Underground Art Group Protests Gated Communities in LA

LOS ANGELES - "Something there is that does not love a wall," wrote Robert Frost in his 1913 poem "The Mending Wall." These days, that something is Heavy Trash, an anonymous Los Angeles art organization that "creates large, disposable art objects that draw community and media attention to urban issues," according to their blog at www.heavytrash.blogspot.com.

Urban issue number one for them is the preponderance of gated communities in L.A. "There are now more than one million homes behind such walls in the greater Los Angeles area alone," says Setha Low, a professor at City University of New York who is quoted on the Heavy Trash site. Heavy Trash's response has been to place orange viewing platforms in front of the communities they see as major offenders. Reminiscent of Christo's recent The Gates exhibition in color, these structures encourage gate-crashing, as it were.

But are they effective? Reuters reports that passersby were confused by the platforms, and quotes local residents as calling the structures "puzzling." Meanwhile, should anyone want their own home viewing platform, Heavy Trash has posted the construction plans on their website.

FOR FULL STORY SEE: Reuters
Heavy Trash Blogspot