2024 is not 2016

A statement on tiny trump

When I started working on an artistic response after Trump’s first election, it was from a place of rage, outrage, and more rage. Trump had lost the popular vote by a large margin, clearly signaling that his presidency was not the choice of the majority. Amplifying this perceived injustice were his norm-shattering authoritarian, racist, and misogynistic overtones, statements, actions, and executive orders.

But 2024 is not 2016. This time around, Americans chose Trump with their eyes wide open. They looked into the abyss and said yes, I want this. There isn’t the same sense of injustice underlying his presidency this time. He won, fair and square. It doesn’t feel the same. I don’t feel the same.

It took me three years to develop tiny trump into the art-activist movement that met the moment of the first Trump presidency. I don’t know whether tiny trump of 2016–2020 meets the current moment. Different times generally call for different solutions.

I’ll be watching how these next four years unfold, and I expect to find new ways to use art to meet the next moment. In the meantime, I’ve spent the last two years working on something completely different, which I’m excited to share in the New Year.

For those of you who want to continue using tiny trump to express your resistance, please remember that tiny trump is, and always has been, fully open-source so you can make your own, whenever you want, in as many quantities as you wish.

Eric Corriel, artist