THE ROLE OF THE ARTIST...

​​​​​​      Two months after I defied our local standing army in 2020 as they laid siege to Carmel Beach, California declaring it "closed" during the weekend the country celebrates its liberation from tyranny - having been handcuffed, arrested and transported off to jail 26 miles away with criminal charges, (including "entering a disaster area") City Council repeated this dictatorial order for Labor Day weekend, cordoning off access to the Ocean with police tape, announcing fines and more violence loomed if you dare step foot on the beach. Hundreds of people were afraid to walk past the tape and onto the sand because of the ever-present threat of a police car prowling the water's edge to ensure obedience. The shore was nearly deserted (as you can see in the background photo taken on Labor Day) and again roped off like a crime scene for the entire weekend.

       But this time I prepared in advance by writing a Notice of Violation and had two of my friends pictured serve a stern warning to five Monterey County Officials - instructing them to leave us alone to use the beach whenever we felt like it, or "you will be sued for everything you do or may ever own." Some traveled from hours away to support my defiance because collectively we refused to let officials bully our neighbors. When we reached the barricade, we cut the police tape down, marched straight past the crowd to the surf with a bullhorn like we owned the place, because we did. The police vehicle — one and the same that arrested me two months earlier — immediately fled the moment we stepped onto the sand after telling the spectators they had been waiting for "the protestors to arrive, and then the beach was gonna be open." We never saw that standing army again. 

       Within minutes, the crowd began streaming through the opening we’d cut in the tape and half an hour later, the surf was packed with beachgoers, the way it was always supposed to be. Because if you let one ant stand up...

       The green berets pictured to the left helped to reclaim a beautiful part of the California coast that had been stolen from the people by power-hungry tyrants. Many of those who stood with me that weekend still talk about what we did together and say it was one of the best days of their lives. I hope I've been able to at least partially explain - why we all look so damned happy.

         That's the role of the artist, to make the revolution irresistible...