President Donald Trump's face graces news websites, magazine, Facebook feeds and now even a local dumpster. The dumpster, located near the Denton Square, was generating buzz online Monday after an artist stuck a picture of Donald Trump's face on its side.
Eric Mancini, a Denton street artist, says he's had the idea for the "Trumpster" for several months. While his work often involves social commentary, it's rarely politically charged. But in an era when there is "literally no escaping" the president's image, Mancini wanted to play into the irony.
"What I did is a big joke, just like his presidency," Mancini says.
"He is very reckless with how he reacts and speaks, I seriously think it's all just a big social experiment," he says. "I can't take any of it seriously. He's playing a psychological game with people."
This isn't the first time Mancini has taken a tongue-in-cheek approach to his work and simultaneously held up a mirror to popular culture. Recently, he secured a print out of one of his Facebook statuses to a building in downtown Denton using Velcro. It reads, "This Facebook post is street art."
Mancini isn't sure what the Trump presidency will mean for politics in the long run -- though commentators on his Facebook page offered "Trumpster fire" -- but he is sure it will inspire more art in the years to come.
"If he builds that wall, it will be one giant canvas for artists. Just like the Berlin Wall once was," says Mancini. "Artists on both sides."
