pictures by C y b e r sAM, Harrod Blank and Wally Glenn (Wally also has posted some pictures here)

See the blog about the journey east with the Bus

SF Chronicle did a article about da Topsy Turvy bus here

Ok like all great things, this bus took a lot of work. The crew did this in about 3 months.
I worked on it for about a month doing all of the electical wiring.

 

We did the work in a huge wharehouse along side Dan Dasmann and Karen Cusolito building the giant sculptures for Burning Man. This place was kind of like a dungeon with metal grinding and welding noises 24/7. It is kind of like a casino, when you are in there you can't tell if it is day or night. Flash says it neither rains nor shines in this place.

 

Here is the final product. It was commissoned by Ben of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. I met him. He is a very down to earth guy who cares enough about our country to spend his money on things that make people think a bit more about our out of control government. His point is basically this...we spend enough money each year to be able to blow up all the major cities in the world about 12 times. How about if we only spend enough to blow up all the major cities only 6 times over and put the savings into something like education.

 

The Us Budget is Topsy Turvy. That is the point this bus makes. If he spent the same amount of money on a commercial he would probably get a 30 second commerical to air about 5-10 times and that would be it. This bus will continue to make a statement for years to come. I like it because no one has to say a thing to describe the point it is trying to make. You just have to show up.

 

Here what we replaced the stop sign with. The point it makes is very clear to see where all the US budget goes. It is easy to see where all the money goes. I also like this bus because it is not offensive to anyone. How can you not be pro-education.

 

 

 

The only other statement this bus makes is in the inside of the bus on the ceiling it shows a bar graph of how much money The US spends on military versus the top two other countries. The US annual budget (not including Iraq spending) is 14 times greater than the number two country China. When you see the disparity visual it is quite shocking.

 

Here is Major Tom and the Bus. He is an amazing fabricator. One of the most amazing I have ever seen.

 

Here is Major Tom's daily car. He has created so many art cars I can't even remember the name of this one.

Yes this bus really is topsy turvy. I shot this while driving behind him on the Bay Bridge, trying to capture how it leans. Don't worry though it has been anaylyzed by an engineer and it is not as top heavy as it looks.

 

Here are the main creators Tom and Haideen. An unstoppable couple. They are now delivering the bus to the east coast.

 

Major Tom at da wheel. His button says simply "I'm on the bus".