ART THREAT - The coffee sign must go.

Sometimes you can't help but scratch your head and ask, what is art, anyway?

Last year Bob Holcepl, owner of the Tremont coffee shop Civilization, commissioned neon artist Jeff Chiplis to create something for the southern exterior wall of his building, which, when Holcepl opened his doors in 1990, was one of the first historic renovations and new businesses in the neighborhood.

It was a commission with no strings attached: Chiplis, who works in neon, could make whatever he wanted to add some light and color to the big blank wall facing Lincoln Park. Holcepl says he knew the artist's work and was comfortable that, even without direction, Chiplis "wasn't going to make a gigantic penis or something." So he gave him free reign. And they didn't ask for any permits, for either the sculpture or the electrical work, because, like most neon sculpture, it would be simply plugged into an existing outlet like a lamp or a string of Christmas lights. And it never occurred to them that someone might claim it wasn't art.

Chiplis' first take on the project was an abstract tangle of neon tube which he decided he didn't like, so he went back to his studio and made something else. And so at 8 p.m. July 14, 2006, Civilization hosted an art opening — the flip of the switch on "Glass Graffiti." Chiplis had recycled old neon into a scrawl of yellow, looking somewhat like a hurried graffiti tag, except that it happened to spell out the word "Coffee." Holcepl promoted Chiplis' new work with postcards announcing the opening night party with a band, and the exhibition's closing date, a year later.

"It was privately funded public art," Holcepl says.

But someone apparently complained, and the City of Cleveland saw things differently. As far as the city was concerned, the word "Coffee" on the wall of a coffee shop couldn't be art. It had to be a sign. And so they had to regulate it. Within two months of the unveiling, Holcepl got notice that the sculpture was in violation of building code, and that he needed to get a permit for electrical work (which consisted of plugging the piece into an existing outlet), get a sign permit and go through the historic landmark review process.

At first the coffee shop proprietor took up the battle, hiring a lawyer and getting letters of support from SPACES Executive Director Susan Channing and Community Partnership for the Arts and Culture CEO Tom Schorgl. One of his supporters wondered if it would be a problem for a homeowner in the neighborhood to write "house" in neon and hang that on the side of a bungalow.

But as the dual investment of time and money mounted, Holcepl decided to back down. Last week he appeared in court to end the stand-off by telling Judge Ray Pianka and city prosecutors that he'd removed the neon sculpture. Case dismissed. Call off the dogs. The sign police win. — Michael Gill

REEL LIFE IN RUBBER CITY

You thought Akron was just that city south of Cleveland with the lifelong mayor and funny nickname (Rubber City, hee hee)? It's also home to some serious students of film at the University of Akron and Kent State, as well as the fledgling Akron Independent Film and Video Festival.

Rob Lucas, who handed the festival's reins over to current UA students after last year's incarnation, debuted his first feature-length movie at the festival last year, American Stories. He'll be getting more screen time for the film at this year's fest (3:30 p.m. April 14 at the University of Akron Student Union) now that the movie is all boxed up and ready to be bought in DVD form.

Don't be misled by Lucas' $5,000 budget. The movie has a lot of what Greater Cleveland has to offer: from stark urban landscapes and Americana dives to sweet heartland music (the soundtrack features the New Lou Reeds, Lords of the Highway and the Dreadful Yawns) and local actors who don't all suck. It was shot entirely around the area — at an auto repair garage in Boston Mills, the Shamrock Club in Barberton, a Medina meat mart and the Empress Taytu Ethiopian restaurant on Cleveland's East Side.

The movie revolves around four members of the Little Devils band waiting for their van to get fixed; each tells a story about a time when shit most certainly hit the fan. With that, you get the bungled burglary of a hot MILF's house to steal some panties, a co-worker becoming a psychotherapist so his colleague's girlfriend can get a good talking to, a meat market clerk suspecting his new boss of killing neighborhood dogs and stragglers for product, and two hapless twin brothers who manage to survive the wrestling father of the twin girls they're trying to bag.

The festival runs April 13 and 14 at the Student Union. Tickets are $5 for the weekend or $3 a day. — Dan Harkins

HOME FREE

So, when this weekend rolls around and you've got nothing to do and no money to spend as usual, why not go all out and turn in your comfy bed for a cardboard box and the crisp Cleveland night air?

That's what a whole bunch of kids and the latest Mrs. Ohio Lisa Piepsny are doing for the Fairlawn Homeless Awareness Box Night, starting at 5:45 p.m. Saturday, April 14 in the parking lot of St. Hilary Catholic Church (2750 W. Market St., Fairlawn). Get a taste of that soup kitchen grub, the sensation of the frozen breeze stinging your loins as you duck behind a dumpster to pee.

"No doubling up [in the boxes]," jokes Denise Sobieski-Cooper, a representative of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, who this year is helping the church's efforts to reach a larger audience. More than 124,000 Ohioans are homeless each year, she says, and that needs to be screamed from a megaphone at every opportunity.

There'll be separate sleeping areas for men, women and families. Mrs. Ohio can sleep over next to Crazy Larry and his imaginary friend. — DH

RUST BELT REPORT

Cleveland radio legend Murray Saul, the "Get-Down" man, will help kick off the weekend on 98.5 FM WNCX Friday morning around 9. There's a Free Times T-shirt for any caller who uses the word "tunah" appropriately on the air.

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