Scabby the Rat is a giant, inflatable rat that joins New York union workers on the picket line, an enduring symbol of the power of workers against rapacious capital.
Now, New York’s Bravinlee Programs gallery is hoping to raise $10,000 for a 15′ tall, suit-clad Trumpy the Rat inflatable to live outside of Trump Tower, designed by Jeffrey Beebe; Trumpy will also be available as a loan-out to protests and rallies. They’re pushing the limits of inflatable technology, attempting to design an inflatable piece of scotch tape to hold Trumpy’s tie together.
Backers can choose from tickets to Trumpy’s “maiden inflation”; limited edition prints of Trumpy; and Trumpy tees. If the campaign is oversubscribed, they’ll make more Trumpies with the surplus.
The gallery is currently raising $10,000 to get the rat manufactured by a professional company. The money will not only cover the cost of the custom job but also the tools required to install it, as well as rewards for donors, which include a “commemorative Trumpy the Rat” shirt and a “Trump Rat Inflation Picnic.” Other perks include original art by artist Jeffrey Beebe, who worked with BravinLee to design the plump presidential protest rat.“I’ve always marveled at how effective and disgusting the rat is,” BravinLee’s John Lee told Hyperallergic, referring to Scabby. “I saw one on Jackson Ave. (post Trump trauma), and it came to me that I had to make a Trump rat. Jeffrey Beebe obliged.”
Protesting the President with a “Trumpy the Rat” Inflatable
[Claire Voon/Hyperallergic]
15 foot Inflatable Trumpy the Rat (Castigat Ridendo Mores)
[John Post Lee/Kickstarter]