Pifostio is a photographic series depicting everyday, visual communication found on the streets of Madrid.

Shop fronts lettered by their owners, thrash bins lettered by janitors, a large part of the street graphics seen in Madrid is made by its people. It happens in working-class areas, but in others as well. Call shops and wholesalers, but jewelers too. Plain brush, but also vinyl flawlessly cut by an expensive device. Particular resources like self adhesive lettering give shape to the visual landscape of Madrid. This is our habitat, our education. Our standard. This is our graphic culture as a society.

So, the streets get full of the work of people that are moved by a genuine need to communicate, and free from any educational conditioning. Only one that's oblivious of the rules can break them in such fruitful ways. Untrained sign makers, improvised tools, but an amount of love and joy that's not easy to find in professional work.

For the appreciators of graphic communication, typography and its limits, Madrid is big fun.

Selections of images from the collection have been exhibited at various venues

Conde Duque, Banquete 05, Madrid
Installation of 700 photographs
Images of the installation | Pifostio at Banquete.org |
ABC review (spanish)

PhotoEspaña 2005, Madrid
Large screen at Plaza de Santa Ana
30' slideshow

II International Typography Congress
Valencia 2006
Installation of 700 photographs

ABOUT the artist

Javier Abarca is an artist, typographer and educator. He teaches visual arts and urban art for the Universidad Complutense at the Facultad de Bellas Artes in Aranjuez, Madrid.

Javier studied fine arts at the Universidad Complutense and typography under David Jury, GB. He was born in Madrid in 1973, currently lives and works there.

Artist's website: javierabarca.es

 

Below are excerpts of an e-mail conversation between the artist and a friend discussing the project's intention.

De: hongkai.wang@
Asunto: suggestions
Fecha: 14 de diciembre de 2005 00:44:25 GMT+01:00
Para: abarca@pifostio.org

hi javier,
 
here are some edits my friends and I made to the text for your site. [...]

We all feel a bit uncomfortable with the sentence "Only one who is oblivious to the rules can break them in such lightheartedly ways". It seems like that you have a position in this statement, which could easily be read as "patronizing". The street graphic is a form of everyday language outside the academic system, and most of people who created it may or may not have formal knowledge or pretensions as to how they are communicating. But of course its also clear that you are celebrating the street graphic as opposed to ridiculing it, yet there is still certain degree of ambiguity to it. 

let me know what you think.

hong-kai

***

De: abarca@pifostio.org
Asunto: Re: suggestions
Fecha: 14 de diciembre de 2005 03:29:23 GMT+01:00
Para: hongkai.wang@

Thanks a lot,

indeed there is abiguity in my point of view about this.. i certainly celebrate people's creations but i can't approve a sociocultural context (our graphic illiterateness as a society, and therefore the education we have been given) that can allow such low design standards to be the actual standard all around. That's what i meant with [...]

Also, the sentences contrapositioning "callshops / jewelers" etc mean that this is not just samples of very-low-range bussiness graphics. Instead, it's actually all over and sadly this fotos depict the general [...]

So, first i try to present the fact of a pansocial DIY standard allowed by a lack of social graphic literacy. The second and third paragraphs celebrate the fruits of that DIY reality.

[...]

I didn't think "Only one who is oblivious to the rules ..." would sound patronizing..

Of course my point of view is that of an intellectual and there is no point in denying or trying to hide that fact. Of course none of these authors has any academic awareness. But i think i can enjoy the way other people ignore my rules, specially if i focus on the times they do it fruitfully, teaching me about the limits and use of those rules. [...]

We are intellectuals enjoying the work of non-intellectuals, i think that's no problem and we should happily accept it. Of course it all depends on the point of view of the documenter. His/her position should be that of an equal, even a learner. I hope my picture selection talks for itself regarding this issue, but i wouldn't like the text to be misleading. That is why i *thank* you so much for your help and [...]

I will let you know as soon as the pictures are online. I hope you find them good enough for all this talking

kisses
javier

 

Texts and images (cc) the artist