Wall Street Journal
'WikiLeaks Truck' For Sale on eBay | Jonathan Welsh | January 3, 2012
Some collector vehicles are valuable because they won big races like
Indianapolis or Le Mans. Others fetch big bids because of celebrity
ownership. Then there’s the WikiLeaks Truck – best known as an emblem of
activism.
Online auctioneer eBay is offering what may be 2011’s most newsworthy
box van, the WikiLeaks Mobile Information Collection Unit. The truck is
not officially connected with WikiLeaks, the organization known for
releasing secret documents. Artist Clark Stoeckley created it as a way
to bring a symbol of WikiLeaks to the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations
in New York.
Stoekley, who says the truck is a sort of prank, has driven it back
and forth a number of times between New York and Washington, D.C. The
vehicle has been stopped, searched and confiscated by law enforcement
and became an symbol of widespread discontent as “Occupy” movements
spread across the U.S.
According to the eBaylisting, Clark made a New Year’s resolution to
expand the WikiLeaks Truck concept into a fleet around the world. To
help fund the project he is selling the original, which he bought from
rental company U-Haul a year ago. The auction listing calls it “a great
conversation starter.”
The truck weighs 7,540 pounds empty with a maximum gross weight of
11,000 pounds. The online pitch describes it as being in great condition
except for the following flaws: a bent front bumper, inoperative air
conditioning and driver-side radio speaker, and belts that need
tightening. Bonus features include a satellite dish, dummy security
cameras, a couch and a toy piano.
The auction ends Jan 9 at 8:43:53 p.m., PST.
Gawker
The Wikileaks Truck Is For Sale. | Adrian Chen | January 3, 2012
photo by David Shankbone
Now you have a chance to buy what must be one of the more famous U-Haul trucks in history. Artist Clark Stoeckley has put his spoof "WikiLeaks Mobile Collection Unit" on eBay to raise funds.
The Wikileaks Truck has no official connection with Wikileaks, but it
does have some radical cred on account of it having been confiscated by
NYPD and temporarily "lost" then recovered
during a stint at Occupy Wall Street in November. It runs, fitfully. As
far as Wikileaks souvenirs go, it's way better than the bag of coffee
signed by Julian Assange sold during an official fundraiser.
The truck has nearly 200,000 miles and bidding starts at $7,500.
Makes an excellent birthday present for someone you want to be sure is
under government surveillance at all times.
The Atlantic Wire
The WikiLeaks Truck is For Sale. | Adam Martin |
January 3, 2012
Aside from the field of blue-tarp-covered tents and the People's Library, one of the most iconic images of Occupy Wall Street's Zuccotti Park encampment was the WikiLeaks Truck that kept a near-constant vigil across the street. Now the truck's up for auction. Daily Dot points us to an eBay listing for the truck with a starting price of $7,500, though nobody's actually placed a bid yet. The Kelly Blue Book value
for a 1996 Ford F-350 longbed pickup truck with close to 200,000 miles
is about $2,500. This one's a 1996 F-350 with 194,672 miles that's been
converted to a box truck (it used to be a U-Haul). But more importantly,
it's got massive decals on the sides that say WikiLeaks Mobile
Information Collection Unit, and it gained fame for its constant
presence at Occupy Wall Street as well as its suspicious disappearance into the annals of New York City's vehicle impound system when it got seized the day of Occupy's massive march following
its eviction.
Clark Stoeckley, the truck's owner, wrote in his listing: "Clark's New
Year's resolution is to expand the WikiLeaks Truck project and make a
fleet around the world. To afford to do so, he must sell the original
truck. This is not the end of this conceptual art piece, rather it is
merely just the beginning." Stoeckly's including some pretty tantalizing
extras, as well: "Satellite Dish, 4 Dummy Security Cameras, Patriotic
Bunting, Couch, Toy Piano, and possibly tracking bugs installed by the
government." What a deal!
Update (4:57 p.m. EST): Stoeckley says he's gotten a bid from a WikiLeaks truck fan who has the Twitter handle @AnonDaily
The sale, he says, will finance the creation of a second WikiLeaks
truck, which will in turn finance a third, and so on. He bought the
truck for $2,900, he says, and put $1,000 into it. The rest of the
mark-up comes from its value as a work of art. "I’m an artist and
artists sell their work to make more art," Stoeckley told The Atlantic
Wire. "So I figured I should sell this one to make more trucks. I
figured the first one got enough notoriety ... that it might have some
cultural value already built into it."
