Heavy Trash is at it Again

Guerrilla Art Group Mocks Exclusive L.A. Enclaves
By Howard Breuer Tue Apr 26, 8:49 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In a city where fame is an industry and privacy is a mark of privilege, guerrilla artists have erected mock guard towers to protest what they see as a disturbing proliferation of gated communities.

Heavy Trash, a coalition of anonymous architects, designers and urban planners, erected the bright orange, 12-foot viewing platforms outside the gates of three upscale Los Angeles neighborhoods. "Walling off one section of the city from another section is not the right solution," said a Heavy Trash member who identified himself as Jake, an inner-city developer.

"We feel that gated communities are becoming popular at a very alarming rate, and that 10 to 20 years from now, people will realize that the gates are an anathema to a democratic, open society, and that they instead make for a more fearful society."

Early on Sunday morning, members of the group dressed in orange vests and driving construction trucks delivered the platforms to the gates of Brentwood Circle, Park La Brea and Laughlin Park, said group member Susan, an architect. The artists' Web site, http://www.heavytrash.blogspot.com , says that people "do not want walled fortresses dividing their neighborhoods or blocking off what would otherwise be public streets and sidewalks."

It also cites poet Robert Frost: "Something there is that does not love a wall/That wants it down ..."

PUZZLED PASSERSBY

Passersby said on Tuesday they did not understand the wooden towers' purpose until it was explained, and there was little evidence of anyone trying out the platforms.

"It was very puzzling to me," said Ed Vane, 77, a resident of the Laughlin Park subdivision near Griffith Park. "The first time I saw it, I thought it was some kind of street expression. Then I thought it was for cutting tree limbs, but that didn't hold up either."

He added that although there are gates and walls outside the community's private streets, one doesn't need a tower to see the houses on the other side. He said his homeowners association planned to have the tower removed. Passerby Gail Smith, who lives near the gated community, said she thought the large orange tower was part of a construction project, "but then it wouldn't go away. "I'm not sure I agree with putting stuff down on somebody else's property," Smith said, adding she doesn't care if some communities build gates.

This isn't the first time the artists have mocked what they see as urban elitism.

In 2000, Heavy Trash erected eight billboards touting a fictional "Metro Aqua" subway line that would reach the beach, various museums and Beverly Hills.

And in 1997, Heavy Trash installed a 2,000-pound staircase providing temporary access to a park that city officials walled off to keep out the homeless.