The impending sale of the land underneath Philadelphia’s tile-and-mirrors whiz Isaiah Zagar’s installation garnered some press that included raves about the work from a variety of passersby and out-of-town visitors.
But yesterday I heard another point of view. It was a neighbor on Isaiah-overload–so many Zagars on so many walls. (Maybe there was a touch of NIMBYism here, too.) Besides, she said, he was playing unfair, changing the terms under which he had gotten permission to install his work.
So it goes. You fix up an empty lot with a garden or art, but when the owner wants to sell, your hard work is cooked. That’s reality and that’s private property. (Here’s Zagar’s side of the story.)