Attack of the Reused Traffic Barrel Monsters
by Warren McLaren, Sydney
on 06.14.09

In some circles it is known as repurposing, or even reusing. Taking a material or product and giving it new form to fulfil a different function. But apparently police in North Carolina also consider it larceny. And technically they are correct. For they allege that Joseph Carnevale misappropriated safety traffic barrels by cutting them up an turning them into the so-called Traffic Barrel Monster. Given that he describes the act of subversive art on his website, No Promise of Safety, the police might be on to something.
But it’s hard to deny the sheer creative ingenuity of his work. Particularly when he also made up an alligator using the same concept. (Photo after the fold.)

While we don’t normally condone the destruction of public safety apparatus, it could be argued that the Traffic Barrel Monsters actually does a better job of alerting motorists than the barrels did in their original form. Although maybe you have a differing opinion?
See some more pix at www.sub5zero.com, (which is where we found the above two images.)
::No Promise of Safety, via www.jaunted.com
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