With the international banking crises continuing to force everyday citizens to suffer, Spain is one of the more recent “developed” countries being forced to cut programs and services for its people. Just this past Saturday tens of thousands of Spaniards marched through cities across the country to protest deep austerity, the privatization of public services and political corruption. With tens of thousands of closed businesses and an economy in severe retraction and cuts to education and health programs, the pain hits the youth particularly hard as 55% of people under the age of 25 are unemployed.
Octavi Serra, Mateu Targa, Daniel Llugany and Pau Garcia. “HANDS”. January, 2013. Barcelona, Spain. (photo © Pau Garcia Sanchez)
To reflect this environment on the streets, four artists have begun a Street Art installation in Barcelona that highlights the human aspect of the economic crisis using sculptures of hands strategically placed in the public sphere. The results of HANDS are subtle but effective, and many passersby interact with them, take photos of them, pose with them, stand and discuss these gestural conversation pieces. Poignant and pointed, the installations aim to help people draw the connection between the crisis and those who ultimately are responsible.
All involved in the field of visual arts, the artists who have a hand in HANDS are Octavi Serra, Mateu Targa, Daniel Llugany and Pau Garcia. You may now applaud if you like.
Octavi Serra, Mateu Targa, Daniel Llugany and Pau Garcia. “HANDS”. January, 2013. Barcelona, Spain. (photo © Pau Garcia Sanchez)
Octavi Serra, Mateu Targa, Daniel Llugany and Pau Garcia. “HANDS”. January, 2013. Barcelona, Spain. (photo © Pau Garcia Sanchez)
Octavi Serra, Mateu Targa, Daniel Llugany and Pau Garcia. “HANDS”. January, 2013. Barcelona, Spain. (photo © Pau Garcia Sanchez)
Octavi Serra, Mateu Targa, Daniel Llugany and Pau Garcia. “HANDS”. January, 2013. Barcelona, Spain. (photo © Pau Garcia Sanchez)
Octavi Serra, Mateu Targa, Daniel Llugany and Pau Garcia. “HANDS”. January, 2013. Barcelona, Spain. (photo © Pau Garcia Sanchez)
Octavi Serra, Mateu Targa, Daniel Llugany and Pau Garcia. “HANDS”. January, 2013. Barcelona, Spain. (photo © Pau Garcia Sanchez)
Octavi Serra, Mateu Targa, Daniel Llugany and Pau Garcia. “HANDS”. January, 2013. Barcelona, Spain. (photo © Pau Garcia Sanchez)
Octavi Serra, Mateu Targa, Daniel Llugany and Pau Garcia. “HANDS”. January, 2013. Barcelona, Spain. (photo © Pau Garcia Sanchez)
Go to HANDS for more about this project.
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
f Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities. Now screening : 1. SpY / Full Story / Takin Over Public Spaces In The City2. Matth Velvet. Parees Festival 20...
Welcome! Now Go Home! That's what Tony Carapachio at the corner deli used to say about all the foreigners moving into the neighborhood. Sounds like a lot of the comments being directed at Banksy b...
“Dream Big” or go home, champ. We don’t need any half-solutions today. This alligator with a hidden nature revealed in its’ shadow appears quite prepared to bellow and bite in Gainesville, Florida. ...
New images today of a red panda painted by artist Louis Masai in Shanghai. The quilt piece covered animal rises from street level with an endangered bee nearby ready to stitch him together. The image ...
The new exhibition “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures” is on view at the URBAN NATION Museum – a six-decade retrospective of Martha Cooper’s photographic work. Through photographs and personal objects, ...