (more on this later) and while it may be more of a success in a monetary way (more people who would patronize a store that sold “underground art”), it would also be a failure in that those who didn’t patronize it would immediately identify it as “another confusing product of youth culture” and dismiss it. in worcester, because there is no rational reason for it to exist, there is the opportunity to be a confusing eyesore that successfully invites interpretation and discovery. NB: this is not the case of an uneducated populace or anything negative! it’s that there’s no posers in worcester. if you’re a fashionable person into fashionable pursuits of any stripe, there is no reason for you to be in worcester! anything driven by fashion will fail! this is a wonderful space to exist in!

One thought on “Happy Birthday Mike Leslie”

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