The Portrait of the Burglar as an Artist

Have you ever imagined yourself breaking into your own home? How would you do it?

Maybe you already did, like when all keys suddenly went missing? Now Let your spirit roam around your home, above and below, around it. Feel it. That’s just the way a burglar does, heres how a burglar thinks.

It’s not about the lock picking and crowbars

Burglary is about architecture, primarily. But, in order for a burglar to exploit structural weaknesses, first, he must supersede the house’s architect in all manner of spatial and material understanding. The burglar must know and ‘feel’ the architect’s weaknesses.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way

Houses and apartments are flawed by nature, if only for being accessible through both air and ground, close to each other and to the roads. The burglar sees a city as a menu of possibilities just like we see the supermarket, for example. It's down to cost-effectiveness and that’s just how a burglar curates crime, matching it to his appetite and abilities but his possibilities are endless, just like a painter’s pallet.

The studio phase

Peculiar as it may seem, you’ve already met with a burglar. The utility man, or maybe a prospective buyer to the house next door, they could’ve been him. Search within you for this image: Just as an artist studies his model, the burglar studies his target. He does it casually like an artist sneaking peeks as the model pours water or adjusts hair. He’s catching the essence and rhythm of a life.

There’s a reason they’re called Cat Burglars

Classy burglars see themselves as an elite of sorts. Their craft requires many technical skills, physical fitness, patience and stealth. They take pride in their craft and mostly abide by rules, one of which is the abhorrence of violence. Just as a painter would sneer at computer graphics, a burglar would do anything in his power to avoid detection or a confrontation.

After all preparations and studies are done, the burglar sets on a sort of dance recital.

Art is a lonely affair

It is said the greatest burglar ever was Jack MacLean. He was so good that he'd set alarms back to function when he was through and left no trace of his handiwork. Family feuds erupted because of this, as members blamed one another for the disappearance of jewellery. Maclean’s downfall came because of his loneliness – he took on an accomplice, who was caught and confessed. Loneliness is common to artists and burglars and that is also why both
artist and burglar leave signatures for the appreciative eye.
***
Below you will find links to two books that make for an excellent reading, but we may be biased because these books offer crucial insight into the minds of the best burglars to (softly) tread the Earth. We studied them and many others to help us preempt, deter and foil. The game continues, always.