OWS: Where iTOMB Began

Outside Trinity Church on Occupy's first anniversary 09.17.12

Nearly every day, people ask me where the idea for iTOMB came from and I tell them it began as an activist platform for me at Occupy Wall Street (OWS) in New York in 2011. Above I appear at Occupy's first anniversary, in front of Trinity Church last year with the anniversary poster to my left.

Click here for an interview I did on that day with New Tang Dynasty TV in Taiwan. Pay special attention to the clips before my cameo as the police arrest and harass regular citizens for exercising their right to free speech. God bless America.

And God bless news outlets like this who show the world that our free country is not all it advertises itself to be. But we're working on that:)

.

iTOMB: © Interactivism Now Comes to You!

The original iTOMB 10.06.11 Zuccotti Park, NYC

Wall Street Journal

From activist statement to interactive family experience, months have passed since the NYPD surrounded me in Zuccotti Park and Union Square in 'iThink Outside My Box' (iTOMB) and eventually arrested me for that First Amendment activity:) All charges were subsequently dropped and I'm now in the business of counter suing the boyz in blue for false arrest and confiscating all my artworks and belongings. Too much fun:) But having passed our first anniversary, Occupy survives as an activist octopus of varying actions and iTOMB continues as performance art, activism and interactivity.

Now I've moved the whole enterprise to The Highline at 22nd St. and have had nothing but positive responses from the staff and visitors. Aside from just me working, now anyone can paint a picture and boy do they paint! See this selection of the best of September's work by visitors to iTOMB. 

Benji 10.01.12

Through visitor and fan suggestions I am now making the © Interactivism of iTOMB available for school, social organisation and corporate programmes. That means I can travel anywhere in the 5 boroughs and set up a painting exercise for all ages at a very reasonable fee. Prices start at just $150 - and with my mix of performance, humour, painting and encouragement a few minutes behind the brush brings a welcome break to virtually all ages. Can you think of any schools, companies, orgs or programmes where this would work well? Let me know. I'm excited to bring the box on the road and share the experience with as many people as need a dose of creative juice. Otherwise, check out the rest of the site and see all the things we're up to.

iTOMB today 10.04.12 The Highline, NYC- Interactive activism:)

Some things were just not meant to happen

1 October, 2012 Occupy Wall Street, Zuccotti Park, NYC

In two separate instances this week all of the art that was to be exhibited on the 21st at Munch Gallery has been lost or stolen. I had entrusted the box to the care of a friend who had left it with his apartment building front office, folded and wrapped. In breaking the news to me of its loss he had sent a text to my phone asking for an early morning meeting at Union Square. Upon my arrival his first words to me were, "So how do you feel about the bad news?" "What bad news?", I asked. "The news that your box was thrown out by my building staff", he responded.

I took a minute and went to sit down on the granite steps to the park. Rushing through my head were all the possible ramifications of this event - without the box, does any of the work at all make sense in a gallery setting? How was it that I could save this piece from the riot police during the Zuccotti Park raid in November of last year, only to lose it to sheer negligence in a Gramercy Park apartment building? Why wasn't the package marked? Why didn't building staff know of its importance? WTF? I was furious with the friend and dumbfounded by his total lack of responsibility in the matter.

Answers to too many questions would lay pending the next day events. A piece of history was gone. And too many other opportunities with it.

The next day I spent the better part of the day on the computer doing general office work and trying to make a plan B for the gallery show. It wouldn't matter.

I had left my mobile studio with the Occupiers at Union Square, a place where it had been safe and watched over since our arrival in March of this year. Apparently, a rain had fallen in the early evening and Occupiers had packed up and moved their tables to dry shelter. My mobile studio, containing the remainder of the artwork was left behind and not to be found when I returned to the park. It remains lost along with the original box and may be decorating a city landfill somewhere. Nicely I hope.

This week also another friend reminded me of the myth of Sisyphus, the mythological Greek character who was doomed to pushing a boulder uphill only to see it roll back down again, over and over and over again. "The struggle itself ... Is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus as happy", wrote Albert Camus. These past 10 months with Occupy and 4 different boxes, all lost to one end or another, compares to the myth of Sisyphus. Maybe it's time to think truly out of my box and find a more productive way to spend my time.

And it's off to Philly we go...

The Occupy 1st Anniversary Poster color study.

