Guerilla Artists Come Up Short

A group being described as “guerilla artists” decided they wanted to protest the profusion of gated communities in Los Angeles. So they built some gates.

Targeting three upscale neighborhoods, the group, dubbing itself Heavy Trash, erected large guard towers as a statement in favor of more open communities. Photos are here.

Thing is, no one knows what the heck those “towers” are or what the heck they mean. In the Reuters report, not a single resident nor passerby got the symbolism. And after looking at the photos, I can see why. They look like something that might escape from the cubist side of Christo’s mind.

And that’s the problem. This isn’t just bad art. This is bad civil disobedience. I mean, if you’re going to be a vandal, at least make the point obvious. Whatever happened to just spray painting “Bourgeois Pig” on a wall?

Crazy activist groups looking for windmills to fight should at least bring their A game so us reasonable people can get all worked up about it and properly condemn them. Heavy Trash’s shop project just ain’t going to cut it.