Topsy-Turvy Bus National Tour

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The Topsy-Turvy Bus, lovingly known as Topsy, was designed to dramatically depict America's upside down budget priorities. Topsy is a brainchild of Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's and noted artist Stefan Sagmeister, and was constructed by artist-mechanic Tom Kennedy.

'Our nation's spending priorities allow crumbling schools, millions of children with no health coverage, dependence on Middle East oil and deficits as far as you can see,' said Ben Cohen, president of the Priorities Campaign.

Topsy started out as a typical yellow school bus, but was fabricated with its twin welded upside down to the roof by Tom Kennedy and a crew of 10 artists who are no strangers to art-cars.

'I'm a guy who's been looking to use art cars for social change, and Kennedy is a guy who wants to make art cars for a living with some social purpose,' Cohen said. 'Clearly, we were both searching for each other.'

Kennedy is driving Topsy from California on a national tour to reach New Hampshire where Topsy will spend two months before rounding out the year in Iowa, all to flush out the spending priorities of presidential candidates.

Topsy also doubles as a mobile-theatre with an onboard video screen, which explains the federal budget in similarly entertaining fashion.

Originally posted on blog.bsing.net by Rhizome