Leaving today and returning to New York on 5th July, I will be attending the first Occupy National Gathering in Philadelphia at Liberty Plaza for the 4th of July. I'm billing it The Woodstock of Occupy. And I hope it is:) So please wish all Occupiers well and please continue to donate to our bus and travel funds. We'll do our best to learn our heritage in Philly and act accordingly;)

Announcing the "I think Outside My Box" soft launch blog

As a way to document the painting work I've accomplished at Occupy Wall Street to date as well as to aid Homeland Security in surveilling that curious man in the box, I'm launching the I Think Outside My Box blog. Please take a gander in its prelaunch state and make sure to subscribe to updates. Warhol rolls onto his stomach as the work presented at iTOMB continues to conquer Union Square and Gotham at large. Next week, Philly. Scary.

Help Support the Occupy National Gathering on July 4th, Philadelphia, PA

In less than a week, the first Occupy national gathering will happen in Philadelphia, PA, not coincidentally, in the same city as our founding fathers crafted the declaration that gave all Americans hope, freedom and the ultimate pursuit of happiness.

Join Occupy and help us reclaim our revolutionary heritage. To help New Yorkers attend the conference, please donate generously here for bus tickets. To help me attend as a delegate to the event, please look for the Paypal button on the left and donate appropriately. Help us rewrite history and compose a new saga of respect, fairness and equality for all Americans the process - something neither political convention is set to accomplish this summer.

The Sky's Not Falling Yet, But It Could - George Soros on the Coming US Class War

The sky's not falling
yet, but it could

As we settle down to yet another Occupied night at Union Square, mesh netting now covers the scaffolding used by Occupiers for shelter, placed there by building management to deny us our right to use part of a public sidewalk as a protest area, aided by the ever present NYPD with a new weekly strategy to simply arrest one protester a day whether they're doing anything or not - George Soros pops up on my iPhone in a Newsweek story to tell me that what I and the rest of the Occupy movement are doing is not just totally bat-shit crazy. "I am not here to cheer you up. The situation is about as serious and difficult as I've experienced in my career.", says Soros, who, at the age of 13 saw Nazi soldiers invade and occupy his native Hungary in 1944, only later to have that fascism replaced by the totalitarian Soviets - only to watch that fail as well. “The collapse of the Soviet system was a pretty extraordinary event, and we are currently experiencing something similar in the developed world, without fully realizing what’s happening.”, he continues.

But for Occupiers, the system has already collapsed and those who deny or decry Occupy, are just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. “We are facing an extremely difficult time, comparable in many ways to the 1930s, the Great Depression. We are facing now a general retrenchment in the developed world, which threatens to put us in a decade of more stagnation, or worse. The worst-case scenario is a collapse of the financial system.”, Soros sees, and he fears the government's reaction to this protracted financial crisis and related Occupation protest could be worse than the problem itself. “It will be an excuse for cracking down and using strong-arm tactics to maintain law and order, which, carried to an extreme, could bring about a repressive political system, a society where individual liberty is much more constrained, which would be a break with the tradition of the United States.”

So there we have it. A man who knows police states, watching the formation of the world's newest police state - the formerly, 'Land of the free, home of the brave' good ole' USofA. 

This morning as roughly 6 or so Occupiers arrived to began setting up organization info tables, no fewer than 12 cop cars could be seen lining 14th street in front of the rather smallish Occupation - all police picking up that ever sought after $60 an hour overtime. Earlier in the week two uniformed and smiling NYPD officers had been spotted in Chelsea at 9th in front of the Apple store distributing community alert pamphlets highlighting an increase in neighborhood burglaries. Hmmm. How many police detectives does it take to figure that the $17 million spent thus far on overtime for policing Occupy might be far better spent, fighting actual crime? Maybe it just takes one concerned with protecting the 1% constituency of people like George Soros:)

Emergency Relief: Donations/Projects Needed

Scene of no crime

As per my previous story on being arrested on the morning of April 27th, that day, while I was in police custody, officer Lombardo and crew raided the OWS (legal) encampment on 15th Street and confiscated not only our OWS donations box, but my personal belongings in the form of a rolling suitcase containing all my artwork, supplies, paints, brushes, clothing and a Lumix camera I had been given as a gift. When confronted by OWS members objecting to the removal of the luggage, the officer responded, "That guy was arrested this morning - so his stuff is 'unattended'. Haul it." So in the space of one day, the NYPD not only arrested me illegally, but confiscated both my business and my home in one rolling cart. Somehow, I'm sure America is safer for this:)

To restart my sign-painting business, replace my camera and regain my other possessions, I am soliciting donations or projects to get back in the game. Yes, I find it deplorable that our law enforcement officials are being actively aggressive towards Occupy members and in my case, even taking the supplies that I use to support my Occupation. We Occupy exactly against these illegal activities.

