At times when the reputation of street art and muralism is on thin ice due to oversaturation, regular use for gentrification purposes and a lack of curatorial or critical efforts, it's refreshing to see artists continuing to push the boundaries and introduce new concepts. Working on both a conceptual and aesthetical level, the new mural by Daniel Muñoz SAN and Spok Brillor is a giant-size Trompe-l'œil intervention painted on a grain silo in Manzanares, La Mancha, Spain.
Realized through the Iam Titanes project, which was produced by Ink And Movement and the Laborvalía association, the effective and unusual piece is firstly a celebration of 15 years of friendship and artistic collaborations between the two Spanish artists. While each medal symbolizes an absurd anecdote from projects that were experienced over many years and across various countries, these trophies also highlight basic postulates of graffiti, such as competition and the reaffirmation of the ego in a playful manner.
At the same time, the artists' work is their commentary on the building from an architectural point of view. "We condemn the silo, we do not decorate it," Daniel Muñoz SAN said as he explained their way of looking at this landmark site, which was built back in 1955. While parodying existing badges, the artists are expanding the importance of significant personal moments into a public space, thus creating a new relationship with the manner in which similar honors are usually presented. This is further accented by ironically juxtaposing a monumental golden insignia, an image that has been represented as luminous and powerful throughout both fascist and communist political imagery, against a building that was primarily used to produce something as simple and as essential as bread.––Sasha Bogojev
