Michael Leavitt (artist)

Mike Leavitt (a.k.a. ReMike)
A shoe made in cardboard by American visual artist Michael Leavitt, part of his "Corrugated Kix" series.
Born	Michael Gipson Leavitt (1977-11-04)November 4, 1977 Seattle, WA, U.S.
Alma mater	The Evergreen State College
Known for	sculpture, painting, installation art, art toys, kitsch, puppetry, stop-motion animation
Movement	Conceptual art, Pop art, Interactive art, Urban art, Low brow

Mike Leavitt (born November 4, 1977) is a visual artist based near Seattle, Washington responsible for a variety of pop art, fine art, design and satirical works in various media. With his HiPop Project under the name Intuition Kitchen Productions Leavitt "blends art, design and social commentary". Most well known are his "Art Army" series of handmade action figures depicting visual artists, musicians, and entertainers. Leavitt's sculptures are one of a kind one-off's though some of his design projects are prototypes reproduced in limited quantity. Leavitt exhibits with Jonathan LeVine in New York, NY.

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Leavitt was influenced by the wood-craft and engineering of Native American, Scandinavian, and industrial craft in the region. His parents practiced education, graphic design and environmentalism, formulating Leavitt's early interests in both art and sociology. As a child he taught himself to build miniature hydroplanes in balsa wood. "My mom had some drawing skills, she started as a graphic designer at Boeing," Leavitt says, "I would have her draw my action figures, and I would watch her draw." He attended The Pratt Institute in New York in 1996-97, and completed a self-designed Bachelor of Arts at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA in 2001. "Leavitt began crafting a motley variety of apartment friendly, popcult-themed art after dropping out of Pratt to avoid working for whoever passes for 'The Man' in the art world." (Thrillist.com) From 1998 to 2004 Leavitt executed a series of conceptual art pieces like "Push Button Performer" (2001–2004) with cabaret-style audience confrontations in public. In the same period Leavitt's studio became known as The Intuition Kitchen ArtShop in Seattle, evolving as a self-produced gallery space. His 'ArtShop' sold his trading cards and first hand-made action figures. It closed in 2004 as Leavitt showed his work in retail galleries. Since then Leavitt has continued non-commercial side projects, political activity and community activism.

Three small, wheeled housing units were built for Seattle-area tent cities. The first two units, made from salvaged pallet wood, served these tent cities for 3 years, beginning at the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle. "As the homeless faced the threat of street sweeps during WTO, Leavitt's creations were used as a 'honeymoon sweet' (sic) for one couple, and as a headquarters for the Seattle Housing and Resource Effort (SHARE). Log cabins for the homeless? It is an odd invention indeed. But it may also be a solutions of sorts for homelessness in Seattle."(Real Change) A third unit was built in 2001, using vinyl siding scraps salvaged from construction debris. Though designed for domestic dwelling, the units were most often been used for secure storage and nighttime security posts in the Tent Cities.