The Daily Dot
Who Drives the WikiLeaks Truck? We Found Him. | Fruzsina Eördögh | December 5, 2011
Artist Clark Stoeckley, the owner
of a truck with the WikiLeaks logo
emblazoned on it, jokes he is the official truck driver for Occupy Wall
Street.
“I deliver everything except laundry,” he told the Daily Dot in a phone interview.
Stoeckley describes himself as an “artivist,”
a term he said he coined for his blend of satirical art and activism.
The WikiLeaks Truck is his mobile art piece, and he’s driven it
repeatedly up and down the East Coast, between Washington, DC, and New
York City.
Stoeckley has no real connection to WikiLeaks, the international
whistle-blowing, nonprofit, controversial organization devoted to
releasing previously secret documents.
“I’m definitely not a hacker,” says Stoeckley. He’s clearly a WikiLeaks
supporter and he sees himself as tangentially part of the group in that
WikiLeaks is a volunteer organization “and I am a volunteer.”
The truck has not been officially sanctioned by the organization (if
the organization even does such things). But by the same token,
WikiLeaks has not reached to Stoeckley to tell him to stop using the
name. Stoeckley finds that encouraging.
The truck was purely Stoeckley’s idea and he painted his vehicle with
the WikiLeaks name because he strongly believes that some sort of
WikiLeaks symbol should be prevalent at the OWS movement.
“Arab Spring is a result of WikiLeaks, the rise of Anonymous is a
result of WikiLeaks support, and both of those led up to the OWS
movement,” Stoeckley said.
The WikiLeaks logo on Stoeckley’s truck, however, has confused those in
law enforcement, who have searched his truck multiple times.
Stoeckley’s truck was even confiscated—and
temporarily lost—by the NYPD. Stoeckley also has spent about 30 hours
in jail for refusing to let law enforcement search his truck a third
time, an arrest Stoeckley’s lawyer has called unlawful.
In an interview with the site WikiLeaks-Movie.com,
Stoeckley also described his truck as “part-prank,” though given the
trouble the truck has caused him, it’s hard to know who is pranking whom
here, or if the prank is more trouble than it’s worth.
Besides trouble with the law, the notoriety of the truck’s logo has led people to hurl abuse at Stoeckley.
“I've had people yell at me on occasion about [Wikileaks founder] Julian Assange, and I've had very conservative business men give me the finger,” Stoeckley said. “That’s usually as far as the debate goes.”
It’s not all bad; Stoeckley recalled the time a cab driver pulled up
next to him to praise his efforts, saying “WikiLeaks is important all
over the world, and I support you and the 99%!”
Formally named the “Wikileaks Top Secret Mobile Information Collection
Unit,” Stoeckley said “driving it and parking it is my performance.”
The usefulness of the truck hasn’t escaped OWS protesters though, and
Stoeckley’s truck is regularly used as a storage space, a transport
vehicle for heavy objects like generators, and for shelter.
“I’ve also used it as a medic station for people suffering from
hypothermia,” he said. In the future, Stoeckley hopes to turn it into a
television, and “I’ve also wanted to use it as a stage for
performances.”
Stoeckley also performs with the Anonymous Theater Art Group,
a troupe of actors performing on city sidewalks. Sometimes ATAG
portrays soldiers, other times they play Wall Street bankers panhandling
for bailouts.
Stoeckley also makes bullet-proof body armor and Guy Fawkes masks,
which he sells to keep his truck up and running and in good condition.
(Recently, a World Trade Center cement truck backed into his truck, and
he had to replace a side door and windows.)
Together with Doctor Adventure, the two have expanded to make other
“superhero armor” in an undisclosed studio space. Stoeckley is the
painter, while Doctor Adventure, who is also a mechanic, makes body
armor and prosthetics.
Stoeckley also claimed he has sidekicks and bodyguards. (We're pretty
sure he was joking.) Together, they make up a group called the “Art
Superheroes.”
“Any person who has ridden in the truck w
ith me is an art superhero,” Stoeckley told the Daily Dot.
And, added Stoeckley, the Daily Dot, by virtue of publishing this article, is now an art superhero, too.
