RALEIGH - A Raleigh street artist has been arrested after police say that he used road construction barrels to make a giant "barrel monster" sculpture that he later put back on the side of the road.
The Raleigh Police Department charged student Joseph Carnevale with larceny in connection with the removal of the barrels, even though they were returned in the form of the "barrel monster". According to the News & Observer, Carnevale is a 22 year old history major at NC State University.
It is believed that Carnevale goes by the name "uliveandyouburn" and has done other creative and popular albeit perhaps illegal artwork in Raleigh, including the painting of a giant face on a water tower near the Boylan Bridge railroad tracks. It has not been confirmed that "uliveandyouburn" and Carnevale are one and the same.
In a posting by "ULiveAndUBurn" on the website NoPromiseOfSafety.com along with a photo of his creation, the artist described his desire to create the sculpture and how he took the barrels.
"I couldn’t get it out of my head," said the poster. "Its that itch, that need to make real an idea that has rolled around in one’s head for days, snowballed itself into a temporary obsession that just has to be satisfied.
"I arrived in a flash and snatched them up from where they stood on the street. As I threw them into the trunk of the vehicle I had to rough them up some so they would fit. I shoved and beat and mangled them into place and was off before any witnesses knew what had even happened."
Once complete, the tall barrel monster was later placed back at the road construction site on Hillsborough Street.
According to posters on the website, the Raleigh Police later took down the barrel monster and dusted it for fingerprints.
The artist is not without his supporters and many expressed their admiration of his work on his website, calling it creative and out of the ordinary.
"I absolutely LOVE this! The eyes really ‘make’ it. More people should scratch their itches," said one poster.
"This is incredible. hope it doesn’t result in too much trouble," said another. "Don’t ever lose your creativity. this should be the new DOT mascot."
"I can’t believe you were arrested for this," said another admirer. "The city should pay the damages AND pay you an additional $360 for your contribution to public art. I love to make art too and you are now my hero, dude."
Even Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby questioned whether Carnevale should have been charged.
"Rearranging them -- legally that doesn't sound like a larceny," Willoughby said in an interview with the News & Observer. "There might be something more to the story than I know, but it doesn't sound like anything of grievous harm."
The construction company that owns the barrels have also conveyed to the media that they do not wish to have Carnevale charged and commended the artist for their work, whoever was reponsible.
PHOTO: Photograph of the barrel monster from the NoPromiseOfSafety.com website.
