12th Street Artist Hasn’t Quite Found His Audience

Photo credit: Will Yakowicz via Patch

A “gruesome skeleton” nailed to a tree in the city-owned empty lot on 12th St. near 4th Ave is making neighbors uncomfortable, which seems like a relatively reasonable response to an apparent art piece that “looks like the tortured remains of a human.”

Neighbor Ben Lochansky told Patch that the skeleton is the work of another 12th St. resident: “He is an eccentric man who considers himself an artist, but I think he is an oddest,” Lochansky said. He’s not alone in his analysis — other neighbors describe the installation as “offensive,” “scary,” and “inappropriate.”

Also, illegal.

Whether the skeleton-proprietor is an artist or an oddest, Craig Hammerman, the district manager of CB 6, says he’s likely a trespasser. “I understand why neighbors are bothered by it,” he said. “No matter the intentions of the person trespassing, it is still illegal to do it.”

According to Hammerman, the site was transferred years ago to the Mercy Home. And as soon as the city finishes cleaning it up, the Sisters of Mercy will break ground a group home for mentally ill adults.  In the meantime, he said, “no one should have access to this place.”

Unless…is Law & Order scouting locations?