Know Your Meme
November 23, 2011
Sympathetic Judge Frees the WikiLeaks Truck | Adam Martin | November 23, 2011
The WikiLeaks truck that graced the Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park for most of its duration got lost last week
when New York Police impounded it, and now that it's been found in a
police impound lot, it's not in great shape. "It has two parking tickets
on it, and the battery's dead, " an aggravated-sounding Clark Stoeckley,
the truck's 29-year-old owner, said over the phone on Wednesday
afternoon. Police eventually gave Stoeckley a jump that got him on the
road, but not before they threatened to arrest him for videotaping them
in the impound lot (more on that later). The whole thing sounds
contentious, except for Stoeckley's guardian angel: A sympathetic judge.
The truck, a modified U-Haul that sports giant decals reading
"WikiLeaks Mobile Collection Unit" and "Top Secret" was parked adjacent
to Zuccotti Park since Occupy Wall Street started. Stoeckley says he has
no connection to WikiLeaks, but he supports its mission. The truck's
been missing since Stoeckley got arrested while driving it last Thursday
during the big Occupy Wall Street protest. Stoeckley said police stopped
him on Broadway near Zuccotti Park because his license plate was "askew"
and asked to search his vehicle. When he wouldn't consent to the
search, he said, they arrested him for obstructing government administration
and held him until Friday night. "Basically, I got out Friday evening, I
wasn’t able to pick up my keys until Monday morning," and by that point
the truck was nowhere to be found," Stoeckley said. His arresting
officer, he said, had given him a piece of scratch paper with the name
and number of Mike's Towing, in Brooklyn, telling him that's where the
truck was. "Come to find out that Mike’s Towing has never received the
truck at any point. So yeah. It went missing."
After
calling various city offices on Monday and Tuesday and not finding
anyone who could tell him where the truck was, Stoeckley decided to see a
judge about the growing stack of parking tickets he owed. Perhaps, he
thought, the judge would be able to tell him where to go after he made
things right with the city. The judge did him one better. Stoeckley tweeted:
"An OWS sympathizer judge just dropped all of my parking tickets. They
say the truck is at pier 76 impound. On my way. Great Day!" How did he
know the judge was a sympathizer? "He told me I was doing good work."
But Stoeckley found his parking ticket luck ran out once he got to the
impound lot. Apparently the truck hadn't spent the entire time there
while it was separated from him. Two new tickets perched on the
windshield (see left), both with the address 16 Varick St. "I got a
ticket for parking in a bus lane and parking next to a fire hydrant.
Those were on Friday morning between 8 and 9 a.m." On Tuesday night,
somebody tweeted a photo of the truck getting towed from Varick Street
on Friday, presumably to the impound lot.
Reunited with his truck, Stoeckly tried to start the engine to pull out
of the lot. Nothing. He got a jump start, and made it across the lot
again, but the truck died again. When cops tried to give Stoeckley
another jump, things got contentious. "I started videotaping it, and the
officer threatened to have me arrested," saying Stoeckley couldn't
record them on city property. He did anyway, and tweeted the footage.
In the end, they got the truck started, and Stoeckley headed out from the impound lot. He tweeted: "On my way to OWS storage to drop off blankets. I believe I tweeted this a week ago."
Occupy Wall Street Wikileaks Truck Recovered From the Law’s Cruel Grasp | Adrian Chen | November 23, 2011
Artist Clark Stoeckley has been reunited with his long-lost
Wikileaks truck! Turns out it was at the city impound at Pier 79. Its
battery was dead and two new traffic tickets graced the windshield, but
is in fine condition otherwise.
We spoke to Stoeckley on the phone as he was pulling out of the lot
in his reclaimed truck, sounding relieved. He wasn't very clear about
how the truck was ultimately found, and had to get off the phone in the
middle of the call when the truck stalled, but the ordeal seems to be
more a case of NYPD/city bureaucratic bullshit and general dickishness
towards Occupy Wall Street protesters than any sinister anti-Wikileaks
plot. Though the branding probably didn't help.
From what we understand, after Stoeckley was arrested last Thursday
for Obstruction of Governmental Administration, NYPD didn't tow his
truck to the lot they told him they would. Instead they left parked it
on the street in a bus lane where it was ticketed twice, then towed to
Pier 79 while Stoeckley was still in jail. (Not nice.) A Twitter user
alerted Stoeckley last night that he had spotted it at Pier 79, but the
New York City Finance Department told him he'd have to pay some
outstanding tickets before they let him have it. (These tickets might
have been the reason it was towed to Pier 79 instead of the other lot in
the first place?)
