Who created the pop-up Trump statues in Portland and Philadelphia?

Trump Monument in Philadelphia.
Photo: Nikki Valli

Last Thursday, an unusual monument appeared on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. – a a swirl of brown feces on top of the replica Nancy Pelosi desk. “This monument honors the brave men and women who broke into the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, to loot, urinate and defecate in these hallowed halls in an effort to overturn the election,” reads a plaque at the base of the statue.

Then on Sunday in Portland, Oregon, Fr temporary monument to Donald Trump it appeared in front of a permanent statue of an abstract female nude, and its positioning suggested that the former president was looking at the woman. At the base was a plaque reading “In Honor of the Totality of Sexual Assault,” followed by Trump’s infamous sign Getting to Hollywood a quote that was made public in the final days of the 2016 election. (By Wednesday, a similar monument had been placed behind a naked woman in Philadelphia.) On Monday, a tiki torch monument evoking the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville was installed in the blocks of Freedom Plaza next to the White House, along with a plaque describing it as “Donald J. Trump’s Enduring Flame.”

Since no one came forward to take credit for the statues, I contacted a woman who – accidentallywas the producer of one of Borat sequels — who applied for permission to place a dumpster statue on the National Mall. A few hours later I received a call from the artist who said that Borat the manufacturer was not involved, but she was the one who applied for permission for him to cut out. While declining to give his name, he took credit for the statues in Philadelphia and Portland and did not say whether he was behind the DC statues – although the permitting process and the similarity of the plaques suggest it is the same author. I spoke with the guerrilla artist about their mission and whether we can expect to see more monuments before Election Day.

When did you come up with this idea and why did you start making statues?
Have you heard this? expression “resistance fatigue”? We’ve lived through nine years of the Trump presidency and its aftermath, and now we’re back to campaigning. It’s exhausting and we’ve become numb to it. I thought resistance fatigue was interesting and very true for much of the world right now. To me, many of the most shocking things about Trump as a candidate and as a person are things that have been forgotten or numbed or normalized, and that is very scary. So this is a way to bring some of these very shocking, very real, very important things into the national conversation in a fun and cheeky way.

Plaque on a monument in Philadelphia.
Photo: Nikki Valli

Did you know from the beginning that you wanted to take advantage of Trump Getting to Hollywood quote or has it been resumed for these two new palpation allegations that surfaced last week?
We knew we wanted it to refer to Getting to Hollywood tape. I think what really resonated with this one was the juxtaposition of placing it next to nude female statues. Of course, we didn’t want to put him next to real people because I guess it was a little awkward to put him next to a statue of Harriet Tubman or something. But the headline – “in honor of a lifelong survivor of sexual assault” – came very late.

How long did you work on creating and installing these statues?
It’s been over a month, but less than three months.

How did you choose to place the statues in Portland and Philadelphia, beyond just proximity to the nude figure?
It was a combination of nude statues that are available where they might look good and places that we thought might last a little longer. I would say we were wrong. (Note: The statue in Portland was beheaded hours after its installation. City workers do REMOVED monument in Philadelphia.)

Was there a specific photo of Trump that these statues were based on? What are they made of?
NO.

The plinths are actually just painted wood. Trump’s head is made of clay, initially molded and then turned into plastic. We wanted it to be a very condescending smirk on the face and then a sort of lewd hand grab. The face was the hardest thing to make. The torso is weird. These are actual clothes that have been immortalized in a sense. They are about eight feet tall and weigh about 100 pounds.

Can we expect more of these to emerge before Tuesday’s election?
Anything can happen.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.