Memory Signs
Grupo de Arte Callejero (GAC)
Urban intervention. 54 road signs of 2.60 m each. galvanized iron and reflective laminate.
1999–2010
This piece appropriates the visual language of traffic signs and makes use of images´ power of synthesis to establish effective communication with viewers. Camouflaged in the codes of street signage, the “signs” propose a route through Argentina´s recent history, accompanied by a written text that, as a manner of anchoring meaning, interlaces different voices in regard to the issue of State terrorism in Argentina.
Grupo de Arte Callejero (GAC). (GAC, street art group) This group comprises educators who graduated from the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes «Prilidiano Pueyrredón» (Buenos Aires) as well as
professionals from other careers, such as Photography and Graphic Design. It was created in April, 1997 in response to a need to create a space where art and politics would form part of one same mechanism of production. Their works accordingly
question the boundaries between art and militancy. From the outset, they looked for an arena for visual communication beyond the tradition exhibition circuit, focusing on appropriating public space. Outstanding
examples of the actions and projects carried out include: «Docentes ayunando» (Teachers Fasting, 1997), «Juicio y Castigo» (Trial and Punishment, 1999), «Carteles viales» (Street Signs, 1999) and «Aquí viven genocidas» (Genocides Live Here, 2001).
In 2009 they published GAC – Pensamientos, prácticas, acciones (gac – Thinking, Practices and Action), with a prologue by Sebastián
Hacher and Ana Longoni, summarizing the group’s work and trajectory. In 2010, gac was selected to carry out the system of signage used for the ex-Centro Clandestino de Dentención esma. The group is currently made up by Lorena Bossi, Vanesa Bossi, Fernanda Carrizo, Mariana Corral and Carolina «Charo» Golder.
