On Monday, September 22, a projection of FBI Director Kash Patel looking back and forth with widened eyes appeared on a building on 2nd Street and Beaudry Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. Other digital projections parodying Trump and his allies have been popping up around the city for months, including a graphic of Trump eating the Epstein files, Fox News portrayed as “Faux News,” and the president covering comedian and TV host Jimmy Kimmel’s mouth.
An anonymous street art collective using the moniker Vjaybombs is behind the satirical artworks (which they call “projection bombs” and “guerrilla projections”), broadcasting them to an Instagram following of almost 100,000. Reached by email, the collective told Hyperallergic that they are working-class filmmakers by day, and have chosen to remain anonymous because they want to “bring attention to the art and let it speak for itself.”
“We like to see our projections as a reflection of how our community feels; specifically, the working class who spend a lot of time on the street,” said a member of Vjaybombs speaking on behalf of the group. “‘Guerrilla projection’ is very useful because it allows us to take over a big space without damaging or ruining any property.”
Vjaybombs’s Patel street artwork earlier this week
The group said they strive to project anti-fascist video street art that challenges political corruption and corporate greed. In June, the group portrayed Fox News commentators with chyrons reading “Fox News Alert: Be Afraid!!” The group has also portrayed Jesus being arrested by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, most recently across from the American Civil Liberties Union’s downtown LA office. Vjaybombs has also critiqued far-right US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene; former Republican US Representative Matt Gaetz, who faced a misconduct controversy last year; and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We just like to inspire thought, and to remind our community that these problems matter and that you’re not alone if you feel the same way,” Vjaybombs said. “Most of our work aims to be comedic because we like to use humor to convey ideas and protest.”
The collective projected an image of Trump muzzling Kimmel onto the studio where the comedian’s late-night show is filmed.
When news broke that Kimmel’s show would be suspended following critical remarks about the MAGA movement’s response to the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Vjaybombs projected a moving graphic of Trump literally silencing Kimmel onto the El Capitan Theatre, where the late-night show is filmed in Los Angeles.
“We often portray prominent figures who we see are bending the knee to Trump and MAGA,” Vjaybombs said in a statement to Hyperallergic. “We try to keep our projections relevant to what’s happening in the current news cycle, and from there we discuss what issues we think are important to shine a light on.” The collective shares stories and debates, which headlines make it into a projection in a chat.
Vjaybombs said they target figures who capitulate to Trump.
The group started projecting political artwork, they said, in July as a way to ask former President Joe Biden to step out of the presidential race because they were concerned with his apparently deteriorating mental state. Vjaybombs told Hyperallergic that their technical skills have since improved, and they have transitioned from mainly text projections to images that interact with their surrounding architecture.
“It’s easy to get overwhelmed, scared, and even complacent … but a little bit of humor can change or even cure how we take in the news,” Vjaybombs said.
