Topsy-Turvy bus unveiled today

Burning Man artists have built a roaming political art piece, commissioned by Ben Cohen (of Ben & Jerry's.)

from the SFGate:

The Topsy-Turvy Bus, a "shortie" yellow school bus with its twin welded upside down to the roof, was commissioned by Ben & Jerry's ice cream co-founder Ben Cohen to protest U.S. military spending.

A crew of 10 artists who build sculpture for the annual Burning Man art festival in the Nevada desert is putting the finishing touches on the bus, including stenciling the sides to say, "The U.S. Budget Is Topsy-Turvy." They are putting large pie charts on the flip-out stop signs that show half of federal discretionary spending is reserved for the Pentagon, and diet-size slivers set aside for other concerns such as education, health care and the environment.

Tuesday, lead builder Tom Kennedy and artist Flash Hopkins were using a ceiling crane to lower the wheels onto the upside down bus.

"Our military arsenal is big enough blow up every major city 10 times," said Kennedy, citing numbers compiled by Cohen. "What we're saying with the bus is that if we just cut back to blowing up every city four times, we could save 40 billion a year for things like schools."

The Topsy-Turvy Bus will be unveiled today on hallowed protest ground, at Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus.

(photo at top from SFGate, photo by Mike Kepka)