photo of video tag in Arizona by Obama-rama Tour.

Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy has inspired a legion of supporters from the artistic community. From the infamous Will.I.Am “Yes We Can” video to the heavyweights like Wyclef Jean performing in Denver for the DNC to the ubiquitous Shepherd Fairey posters, those with creative bones have rallied behind the Illinois senator and created art inspired by the politician. Artists and fans have used the internet, YouTube videos, or other viral content to spread the word of Barack, pushing stories up the hotlist at Digg and helping articles spread like a California wildfire on Facebook.

But with around 90% of all Facebook users in the United States (roughly 20 of 22 million as of January 2008) on a site that has averaged 250,000 new members a day since the start of 2007 falling into the under 30 and college-educated demo, are all of these stunning endorsements simply preaching to the young, liberal-minded choir?

When we heard about Jared Lovejoy and Lisa Chacón’s “Video Tagging” Obama-rama tour around western battleground states like Nevada and Colorado, we were immediately intrigued by the premise. Get a powerful projector, get in a van, and drive around playing all of this content on the sides of buildings to make sure people are getting a chance to see all that’s out there. Lovejoy’s project was almost like bringing a Twitter feed to life.

“What we love about what we’re doing is that it takes the sense of connection to an ‘idea’ that you have when you watch an MCYogi video on YouTube at home, and extends it to the streets so that it becomes a shared experience with others as well,” Lovejoy said. (more…)