Trina Merry

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Living Election Map


Even politics has a seat at the body paint table! As many are still glued to their TVs and smartphones awaiting the results of the 2020 elections, we can’t help but remember the innovative “Living Election Map” Trina Merry created last year.

During the 2016 presidential elections, New York Magazine live-streamed artist Trina Merry body painting nine models with the outline of all 50 US states. Almost like a human-shaped coloring book, Merry painted in each state red or blue once the electoral votes had been released.

This creative project shows that body paint can be used to live stream important information. Instead of competing with major news stations all reporting the same news in the same format, New York Magazine went a more artistic route.

Those watching the live stream still got the same voting results coverage, but they were able to sit, watch, and enjoy the live painting regardless of the party they identified with. Over half a million people watched the video on Facebook, and it received over 3,800 comments and over 1,000 shares.