PERFORMANCE BEGINS AT THE CORNER OF 3rd St. & NUECES 

Performance artist, Jimmy Kuehnle, comes back to Austin, Texas to perform in another huge inflatable suit.   In coordination with Fusebox Festival 2009, Kuehnle will clog the sidewalks and reach for the electric lines in his towering inflatable suit titled, Big Red and will debut a new suit titled Walking Fish.  The performances will start with the opening night parade as Kuehnle dons his suits and ventures out into the public.

The suits are powered by 12v blower motors, which frees Kuehnle to cram in-between festival attendees and the infrastructure of Austin.  The performance will continue his message of, “Stop. Talk to me. We are both people.”  Kuehnle makes his art 50% for himself and 50% for the viewer.  The bright colors of the suits should attract the attention of pedestrians making nonsense of common sense.  The handmade inflatable suits are huge yet glide along the ground with surprising agility. 
 
Kuehnle received an MFA in Sculpture in 2006 from the University of Texas at San Antonio and continues to make sculpture and performance work.  In 2008 he research public art and practiced sculpture as a Fulbright Graduate Research Fellow and artist in Japan.
 
Images of Kuehnle’s work can be seen on his website at http://www.jimmykuehnle.com/.