The Final Days in Buenos Aires (and an exclusive sneak peek into the future adventures of the audacious Daniel Martin Crowley ¯\(º_o)/¯ )

Tick, Tick, Tick

                     “How did it get so late so soon?” 

                                   -Dr. Seuss

I started this blog a couple months ago with the same words. This is a different ticking. It isn't frustrated anticipation. It is something else. Something I don't fully understand. Nostalgia, perhaps. Sadness. Now that time is limited, things feel different. Without a camera, I find myself taking mental snapshots of familiar places and moments. Tick, tick! Don't blink!

Unfortunately this week has begun in a haze of sickness. A cold attacked quite suddenly, meaning every minute I wasn't in class it was in bed leaking and dying. Hopefully I can battle through the next few days and explore some parts of the city I haven't yet.

Goodbye Dulce de Leche

"Goodbye Buenos Aires"
Goodbye sweet Dulce de Leche, my love forevermore.
Goodbye awesome choripan place on Olleros and Libertador.
Goodbye rock stars Delta Venus and Hippidons.
Goodbye to the park and the swans (Not actually swans, they are geese, but at least they don't bite)
Goodbye barrio Chino
Goodbye cheap vino
Goodbye Spanish CLASSES
Goodbye flower wallpaper that sometimes dances.
Goodbye platform shoes, tall and fancy
Goodbye pretty ladies, I know you'll miss me.

Well I can't be too sure about that last part, but that's a poem. In my final weeks on the transit system I would write poems, dialogues, short stories, drawings, and a mix of all those to hand out to people. I can't take credit for the idea, I was inspired by a wise Colombian man. The experience of doing this has been so fulfilling, even though my poetry and art cannot possibly be any good. Still, it makes people smile. God knows, we all need to smile.

What will I think of, when I think of my time in Buenos Aires? I will think of hip-hop Thursday at MOD. I will think of all the students from California in my class. I will also think about the hours spent reading and writing, trying to make sense of life.  I will think of the naturally friendly Argentines that invited me into their homes and foods. I am more grateful than you can ever know.

 For the most part, time melts solid memories. What will will eventually remain a year from now or ten years from now will not be specific days, it will be a feeling. What will that feeling be?

A little over 3 months is a weird amount of time to be in one place. You can only sink your roots in so deep before you get pulled back up. As much as I love this city, I am ready to keep moving. Time for this tumbleweed to keep on tumbling.The wind blows in the good airs. A change of direction is imminent. 
To the east! 
To Chile! 
To Viña del Mar and my brother Ivan Alejandro Antivilo! 

Through the vineyards of Mendoza, and the great Andes lies Valparaiso

From there, plans are not yet concrete. My flight leaves from Peru July 1st, so I will eventually get there. What happens between now and then is a story not yet written. WWOOFing is the hope. At this point the blog will also take on a more narrative than information.

El Arte Callejero (Posgrafiti)

The following is a school project revised for this blog. If anyone wants to start doing street art in July, let me know and we can throw some ideas together. All of this art in this post are works in Buenos Aires that  I have seen. There are probably still mistakes in this post, so let me know if you find them. Enjoy.

Las paredes porteñas

“Algunas personas se convierten en policía porque quieren mejorar el mundo. Algunas personas se convierten en vándalos porque quieren mejorar la apariencia del mundo.” -Banksy

“Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place. Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place.” -Banksy

El motivo es entender la historia y el contexto del arte callejero, lo que veo cada día.  Me interesa explorar los asuntos legales y también la controversia. La policía no influye mucho este arte entonces las reglas quedan más entre los artistas. Voy a hablar más sobre la era posgraffiti que graffiti.

 

La historia del arte callejero en Buenos Aires, en realidad, nació en un movimiento Mexicano hace casi cien años. El muralismo. El movimiento Mexicano era muy político y el clima político en Argentina no permitía que los artistas dibujen grandes murales. En consecuencia, el uso del stencil reemplazó mucha de las formas más usadas. El arte en la calle ha cambiado mucho en cien años. Es una reacción de la sociedad. En 2001 tras la crisis económica, las calles estaban llenas de murales políticos y negatividad. Algunos artistas decidieron responder en contra de esta negatividad. Pintaron lugares alejados del centro, abandonados y sucios, para pintar con muchos colores e imágenes felices.

