The PeaceTank, New York City, October 5

Eric Staller, the  Inventor of the conference bike has been making Americans stop and think a bit more about their place in the world. 

We probably really should get world leaders on conference bikes, then they would actually work together, Its also half an hour that they are not selling each other Guns and oil and brushing problems under the carpet. 

Looks like we'll need to find a Gordon Brown mask for Eric though!!.  They must exist as a Glasgow Freeshare email arrived today from a mum looking for a suit for her daughter as she wants to dress up as Gordon Brown for Halloween.   A kid to keep an eye on methinks, she could go far!

On Sunday, October 5, I surprised New Yorkers with my mobile public artwork The PeaceTank. Starting at my brother's studio in Greenwich Village I donned my Obama mask and suit. My wife Sietske was Castro, my son Julian was Putin, his girlfriend Caitlin a vaguely Chinese leader; My brother-in-law Terry played Tony Blair, while Terry's daughter Caitlin played Yasser Arafat and my nephew Benny played the great Nelson Mandela.

 

As we headed out, ordinarily jaded New Yorkers stopped dead in their tracks! The smiles, waves, laughter, thumbs up, comments shouted, clearly showed my statement resonated with the people. "Hey Obama" some people shouted, "hey Fidel" Cuban-Americans shouted; "Only in New York" or "you made my day!" other exclaimed. Hundreds, if not thousands of cellphone photos were snapped. Some people sprinted ahead of us to get a better shot. Families posed in front of us at red lights as a loved one 'bagged a souvenir'.

 

Not everyone loved The PeaceTank; there were a few expressions of hostility, middle fingers flashed; more than one person shouted "there goes Obama with the axis of evil!" (Some people thought Arafat was Osama Bin Ladin) But overall the warmth and good cheer on the faces of 1000's of people reminded me that New York is the world's most expressive audience.

 

The PeaceTank was more metaphor than illustration, limited by the availability of good masks. Not expecting to influence anyone's vote (but still the 60's activist) I was compelled to say with this work: I feel strongly that Mr. Obama has the potential to be a great uniter, a RE-UNITER of America with the rest of the world. After 8 years of President Bush loudly proclaiming 'God bless America' we now have the chance to elect someone who proclaims himself a citizen of the world; a man who is curious about the world and one who promises to replace macho posturing with dialogue and diplomacy

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