Barrel Monster Artist Arrested!

[MadMax]

'Monster' puts N.C. State student over a barrel

RALEIGH An N.C. State University student faces criminal charges for what is best described as a "barrel monster" built out of construction barrels that towered for a while over Hillsborough Street.

Raleigh police believe the monster was the brainchild of Joe Carnevale, a 22-year-old junior majoring in history. It had a short lifespan, up for less than a day on May 31.

Made of construction barrels owned by a contractor working on the Hillsborough Street round-a-bout project , the monster sported a wide, toothy grin and pointed an extended finger at motorists on the thoroughface near the university's campus.

Though Raleigh police seized the barrel statue on May 31 as evidence, they didn't arrest Carnevale until Wednesday, according to Laura Hourigan, a police spokeswoman. Carnevale is now facing misdemeanor charges of damage to property and larceny. He'll be in court on July 21.

The larceny, according to arrest warrants, came when Carnevale took "three road blocking barrels and damaged them by cutting and screwing them together to make a statue."

The barrel monster's creation was well-documented on a blog, www.nopromiseofsafety.com, maintained by an artist using the moniker "uliveandyouburn." In an email exchange with The News & Observer, "uliveandyouburn" wouldn't confirm if he is the same person as Carnevale, but did say Carnevale has offered to pay for the barrels.

The barrel monster has grown into a bit of local Internet sensation.

A grassroots movement hoping to encourage Wake District Attorney Cilon Willoughby to drop the charges has swelled on the Internet, with dozens of people joining Facebook pages named "Don't Charge Joseph Carnevale" and "Free the N.C. Highway Monster Artist."

Nothing like squashing someone's creativity! This is not the same as the Austin warning sign that was changed to read "Caution: Zombies Ahead!" this probably served to remind people to move over more than just the orange barrels. It is akin to the cardboard police officer cutouts they use in a lot of European countries to slow people down...

Cheers! M2

[nemelek]

Some people just don't have a since of humor.

[MadMax]

Originally Posted by nemelek

Some people just don't have a since of humor.

Or a sense of humor!

[yaris-me]

He is a man of adventure.

[tk-421]

Although I think the statue is awesome, I do believe Carnevale should pay something for "damage to property and larceny". Otherwise, you'll start seeing barrel monsters all over the place, which now that I think about it, wouldn't be such a bad thing.

[TinyGiant]

that thing is pretty sweet. he should pay for the barrels and then auction it off to pay for his lawyer fees lol

[SailDesign]

Originally Posted by MadMax

Or a sense of humor!

Or a sense of humour

[Kioshi]

Being a current Industrial Designer major, I think its creative and shouldn't be penalized for creativity....at least its not like graffiti marked all over the sidewalk or on people's cars.

Barrels can be recycled and replaced, but creative spark like that comes only once to a beings mind....

[SilverBack]

+1. It's not causing trouble to anyone, so why should it be taken down?

If they wanna take something down, they should go after real eyesores like billboards. I think we've all had enough of those...

[mikenacarato]

all i know is if i was having a bad day and i was stuck in traffic...i would laugh my ass off to that!

[808_Yaris]

that pretty creative stuff!

[jkuchta]

Go wolfpack!