BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
Aïda Gómez is using urban space as her stage and her laboratory with her recently directed public performance in Porto, Portugal. A matter of daily city life and self-governance, our reliance upon the presumably reliable mechanized interchanging of the illuminated figure symbol is unquestioned.
Here he/she is telling us to go and to stop; our obeyance is so ingrained in us as a patterned behavior that it doesn’t reach the upper region of consciousness most days.
Aïda Gómez. Mr. Red & Mr. Green. Portugal. (photo © Aïda Gómez)
A simple personification of the figures here on a crosswalk jolts people out of their pattern, and the minimalistic approach is without reproach. Here is this red mime in sneakers gesturing with a full range of body signals delivered in the spirit of mimicry, cautiously enacting hesitation, a suspense of action, pensive waiting.
Aïda Gómez. Mr. Red & Mr. Green. Portugal. (photo © Aïda Gómez)
The red figure is suddenly replaced by the green one; drolly sauntering, strolling, skipping, rolling across the walkway – a fully formed figurative performance of the various expectable and acceptable mechanics involved for propelling a human forward through space.
Aïda Gómez. Mr. Red & Mr. Green. Portugal. (photo © Aïda Gómez)
A curiosity? Yes. Mesmerizing? Maybe. An opportunity to draw attention to a few lines from the civic code of our programmed public behavior? Definitely.
See a video of the performance at the end of this post.
Aïda Gómez. Mr. Red & Mr. Green. Portugal. (photo © Aïda Gómez)
Aïda Gómez. Mr. Red & Mr. Green. Portugal. (photo © Aïda Gómez)
Aïda Gómez. Mr. Red & Mr. Green. Portugal. (photo © Aïda Gómez)
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