Perros Negros,
Mar 01, 2004 - Jul 30, 2004
Colonia Centro , Mexico DF, Mexico
Localismos (or how to be an amateur observer)
by Isaura Ruiz
A group of 20 artists, both Mexican and foreign, were called together for a live-in workshop in Mexico City’s Historic Center, in an effort to make contact with the area’s cultural dynamics. At the end of the month the road was opened for Localismos, at which the results of this live-in workshop would be exhibited. No small feet considering that what was proposed were the results of interactions with this environment and, above all, the urban material the participants encountered. This exhibition, to be complemented by concerts and lectures, would give rise to an entire series of events in various parts of the Historic Center with a variety of proposals, including: an interpretation of contemporary Mexican culture through dance, a workshop for producing masks and dress with second-hand raw materials, a taco-makers contest, publications on corporate art, a make-shift gymnasium, a brass band contest, a gathering of flyers distributed throughout the length and breadth of the historic center depicting social sculpture, and the distribution of maps giving the location of street vendors, among other interactive proposals. The authors responsible for and bringing about all the foregoing consisted of an interdisciplinary group called Perros Negros (Black Dogs) which, having its center of operations in the same Historic Center, set itself the task of coordinating all the events around Localismos, which were extremely diverse, simultaneous, some spontaneous and very often confusing. -Aleksandra Mir, prepared a collection of books, showing pictures of the sky, as well as presenting the sign Yo no hablo español, (I don’t speak Spanish) made by artisans from the center, and a documentary video interpreting the center through the dance.
-Andrea Crews manufactured a Pelea de monstruos, (Fight of monsters), made of clothing and accessories obtained from Tepito.
-Xavier Andrade gave a slide presentation of a popular encyclopedia on drugs found in an old bookshop, as well as the Full Dollar project, "private capital at the service of contemporary art and sociological cleansing."
-Asier Pérez González prepared Sabor Centro Histórico (Historic Center Flavor), an introduction to the flavor of the historic center by way of the market.
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