San Antonio visual artist pounds the pavement in Superman T-shirt to get out the vote
- Facebook / David Alcantar
He may not be faster than a speeding bullet, but that’s not stopping visual artist David Alcantar from encouraging fellow San Antonians to vote in the November 3 election.
As part of his ongoing The Superman Project, which started in 2016 after Donald Trump won the presidency, Alcantar is running across the city with a message about the importance of heading to the polls.
“I’m running down the street hoping that everyone will do their duty and go out and vote for the candidate who they believe should win,” Alcantar said. “That’s the American way.”
Alcantar has dubbed this performance art component of The Superman Project “The American.” The entire project started as a series of drawings and paintings of the DC Comics superhero, which also expanded into the written word. Now, Alcantar has added exercise into the fold.
“Mostly, I’m performing it around my neighborhood,” he said. “I had to figure out which path to take to give me the highest visibility.”
Dressed in a Superman T-shirt and tiny red shorts and waving a massive white flag with the word “Vote!” emblazoned on it, Alcantar plans to run at least three miles a day until Election Day. While his outfit isn’t exactly tights and a cape, the artist’s dark hair and square jaw do help complete the image.
“If it’s me, David, telling you to go vote, that’s one thing, but if it’s Superman telling you to go vote, I would wager you’re going to take that more seriously,” he said.
During his runs, Alcantar is making the case that voting is a right Americans shouldn’t disregard. Indeed, one could argue that voting can make each of us a superhero.
“Most people think of a hero as someone who does a really big gesture like rescues a person from a burning building or lifts a car off of somebody,” Alcantar said. “But the truth is, you can be truly heroic by doing the small stuff, too. The fact that you take the time to do it makes you a hero.”
Pick up a copy of the Current’s November 4-17 issue to read more about Alcantar’s The Superman Project. Visit his Instagram page now to see some of the artwork.
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