#iTOMB: Supporting Your First Amendment Rights - Join Us

You have the right to speak freely, but that right must be defended:)

And so the battle wages on - as if expressing oneself should be a battle:(

In 2011, according to the New York Times, the city "cracked down" on vendors of art and performers in city parks by issuing sommonses to performers for accepting donations for whatever their art might have been - singing, dancing, playing an instrument or reciting Shakespeare. An Orwellian nightmare? The Fascist's boot? No, this is America, and not just any America. This is America in New York City - a city that prides itself in its production and consumption of all things artistic - Broadway, Carnegie Hall, The Met (both of them), MoMA and more.

But those vaunted institutions and their presentations have been pre-approved by the powers that be and certified not to be the Naked Cowboy - but so long as he stays in Times Square and doesn't gallup up to Central Park, even the Naked Cowboy is legal NYC entertainment - and entitled to his dollar. It's only those performers in the parks that are the problem - maybe because the city can't pick and choose the performances they get and doesn't get a percentage of their bucket - a King's ransom for sure.

Ronald L. Kuby, a civil rights attorney involved in the 2011 proceedings, described the practice of fining minstrels and the like as such: "This is a heavy-handed solution to a nonexistent problem,”, he said.

And so we have the right to speak freely it seems, just so long as we are not being compensated for our thoughts. And therein lies the rub. If our thoughts are so interesting as to elicit a buck from a passerby, the city would like a cut. They'll approve and even pay for all sorts of artistic Tom-foolery, like turning the Columbus statue into a trailer home velvet Elvis, if it brings in a buck. But all those pesky park buskers - "do they bring us a buck?", the city asks. Probably more than any Bloomocrat (kind of like a Belieber) could know. Without street performers New York wouldn't be the cultural Petrie dish that millions of tourists come to experience every year.

In 2011 the edict was for performers to stay away from statues, benches  and monuments in city parks. "Why" is another question. Fast forward to today and the most recent amendment to the park rules tells performers to just stay away - period - from city parks in their entirety.

The New York World reports: "Since 2010, the city has steered art, book and other “expressive matter” vendors in parks to specific locations: along the curb, away from park furniture like benches and at least 50 feet away from a monument. In Union Square, Battery Park, the High Line and parts of Central Park, they may work only in designated vending areas.

Now singers, rappers, jugglers, dancers and contortionists — even human statues — will have to join them, if they perform in exchange for a fee or a donation." 

But there are only so many 'designated' spots available, marked by a plastic medallion in the pavement -  and those are already taken. And so without additional designated areas, the message to performers is simply this: "Go away. Or we will put you in jail".

And artist Robert Lederman knows. He's been arrested nearly 50 times since the 90s for promoting his art, yet has never been convicted. Conversely, he's counter sued for false arrest and become a cultural icon and cottage industry for artists rights.

“They did affidavits and testified orally in my case claiming that because of the ruling they had no choice but to take entertainment and street performers out of the park rules, and now they are putting them back in. They are going to get sued about this by every performer.”, he said about the current amendment that in effect, bars all street performers from city parks.

#iTOMB's contribution to our city's public art malaise. Stephanie 03.28.13

But with our work on #iTOMB, I'm confused. Can I really be fined or jailed  in America for providing people the tools to express themselves in a public space? I'd better consult with Ai Wei Wei about what it's like to do a few weeks in a government re-education camp.

Our performance is executed by everyone and everyone loves it in a space that everyone payed for. What's wrong with the picture this all paints? Time, the Parks Department, the cops, artists, the public and the courts will tell. But for now there are just a couple of things that we can do to bring our plight to a higher light:

1) Contact New York City Parks Commissioner, Veronica M. White, and tell her that you support performers in our parks. This will make your voice heard to those who are serving you.

2) Tweet or Instagram with your iTOMB photo, "I like #iTOMB @HighLineNYC". This will let park admin know that iTOMB is much more a community service than a business. News about our 501(c)3 non-profit application, soon.


I'm working on a game plan and petition for all performers and preparing for the very likely eventuality that I will be cited and possibly arrested for helping the masses think, but in the meantime, I'm advocating one or two of the above.

On a more personal note, I am including below, a copy of Todd Rundgren's career retrospective concert with the Metropole Orchestra in Amsterdam last year. Having created the world's first artist based music subscription service, and even allowing fans to re-configure his music into user friendly compositions, Todd has evoked the spirit I try to bring to iTOMB. The spirit that we are all born free to create and that not creating, and sharing our visions with the society at large, would be the greatest crime of all.

Introducing the #iTOMB Gallery

#iTOMB Olivia II 03.02.13

Over the last few months the #iTOMB collection has grown to more than anyone would have thought it would, including myself. We are currently showcasing over 1500 works and with warm weather approaching, and thousands of paintings just waiting to be made, I'm worried that the sheer photography and upload time will wipe me out:) But we'll deal with that when we come to it.

For now, I have been cataloging different themes that have arisen inside the collection, the first one being "Gallery" - a curation of what I would find worthy of museum or gallery exhibitions. And being in Chelsea I've been getting my fill of gallery openings and wouldn't be embarrassed at all to put some of our best up with some of theirs. We have begun to amass an impressive collection.

