Sunday, February 20, 2011

The Foot


The Foot is a project that supports Kelly Benjamin's campaign for City Council in Tampa Fl District 6. The idea came from making fun of former Mayor Dick Greco's campaign signs for a fifth term in office which show a day glow hand ( with the unprinted slogan "Give Me Five" as the message) Kelly Benjamin's campaign quickly came up with a symbol to represent the need for change in Tampa's political climate which took the form of a day glow foot with the message
"Tampa Needs a Kick". The popularity of these political symbols caused an escalation in the visual imagery of the campaigns. Kelly asked me to sculpt a foot that he could use at debates and when he picked it up at the studio I showed him a family treasure that was from the 1941 Mayoral race in Tampa that takes the form of a wooden hatchet that all the candidates signed with a promise to "bury the hatchet" and inscribed with the latin phrase "Pax Vobis"
Ed Turanchic with The Foot.

So Kelly has been covering The Foot with signatures by asking the candidates for Mayor and City Council to add their names to the object. The Foot will be sealed and donated to the Tampa History Center at the end of the race.
Dick Greco contemplating the meaning of The Foot. To sign or not to sign (he did sign and also made a drawing of his hand symbol on The Foot)
There will be follow up on The Foot don't you worry!