Please help fight this injustice and contribute liberally to this cause. A recent comment to my post, "Arresting Developments" stated, "You make us all proud, David. We can't all be there, but you're a terrific surrogate." With that sentiment, please understand one thing:

I have been on the front lines of OWS since September 18, 2011.

Please use the PayPal donation button in the left sidebar and help me survive to fight again another day.

And if you have projects regarding advertising or writing, please contact me here - or visit my LinkedIn page. I'd rather have the work than a donation. Your support is greatly appreciated and needed in these days of police oppression against artists and purveyors of true liberty.

Arresting Developments: American Spring Sprung on Occupier Artist

Street Graffiti 

On Friday, April 27th, I was arrested by the NYPD for essentially, being an Occupier. When asked why I was being arrested, officer Kevin Wahlig said, "I don't know, a couple of things. We'll discuss it on the way to the station." Not until much later in the day before my arraignment in court was I aware of the actual charges and I was never read my rights. Stated as (1) Disorderly Conduct and (2) Resisting Arrest, I found the charges interesting in that my conduct was one of sleeping on the sidewalk and my resistance to arrest was premeditated in the officer's mind, well before I was actually arrested. It seemed immediately that preparations for disrupting Occupy's May Day plans were underway. According to a 2000 court order from the New York State Supreme Court, sleeping is protected as a form of "public expression", so I couldn't possibly being arrested for that, could I? Well, not legally, but if my sleeping was disorderly I suppose I could be cited (funny just thinking about that - "You hogged all the  covers so now you're under arrest!").

My Occupation

The police had come at 6:30am to wake up a host of Occupiers sleeping across the street from HSBC and helping Max in his vigil to highlight the plight of the homeless. I had awaken but fallen back to sleep due to a succession of rainy days and need of sleep. Waking me a second time no less than four officers were in charge of me with Wahlig taking the lead. As I prepared to collect my things and began putting on my shoes I was asked for my ID which I produced and continued packing up. Asking for my ID back was when I was told I was being arrested, so I immediately reached for a cigarette (knowing I wouldn't have one all day) and began to light it - but that set the four officers off in a flurry of trying to grab my hands to handcuff. Arms pulled behind me, entirely too much force was used to detain a 143lb man and the cuffs wrenched so tightly my left wrist was bruised and cut - my body pushed around and manhandled as if they needed to create a scuffle to make it look like something was happening. But nothing was happening except another routine illegal arrest of a member of Occupy Wall Street.

Sign of the times

Since the beginning of Occupy on September 17th, 2011 over 17 million dollars have been spent in NYPD overtime, policing a non-violent movement and over 2200 arrests have been made according to the National Lawyers Guild. I wonder how much it costs to arrest a homeless man for sleeping? Whatever the cost, it's too much taxpayer money that could be going to creating jobs and alleviating the homeless problem in the US, but in NYC it seems no amount is too much when it comes to funding the police department. Earlier in the week I overheard an officer say, "I hate Occupy but I love the overtime". Great. That's your tax dollars at work, harassing citizens, suppressing free speech and taking us yet one step closer to a police state - with officers just making up the laws as they go. At Occupy though, we see the NYPD overreaction as a measure of our success. Only if we are truly a threat to the status quo would they react with the brute force and numbers that they have.


My day proceeded with being handcuffed and thrown into a van, not able to take my rolling cart with all my artwork and clothing in it. So I left it with my fellow Occupiers, sure that they would keep an eye on things and I could pick it up later - but that would not be the case either. Once at the station I was relieved of my personal belongings, finger-printed, retnal-scanned and pitched into an empty cell. With no other customers that morning I was doing all I could to keep Precinct 13 alive and buzzing with the smell of a fresh kill. This crime fighting stuff is indeed a serious business.

An hour at the precinct and I was transferred downtown in a van to what is referred to as Central Booking. It's basically a city jail and as opposed to the rules at the precinct where I was required to remove my belt so I didn't hang myself from the shame of my charges, I kept my belt, wallet and ID and was put in a large cell with 10 or so other prisoners - and if one had to judge the state of criminal activity by this lot, it might be assumed that we were all living on Sesame Street. One guy was in for "moving cardboard" in an attempt to arrange a warm sleeping spot for himself. Another for DWI, of which he seemed totally capable, and yet another for short paying a cabbie claiming the guy ripped him off by driving a longer route. No axe murderers, armed robbers or drug dealers. Unless prisoners are arranged by the severity of their crimes it seemed this early morning crew of primarily black and hispanic customers were doing nothing but giving the cops a way to keep their operations budget and make the monthly arrest quota with just days to spare.