Anyway, it's all chill now. Stoeckley said a friendly judge cancelled
his tickets, and, according to Twitter, he's on his way to drop off blankets for Occupy Wall Street. Whew! I give it three days before this exact thing happens all over again.
What Did the NYPD Do With the Occupy Wall Street WikiLeaks Truck? | Joe Coscarelli | November 22, 2011
Local artist and activist Clark Stoeckley has been driving around the country in a small moving truck stamped with a giant WikiLeaks logo, as well as the words Top Secret and Mobile Information Collection Unit,
even though he actually has nothing to do with the secret-sharing
organization. Lately, he's been spending time at Occupy Wall Street,
near where Gawker reports he was pulled over last week, allegedly for having a crooked license
plate and not using his lights while the windshield wipers were on.
(Hmmm.) Stoeckley said he refused to consent to a search and was
subsequently arrested, but now his truck is nowhere to be found.
(Hmmmmm.)
Stoeckley says the towing company that was supposed to have his
vehicle had never seen it, and he's extremely suspicious: "I think this
is over the NYPD's head," he relayed to Gawker conspiratorially, citing
previous searches of the truck by the Secret Service. "I want my truck
back immediately," he said. "It was illegally taken from me and it is
illegally being held from me. That is not courtesy, professionalism or
respect."
Now, stamping your ride with the logo of an enemy of the state is
all but asking for this sort of scrutiny (however illegal it is). But
Stoeckley's story, a little thin on details, is a bit suspicious in
itself. And nothing brings attention to an art project like a splash of
espionage-tinged mystery. Color us intrigued either way — hopefully, it
turns up.
Occupy Wall Street Wikileaks Truck Confiscated, Possibly Lost By NYPD | November 22, 2011
Artist and Occupy Wall Streeter Clark Stoeckley's
Wikileaks truck has been a fixture of the demonstration downtown since
day one, often parked along the edge of Zuccotti Park and puzzling
onlookers with its Wikileaks logo and "Top Secret Mobile Collection
Unit" emblazoned across its side.
(Although not connected to WIkileaks in any way, Stoeckler has been
driving the truck around all summer and filming his travels. Calling it
"artivism," a hybrid of art and activism, he hopes his exploits will
bring awareness to detention of Private First Class Bradley Manning.)
And now, thanks to the NYPD, the truck's gone missing!
Gawker reports Stoeckley was driving the truck early last Thursday morning when he was
pulled over by police, not too far from Zuccotti Park, for having a
crooked license plate and not using his lights while his windshield
wipers were on.
After not consenting to a search of the vehicle, Stoeckley was arrested for Obstructing Government Administration. And when he contacted the towing company that was supposed to have the truck, they said they'd never seen it.
"I think this is over the NYPD's head," he told Gawker. "I want my
truck back immediately. It was illegally taken from me and it is
illegally being held from me. That is not courtesy, professionalism or
respect."
He's currently working with the NYPD to locate the truck which he says also isn't at the city impound.
Stoeckley's lawyer tells Gawker he hopes his client wasn't arrested "unlawfully," simply for "refusing to consent to a search."
The NYPD was likely on edge Thursday as Occupy Wall Street protesters commenced a series of large rallies in celebration of the movement's two month anniversary.
They also had some practice that week confiscating, and promptly losing or destroying, protesters' possessions.
More than a week since the NYPD raided Zuccotti Park and evicted protesters, The Occupy Wall Street Library has yet to recover
important Occupy documents and over 4,000 books-- and it's seeming less
and less likely that the Department of Sanitation didn't just throw
them away. The Occupy Wall Street Library is expected to hold a press
conference Thursday to "address the destruction of the OWS People's
Library by Mayor Michael Bloomberg during the 11/15 raid."
Those protesters looking to recover property from the raid must go to
a DOS storage center on 12th Ave. and 57th street, where the press is
not allowed inside,
One protester, Issac Wilder,
still can't find a bag with over $5,000 in cash confiscated by police.
Wilder also can't find the Freedom Tower, a device that provided wi-fi
to the protest, and while inside the storage center, he took photos of laptops destroyed during the raid.
