1xRUN is officially endorsing Donald Trump for President of the United States. We’ve put up with this shit for far too long as a nation to let corny politicians continue to flush America down the toilet. At 1xRUN we’re ready to make a solid choice to make America great again! Well that escalated quickly! April Fool’s everybody! For our big April Fool’s prank we’ve partnered up with Donald Trump‘s official art advisor New York City artist Hanksy has created a campaign we should all be able to get behind, read on for the full story…
1xRUN: Tell us a little bit about this piece, was there an original created?
Hanksy: The original image was painted on a wall in Chinatown in New York City. Two stories and at a busy intersection, it’s become a tourist destination in Lower Manhattan. When it comes down to it, Trump is bad news. For you, for me, for everyone. While Dump Across America is an anti-campaign, it serves a positive higher power. It’s main component is a familiar pile of cartoon crap adorned with the smug mug and rug of Donald Trump. It’s an image that can be seen and digested in a manner of a couple seconds.
1x: What materials were used on this piece?
Hanksy: Spray paint with a heavy does of fear mongering.
1x: When was this piece drawn and created?
Hanksy: I painted the original piece in late summer 2015. Trump had just announced his presidential campaign a few weeks prior. It was all a big joke back then. Unfortunately the punch line never really came.
1x: Tell us how the idea and execution came about?
Hanksy: I was fretting about the wall all day and I had few previous sketches mocked up. Other designs, nothing terribly interesting or provoking. A few minutes before I was to start painting, I scrapped them all and decided to make it as simple as possible. Trump’s a piece of shit and this makes people aware of that.
1x: How long did this piece take from start to finish?
Hanksy: The original mural took me a couple hours to paint. Like I said, it’s a pretty simple image. From multiple state primaries and rallies throughout the US, Dump Across America has obviously taken a bit longer. One could argue I’ve spent my entire live preparing for it. I didn’t choose the dump life, the dump life chose me.
1x: What is unique about this piece compared with some of your other work?
Hanksy:It’s fairly similar. Most of my work is light-hearted and satirical. However while I’ve had a good number of pieces go viral in the past, this image changed everything. I’ve seen bootleg shirts in downtown Los Angeles. I’ve watched protestors across the country utilize the image on homemade signs. It’s bigger than my other work. Not in scale, but in impact.
1x: Why should people buy this print?
Hanksy: People should cop these materials because we are living through a very exciting and scary election period. For better or worse this campaign, both via Trump and Sanders, is shaking up the traditional structure of American politics. And that’s compelling to me. Snag a piece and display it proudly. Let the world know that America isn’t entirely crazy.
1x: Describe the piece in one gut reaction word.
Hanksy: Corny.
1x: When did you first start making art?
Hanksy: In terms of artistic endeavors, I attempted to throw creative shit at a wall for over a decade before something actually stuck. I wrote stories and played music. It wasn’t until I moved to New York City about five years back that I started drawing again.
1x: What was your first piece?
Hanksy: A silly poster of a Banksy rat with Tom Hanks face on it. That was almost exactly five years ago this week. I pasted it on a wall in Little Italy and the rest is history. I’ve just been hustling since then.
1x: What artists inspired you early on?
Hanksy: Any and all Disney animators. Old school Saturday morning cartoons are in my blood. Bill Watterson is my homeboy. Not literally, but in my mind.
1x: What artists inspire you now?
Hanksy: Any of my artistic cohorts who survive the NYC struggle in order to be creative.
1x: Do you listen to music while you work? If so what?
Hanksy:Anything from Operation Ivy upstrokes to the wrecking balls of Miley Cyrus. I like it all. I’ve also been listening to a lot of chance the Rapper. As he’s a Chicago dude like me, I’ve been following him for years.
1x: If you could collaborate with any living artist who would it be and why?
Hanksy:I think the struggle is to find a living artist who is willing to collaborate with me.
1x: What was the first piece of art that you bought? Do you still have it?
Hanksy:I have this wonderful wooden mask created by my friend Nic Holiber. He’s the strongest artist I know. Both in physique and skill.
1x: What was the last piece of art that you bought?
Hanksy:I went to a silent auction last week and drunkenly bid of a bunch of prints I thought I’d never win. I won them all.
1x: Any other big plans for the spring and summer that you want to share?
Hanksy: I have a 3D VR app coming out soon. It will allow users to tour a giant Los Angeles mansion that I had 90 artists completely cover in art. I can’t wait.
Unfortunately it looks as if Trump will see this campaign out, whether he gets the GOP nomination or not. Because of that, I have fairly large plans for Dump Across America. Grandiose plans that will see me taking the bowel movement from coast to coast.
1xRUN: Where else can people find you?
Hanksy: Website – Instagram @hanskynyc + #dumpacrossamerica
-1xRUN
Hanksy was interviewed by 1xRUN Editor-In-Chief Pietro Truba. He has previously interviewed Ricky Powell, Doze Green, Fred Armisen and Shepard Fairey among others. Follow him @pietrotruba