From the opening a capella number involving bird masks against the crisp backdrop of the Hollywood Hills to the charged exotic dancer writhing on the bus’s stripper pole and the folksy act inside Chinatown’s oldest bar, conceptual artist Bettina Hubby’s latest work was truly a tour de force.
Titled “Hubby’s CoTour 2008,” the work was a 10-stop expedition, each site carefully considered and chosen to collectively define the artist’s perception of her Los Angeles, representing her creative influence and, at least for the afternoon, serving as guerrilla gallery space. The tour was documented and will be chronicled in a book and film, thankfully.
Many of the 40 guests on board the chartered limo bus paid $250 a seat for the experience, and it was pretty evident by the end of the three-hour adventure that everyone, from Bettina’s devoted collectors to her champions such as Ed Ruscha, thought the ticket to ride was a bargain.
The stops were mostly public, all accessible to any one of us living or visiting L.A. They represented the daily life of Bettina’s adopted city, and reveal how we each have a very subjective idea of the cities we live in.

Consider this: If you were to choose the 10 favorite spots where you live, places you visit frequently and which hold some meaning, however prosaic, for you, the map would be different than the 10 sites your friends would choose. Each map would be as unique as a fingerprint.
Bettina pulled in a cast of artist friends to realize her neighborhood profile, a reminder that we never really fly solo. That we were also on a bus, at times getting off to witness whatever performance she lined up or staying on board and watching from behind the expansive windows, was also significant in a city where we are so dependent and defined by the automobile.
For Bettina, Sunday’s tour began at the Barnsdale Art Park, the hill that’s home to the first Frank Lloyd Wright building here, known as the Hollyhock House. There, collaborators Kelly Marie Martin and David Jones lead a site-specific composition called “Untitled Feather Chorale #1,” as we sipped tea from a mishmash of vintage china served up by Bicycle Kitchen. (Alert: I am still so overwhelmed by this experience that, yes, I am going to briefly detail it ALL here. But I hope you’ll read on, because the level of work that went into this project is truly awe-inspiring.)
Back on the bus with humorist and dandy Maynard Monroe keeping us tee-heeing with his commentary of the city and the sights, we headed to stop #2, Skylight Books on Vermont Avenue. There, writer David Cull appeared in a sports coat covered in his handwritten manuscript. We all received parts of the fictional work, printed on squares of cotton.
Another writer pal, Kate Mayfield, with performance artist Skip Arnold in tow, evoked vintage Hollywood actors at the next stop, the storied Vista Theater. Built in 1923, the beloved Vista has had spells playing silent movies, art flicks and pornos. It now mainly screens first-run releases. And all the trivia was embroidered in gold thread on red fabric strips that fluttered like fringe off Kate’s gown, which, like every fantastical look worn by the players on this tour, was conceived, stitched and styled by Bettina.
The chrome and mirrors and the stripper pole inside the black bus all made perfect sense when performance artist Peggy Pabustan strutted on board and, to the blare of a Rob Zombie song created exclusively for this event, started gyrating and peeling of her HubbyCo school girl outfit to reveal a bikini patchworked with the iconic cheesecake logo of Cheetah’s Strip Club. The bus had parked in front of the club for our fourth stop. Already buzzing from the Champagne filling our glasses, the party was on.

The scene was decidedly sweeter at Gilly Flowers at the Sunset Junction, where owner Neal Guthrie, known to locals as Gilly, presented a table covered in the most exquisite floral and lace accessories. Each was different and seemed more beautiful than the next, leaving us all gobsmacked as to which one to select for ourselves to wear out of there.


From Gilly's, we cruised by the Trader Joe’s on Hyperion, picking up a couple suited up in clothes pieced together with swatches and trim with the Trader Joe’s logo. Lensman Mike Slack and his publishing partner Tricia Gabriel each carried a bedazzled TJ tote (all, again, created according to Bettina's handstitched directives), from which they...