Gawker
NYPD ‘Loses’ the Occupy Wall Street Wikileaks Truck | Adrian Chen | November 22, 2011
Life
can be difficult when your vehicle has a huge Wikileaks logo and "Top
Secret Mobile Collection Unit" emblazoned on the side. An artist's
Wikileaks-themed U-Haul truck is missing after being confiscated by the
NYPD.
The Wikileaks truck has been a fixture at Manhattan's Occupy Wall Street protest since day one, provoking
puzzled reactions from media, cops and tourists alike. Unfortunately,
Julian Assange hasn't been secretly crashing in the flatbed; it's a
project by New York-based artist/activist Clark Stoeckley. Stoeckley says he has no connection to the Wikileaks folks. He's been driving the thing around the country since March, filming
his exploits, and for most of the past two months it's been parked down
at Zuccotti Park, where it sheltered him and fellow occupiers.
But last Thursday morning—the morning of Occupy Wall Street's big day of action—Stoeckley
was pulled over on Broadway and Cedar Street near Zuccotti Park. The
cops used the fact that his license plate was crooked, and that he
turned on his windshield wipers without his lights as pretense to pull
him over, Stoeckley told us in a phone interview. (New York law requires drivers to use headlights "whenever you are using your windshield wipers to clear rain, snow, sleet, etc.")
Police demanded to search the vehicle, and when Stoeckley refuse they arrested him for "Obstructing Government Administration."
Stoeckley's lawyer, Wiley Stecklow, said he's concerned Stoeckly was
arrested "unlawfully," simply for "refusing to consent to a search."
His arresting officer gave him a handwritten slip of paper with
contact info for a place called Mike's Towing, saying he could pick up
his truck there. But when Stoeckley was released from jail Saturday,
Mike's Towing said they had never received the truck, which incidentally
also contains all of Stoeckley's possessions.
"I think this is over the NYPD's head," said Stoeckley, ominously.
It's not the first time the truck has gotten him in trouble: He's been
hassled by NYPD a couple times in New York, and when he parked the truck
outside the White House in March, he said, Secret Service searched it and questioned him about any ties to Wikileaks.
A Mike's Towing representative confirmed they had no clue about the
Wikileaks truck when we called today. "I definitely would have noticed
something like that," he said.
So, where's the truck? Stecklow, said the truck wasn't at the city
impound, either. But he's been in contact with the NYPD legal department
and is trying to track it down. "My hope is that the NYPD is going to
locate it, and explain why it disappeared," Stecklow said. Said
Stoeckley: "I want my truck back immediately. It was illegally taken
from me and it is illegally being held from me. That is not courtesy,
professionalism or respect."
Stoeckley will be lucky if it doesn't come back with a couple wheels
missing—NYPD doesn't have a good record of treating protesters' valuable
possessions with loving care.
The Atlantic Wire
Occupy Wall Street Gets Its Generators Back | Adam Martin | November 8, 2011
excerpt:
The machines were picked up from the New York City Fire Academy at Randalls Island by
the Wikileaks truck, which has been stationed next to Zuccotti Park
since the protest's inception. The vehicle with the generator on board
made its way back to Zuccotti Park hours before a planned concert by Graham Nash and David Crosby.
The Villager
A new type of tent city has grown at Occupy Wall Street | Lincoln Anderson | November 3, 2011
excerpt:
Penley noted with concern that the cold and rain will be a challenge
moving forward. During the recent snowstorm, the kitchen and feeding
line shut down entirely, he noted. And there have already been some
close calls.
“Three weeks ago, a guy had
hypothermia,” the activist recalled. “He was an older guy. He was about
to go into shock. He was soaked from the rain, shaking uncontrollably.
We took him into the WikiLeaks truck, took his clothes off and gave him
dry clothes. He said we saved his life.”
Mother Jones
Inside Occupy Wall Street's All-Nighter | Josh Harkinson | October 14, 2011
excerpt:
Twenty-nine-year-old artist Clark Stoeckley found a parking space amid a
row of television vans for his WikiLeaks truck, which, contrary to the
suspicions of the Secret Service, has nothing to do with gathering
news for the group run by Julian Assange. It does, however, have a
comfortable couch inside.
Democracy Now!
