By Vincent Trasov
Photo By Bob Strazicich
Playing with persona and identity, I slipped into the peanut shell and effortlessly assumed the role of Mr. Peanut with elegance and aplomb. It seemed a sensible stance in an era preoccupied with the dematerialization of art.
My interest in film animation had led me to appropriate the easily recognizable and simple to draw Planters Peanuts anthropomorph Mr. Peanut. First came the flipbook, which was later translated to film. These early efforts were realized at the Intermedia studios in Vancouver and before long people were calling me Mr. Peanut. The name stuck.
Mr. Peanut didn’t take to the street immediately, but it wasn’t long before I started surprising the public by turning up in locations such as Queen Elizabeth Park and assuming the familiar pose beside a piece of sculpture by Henry Moore or by the war memorial at Victory Square. These appearances, besides being great photo ops, were intended to create the atmosphere of an “art city.”
Later, as Mr. Peanut, I made appearances in Toronto, Victoria, Halifax, New York and Los Angeles. On the suggestion of fellow artist John Mitchell, I was persuaded to don the costume as a symbol for the collective aspirations of the art community and run for mayor in the 1974 Vancouver civic election on the art platform: P for Performance, E for Elegance, A for Art, N for Nonsense, U for Uniqueness and T for Talent. The author William S. Burroughs, a guest in Vancouver at the time, endorsed my candidacy.
The campaign was a 20-day performance with John Mitchell as campaign manager and spokesperson, and the involvement of the then recently formed artist centres and groups Pumps, Video In, Blonde Warehouse and Western Front Society. At the final counting of ballots I received 2,685 votes for 3.4 per cent of the vote.
This year Vincent Trasov was honoured by the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria as one of the province’s influential characters of the past 150 years. In Vancouver, Mitchell and Trasov received the 2008 Mayor’s Arts Awards for their contribution to the development of public art.
