Posted on 05/14/2024 11:36:19 AM PDT by Red Badger
May 13 (UPI) -- A California man ordered by his city to conceal the boat parked in his driveway with a fence hired his artist neighbor to paint a photo-realistic image of the vessel in an act of rebellious compliance.
Etienne Constable said the boat he uses for fishing was regularly parked in his Seaside driveway for about four years before he received a letter from the city informing him of a municipal code requiring boats and trailers to be "screened on the side and front by a six-foot-high fence."
Constable said his initial reaction to the letter was anger, but he then spoke to his neighbor, mural artist Hanif Panni, and arrived at a creative solution.
Constable had a fence installed to block his driveway, and Panni, who creates art under the name Hanif Wondir, painted a photo-realistic image of the boat and the rest of the driveway on the road-facing side of the fence.
"We kind of hit the sweet spot between following the rules and making an elegant statement to the contrary," Constable told The Washington Post.
Panni, who described the project as an attempt to create "an illusion," posted photos of the finished work to social media, where they quickly went viral.
"I'm all in favor of generating a discussion and making people smile," Constable told KSBW-TV. "The reaction is extremely more than we ever expected and we're both just tickled about it."
The project earned fans including Nick Borges, Seaside's acting city manager, who called Constable to compliment him on the creative solution. Borges said he had seen the photos on social media before he realized they were from a local home.
"I thought, 'Wow, that's pretty creative.' I laughed at it, and then I started getting calls from local media," Borges said.
He said the letter received by Constable was the result of actions taken last year. Borges said the city had received numerous complaints about lax code enforcement, so someone was hired to investigate and contact violators.
Borges said Constable's case was closed out when the fence was installed and no further actions will be taken.
"The only action I'm going to take is a high five, and that's it," Borges said.
VIDEO AT LINK........................
I like it.
MMM…… think I could do something creative and artistic about paying my taxes 🤔
Here's the Long distance street view.................
BRAVO !!!!!!
It’s a beautiful — although potentially inconvenient (or even dangerous) — thing to pull some unelected, ego- and power-obsessed bureaucrat’s chain when an opportunity arises to do so.
“an act of rebellious compliance”
Words to live by...
I am surprised the city didn’t find some home fencing ordinance to disallow this work of art. As it is, this couldn’t have been cheap.
It kind of reminds me of when the coyote would paint a tunnel on the side of a large mountain, and the road runner would run through it.
His next door neighbor is an artist..............
well done. very well done.
Just like the guy whose house was painted an ‘unapproved by the HOA’ color.
They threatened him with legal action, so he complied and painted his house with approved color..........ALL OF THEM.................
At some point it becomes time to push back on tyranny-—if we don’t they win. As far as I’m concerned it’s his house, his property unless he signed some sort of agreement to never buy a boat and store it in his yard.
“When life gives you lemons...”
Wish they would have talked to some of the people who complained.
WELL DONE!
I would have painted in a gigantic Labrador Retriever sized pile of dog government front and center to make sure the lower class humans got the hint as well. Being stupid doesn’t mean you dont get to participate in local politics.
Great job! Hmm, I wonder if the city will realise that a gate has been installed?
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