#iTOMB: In Obama's Shadow - Inauguration 2013

#iTOMB on the Mall in Washington D.C. 01.21.13

My thanks to those who helped get me to D.C. this week. It was a bit of a crazy time with all the buses being booked, but me and #iTOMB made it just fine and joined up with A Thousand Artists for the installation that brought art up through the people, as opposed to all the propaganda that was being trickled down from the top. It was a lovely day and we all loved it in our Tyvek 1000 Artists Uniforms and orange hats. A Thousand Artists turned out to be more like forty-something but it didn't matter. Thousands of attendees enjoyed our show and a great number painted their own dedication to the ceremonies. Art speaks louder than words.

Constituents painting the future.

Help Me Bring #iTOMB to D.C. For the Inauguration

The People Listening...Oil on Canvas 2009 by Andrew Purchin

Breaking news: I just received a note from a friend in San Francisco regarding the project "A Thousand Artists: Inauguration 2013" and I apologize for the lateness, but this is just the sort of thing that I would like iThink Outside My Box to be involved in, in the future. The trouble is, the future is tomorrow. Literally tomorrow. 

"Four years ago, Andrew Purchin set up his easel in the nation's capital to capture the crowd on Inauguration Day. He painted alone. When he returns Monday, he will be one artist among many. 'It was incredibly moving in 2009. It was the best day of my life,' said the 50-year-old Santa Cruz artist and psychotherapist. 'But it will be second best after this year's inauguration."  

The website for the event is here.

With no political agenda, not for nor against the President or any government, but much more in the spirit of allowing art to be a conduit through which people can express themselves publicly, the message of #iTOMB fits perfectly with Mr. Purchin's event.

"'The inauguration seems like the best place to magnify the importance of art, especially when the arts are so underfunded,' he said. 'If everyone had some sort of creative outlet, our society wouldn't be as crazy as it appears to be these days.'"

And so I would like to join in. Not unlike the crazy trip I made a few years ago to see Todd Rundgren in Amsterdam - leaving from Munich, this will be a rush - but I won't hitchhike this time:) Buses and trains will be available Saturday night and that will get me there for a full Sunday and beyond for the Inauguration on Monday.

The best way to help would be to send contributions via Western Union with David E. Carlson in New York City, marked as the recipient.The budget is $500 - there and back.

The second best way is to use the PayPal button in the sidebar - but that takes a few days and I wouldn't see the donation until after the event.

In either case, I would love your support to have #iTOMB attend "A Thousand Artists: Inauguration 2013". Things have been a little trying in the Big Apple this winter, and I know the project would benefit from a little airing out and quite possibly national exposure in advancing the people's creative voice in our national dialogue. God bless America.

BTW: I just heard from Andrew, the organizer and he's keen to have us:)

#iTOMB: Above It All

#iTOMB.Alessia (Canada) 10.20.12 from The High Line

Last fall a journalist had asked me to describe the High Line in three words.

"Above it all", I responded. And then another man focused further that what we were, were not a street artists, but aerial artists - because the work happens in an elevated space. I liked that. But it comes to mind that our painting itself is Above It All as well.

Running just 34 slides and counting, our first thematic curation, selects the images that have been made about The High Line itself. Lovely work. Above It All. Below.

#iTOMB & OWS: Where It All Began

Outside Trinity Church on Occupy's first anniversary 09.17.12

Nearly every day, people ask me where the idea for #iTOMB came from and I tell them it began as an activist platform for me at Occupy Wall Street in New York in 2011. Above I appear at Occupy's first anniversary, in front of Trinity Church last year with the anniversary poster to my left.

Below is an interview I did on that day with New Tang Dynasty TV in Taiwan. Pay special attention to the clips before my cameo as the police arrest and harass regular citizens for exercising their right to free speech. God bless America.

And God bless news outlets like this who show the world that our free country is not all it advertises itself to be. But we're working on that:)

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El Anatsui Live On The Highline

On the High Line I locate normally at 22nd St. After working in a number of places in the park last fall, iTOMB finally settled on this spot for its tranquility, space, lack of wind and general pleasantness for painting and creating. Then along came a lovely neighbor.

Enter El Anatsui and his installation Broken Bridge II that originally debuted in Paris in 2012. His largest installation to date of recycled press tin (otherwise called rubbish) and mirrors, the installation began last fall and was finished after Hurricane Sandy. I was fortunate to be able to meet him as he came to direct the finishing touches and it's funny; the work we do at iTOMB is so small and his so large, yet when two artists stand on the same plane and do what they do, the people who participate, either by viewing or creating, are affected in a similar way. Minds open. Art speaks. People listen. And when we're lucky, they sing along.

Installation view of Broken Bridge, 2012 Paris Triennial 2012, le Palais de Tokyo,Paris
April 20–August 26, 2012. Photo by Erik Lasalle