Adorned* with 5 very tall constructive paintings made of “formaletas”* and tape and 11 smaller paintings on canvas with two colors installed in the exhibition hall of the “Museo Nacional” in Bogotá (a former 19th century panopticon), I had imagined the possibility of granting a man of the street, the reality of a different night's rest, free from the persecutions of police, the harsh criticism of fellow citizens, and the frequent and cold evening downpours of Bogota, as well as having him be protected by guards at the door. He who does not merit anything, perhaps only death in the eyes of a distant and sick society, being granted a secure and warm bed for the night. He would also be able to come in and out of the museum without restrictions during the month of the exhibition, and have the right to use the toilets if he might need them. At last protected from anything that might disturb his thoughts and corporal integrity, he might lie down and think differently, and maybe even aspire to dream.
(Ricardo, a dear man of the street was disappeared from the face of the earth as part of a social cleansing campaign in Bogotá designed to get rid of these “disposable or throw-away” people as they are known in Colombia. “Desechables” is the translation of this word in Spanish and the term that is monstrously used to identify these poorer of the poor of the streets, devoid of everything, except probably a loving heart).
*Adorned refers to the asclepeion at Epidaurus which was a healing temple in ancient Greece sacred to the god Asclepius. *”Formaletas” are wooden structures that are used in South America for the construction of cement ceilings and walls.
Adorned* with 5 very tall constructive paintings made of “formaletas”* and tape and 11 smaller paintings on canvas with two colors installed in the exhibition hall of the “Museo Nacional” in Bogotá (a former 19th century panopticon), I had imagined the possibility of granting a man of the street, the reality of a different night's rest, free from the persecutions of police, the harsh criticism of fellow citizens, and the frequent and cold evening downpours of Bogota, as well as having him be protected by guards at the door. He who does not merit anything, perhaps only death in the eyes of a distant and sick society, being granted a secure and warm bed for the night. He would also be able to come in and out of the museum without restrictions during the month of the exhibition, and have the right to use the toilets if he might need them. At last protected from anything that might disturb his thoughts and corporal integrity, he might lie down and think differently, and maybe even aspire to dream.
(Ricardo, a dear man of the street was disappeared from the face of the earth as part of a social cleansing campaign in Bogotá designed to get rid of these “disposable or throw-away” people as they are known in Colombia. “Desechables” is the translation of this word in Spanish and the term that is monstrously used to identify these poorer of the poor of the streets, devoid of everything, except probably a loving heart).
*Adorned refers to the asclepeion at Epidaurus which was a healing temple in ancient Greece sacred to the god Asclepius. *”Formaletas” are wooden structures that are used in South America for the construction of cement ceilings and walls.