Street art is playful

¿Es legal el arte callejero? Más o menos, sí. Es legal pintar la pared siempre que el dueño lo permite, y casi siempre lo permite (¿quién no querría arte en la pared?). Los murales políticos son desalentados y por eso tienen que ser plasmados en lugares públicos. El arte en lugares públicos, sin permiso es muy común, pero menos legal. Dibujan de todos modos, porque la policía no hace mucho contra el arte. La mayor parte del tiempo la policía diría que el artista tiene que irse, pero no llevará el artista ni la pintura. La indulgencia de arte significa que los artistas pueden usar mejores materiales y tomar más tiempo en una obra. En consecuencia, personas de todo el mundo viajan a Buenos Aires para pintar o mirar. “No conozco otra ciudad en el mundo que tenga esta ‘zona gris’ en términos legales,” dice un artista de Frances. Acá en Buenos Aires lo único que se necesita es la aprobación del dueño de la propiedad para hacer arte. A pesar de que haya reglas relajadas, muchas personas quieren ser más libre con el arte. Por ejemplo, algunos artistas quieren que los alementos, herramientas e instrumentos de trabajo no puedan ser secuestrados, o retenidos por autoridades aunque estén pintando en un lugar donde no es legal.

En los EEUU el arte callejero es ilegal en la mayoría del país. Algunas personas piensan que es un delito porque es vandalismo, destrucción de propiedad privada y allanamiento. Es ilegal hacer arte aunque el dueño de la propiedad dice que está bien, si es visible desde otra propiedad privada O pública.

It is in your face.

Pero, hay un problema en todo eso. No es con la legalidad, sino con el arte en sí mismo. Cuando los extranjeros vienen a Buenos Aires y dibujan obras políticas a veces hay problemas. Por ejemplo, el artista ”Blu” un muralista, dibujó una obra en la que hay una multitud de gente con la bandera de Argentina a través de su boca y ojos, y en el fondo, un político. El mural es gigante. La idea es que los argentinos tienen una fe ciega en su país y los políticos. El artista es italiano, no argentino. Es ofensivo para algunas personas, porque no piensan que los argentinos son así.  En la Plaza de Mayo hay pintado un billéte de cien pesos con la cara de Hebe de Bonafini, la líder del Asociación Madres de Plaza de Mayo. Había muchos problemas en esta organización con la malversación de dinero, y cosas ilegales. El artista ”No Touching Ground” es de EEUU. Entonces, ¿es apropiado para los extranjeros comentar los problemas políticos en Argentina, o sólo deben pintar afuera de la controversia?

 

El arte callejero es arte público. Cualquier persona puede disfrutarlo. Hay leyes acá en Buenos Aires para asegurar que los artistas respeten los derechos de los dueños, pero en general, la población es muy abierta con el arte. Lo quieren en las paredes. En los Estados Unidos no es así, pero en cualquier parte hay reglas, y algunas no son de la ley. Hay reglas y leyes entre los artistas y hay controversia entre el arte.

Papa Francisco and other religions of Buenos Aires

Hello all, it's been a while since my last blog post, so I figured I would do a brief one just to get back into it.

A quick update on general life: Things are going well. My mornings from 10-1 are spent at school, and usually after a lunch with classmates the afternoons are spent reading/doing homework at a park close to my house. At times, I know I should be spending the afternoon to go see more of the city, but it's just so nice at the park, and I have met some cool people there.The nights either last until I finish my homework, or until the sun comes up. Earlier this week I was at a friend's house and it was 2:30 am. Some people were trying to mobilize for the boliches, but others were insisting "It's still early, the night is young!"

So after a full night of sinning, where do you go to cleanse the spirit?

Argentina is mostly Christian (67%), but has a significant non-religious population (15%) and Islam, Buddhism, and Judaism also enjoy a strong following. Judaism has the largest following in Argentina than any other Latin American country.required the president to be Roman Catholic. Citing the text from 1853 it was "to keep a pacific relationship with the Indians and promote their conversion." Buenos Aires is the old stomping grounds of the current Pope: Papa Francisco.

The seventh largest congregation of Church of Latter Day Saints can also be found here (shout out to Keaton). They estimate only about 20% of these religious folks are regular church goers. The numbers are rough, and I always suspect that the percentage of non-religious is higher than surveys really show. The most popular style of prayer here is Roman Catholic Christianity, and the Argentine Constitution requires the government to support Roman Catholicism economically. In fact, before 1994 the Constitution

Who is this twitter friendly, selfie taking, dare I say: hip Pope?

Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the first Pope from the Americas and upon his election chose the papal name of Francis for Saint Francis of Assisi who did some important church reorganizing, dabbled in poverty, and worked to bring an end to the crusades in the early 1200s. He was also the first person in recorded history to receive the "stigmata," a grisly demonstration of devotion. Pope Francis is known for his humility, concern for the poor, and his non traditional stances on homosexuality. To clear things up, he still affirms all of Catholic doctrine on abortion, contraception, and homosexuality. He maintains the doctrine against homosexual acts, but says gays should not be "marginalized." So he's not that progressive. I mean he's still Pope, right?

Still, the world is excited about this Pope. Time and Fortune named him person of the year.

And to think he used to be a nightclub bouncer.

So yeah, that's a little something about the Pope. Hope you enjoyed it, and I will continue writing some more this week. I would really like to do a post about Argentine music, art, and film but it's going to require some collaboration with Argentines because those topics are so involved I don't want to misrepresent them.