San Cristobal, Chiapas (Mexico)
San Cristobal, Chiapas (Mexico)
all images by
giorgia aiello and irina gendelman
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San Cristobal, Chiapas (Mexico) San Cristobal, Chiapas (Mexico)
all images by
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Texture can certainly spill into the discussion on the body.
I was never so much aware of texture until I started working with a 3D
animation program. Textures are integral to the computer created visual
images. Textures are indispensable when you want to make an object organic,
realistic, dimensional on a 2D screen. Type "textures" into
www.webmonkey.com and you will find a tool that can remove "blemishes"
from your photograph. a pimple on a face can easily become a smooth (Thomas,
2003). If you check out textures by typing the word "texture" into a search engine, you will invariably end up looking at icons that resemble organic or three dimensional images designed to make the background of the web page or desktop look like cloth, sandpaper, aluminum, wood, weave, stucco, water, embossed paper and a whole plethora of organic physical textures. Traveling through the Mexican cities, we were struck by the difference in textures around us. The materials used in buildings were often deteriorating and crumbling, the bricks of the walls were not the standard brick size that we are used to seeing in the US. Some old buildings were made of irregular stones variable in sizes. The geometry of the materials seemed much less adherent to linear and right angles, and plastic materials were noticeably less predominant. Whether it was influenced by resources or other factors, the environment seemed, for the lack of a better word, more organic than the typical environment of cities in the US. The Spanish church in San Cristobal, carved with intricate designs, shows a level of detail that is rarely seen in the US. What we interpreted as a sign of resistance, the heads of the saints were removed from the statues along the base of the church. The building itself was covered with graffiti criticizing the government and expressing support for the Zapatistas. At the market set in front of the church we bought Zapatista doll key chains from the tents of indigenous women. Graffiti here seemed like a fitting backdrop rather than what Wilson and Kelling (1982) call "signs of disorder" in the US cities. Although prolific in San Cristobal, revolutionary posters
and graffiti were occasionally removed, but still visible on the walls
of the cities. It was still possible to read the text in the poster and
often to read the graffiti underneath the white coat of buff paint. These
signs of resistance and control were both commonly exposed to the passerby.
The textures of the Mexican streets reveal a different standard of the
authority of form. While in the US a clean city is a symbol of control,
and as some scholars argue uniformity communicates the message of safety
to the citizen (Wilson and Kelling), the Mexican city seemed to have a
different relationship with the textures of asymmetry, irregularity and
unsanctioned communication in the streets.
a project for University of Washington |