But along with what might be considered Fine Art by some, we continue to acquire more common imagery like Hearts, Peace Signs, Eyes and oddly, Swirls - but right alongside those happen a few categories I can't explain, like a series of Curious Shapes that all seem familiar to each other but done by people who weren't and the same repetitive shape of a mountain, not dissimilar to the one in the film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

One my my favourite groupings is Monochromes, which you'll all find delightfully minimalist and different.

As paintings are made I'll update the slideshows to keep the collections growing and add new trends as they appear. And as I always ask visitors, if you like what's happening with iTOMB be sure to let The High Line know. It would be nice to have a way to publicly display all the work we're acquiring in some way in the park this year. But for now, you'll just have to be satisfied with the Internet versions:)

The individual collections can also be found in the lower left sidebar of this blog.

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A Song & 1000 Artists At The Edge - Nothing Much Happened in New York Today

Nothing Much Happened Today In     insert city name here     . That's a blog post title I used frequently at The Wild Wild East Dailies, because just when you think that nothing's going on, there's a lot going on.

For me, this cold weather has revealed its share of surprises. First up, Steve Baldwin of Occupy music fame has penned and recorded a song about me and iTOMB called "The Man In The Box". With the actual event of Occupy Wall Street now working on being nearly two years old, many of us long for the days of Zuccotti Park - the days when thousands of us actually lived in a city park and exercised our first amendment rights every day. This song not only brings us back, but reminds us of why we went there in the first place. It was fun! And so, not like the next place I visited.

Andrew Purchin and aThousandArtists.com put together quite the bash for the Inauguration, an installation of artists dressed in white jumpsuits and orange hats just making art in public:) Quite the freeform expressionist ignoring of an event devoted to near nazi-like propaganda. But it was still great fun - like Occupy without the cops! Check out Andrew's review of the event here. As part of my participation, I wrote a few stories for Mike Felber and his soon-to-be-launched new art magazine, At The Edge.

At The Edge will have it's launch party at the Empire Room, and yes, that's at the friggin' Empire State Building, and iTOMB and I are planning a mass paint-in - except they're real worried about us getting paint all over the place:) At The Edge has gained national distribution for Mike's ArtistsInTheKitchen.org first print and web publication and the launch party looks to be just the way to kick things off . If you are interested in attending (it's free) click the launch party link above and sign up. Things will be happening until the wee hours and should be quite fun.

So that's what's not happening. Pretty good for a winter the groundhog said would be already over:( Again, nothing much happened in New York today.

The Germans Are Coming

It seems the Germans have found me, for the last two blogs to feature iTOMB have been German. My thanks to Bianca Hauda of Cologne for her radio interview with me. Bianca is a host at Radio 1Live in Cologne and recently stopped by to paint and chat and feature us on her blog ,Katz ausHack. Thank you Bianca.

Next up, a family from Boston who are really from Germany, documenting their American experience. With both, we talk about Munich and my time there and it reminds me how nice everyone was to me during my living in Germany. It's good to see it all from here. New York is a great equalizer in many ways :-)

Bianca (Germany) 1.29.13

#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

Thank you all for 2012

iTOMB Javiera (Chile) II 12.23.12

As the year softens to a close I look at the little painting above and all I can say is, "Thank you". Thank you all, for as long as I shall paint, I will never make a one like the one above. Look at the fire in that sky:-) And thank you Javiera. This one was made just days before Christmas and since then the rain has been bad and things just too cold to do any painting at all. So, this may well be the last great painting at iTOMB in 2012. And so be it. It has been a great year.

Since beginning as an activist vehicle for Occupy Wall Street, I Think Outside My Box (iTOMB) has seen an organic growth into a vehicle from which over 1200 artists have been inspired to etch their own thoughts on a little 3" X 3" canvas - all from a simple request, stated over and over by people watching me paint, that said "Hey, can I paint too?" And so iTOMB was born again - a place where everyone can have their shot at spontaneous self expression. A place where peace, and a little snippet of New York City skyway, can be a place of respite, of reflection and of creation. All wildly different. All widely original.

My thanks also to Ronnit Bendavid-Val and all the staff on The High Line - without who's gracious work and space, iTOMB would never have grown to the community project it has now become.

On Christmas Eve, all my painting supplies were stolen from the rolling mobile studio I use for iTOMB. In a bag, atop the cart, all paints, rulers, glues and all manner of gear with which we all use to paint were unceremoniously lifted by someone who thought they needed the stuff, or value, more than I - and maybe they did. But I doubt they will be put to use by so many for as much expression as I have seen this past fall at iTOMB. Should you wish to make a donation to help me replace supplies and to build an even more functional display space for the over 500 real artworks that have been entrusted to me, please find the PayPal button in the sidebar and help out with any amount.

And still I thank you. In 2013, I will work to make iTOMB a non-profit foundation and hope to see the concept spread from New York to as far as an idea will go. And with your help, I'm sure that's to infinity :-) Peace.