Spanish artist Escif created recently an installation called Magic Piano as part of Dream Box, a collective exhibition exhibition at MIMA museum in Brussels that counted with the participation of artists like Felipe Pantone, Hello, Gogolplex, Elzo Durt and of course, Escif himself.
Escif’s Magic Piano is an interactive music installation in which, with the help of a tablet, the viewer is able to play music by scanning a wall with painted figures of coltan miners and armed guards. The idea is that when you pass one of these figures, a different sound is activated. By pressing each of the figures on the screen with the fingers, an audio loop is activated, at the same time the characters become animated.
The meaning of this piece is in one of the components of the tablet, coltan. Used by almost everybody – in mobile phones, electric cars and a wide array of consumer electronic devices, coltan is a mineral, found specially in eastern Congo where it has been exploited by violent rebel groups to help finance a bloody civil war which is now in its 12th year.
The link between the bloodshed and the coltan mining industry is causing alarm among high-tech manufacturers who finally are starting to realise that their products may contain a product that isn’t exactly ethically sourced. Since the outbreak of fighting in august 1998: an estimated 5.4 million people have died; 45.000 continue to die each month; Children account for 47% of these deaths.
About Escif
Muralist and street artist Escif hails from Valencia, Spain but is actively globally with recent works popping up throughout Canada, Italy, and France. His use of subdued colours and simple lines helps the artist communicate his humorous and often direct commentary on capitalism, politics, the economy and other sensitive social issues. His work is much more about the message than style. In an interview with Unurth the artist shares:
“Although sometimes is not easy to separate, I try to focus my work around concepts, not just shapes. I try to found my style like the consequences of my own ideas. I understand the painting as an exercise of reflection that can be shared with people. I’m not looking for decorative paintings, I try to wake up viewers minds.”
Author: Fran
Founder and editor of Urbanite. Street Art lover who after the finishing her MA thesis on the Mexican and Norwegian muralist movement in the 1920-50s, developed a fascination for street art and graffiti that eventually led to collaborations with different art blogs, including the creation of this one.
