Guaté Mao in Born and another YouTube guest appearance.

A few weeks back I took a walk through the old city centre and found some pieces by the French artist Guaté Mao, whose instagram is @guate.mao. As mentioned in my last post, my data allotment is quickly running out, so there will only be a small number of photos. These pieces were found in the Born neighbourhood, near the famous Cathedral of Santa Maria del Mar.

On another note, as I mentioned earlier, an ex-colleague of mine has started a Youtube channel James Waylon, and on the same day when I took the photos in this entry, we went to the Hotel Brummel in the Poble Sec area, and had a chat about street art and some other experiences we’ve had over the years living in Barcelona. You can find a link to the video here. Comments and feedback are welcome!

Advertisement

My first video, some random shots, and another impossible kiss.

I’ve been toying with the idea of trying to make videos for quite a while, and I decided that my recent phone upgrade to a Galaxy S9 was the perfect opportunity. Perfect opportunity, but far from perfect video. I’m happy with the resolution, however I don’t think the video would be watchable for people who suffer from severe motion sensitivity. So, it looks like the next investment, should I decide to continue dabble in videos, I think my next investment will be a gimbal. However, as they seem to run for, minimum, a few hundred dollars, I may wait just a bit. In any case, here is the link to the video, in case you’re interested.

As for the shots in this post, they come from a city about 10 minutes outside Barcelona, called Mollet del Vallès. It was found on the walls of a secondary school on the Rambla de Balmes, while I was on my way to one of my rent-paying gigs, working as a Cambridge English assessor, which often takes me outside the city. If you’re interested in seeing these, here is a link to the location.

The other shot comes from none other than TV Boy, and features an impossible kiss between two arch-rivals from the world of European football, Pep Guardiola (with the yellow ribbon) and Jose Mourinho. While the two have moved on from the posts where their rivalry was most heated, as managers of Barça and Real Madrd, respectively, the memory of their entertaining jabs at one another lives on.

A sweet spot on the corner

In the heart of Gràcia, on the corner of Verdi and Asturies streets, you can find the Pastisseria Verdi, a pastry shop which is quite popular with locals, known for its red exteriors and delicious, sweet baked goods.

Recently, the Catalan artist Rice has installed a new project on the red exterior of the corner bakery. All of the work are portraits on which there is a baked good somewhere on the faces of the subjects. Interestingly, there is also a QR code which takes you to a site where each work is accompanied by a text. Here is the link, in case your QR code readers are not cooperating.

Spring shots from 3 Chimneys

Here are a few shots from the latest visit to the 3 Chimneys park near just off Paral·lel Avenue. While the work I find is sometimes hit or miss, I like the way the park itself has evolved into a sort of street art oasis in the middle of the city. It also seems to be attracting more and more tourists with increasingly professional photography gear, though much of it is being used to make skate videos.

The other shots come from the interior of the old city centre, where new work continues to become increasingly rare. I can only hope the summer will bring some surprises.

Distractions, silence, a pasteup

There’s been a bit of radio silence on the blog lately, but between the beginning of course, having fallen down the rabbit hole of blockchain technology, and of course the current political situation, I’ve been neglecting the writing. I’m working on a piece on the Catalonia situation, which changes by the hour, as well as a recap of random shots I’ve taken over the past few months. In the meantime, I leave you with a pasteup I stumbled upon on the 1 of October, the tumultuous referendum day.