Exclusive: David House on Bradley Manning, Secret WikiLeaks Grand Jury, and U.S. Surveillance | Amy Goodman | July 11, 2011
excerpt:
David House: I was commanded to testify before the grand jury
everything I knew about Bradley Manning and WikiLeaks, even Jacob
Appelbaum, people of that sort. During the grand jury, I refused to
answer any questions aside from my name and address, pleading the Fifth
Amendment—well, the Fifth, First and Fourth Amendments, to whichever the
question that was asked during the grand jury. And it was quite a
controversy, actually, because despite the fact that the six AUSAs,
assistant U.S. attorneys, that were present were very upset by this,
they were also very upset at my note taking and tried to get me to stop
taking notes the entire time, saying things such as, "I would like to
state for the record Mr. House is not answering the questions and is
instead taking notes," and kind of ridiculing me openly for doing that,
saying, you know, "Oh, did you get the last question? Did you get
everything down?" da-da-da-da-da, right?
So, a very odd, very frantic atmosphere within the grand jury.
And
adding to the franticness was the fact that outside the windows of the
grand jury you could see the WikiLeaks truck driving by every 15 minutes
or so. This artistic van that had the giant WikiLeaks logo on the side
and said, "WikiLeaks Mobile Information Collection Unit," would drive
by, and the grand jury would kind of crack up a little bit. So, a very
odd atmosphere, but I felt pretty good about it, because I had given no
information away, and I had gotten a list of questions that they were
trying to ask.
Gothamist
A truck bearing the name of one of the world's most secretive and
famous websites was spotted at Fox News HQ and on the Upper West Side
earlier today, and is currently at Union Square for a protest. Clark Stoeckley is an "artivist," who has taken his "WikiLeaks Top Secret Mobile Information Collection Unit around the country. Here's why:
I started the WikiLeaks Top Secret Mobile Information
Collection Unit on March 19th during a rally for Bradley Manning at the
White House. My goal is to bring awareness to WikiLeaks, protest the
detention of Bradley Manning, and make the government and corporations
sweat when they look out the window and see me parked in front of their
buildings.Though I am not connected to WikiLeaks, I believe we are all
WikiLeaks. I realize that I am not only representing WikiLeaks with this
project, but everyone who supports them. I strongly believe that
Bradley Manning is a hero and true patriot.
WikiLeaks and its eccentric, smelly founder Julian Assange, have kept governments and corporations around
the world on their toes by releasing classified information. But the man
who made WikiLeaks a success and international sensation is army
intelligence analyst Bradley Manning, who is being held in Fort
Leavenworth awaiting charges of "aiding the enemy" and leaking secret
information, namely more than 260K cables, 90K intelligence reports and a
combat video. He faces life in prison, and possibly execution for his
acts.
WikiLeaks-Movie
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW! The “Wikileaks Truck
Driver” Clark Stoeckley – Creator of “Wikileaks Top Secret Mobile
Collection Unit” – Artist, Activist, Entertainer and Wiki-Prankster
Jacob Andrews | June 18, 2011
Wikileaks-Movie.com is pleased to introduce Clark Stoeckley, driver of the world’s first WikiLeaks Truck called the WikiLeaks Top Secret Mobile Information Collection Unit and member of the Anonymous Theater Art Group. As
many have remarked, when it comes to the Wikileaks story, ”You just
can’t make this s__t up!” The issues are serious but there is plenty of
room and an important role for levity, art and theatrics.
And now, just as we are watching new episodes of "The Lulz Boat" and taking in our daily dose of "Juice Media Rap News, here comes Clark driving along in his thought provoking WikiLeaks Top Secret Mobile Information Collection Unit making the White House and U.S. Secret Service a little nervous.
This beast of a machine (formerly a U-Haul truck) has over 200,000
miles on it but keeps running strong, fueled by Clark’s creativity and
his drive to make a political and social statement. And while the fuel
efficiency of his rig is very poor, Clark Stoeckley is definitely getting high political and social mileage out of his Wikileaks Truck art project.
Like the Wikileaks and Bradley Manning Billboard Projects,
Clark Stoeckley has found a very engaging way to transform an
old-but-sturdy U-Haul truck into a creative “Vehicle” for public
political activism. Blending his political pranksterness with an arts background Clark’s truck is gaining speed. He
is navigating political pot holes and dealing with the occasional
traffic citation. And of course there are the high fives and middle
fingers that go with the terrain. We thank Clark for this interview hope
you enjoy learning more about Clark Stoeckley and his “WikiLeaks Top Secret Mobile Information Collection Unit.”
