Lakey's Suit and Tie tour kicked off in San Diego, where he couch surfed with Facebook friends and longtime fans. During his stop in Chicago, he encountered Oprah. He also attended his first festival on the Suit and Tie and tour in 2014, which was Tribal Connections. He's been a featured guest on Spoken Radio, and has had numerous articles written about him.This is just scratching the surface of all of the things that Lakey has done as an artist an individual.
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| Lakey in Chicago, during the Suit and Tie Tour 2014 |
Out of all of the extraordinary endeavors that Lakey has done in his art career, I personally find Lakey's mantra of creation and self reliance to be the most inspiring. "Create more than you consume.", this simple point echos the ideas of the philosopher Terrance McKenna, in that we are the roadshow, we should not blindly consume the market driven products and ideals of our fast food culture, but rather, create our own culture.
Within this rebellious ideology, Lakey presents himself in such a way that he is able to access the every day person, and engage them not only in conversation but in transactions as well. He engages his audience in a sharp suit and tie, sitting on the street with his placard that declares "Grandmas says I need to get a job wearing a suit and tie, this is my compromise". Lakey manages to bring enough each day to fund his tours, art supplies, and adventures. I find what Lakey does to be very similar to what the musician Amanda Palmer does.
Each artist personally engages their audience with little, personal interactions. Palmer allows her fans to paint her, to sing with her, to join her singing in the street. Lakey engages his fans on the street, they share couches, they share meals, the create together. In these small intimate interactions friendships and fans are formed.
Lakey is a truly crowdsourced artistic phenomenon.
Be on the lookout for him in 2015. I hear much bigger things are to come.
Lakey's Facebook Page
Lakey's Art Store
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