Anti-Trump campaign bus, art project coming to Philadelphia
Philly based artist t. Rutt (a pseudonym) commissioned artists David Gleeson, Mike Stevens and Sarah Muehlbauer to purchase the bus from its owner, Steve Drake, a businessman in Des Moines, Iowa for $14,000.
Philadelphia is a city that's no stranger to random acts of vandalism and destruction. Yes, just ask Hitchbot (R.I.P.). So it only makes sense that the team behind transforming Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's former Iowa campaign bus into a giant vehicular art project hail from the City of Brotherly Love.
Philly based artist t. Rutt (a pseudonym) commissioned artists David Gleeson, Mike Stevens and Sarah Muehlbauer to purchase the bus from its owner, Steve Drake, a businessman in Des Moines, Iowa for $14,000. From there, the team decided to use all of the Donald's own oft inflammatory campaign rhetoric against him.
On Monday, the group added the word "t. Rutt" to the side of the bus, and changed "TRUMP" to "T. RUMP." They also painted over Trump decals.
"The idea," said Gleeson, "is to finally have a little moment of expression about this political bewilderment that seems to be playing out in the country."
As the bus journeys from Iowa to Philly, it'll make several stops on which Gleeson and company will be inviting onlookers to spray red punch on the white fabric lettering used to spell out "t. Rutt" and "T. Rump" on the bus's exterior. The bus will head to a Chris Christie event in Newton on Wednesday before making its way to Philadelphia, with more stops on the way.
Inspired by Trump's comments toward Megyn Kelly in which he said the Fox News host had "blood coming out of her whatever," Gleeson explained in a video, "This idea of squirting red punch on these letters just became a really absurd way of trying to take hold of that stupid imagery in a more artistic way."
#MakeFruitPunchGreatAgain, a play on Trump's campaign slogan #MakeAmericaGreatAgain, was painted on the side of the bus.
Called "Hasta La Vista, Donny," as a Spanish-language ode to Trump's anti-immigrant ideology, the Des Moines bus's trip will ultimately head to Miami for Art Basel in December.
"I think a lot of people expect [Trump] to eventually leave the race," Gleeson said, "and maybe this can help to initiate that process."