Distinguished streets
Video: 9’ 04’’
2010
Produced by Comunidad de Madrid and Madrid Procesos of AVAM (Associate Visual Artists of Madrid).
This project consisted of a subtle urban intervention in Madrid’s central district of Lavapiés, which intended to alert pedestrians to the area’s unquestionable state of neglect. Traditionally one of the poorer neighbourhoods near the city centre, Lavapiés is an area with a high concentration of immigrants, and also an area lacking in all kinds of social resources and urban plans related to the necessities and the desires of its inhabitants.
Taking inspiration from the existing decorative elements, which are the titled plaques used to name the capital’s central streets, Diana Larrea created and installed new plaques in some Lavapiés streets in order to show up the current helpless appearance of so many buildings there. By doing so, the artist aimed to highlight the indifference shown by the municipal authorities in dealing with this historic enclave.
