Gravestones in Dolores Park Pay Homage to Crappy Startups

02 Nov 2017

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On Halloween, a startup employee put up an art installation in Dolores Park to honor crappy companies that had gone out of business this year. The faux gravestones had painfully shitty companies like ‘Juciero’ and ‘Yik Yak’ painted on them, I suppose to remind people how short sighted and stupid tech bros can be.

photo: evan hynes

26 year-old Evan Hynes submitted his own pictures and comments to SFGate, he said, “I asked myself, what’s the scariest thing that can happen to an employee at a startup?” Then he answered himself: “Finding out that your two percent stake in a blockchain-based smart juice company is actually worthless…#Bro” Ok, ok, I added the “bro” part, but the rest of the quote is authentic, he actually thinks the scariest thing that can happen to you in San Francisco is that the shitty startup you work for doesn’t get acquired by Google. #Firstworldproblems #Bro

If an actual artist from San Francisco had done this installation, the Mission Dolores Park gravestones probably would have read RIP to things like “self awareness” or RIP to “affordable housing”, or maybe RIP to “Diversity in the Mission”. All this Hyne’s installation did was remind everyone how much money gets flushed down the toilet every year in the name of frivolity and greed. Meanwhile the average rent price in the Mission is now $3398 a month for a one bedroom (that’s $40,776 a year…for rent). Super sick, bro.

But there still is real art happening in the mission, and real things to morn. Today is Dia De Los Muertos in La Mission, a day to observe, morn, and even celebrate real things that have died, like people. And no bro, sorry, “corporations are not people too”, bro.

There will be beautiful handmade shrines, candlelight vigils, incredible costumes, and wonderfully diverse crowds gathering to pay homage to those they’ve lost.