Clark Stoeckley ( Photo by: John Penley, Bradley Manning Rally Organizer in NYC)
1. What in the world are you up to, Clark?
About 6’1″. That is my usual smart ass answer to that question. I
am an artist and I have taught art in Brooklyn high schools. I have
been driving the Wikileaks Top Secret Mobile Information Collection Unit around DC and NYC and in between.
I started the Wikileaks Top Secret Mobile Information Collection Unit on March 19th for a Rally for Bradley Manning at the White House.
I drove the truck along with the march and circled the National Mall
all day long. I parked the truck nearby and joined the protest on foot
for an hour. After the protestors, including Daniel Ellsberg, were
arrested I returned to the truck to find Secret Service boys on bicycles peeking in the windows. I smiled, waved at them, and then jumped in and took off. They followed me around for a few blocks and called for backup.
I was pulled over for supposedly driving in a No Truck Zone, but
there was never any signage to alert me. In fact I mailed photos of the
two intersections that led me to 17th Street along with my ticket, and
there are no signs prohibiting trucks. They told me it was a post-911 law and that truck drivers just knew not to drive on that street.
They told me it was a routine traffic stop, but there was nothing
routine about it. They were doing background checks and pat downs on my
fellow passengers, and they searched my truck and me thoroughly… twice.
I was arrested for driving with an old license, but that was not
true. Their computers were not updated. I was only in jail for 6 hours,
but they interrogated me heavily. They wanted to know everything about
me, who I worked for, what I knew about Wikileaks, what my intent was,
and where I was going. I would always answer questions with questions “Enough about me, would you like to share some secrets with Wikileaks?”
or “Do you usually ask these kinds of questions for routine traffic
stops?” “What do you know about Bradley Manning and Julian Assange?” or
“Why are you not pulling over that truck” while pointing to other
trucks passing by on the same street. The driving with an old license
was dropped before the court date but I still went anyway, and I am
still waiting to hear if I have to pay for the No Truck Zone ticket.
Remix Art by Merlin Street (@MerlinStreet)
2. Where do you find your creative and political drive? What gets you going?
The news or lack thereof, coming from our wars in the Middle East
makes my blood boil. The lies from the past decade have really piled up
and caused the US to lose credibility. Reading about Bradley Manning
really gets me going.
The project is part art, part activism, and part prank. My entire
life I have been an artist, an activist, and a prankster. Melding all
three is the ultimate goal in my work or play. Though I am not connected
to Wikileaks, I believe we are all Wikileaks. I realize that I am not
only representing Wikileaks with this project, but everyone who supports
them. I strongly believe that Bradley Manning is a hero and true
patriot. I believe, or at least I hope, someday he will be pardoned, but
I do not see it while Obama is seeking re-election.
Activist performance artists like Rev. Billy, The Yes Men, and Billionaires for Bush inspired me to mix activism and art. Michael Moore really speaks to my interests, and then Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky.
3. Tell us about the Wikileaks Truck. How’s it running and where’s it heading? How many traffic violations have you received?
I received a ticket for driving in a No Truck Zone, but there was no
signage at the two intersections that led me to 17th Street to prohibit
me. They arrested me because they thought my license was suspended, but
that was a flaw in their computers. All charges have been dropped.
The Wikileaks truck was bought from U-haul. It is close to 200,000
miles and runs a bit rough. I take good care of it and keep it rolling. I have not “pimped” my ride too much but someday I would like to add satellite dishes, dummy cameras, and a hood ornament but have not gotten around to it yet.
Currently the back is filled with empty boxes, and my record
collection. Oh that reminds me – So when the Secret Service pulled me
over and searched the truck, they asked what would be the first thing
they saw when we opened the back. I told them “records”. Their eyes lit
up and they and they asked “What kind of records?” My reply was “Mostly
classic rock, some R&B and folk.” The door goes up, and the first thing they saw was boxes of 33 rpm vinyl records. They got a good laugh out of that one.
The music system is great. It has both FM and AM, but nothing else.
Unfortunately DC has plenty of talk radio and very little music. It does
not have subwoofers because there is no space for them. No air
conditioning but the heat works great.
