Stunt mixes art, anxiety downtown

Officials take precautions after an artist drops off a barrel with stencil cutouts of Times columnists and other markings on it.

By LEANORA MINAI

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 6, 1999

ST. PETERSBURG -- Mark Taylor Michaels said he didn't mean any harm. He sees his creation as a piece of public art.

But the mysterious 55-gallon barrel with stencil cutouts of the faces of newspaper columnists and a numerical code for a flammable liquid gave passers-by quite a scare and tied up firefighters for more than three hours Friday.

The yellow and black drum, filled with water and concrete, weighs about 700 pounds and was designed by Michaels to convey a message about a renaissance of funky art in St. Petersburg.

"I'm raising consciousness," said 28-year-old Michaels, a St. Petersburg resident who described himself as a mural and graphic artist.

At first, no one knew who left the barrel on the sidewalk at Fourth Street S and First Avenue, in front of the downtown offices of the St. Petersburg Times. It was first noticed about 12:30 p.m.

With nothing to go on, St. Petersburg police Officer Roy Olsen and St. Petersburg fire Lt. Ron Kidwell assumed the worst.

The barrel could have been a bomb or some toxic substance.

They looked up 1037, the curious number on the barrel. The code came back as methyl chloride, a colorless gas. They roped off the area and called in two environmental officials from the state and county.

The drum was covered with images: a nuclear symbol, a walking time bomb and vinyl cutouts of the faces of Times columnists Martin A. Dyckman, Bill Maxwell, Mary Jo Melone, Howard Troxler and Weekly Planet columnist Sterling Powell.

The barrel had slogans: "What are you waiting for?" and "The End."

Kidwell and his hazardous materials team dipped strips of paper through a hole to test the liquid. It was wet cement.

Further interviews revealed Michaels was the one who rolled the barrel over on a handtruck and poured bags of cement and jugs of water through a hole in the drum's top. It was Michaels' third barrel design. He delivered the others in recent weeks to areas in front of a downtown nightclub and gallery, but those didn't attract nearly the kind of attention Friday's delivery did.

"I'm trying to make a link between the media and the art," Michaels explained later.

The weight of the barrel could make it a felony littering offense, but city officials were flummoxed Friday. Whether any charges against Michaels would stick was anyone's guess. "If it's not blocking the sidewalk and it's not interfering or a threat, it would seem to me it's basically an exercise of First Amendment rights," said Assistant City Attorney Rick Badgley.

But, Badgley said, the city has rights too.

"I think the city could easily remove it and hold it for the person to pick up," he said.

Michaels finally showed up at the corner of First Avenue S and Fourth Street later in the afternoon.

The barrel was removed Friday evening, but it could not immediately be determined who moved it. "It's not any kind of aggressive, hateful or threatening statement," Michaels said. "I thought they'd appreciate the craftsmanship."
-- Times staff writer Kelly Ryan and researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.