Camino PlásticoVictor Baumann

Camino Plástico — Journal

A massive grey T-shaped concrete pier seen from below against a blue sky, above fine outlines of buildings and reddish marks.

Vestigio

One of the Bogotá Metro’s hammerhead piers rises above Avenida Caracas, roughly five storeys tall. Its scale and exposed concrete give it a brutalist presence in the street.

I’m struck by the tension between the promise of easier movement through the city and what the construction means for people working along the avenue. From what I understand, it has been a difficult period for many of the vendors there.

Dark hills beneath a swirling sky of grey, blue and violet, with broad pale brushstrokes.
Violet hills beneath a pink and peach sky, with a few pale marks on the slopes.
Blue hills and a yellow-green sky crossed by sweeping white clouds.
A dark ridge beneath layers of grey-blue clouds and bright orange and yellow light.

Cuatro vistas

Starting to paint has made me pay closer attention to my surroundings. These four views came from noticing how dramatically the colours of Bogotá’s hills change in the early morning, with the hour, the weather and the time of year.

“We can, if we so choose, wander aimlessly over the continent of the arbitrary. Rootless as some winged seed blown about on a serendipitous spring breeze.”

— Haruki Murakami, A Wild Sheep Chase