I just came across this artist installation of two Brazilian plastic artists named Gabriel and Tiago Primo. They have been living in an apartment mounted high on the wall on the outside of the gallery building, located in a run-down quarter of downtown Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Why? To protests against the local living condition. They use mountain climbing equipment to move between bunkbeds, an antique grammaphone and small TV-set on the chest of drawers, a sofabed, a hammock and a table with chair. Everything is securely screwed in place. The 2 brothers want to provoke a reaction from passers-by in a city where people not only live on small space but also on the streets. The hardest part of the demonstration, according to the brothers, is living with the different weather conditions, the sun, the humidity and the rain plus the perpetual noise during the night. The brothers moved into their outdoor apartment on May 23 and will have to hang in there until Aug 22. Find more examples of the Art Gallery A Gentil Carioca, who invites artists to unconventionally use this wall: http://www.agentilcarioca.com.br/Eventos/parede.html
This art piece reminds me of the wall I saw last year in Turin practically every day when I took the bus from Mappano to downtown Turin. Researching the background of the project, I found out that the Associazione Artissima included the competition Pareti ad Arte [Art Walls] in the contemporary art fair in 2000. Artists from all over the world were invited to realise a work in the open on the external walls of two buildings in Turin, one in the centre and the other in the suburbs. The prize was won by the German artist Marcus Kreiss and by the American artist Nancy Dwyer. On the side wall of a block of flats situated on the corner of Via Desana and Corso Vercelli, Marcus Kreiss’ (http://www.souvenirsfromearth.tv/artists/maske.php?id=36) painting makes the wall look transparent by showing the interior design and lifestyle of the various flats.
Months later I discovered this colourful house wall in Turin. It’s a different style but all of the work displayed somehow sums up to the urge of displaying the extraverted mood of our society.
No criticism from my side, as long as artists remain aesthetically correct.
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