- Etienne Constable was ordered to hide the boat parked near his house on the coast
- Officials told him to erect a six-foot fence or pay a $100 fine
- He opted for a humorous act of malicious compliance with the help of a local artist
A California homeowner ordered to hide his boat from view of these wealthy neighbors has hilariously fooled city officials in an act of malicious compliance.
Coastal resident Etienne Constable was told to erect a cover to obscure the vessel or face a $100 fine in July 2023.
Municipal codes state that “boats and large pickup campers, campers, recreational vehicles, utility vehicles and vacation trailers” may only be parked in driveways if they are “screened on the side and front by a six-foot fence.”
The homeowner agreed, but put his own tongue-in-cheek twist on it by painting a photorealistic mural of the boat on the front of the screen.
“I’m not a rule breaker, but I like to make a political statement if necessary, but also a humorous statement and a creative statement,” Constable said. KSBW.
A California homeowner ordered to hide his boat from view of these wealthy neighbors has hilariously fooled city officials in an act of malicious compliance
Coastal resident Etienne Constable was told to put up a cover to darken the ship or risk a $100 fine, so he created this humorous optical illusion
“I’m not a rule-breaker, but I like to make a political statement if necessary, but also a humorous statement and a creative statement,” Constable said.
Constable explained that he often uses his boat Might as Well to go fishing and that he left it parked in the driveway for four years before receiving a complaint.
“I thought, ‘This is ridiculous,’ and my first reaction was to leave a nasty, nasty message at City Hall,” he added in an interview with the WashingtonPost.
“And then I thought, well, I might as well build a screen…I’ll do what they want, but I’m not going to do it their way.”
Images of the artwork, taken by Constable’s neighbor Hanif Panni, quickly went viral, much to Constable’s surprise.
“The reaction has been extremely stronger than we ever expected and we’re both just excited about it,” he said.
Constable said the fence cost a few hundred dollars to put up himself and he then paid Panni for his skills.
Panni, who has murals along the central coast, said he saw the painting as an opportunity to fuel debate about what art is.
“I’m a big believer in public art in spaces,” Panni said. ‘It engages people in a way that is sometimes not possible when you connect and have a conversation.’
The mural was painted by local artist Hanif Panni, an advocate of public art
Constable explained that he often uses his boat Might as Well to go fishing and that he left it parked in the driveway for four years before receiving a complaint.
Since completing his mural, Panni has been inundated with requests from homeowners in similar positions
The artist has since been inundated with requests from other neighbors to paint similar murals on their properties.
Constable confirmed he has not heard from Seaside officials, but he assumes they are aware of it.
“It’s not like I’m hiding anything,” he added.
