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We could say that Buenos Aires is a great Gallery of Art. Its streets and neighborhood offer to the tourists and inhabitants the possibility of enjoying the art on the street.
The American philosopher Elbert Hubbard said that: “Art is not a thing; it is a way”. Maybe, Buenos Aires adopt the declaration of the philosopher literally, so, its streets or “paths” capture art in several block. From the historic Caminito in La Boca neighborhood from the Lanin Street in Barracas are clear examples of art on the street.
Marino Santa María is a plastic art and he is also the responsible of the Urban Participation in many streets of the city. –Santa María said - “The public art does not have to have functionality, it is only for everybody’s reach”. The idea is to show all the inhabitants and tourists a sample of argentine art and to be able to color the street of the capital city.
As it also occurs in other cities of the world, the art lets you have a look to all the spectators who arrives from all over the world. The art in Buenos Aires can be seen by everybody.
How would you define the Urban Participation?
The urban participation is to modify on Pre-Existing architecture taking the public space.
A mural?
No, a whole block. It is not a façade.
And which is the difference with the Mural?
The mural is a big picture, here it is not the possibility of a picture. They are fragments with a space of color. The idea is to take a entire block or several blocks. I am not a muralist, I finish with complete blocked or I don’t do anything (he laughs)
How do you start with this idea of Urban Intervention?
The small horse painting is small and isolated. Maybe, it is because some aspiration that remains on me of being town planner or architect. I could say that from a musician I became an orchestra conductor.
Why the Lanín Street?
I was born there. I always said that the playground was painted by me.
And how did the neighbors take this idea?
The neighbor who wanted to take art of this idea was in charge of the maintenance and in general, not only it was accepted by many people but also nobody abandons the project.
The pioneer in Argentina is Benito Quinquela Martín…
He is the pioneer in the world and he is the only person in carry out urban interventions. The “Conventillos” of Caminito were already established but he gave them color and an identity to the neighborhood.
What role do the people play in this kind of art?
In the Abasto neighborhood and in Enrique Santos Discépolo passageway, apart from the ceramics and the Venetian mosaic, I included scores. The people is part of this work because the majority of them start signing or humming the different songs.