4. When did you first read or hear about Wikileaks and Julian Assange?
“Collateral Murder“ was shown to me last April and I remixed the video into a VJ set in a gallery in May. I love this quote from Bill Hader (impersonating Julian Assange) on Saturday Night Live…
“What are the differences between Mark Zuckerberg and me? I give private information on corporations to you for free, and I’m a villain. Zuckerberg gives your private information to corporations for money and he’s Man of the Year.”
5. Do you work with a team? Tell us about your cohorts in ridiculousness?
I work both solo and collaboratively depending on the project. Often I have worked with the Glass Bead Collective.
6. What has been the public response to your work?
Responses have run the entire gamut of emotions. Wall Street bankers
would yell at us and call us derogatory names while tourists would pay
us for photos. We nearly got jumped by a group of Army guys last year
during Fleet Week. They were drunk and they took off their shirts.
I reminded them they were in the middle of Times Square, and that they
would probably get kicked out of the Army if they touched us. We also
reminded them that the army has fought for our first amendment rights
for many years.
And a funny story… last month I was driving around Alexandria and
Arlington, VA looking for a place to get my oil changed and a check up. Three different places refused to look at the truck,
and not because they were too busy. I think they had former military
mechanics on staff. One guy was actually furious and wanted the truck
out of his parking lot immediately. Finally I found an auto shop run by Afghanis. With big smiles on their faces, they stopped everything to work on my truck.
7. If you were to issue one “Challenge” to humanity what would it be?
I would challenge the world to give up the nukes forever. The US should lead by example.
8. Have you been hit on by anyone because of your attractive vehicle?
It is not a Ferrari or a Porsche. I attract a lot of conspiracy
theorists, but they are usually older men who need a bath, and they want
to talk my ear off. Some of them actually think I work for Wikileaks
and they wish they had something to leak. No I have not gotten hit on
by anyone because of the truck. It is a former U-Haul truck with
200,000 miles. Luckily my girlfriend has a car.
9. When it comes for the Wikileaks Movie or Film Projects can you imagine any scenes for the Wikileaks Truck?
I have some shots of the police crawling behind me. In a slick
hollywood movie, the truck would bust through the gate check and do
donuts in the front lawn of the White House. I do all my own stunts.
10. You were out driving today. How did it go? Any action to report?
I drove around the National Mall, Capitol, White House, and drove by
the Washington Post trying to get their attention. I have a made a map
of the “No Truck Zones” but I found myself driving down one today for a
couple blocks. I got to an intersection and a traffic cop directed me
to make a turn. I get a lot of people taking photos or pointing and laughing. When I drive between NYC and DC I get a mix of middle fingers and thumbs up.
I have to say the police in DC seem to be a lot friendlier than the ones in NYC.
11. Is there anything else you’d like to say or comment on?
The Wikileaks truck is a street art project that requires minimal
amount of anonymity because my license plate clearly reveals my
identity. I bet my phone is tapped and I’ll get audited,
but I am not the one hiding anything. It just proves that our
government, their guns, and their investigators never seem to be aiming
at the right people. I just mailed away for my Freedom of Information
report.
I would like to raise money to have “Wikileaks Top Secret Mobile Information Units” all across the globe by mailing adhesive vinyl graphics to willing participants to install on their van or truck.
Frontline
In praise of... the WikiLeaks Truck | Ryan Gallagher | June 9, 2011
Described
as part prank, part art and part activism, the WikiLeaks Top Secret
Mobile Information Collection Unit has been bothering US authorities in
recent months.
A white van emblazoned with the WikiLeaks logo by the artist Clark Stoeckley,
the Collection Unit has paid unwelcome visits to notable sites
including the White House, Capitol Hill and the Washington Monument.
In
March, after a "Free Bradley Manning" rally in Washington, the truck
was pulled over and Stoeckley arrested for driving in a "no truck zone"
near the White House, though the charges were later dropped.
"The Secret Service searched the truck and found nothing," tweeted the artist on Wednesday. "They follow me wherever I go hoping for a traffic violation."
He
added: "I asked the Secret Service officer who arrested me if he had
any secrets he wanted to leak to WikiLeaks, and that made him laugh."
Stoeckley's aim is to have a WikiLeaks truck in every country. He is raising money
via the website Flattr and is willing to send adhesive vinyl graphics
to anyone who wants to start their own mock 'Collection Unit'.
"Just imagine these popping up all over the globe," he says.
