A bit more about the Amazon and Street Art

First an image from today. On a wall next to Poca del Lobo restaurant in La Zona. By Waa (or Wa?), from Peru.




The schools in the Oriente (Amazon) do not have a summer vacation. Rather they have two breaks of about six weeks each for family renewal.

Traveling through the swelter of the Amazon serves as a reminder why there are no great universities in tropical climates.

There is a fruit that only women eat and they often eat it when they are visiting with other women. Women make the Chicha (a fermented alcohol drink) by chewing a plant (e.g., yucca) and spitting into a common bowl. It is the saliva that causes the fermenting.

People in the Oriente do not have or use sugar or salt.

The old men are very respected.

Had a long, productive talk today with Sergio Silva, who's name on the street is S2. He paints with a collective called Fenomenos. Most of the images in the "Listen Up!" magazine I did was by artists from the collective. S2 did the piece on the cover of the magazine. Here is one by him I photographed last Thursday in Floresta.




The members of Fenomenos are between 25 and 28 and in addition to S2 are (in alpha order) Estone, Infame, Pin8, Ralex, Raro, Seis, Suerte and Vera. Everyone in the collective does a variety of things in addition to their street art: painting, photography, product design (e.g., backpacks, clothing), etc.

Some of S2's observations:
- He is 25 and began painting when he was 20, five years ago. At first it was outside the "system." His first effort was a stencil opposing the bullfight and the society that supported it. Then he did a big Bob Marley stencil all around town (none surviving now), then a number of small stencils.
- Three years ago street artists started to get walls and paint and have festivals sponsored by places. The institutionalization of the work worries him because it inhibits artists from growing in ways that matter most. Some artists are waiting for the next festival because they can save some of the paint from the festival and go out afterwards on their own.
- The wall and the mural on the wall is setting a limit on the attitude and imagination an artist can have. He is interested in other textures and mediums.
- The shift needs to be from making art on a wall to making art with the community. And to expand to different formats.
- He hasn't done a wall in five months as he is doing his graphic work (how he makes a living) and searching for how he will grow next.
- He sees his role as recycling urban space.
- He is interested in cultural projects, such as the magazine he is doing with his brother. It is the only one in Ecuador produced without including advertisements. Twenty-five artists from eight cities contributed to Issue 01 of "Interruptor" fanzine.
- Most of the activity of the art and what economy it generates is in the underground. In Ecuador there is not much of a consumer base for art of any kind.

Location:Tumbaco