The city as a stage. Graphic interventions by collectives Siempre and Tu K.K. & Pelu S.A.

Abstract

This article examines the urban graphic interventions of two collectives from the city of La Plata, Argentina: TuKK&PeluSA and Colectivo Siempre. Both collectives were active in the 1990s and 2000s, respectively. In both cases, beyond the technical procedures and formal repertoires, this article proposes a particular perspective on the ways of working with images, characterized fundamentally by a processual, serial, and multiple nature. Furthermore, it incorporates an analytical perspective that links aesthetic practices with political practices, allowing for an analysis of the political aspects present in the graphic practices beyond the repertoire of content, in order to consider their operations and modes of intervention in public space. These forms of political engagement are presented in the possible ways of engaging with the commons through the construction of identifying imaginaries and the creation of spaces for encounter and activation, which can be understood as performative events.