Hardware traces back to Taggart’s habit of drawing on the street, something he had done in Cambridge and later in London before continuing in Los Angeles in 1979–80. His first street drawing in L.A. was of LA Eyeworks, drawn to its distinctive typeface at a time when both the store and Melrose itself were just beginning to establish their cultural presence. Hardware depicts a storefront further west on Melrose, framed by palm trees. The window display nods to “The Unknown Comic,” a comedian who only found fame after wearing a paper bag over his head—an offbeat reference to the ways identity and recognition function in L.A.