To an Artist, It Was a Tribute to New York; to the Police, It Was a Fake Bomb

[alp227]

The artist intended it to be a display of his love for the city: white plastic bags stamped with the “I ? NY” logo lighted from within and glowing moonlike from lampposts and trees in Brooklyn and beyond. Almost immediately, the installation attracted attention, though probably not the kind the artist, Takeshi Miyakawa, expected.

The police bomb squad was called and Mr. Miyakawa, 50, was arrested early Saturday.

On Sunday, a judge ordered him to be held pending a psychological evaluation, his lawyer said.

Mr. Miyakawa’s plan was to place white LED lights in the plastic bags and hang the bags around the city.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/nyregion/police-arrest-artist-takeshi-miyakawa-thinking-tribute-was-fake-bomb.html

Wow, this overreaction also happened in Boston 5 years ago.

[BlueJazz]

1. I feel safer. Those Lethal Explosive Devices (LED's) can be dangerous.

[Jello Biafra]

2. Tell me what a police state looks like....n/t

[Nye Bevan]

3. If an "artist" plans to install boxes containing wires and timing devices

at random locations in a city, it might be a good idea to clear it with the authorities ahead of time. Just a thought.

[TheManInTheMac]

4. Public and private property are not there for any "artist" to use as their canvas.

This, for example, is not art--it is criminal behavior: