I read this article in this morning's Women's Wear Daily. What a cool way to protest/create art and bring attention to something he feels passionate about -
Published: Friday, February 23, 2007
By Rosemary Feitelberg
Brazilians might not know the graffiti artist Alexandre Orion by name, but many have already seen his work. Disgusted with the filthy Tunnel Max Feffer in So Paulo, the 28-year-old, who goes by his surname, used a water-soaked rag to turn the soot on the tunnel's walls into a pigment to create a mural of skulls. At the halfway point _ 300 meters _ city administrators swept in to clean the tunnel, something Orion knew was likely to happen from the start.
"When you clean something, it creates a gigantic impact. It is impossible not to see. A tunnel is one of the few places with no signs, no posters, no messages," he said. "We never talk about pollution."
The artist, who used a respirator while working on the mural, noted that So Paulo is one of the most polluted cities in the world. Residents subject themselves to air pollution that is said to be comparable to smoking five to seven cigarettes a day, he claimed. Global warming is another issue that upsets him. "We see in the news how places are without ice in the winter. The U.S. is hotter than ever, but no one cares," he asserted.
His skull mural was meant to be a reminder to people that their actions or ambivalence have consequences. "The skulls reminded people we live here, and if we keep doing things this way [in terms of pollution], we will die."
Fatalistic as that might sound, Orion is now using the remnants of his tunnel project, the pigment, primarily, in other art forms _ paintings and sculpture, including some that will be displayed on the street. He hopes his work leads to casual encounters with strangers. "A city should be a place to meet other people. You can't meet anybody in a tunnel. It's the only place where you can't go walking or ride a bicycle. I think it's completely mad."
Published: Friday, February 23, 2007
By Rosemary Feitelberg
Brazilians might not know the graffiti artist Alexandre Orion by name, but many have already seen his work. Disgusted with the filthy Tunnel Max Feffer in So Paulo, the 28-year-old, who goes by his surname, used a water-soaked rag to turn the soot on the tunnel's walls into a pigment to create a mural of skulls. At the halfway point _ 300 meters _ city administrators swept in to clean the tunnel, something Orion knew was likely to happen from the start.
"When you clean something, it creates a gigantic impact. It is impossible not to see. A tunnel is one of the few places with no signs, no posters, no messages," he said. "We never talk about pollution."
The artist, who used a respirator while working on the mural, noted that So Paulo is one of the most polluted cities in the world. Residents subject themselves to air pollution that is said to be comparable to smoking five to seven cigarettes a day, he claimed. Global warming is another issue that upsets him. "We see in the news how places are without ice in the winter. The U.S. is hotter than ever, but no one cares," he asserted.
His skull mural was meant to be a reminder to people that their actions or ambivalence have consequences. "The skulls reminded people we live here, and if we keep doing things this way [in terms of pollution], we will die."
Fatalistic as that might sound, Orion is now using the remnants of his tunnel project, the pigment, primarily, in other art forms _ paintings and sculpture, including some that will be displayed on the street. He hopes his work leads to casual encounters with strangers. "A city should be a place to meet other people. You can't meet anybody in a tunnel. It's the only place where you can't go walking or ride a bicycle. I think it's completely mad."
VIEW 5 of 5 COMMENTS
xx
It most likely would just be that i know what it was like growing up here for me and my mates and tbh growing up in a big city just exposes you to things FAR too young.
I'm bedridden today
xxx