"Touching, Traces: 2020 Election Diaries" By Tamiko Thiel, 2020/2021 Giclée prints 21x29cm printed on 30cm x 38cm Hahnemühle paper. In the coronavirus crisis we are now hyperaware of the surfaces we touch, and of the traces that may or may not be on those surfaces. Indeed, for those alone in self-isolation, our mobile devices are now the surfaces we touch and stroke most intimately and most often. These are prints from my 2020 Election Diaries, records of my frantic "doomscrolling" on news sites and Facebook on key days of the 2020 election. Living in Europe, isolated from the events in the USA by time and distance, trying to make to make sense of the weird events and the weeks of uncertainty and suspense, and seeking solace in my online community of friends and media analysts.

1. Touching, Traces: 2020 Election Diaries
Fine art print series
Tamiko Thiel, 2020-2021

2. Touching, Traces: 2020 Election Diaries
Series of Giclée prints, each 21x29 cm on 30x38cm Hahnemühle paper
Tamiko Thiel, 2020/2021
The 2020 United States Presidential Election was held on November 3, 2020, in the middle of the
coronavirus pandemic. The incumbent Donald J. Trump and Mike Pence, Republicans, were running
against Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, Democrats.
During this time, I was located in Munich, often under coronavirus lockdown, unable to participate
in events in the USA. My iPad was my source of contact to events in the USA.
Especially at the beginning of the pandemic, when it was thought that the virus mainly spread
through touch, we had become hyperaware of traces of touching. For those in isolation our mobiles
became the surfaces we touched most intimately and most often.
You washed your hands - but did you disinfect your mobile?
This series of prints records traces of my touch on my iPad, doomscrolling on key days after the
2020 US presidential election: reading news, posting articles to social media, communicating with
family and friends via email and messaging apps.
Trying to understand a country gone mad.

3. 2020-09-30 First Biden-Trump Debate
NPR: „If this was supposed to be a boxing match, it
instead turned into President Trump jumping on the
ropes, refusing to come down, the referee trying to
coax him off, and Joe Biden standing in the middle of
the ring with his gloves on and a confused look on his
face.“

4. 2020-11-07 Biden-Harris Declared Winners,
Trump Refuses to Concede
Four days after the election on Nov. 3rd, Biden-Harris
are declared winners. Trump refuses to concede.

5. 2020-11-09 Top Republicans Support Trump,
Refuse to Recognize Biden-Harris Win
Top Republicans refuse to recognize the results of the
presidential election, support Trump‘s demands for
recounts.

6. 2020-11-11 Trump Stacks Pentagon with his Loyalists
At a time when the transition to the Biden-Harris
administration should begin, Trump installs new
loyalists in the Pentagon.

7. 2020-11-20 Michigan GOP Abides by Election Results
GOP members of heavily Democratic Detroit/Wayne
county Michigan elections board delayed approval of
Joe Biden’s victory, then reversed their decision after
outcry.

8. 2020-11-23 Trump Allows Biden Transition to Begin
Trump still refuses to concede the election, but finally
allowed the General Services Administration to
acknowledge Biden as the apparent winner of the
election and begin working on the presidential
transition.

9. 2020-12-04 Trump Pentagon Loyalists Block Biden’s
Access to Military Intelligence
Trump loyalists in the Pentagon blocked Biden from
direct access to military intelligence agencies
including the Defense Intelligence Agency and the
National Security Agency

10. 2020-12-09 Supreme Court Refuses GOP Request to
Overturn Pennsylvania election
The US Supreme Court refused a request from
Pennsylvania Republicans to overturn Biden’s victory
in the state. Arizona GOP asks if followers are willing
to die for Trump’s election loss

11. 2020-12-11 Supreme Court Rejects Texas GOP Suit to
Overturn Elections
The Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit by Texas
requesting the court to throw out election results in
Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin
because Trump lost their elections

12. 2020-12-14 Electoral College Elects Biden-Harris
The Electoral College, which is the actual body that
elects the US president, officially voted on Monday to
make Joe Biden the 46th president of the United
States, formalizing his victory under constitutional
procedure.

13. 2020-12-15 GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch
MConnell Concedes Biden-Harris Victory
Influential Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
for the first time acknowledged Biden's victory, six
weeks after the election and despite Trump's
continued refusal to concede.

14. 2021-01-03 Trump Demands Georgia Secretary of
State Deliver Election to Him
Trump threatened Georgia’s secretary of state with “a
criminal offense” if the top election official didn’t
“find” him enough votes to overturn the presidential
election.

15. 2021-01-06 Warnock Ossoff Wins Give Democrats
Senate. Trump Rioters Attack Capitol.
Warnock and Ossoff wins in Georgia give Democrats
control of the US Senate. Later, Trump exhorts his
supporters to attack the Capitol to prevent
certification of the election by Congress.

16. 2021-01-07 Congress Formally Certifies Biden-Harris
Victory
After withstanding an assault on the Capitol Building,
bicameral voting continued and at 3:32am Vice
President Mike Pence formally certified Biden’s win.

17. 2021-01-09 Twitter Bans Trump
"After close review of recent Tweets from the
@realDonaldTrump account and the context around
them we have permanently suspended the account
due to the risk of further incitement of violence,"
Twitter said.

18. 2021-01-13 Trump Impeached for Second Time
The House of Representatives impeached Donald
Trump for inciting a violent insurrection against the
government, making him the only US president
charged twice with high crimes and misdemeanors.

19. 2021-01-20 President Biden and Vice-President
Harris Inaugurated
President Joseph Biden Jr. and Vice President Kamala
Harris sworn into office just weeks after a violent mob
attacked the Capitol, and in the middle of a deadly
pandemic. Harris is the highest-ranking woman in US
history and the first Black, South Asian American and
woman elected as Vice President.

20. 2021-02-09 Trump’s Second Impeachment Trial
Begins
Trump’s second impeachment trial, for inciting a mob
to invade the Capitol, began with video footage of the
Capitol riot.

21. 2021-02-10 Democrats Show New Videos Mob Attack
on Capitol Building
Democrats show previously unreleased security
footage, including rioter chanting “hang Mike Pence”
and calling menacingly for Nancy Pelosi as they
marauded through her office, while outside others
constructed a makeshift gallows.

22. 2021-02-11 McCarthy Telephone Call Reveals Trump
Refused to Call off Rioters
In an expletive-laced phone call with House
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy while the US
Capitol was under attack, then-President Donald
Trump refused to call off the rioters

23. 2021-02-13 Majority of GOP Senators Refuse to
Convict Trump
Senator Mitch McConnell said Donald Trump was
practically and morally responsible for inciting the
events of January 6th, but refused to convict, as did
all but 7 GOP senators.