Apparently Fox News picked up the feed from Nina Criscuolo’s story as well. The Fox Report with Shepard Smith aired a bit about the inflatable suit performance in the Across America segment.

Transcript:

Shepard Smith: — Kansas. Check out this guy. He is a performance artist who hangs out in downtown Pitttsburg in an inflatable suit. The guy says he likes to surprise people and challenge their perceptions.

Jimmy Kuehnle: I make bicycles that are large and extravagant. I run for office sometimes, and I do anything that can just get out in the streets and change people’s way of thinking.

Smith: Good luck with that. And that is a Fox watch. Across America –

Link to Fox News clip:
http://video.foxnews.com/v/3991081/across-america-127-/?playlist_id=86856

Nikki Patrick of the Morning Sun interviewed my at the opening of Things Bigger Than People. The next day the Morning Sun published a nice article about the exhibition.

Link to the article:

http://www.morningsun.net/featured/x231950598/Performance-artist-s-exhibit-opens

CBS News picked up the story by Nina Criscuolo of KOAM 7. I found out because friends in other states emailed to say that they saw me on the news in their respective cities. The clip is shorter that Nina’s original but reached a wider audience. Thank you Nina and thank you CBS.

Link to video on CBSNEWS.com:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6127289n

Nina Criscuolo of KOAM 7, a CBS station, braved the wet and cold to shoot video of my inflatable suit performance trek down Broadway in in Pittsburg. She followed me down the street documenting my visits to fast food restaurant parking lots as well as the reactions of the people of Pittsburg. Nina also reports for the local FOX station KFJX 14.

Link to the story on KOAM:
http://www.koamtv.com/global/story.asp?s=11861162

Link to the story on KFJX:
http://www.fox14tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11861162

Rain showers and chilly weather greeted me in the morning. The forecast said that the rain would stop in time for the performance. Although the rain stopped the ground still had plenty of mud and puddles to mess up my shoes. After talking with some local students I took the inflatable suit outside of Porter Hall and began to inflate it.

Even though I refer to these pieces as inflatable suits, the suit part of the name does not seem to register in the audience’s minds until I put one on. This held true in Pittsburg as well. I careened into lampposts and jumped up on benches while chasing students around the center of campus. When classes changed I blocked a door to one of the halls for a bit.

I made my way to Broadway and noticed a camera crew trudging along behind me. The wind made progress up the street slow, but since it was lunch time the fast food restaurants were full. At each face stuffing establishment I slammed into the windows and looked into the eyes of smiling but perplexed diners. Many people came outside to snap pictures.

As I took a break at 4th and Broadway the intrepid camera crew from earlier caught up with me and asked for an interview. It turns out that they were from the local FOX and CBS affiliates. Part of the work is connecting with other people that I do not know and searching for the humanity in this world. I did a little of both in Pittsburg. As I stood wet and tired on the side of the road a local woman who said that I made her day asked if I needed a lift. I said, “Sure, and thanks.”

Tomorrow I will install an inflatable installation called, Things Bigger Than People, at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. The show will consist of two pieces and a public performance. Air to Air Communication and Stuffed Full will inflate into the University Gallery and the Harry Krug Gallery. On the same day I will roam the streets of Pittsburg in You Wear What I Wear and will give an artist talk in the afternoon.

Link to Exhibition Card

Exhibition: January 21 – February 26, 2010

Gallery Hours: M – F 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Performance
January 21, 2010
Porter Hall, 11:30 am

Reception
January 21, 2010
Porter Hall, 3:00 pm

Lecture
January 21, 2010
Room 316 Hughes Hall, 2:00 pm

Pittsburg State University
Art Department
University Gallery, Porter Hall
1701 S. Broadway, Pittsburg, KS 66762