Hours passed and we were served dry bread with a piece of cheese on it for lunch at noon. Hours more passed and we were served another two pieces of dry bread with cheese on it for dinner at six - and by this time, very few people had been processed through to arraignment. So we were basically sitting around with our thumbs up our butts comparing charges - all misdemeanors. Finally, a number of us were moved to another cell to be able to speak with our respective attorneys. We were transferred by chain gang, all handcuffed together and began, one by one, to have short meetings with our public defenders. Outside we could hear both the police statements of events and the accused accounts. During the DWI guy's meeting we could hear the attorney speaking on the phone with the guy's wife who was downstairs posting bail for her husband. "She wants to know if there's a bar in the building", the attorney said, "While she waits for you to get out". Funny, this 'he and she' separated by phone and crossbars, seemed the perfect couple for the times.

My attorney had been arranged by the National Lawyer's Guild and came prepared to hear the trumped up charges. Representing the Legal Aid Society who had been retained by NLG to handle an overflow of cases (Of the over 2200 arrests made of Occupiers, nearly 700 from the Brooklyn bridge march back in October are now finally going to trial) currently going through the system, he recommends that we fight the charges instead of taking a plea bargain that would drop them after six months if I remained out of trouble. Now knowing the police can just make up charges whenever they want, I didn't feel confident that I could keep out of jail until then, and with any other arrests, even bullshit ones, I would be looking possibly guilty on the standing charge - and so I agree with my council and decide to fight. It's a no-brainer since we're now seven months into  the battle anyway. Methinks it's time to start winning.

Up In The Air

Arraigned and out before 9pm, I make my way back to Union Square only to find that the police had harassed and raided the Occupy tables there and confiscated my rolling cart with the rest of my clothing and all of my street art business (Signs illustrated in photos here). Eye witness reports of Officer Lombardo from the 7th precinct rolling away my cart are plentiful and I have photography and video of the heist. Now I was jobless by nature of harassment and theft by the NYPD. It seems once one is down, the procedure is to keep them there and I can assure you, the police are doing their best to oppress the less well-armed. Today I was asked if I ever thought I would get the bag back. "I don't know", I responded. But I can guarantee you, once I get back in the business of making those clever protest signs, I have a whole new target to aim fun at. Pissing off those who can write and draw well is never a good idea:)


It's time the NYPD is outed and rightfully disrespected for the childish and boorish organization they have become - arresting the developments of a society that has had quite enough of the rich getting richer while the poor become continually poorer. I myself, have not yet begun to fight.

Occupy Wall Street Returns to Union Square

Photo: Julia Reinhart

Welcome drummers and clowns and street performers of all varieties - and yes, real activists and protesters too. And with the six month anniversary for OWS on March 17th at Zuccotti park, Occupy was back in business - until the cops kicked them out again on that Saturday night. The Raw Story covers things here with police violence marking the otherwise peaceful protests and bringing back to mind the government oppression of the last days at Zuccotti Park. And so after a full day on the 17th I left at midnight, only to see the protesters physically removed later on TimCast's livestream and an OWS move to Union Square. 

Capt. Ray Lewis

Monday I arrived at Union Square to a more than festive atmosphere. It was like the police had given OWS a gift - a new park to haunt. Befuddled park rangers and police tried their best to deal with a morning crowd, much more spirited than they might have been used to, but somehow in their eyes, you could see they were just waiting for word from above to drop the hammer yet one more time on the Occupy movement. Captain Ray Lewis, a retired Philadelphia police officer was there, just as he had been at Zuccotti, and a whole new generation of New Yorkers seemed to delight in the idea that the fun had finally reached their neighborhood. Occupy was back. At least in spirit.

Throughout the week, police presence had increased and on Tuesday night, the ritual of barricading the place, a Zuccotti staple of American freedom, had returned. But this time, it was the police barricading themselves into a small portion of the park and forcing the protesters onto the sidewalk, a legal sleeping area in NYC, to look back on the cops and taunt them from the outside. A video of protesters "Cop fishing" with a donut shows the Occupy movement has still not lost its sense of humour. Later in the week, I designed the logo above, based on the idea that people were trying to Trademark the Occupy Wall Street concept but didn't have a logo. I thought this solved the problem nicely - to sort of occupy the legal concept of owning intellectual property. It seems things will just get more interesting as this American spring gets under way.