IOWA CAUCUSES

Trump campaign bus becomes anti-Trump work of art

Jason Noble
jnoble2@dmreg.com
A campaign bus used for the presidential hopeful Donald Trump in Iowa was bought by t.Rutt a writer, entrepreneur, economist, and artist (according to his website). Artist Mike Stevens paints over the Turmp logos Monday Oct. 19, 2015, making it a mobile art piece per the instructions of artist t.Rutt.

A bus that traveled the state of Iowa this summer as a mobile advertisement for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is now headed to Miami as a piece of conceptual art.

And it’s not exactly supportive of Trump’s candidacy.

A trio of artists working on behalf of a Philadelphia-based artist purchased the bus from its Des Moines-area owners over the weekend. They’ve spent the last three days retrofitting it to create an art installation on wheels that they hope will spark conversations on political rhetoric, misogyny and xenophobia.

“The notion is to kind of drive Mr. Trump possibly out of the race,” said David Gleeson, the artist managing the effort. “I think a lot of people expect him to eventually leave the race, and maybe this can help to initiate that process.”

The Des Moines Register first reported that the Trump bus was for sale last month.

A look inside the remodeled bus

A campaign bus used for the presidential hopeful Donald Trump in Iowa was bought by t.Rutt a writer, entrepreneur, economist, and artist (according to his website). Artist Dave Gleeson explains their plans for the bus Monday Oct. 19, 2015, making it a mobile art piece.

On Monday morning, Gleeson and fellow artists Mike Stevens and Sarah Muehlbauer worked on the bus in a parking lot behind an abandoned fast food restaurant on Des Moines’ east side. They painted over Trump decals and put the finishing touches on large signs that will be part of an interactive exhibition.

Gleeson said they’re working at the direction of a conceptual artist known as t. Rutt, who previously produced a financial art project using Tesla electric vehicles to question complex financial industry instruments like derivatives.

They plan to bring the bus to a Chris Christie campaign event in Newton on Wednesday and then drive it to Philadelphia, with several stops along the way. Ultimately, the bus will go to Miami for Art Basel Miami, one of the biggest art shows in the country.

The t. Rutt group has modified the navy blue MCI motorcoach in several ways — primarily by altering the massive “T-R-U-M-P” logos across its sides and painting over other campaign messages with bright red paint.

Inside the bus, Gleeson showed off two large vinyl signs onto which he had stitched in absorbent cloth the words “t. Rutt” and “T. Rump.” When the bus makes stops during its journey back east, the signs will be hung from the exterior of the bus and passers-by will be invited to hurl fruit punch at it, with the idea of staining the absorbent white fabric.

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T. Rutt (the name is a pseudonym, and a play on a famous piece of art produced by Marcel Duchamp) was inspired to create a Trump-themed work of art after the first Republican presidential candidate debate. After that debate, Trump criticized Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly and seemed to suggest that she asked challenging questions because she was menstruating.

“The larger message is really that this sexual-gender-based or sexual-putdown culture that emanates from a small minority of men is both harmful to women and demeaning to women and harmful to men and very limiting to men,” Gleeson said.

He added, “This idea of squirting red punch on these letters just became a wonderfully absurd way of trying to take hold of that stupid imagery in a more artistic way.”

The Trump campaign hashtag previously printed on the bus, #MakeAmericaGreatAgain, has been modified to read #MakeFruitPunchGreatAgain.

“The idea is to finally have a little moment of expression about this political bewilderment that seems to be playing out in the country,” Gleeson said.

The journey back to Philadelphia is to be known as the “Hasta La Vista, Donny” tour — an invocation of the Spanish language meant to bring attention to Trump’s rhetoric about Latinos and hard-line positions on immigration.

Additionally, Gleeson said he has been instructed to stand on top of the bus every evening during the trip and drive a Trump-branded golf ball into the sunset. The artists are also talking about setting up an easel next to the bus on which the public can write passages of the U.S. Constitution translated into various languages.

A previous life of campaigning

The bus was previously owned by Des Moines businessman Steve Drake, who leased it over the summer to the Trump campaign, which paid to have it wrapped in campaign logos and drove it to events across Iowa. Drake put it up for sale in September.

As soon as t. Rutt learned the bus was for sale, Gleeson said, the artist dispatched Gleeson and his compatriots to purchase it.

“'Trump bus for sale. Buy it!' Those were my orders,” Gleeson said. “Sometimes it happens that way. It has a certain 'Mission: Impossible' quality to it.”

Gleeson said he paid $14,000 for the bus — $1,000 less than Drake’s initial asking price — and plans to drive it himself on its journey east.

Drake declined to comment when contacted by the Register, but his business associate Mark Gearhart confirmed the details of the sale provided by Gleeson. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.