Category: page_mural

Sen Thăng Long Hotel

Hanoi, Vietnam
June 2010

Project commissioned by the AECID

At the end of June 2010 I was invited by the Spanish embassy in Hanoi to paint the facade of the Sen Thang Long hotel, in Nguyễn Trường Tộ street, close to the Old Quarter. I spent 20 days there and was helped by Duy, Bái, Thăng y Nhi, four painters used to extreme working conditions, who ended being my hosts and allowed me discover the city and Vietnamese culture in a very unusual and authentic way.


The finished facade after 15 days of work, click on the picture to enlarge.

Extra pictures:

Thanks to my four assistants efficiency, it only took 15 days to finish the facade and I was left with a week to do a little bit of tourism, sing What is love at the Karaoke, do independent paintings in the street, finally find out what was that song Bái was playing everyday in his mobile phone, try more types of Phở, ride three at a time on a motorbike to Thanh Xuân in the rain, and try at last the Mía đá…

An incredible experience that was made possible thanks to Cesar Espada, Mónica Gutierrez, Duy, Bái, Thăng, Nhi and Thin, Mr Hai the hotel director,  Eugenio, Nga, Chi, Ming from Bar36, the corner fruit sellers and Mrs Phở.

Script 1.2

Sala de Arte Joven de la Comunidad de Madrid
Av. América 13, Madrid
April to August 2010

Curated by Isra Souza and Rafafans

The full report of the exhibition can be consulted here: www.eltono.com/en/exhibitions/sala-de-arte-joven-2-0

The first Script experiment, Script 1.0, took place at the Spanish Cultural Center in Buenos Aires in April 2010. Script 1.1 was run in Delimbo Gallery in Seville in April 2010 as well. With the same idea, I started Script 1.2 for my show in Sala de Arte Joven 2.0. The idea was to paint the largest wall in the gallery between all participants. Each collaborator chose a color and painted stripes following precise rules. Thus each individual executed the script while at the same time watched as the mural was “automatically” painted.

A grid was marked on the wall and each person chose the color they wanted. Before beginning to paint, a random process was used to give each person a coordinate for their line (x, y) so they would know their starting point and direction.

Over the course of 7 days, 30 lines were painted in 12 different colors by 12 people.

Video:

Thanks a lot to: Carmen y Tono (el verdadero), Julio, Ana Paula, Jaime, Clara, Hoffa, Lore, Mónica, Rafa, Rocío, Guillermo, Pablo, Laura, Dani, Sierra, Tere, Bea, Elsa, Parsec, Jesús, Alvaro, Dane, Isra, Rafafans, María, Pepito, Encarna Fernández, Justo Sánchez-Manzano, Ana Isabel Illanes, Emilio Camacho, Eduardo de la Fuente…

Script 1.1

Delimbo Artspace
Calle Pérez Galdós nº 1, Sevilla, Spain
May 14th – July 15th 2010

The Reticula exhibition is the study of a union between calculated geometric forms and uncontrolled factors such as wear caused by spontaneous actions produced by pedestrians. Through experiments in the streets of Seville, I observed how these external factors were affecting the works installed in the street while at the same time influencing the results that would be presented in the gallery.

Script 1.1, Mural Descontrolado (Uncontrolled Mural)

The SCRIPT project (see Script 1.0) consists of murals painted by following a set of predefined rules determined by the artist. Thus, the development of the work is done in an uncontrolled manner and the end result is unexpected.
In this way, the artist is a spectator in his own artwork, and can be surprised by the outcome.

To run the script in Sevilla, I drew a grid on the wall where, according to the results obtained, the lines would be drawn. Each line depended on four elements:

1 – A horizontal coordinate (a letter)
2 – A vertical coordinate (a number)
3 – A color
4 – A direction (an arrow)
For example: E, 7, yellow, vertical upward.

I decided to leave the choice (though unconscious) of these four elements to the pedestrians. I stapled sheets of paper arranged in four groups (one for each item) in the street. Each group made a sort of mini-notebook from which the leaves could be torn. In this manner the combinations that defined the lines of the mural were formed on there own. I walked around the city to record the state of the papers between four and six times a day. I only wrote down the codes generated on a site where at least one paper had been torn. Each time a new combination was generated, I wrote it down in a notebook in the order in which it was seen. The day before the opening, we reviewed all the combinations and painted each line in the order in which it was documented.

The experiment lasted five days and 19 lines were painted.

Video:

Photos:


(Click on the picture to enlarge.)

Script 1.0

Intervenciones Urbanas Iberoamericanas
CCEBA, Centro Cultural de España en Buenos Aires
Sede Balcarce 1150, San Telmo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Abril 2010

“Intervenciones Urbanas Iberoamericanas se define como muestra de acción usualmente exterior, en un interior, tomando provecho de los muros aún en construcción, del edificio de la nueva sede CCEBA San Telmo.” www.cceba.org.ar

El proyecto SCRIPT consiste en pintar murales ejecutando reglas predefinidas por el artista. Así el desarrollo de la obra se hace de forma descontrolada y el resultado final es inesperado. De esa forma, el propio artista puede ser sorprendido y se encuentra en la posición de espectador de su propia obra.

Fue invitado por la embajada española para participar en la muestra donde me dieron una sala vacía para desarrollar mi intervención. A partir de allí, pensé en hacer mi primer experimento SCRIPT o de “pintura descontrolada”. La idea era de pintar líneas que daban la vuelta a la habitación de forma automática. Antes de empezar a pintar, establecí unas normas que iban a dirigir el desarrollo de la pintura:

1- Cada línea empieza en la primera pared a la izquierda y acaba cuando vuelve al ese mismo sitio.
2- La altura donde empieza cada línea depende de la hora a la que se empieza a pintarla (gráfico 1).
3- La inclinación con la que empieza cada línea es definida según los minutos que indica el reloj a la hora de empezar a trazarla (gráfico 2).
4- Cada línea rebota contra el suelo y el techo con un angulo a 90 grados.
5- Al encontrarse con un cambio de plano, la línea sigue con la misma inclinación pero cambia de color.
6- La última cifra de la hora define el color que hay que usar (gráfico 3).

Una vez el script escrito y los gráficos y tablas correspondientes dibujados, solo faltó ejecutarlo.

El experimento duró cinco días y se logró pintar cinco líneas.

Video:

Fotos:

Muchas gracias a Magda, Barbara y Martín por la preciada ayuda y a todo el equipo del CCEBA.

Murals

Fundació Joan Miró
Parc de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain
February 19th – June 6th 2010

Curated by Martina Millá
Mural painting in collaboration with Nuria Mora

invitacion

“Murals” represents a meeting point and a creative space for mural painters of our time. The Foundation invited ten artists who come from as far as West Africa, Mexico and the United States as well as Europe to work on the walls of the temporary exhibition area.

www.fundaciomiro-bcn.org/exposicio.php?idioma=2&exposicio=1961&titulo=Murals

Pictures by Nuria, Eltono and Pere.

6 days time-lapse video:

Rojo Out

Mural painting project for ROJO®out
Av. Pres. Juscelino Kubitschek – Marginal Pinheiros, Sao Paulo, Brazil
August 28th, 29th and 30th 2009

Project in collaboration with Nuria Mora

http://maps.google.com.br

Street Art

Tate Modern
Londres, Reino Unido
23 de mayo – 25 agosto 2008
Mural en colaboración con Nuria Mora
Comisariado por Cedar Lewisohn y Rafael Schacter

The Street Art Walking Tour: Un recorrido de arte site-specific alrededor del museo; parte de la exposición Street Art.

eltono-nuria-tate-modern