Guerilla Public Service

Artist, Richard Ankrom, creates and successfully installs fake freeway sign that remained up for 8 years, essentially improving traffic and headaches in downtown LA.

At sunrise on August 5, 2001, armed with a fake invoice in case he was caught, he hid a ladder in a tree near the freeway and transported his replica sign artwork from his nearby Brewery home in a van emblazoned with an ominous logo: “Aesthetic De-Construction.”

The artist created an exact replica of a regulation Caltrans sign. He tailored a detailed red, white and blue “5 shield” and green “North” sign out of 0.08 millimeter–thick metal, resplendent with special-ordered button reflectors.

The sign was so authentic that Caltrans officials let it remain in place for eight years, four months and 15 days, until its removal [November] under a standard scheduled replacement. Ankrom had signed and dated the sign, for future identification and possible retrieval. But to his dismay, the precaution did not pay off. Indeed, Ankrom never had a chance to reclaim his artwork.

(via la weekly)

(see also the article in Good)

(photo via ankrom.org)