Artist whitewashes a crappy old motel, including the palm trees that surround it.

"As you walk the western edge of the trendy hamlet of Silver Lake on the city�s storied Sunset Boulevard...  you�ll see dozens of people standing precariously in the middle of four lanes of traffic to Instagram the piece, which is about as social-media ready as a public art piece could possibly be...."

Projection, as the work is named, could have been staged at any of the city�s derelict motels, really. But [Vincent] Lamouroux�who lived in the neighborhood years ago�had his eye on this one in particular. The Googie-style sign on top reads Sunset Pacific but everyone here calls it the Bates Motel, partly because it�s on the corner of Bates Street, but mostly because this moniker appropriately conveys its freaky Psycho vibes.

Vacant for over a decade, the motel�s ability to attract drug activity and gun violence has turned this stretch of Sunset into a kind of no-man�s land. During his days as a city councilman, LA�s mayor Eric Garcetti tried unsuccessfully to rehab it, sell it, then demolish it, calling it �one of the most troublesome properties in the city.�

No trees were hurt. They were sprayed with an impermanent "shading compound" that is intended to be used on trees. Not for art projects, but to protect them from heat and insects.

A very nice art work. I approve.