Joseph Carnevale's "Barrel Monster." Is it art?
When I was younger, one of my dad's colleagues called the orange-and-white construction barrel — omnipresent on I-40 and I-85, and every byway in between — "North Carolina's state flower."
Forget the Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida, with its four-petaled white flowers. In the Old North State, where the department of transportation has an annual operating budget of almost $4 billion, you'll see almost as many barrels.
In March, Joseph Carnevale, a student at North Carolina State University, used the orange-and-white construction barrels to create the "Barrel Monster." In June, he was arrested. Today, he was given 50 hours of community service for misdemeanor charges of damage to property and larceny. The News & Observer has the story:
After a minute-long court hearing, Carnevale answered questions from gathered reporters, saying that he'd like to make more Barrel Monsters. But this time, he'll buy the barrels instead of taking them. "I really don't think if I had gotten arrested, it would have gone this far," Carnevale said.
In June, NPR's Michele Norris spoke with Carnevale. (You can listen to that interview here.)
What's next? According to The News & Observer, "the owner of the barrels, Guilford County-based Hamlett Associates, has said it never wanted to press charges against Carnevale and hopes to have another Barrel Monster made to display at its offices or other construction sites."
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