Pre-production
2005. Raimond Chaves. EL RIO, LAS COSAS QUE PASAN (2005.05 / theoretical data)
INTRODUCTION
Over the past few years I have been basing my work on the preparation of publications with varying levels of public participation in their elaboration and which aim to promote the circulation of those stories, images, ideas, etc. which due to their importance and at the same time the lack of public awareness of them deserve to be known and spread.
Thus, restoring the capacity of people to tell their own experiences to counter these stories to the domineering capacity of the media to create events and set out concrete action to be taken, all in all, to create reality.
A large part of these editorial proposals is the work of processing images, mainly found images, to have a bearing on the willingness to respond from other angles and with other views of that which “is happening”.
Thus, stories, news, echoes, new images, drawings and collage, edited in street newspapers, posters, templates, mural paintings and other supports propose new ways of understanding the world while putting the notions of objectivity, impartiality and the rôles of preparation and receipt of information in doubt.
BACKGROUND
Hangueando(*) –Periódico con Patas.
(*) Hanguear. Spanglish version of the English verb “To Hang Around” and which is used as synonym of to roam without a fixed destination or set aim in Puerto Rico.
Poster newspaper glued to street walls and shown at exhibitions as well as been sold at public presentations which end in a party, it is exchanged, given as a gift.
HANGUEANDO feeds on many different independent initiatives as is the independent and bright elaboration of images, the capacity to refer to its self-existence, the critical sense of the context and symbolic meaning of certain objects, either due to their usefulness or their symbolic power help us to know the world better. HANGUEANDO is a publication based on the recycling of images and senses, on the spreading of stories and points of view which usually get no coverage in other media and in celebrating the joy of life.
So far, the following posters have been published:
N0 0. October 2002, 59,4x84cm. 1500 copies. Four colours. Published and printed in Lima. Distributed in Lima, San Juan de Puerto Rico, Bucaramanga, Bogotá, Barcelona, Madrid, Rotterdam, Berlin and Ljubljana.
N0 1. April 2003, 59,4x84cm. 1500 copies. Four colours. Published in Bogotá and printed in. Distributed in Lima, San Juan de Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, Bucaramanga, Bogotá, Barcelona and Módena.
N0 2. November 2003, 100x140cm. 1500 copies. Digital printing. Published in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Printed in Barcelona with the backing of 22a. Distributed in Puerto Rico and Barcelona.
N0 3. Spring-Summer 2004, 70x100cm. Published in Terrassa. Printed in Madrid with the backing of El Perro, Distributed in Spain. (Unpublished on October 20th 2004)
“Coca Crónica” (Rotterdam, 2002) See images at the following link: http://www.jstk.org/airport/raimond/index.html
“Veni, Sentate, Contame”(Lima, 2003) and “La Pura Oscura” (Bogotá, 2004) on screen processing of journalistic images of the Colombian conflict. –See attached images-
“Mural Candela" (Terrassa, 2004) Mural painting for street view at a place of meeting and political discussion. -See images attached and the following link: http://www.p-oberts.org/index1.html
PROPOSAL
“Hanguendo y Colgando” is organised around a double proposal for Madrid Abierto based on the mediums on which it will be shown on the streets of the capital and also on the condition of a travelling artist who lives and works travelling between South America, the Caribbean and Europe.
“Hangueando”
The publication of a new poster to be placed on billboards on the streets of Madrid with texts, statements and images considered to be relevant regarding events and processes which are taking place in South America and are hardly known of or totally unknown in Europe. Events that are local or confined to certain areas of South America because of globalization have consequences in Spain.
“Colgando”
The publication of between twenty and thirty different banderols based on my collection of images of South America with which I will elaborate a graphic story (no text) on a topic similar to the complimentary proposal but aimed at being read while moving (in vehicles driving along the Paseo de Recoletos). The sequence of images will work just like a flipbook, in which the animation works passing of the images. These images could illustrate an “event” during various moments, such as for example a bottle emptying or a volcano erupting (from banderol to banderol).
CONCLUSION
I would like to take advantage of my being a travelling artist who bases his work on gathering stories and the processing of images to offer versions and “news stories” which I believe to be relevant on local matters which have global implications. As a passer-by, citizen and artist, I offer these stories, on the streets of Madrid, to strengthen its public character and my desire to bring these stories closer to everyone.
(May 2005)
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