Banks and Benches on the Streets of Madrid

A new entry in the Diccionario de las Periferias (Dictionary of the Peripheries) explores two aspects of the word “Banco” (bank, bench) in relation to life. “Vida de los bancos”–Life(blood) of banks: a phenomenon through which the life of a family ends up depending on a bank: in other words, lives that belong to banks through indebtedness. Its antonyms: mutual aid and networks.

Curruncho y Mufasa Mordiscos (La Banda del Rotu) : “Fuck Bancös”.  Palma, 10 June 2014.

The Dictionary also elaborates on “vida de banco”–life on a bench: a way of spending time,  a coexistence that may produce friendships and may allow to imagine other possible worlds.  To these explorations we add the hypotheses on and about banks and benches opened by different writings on the streets of Madrid, and also the social and political practices that produce, on the streets, other understandings of banks.

Astronaut (La Banda del Rotu): “BankA (circled)”, Palma, 10 June 2014.

Anonymous graffiti on the window of a bank: “Don’t let them turn you into a slave!” Paseo de Recoletos, March 24 2014.

Anonymous graffiti on the wall of a bank: “Assassins”. Paseo de Recoletos, 24 March 2014.

Anonymous graffiti on an ATM.  Paseo de Recoletos, 24 marzo 2014.

Red paint thrown anonymously on the window of a bank.  Paseo de Recoletos, 24 March 2014.

RBN’s icon (La Banda del Rotu) on bench in Tirso de Molina, 8 Sept. 2014.

Collage of images of one of the solidary and self-organized food drives by Banco de Alimentos 15M Tetuán–Food Bank 15M Tetuán  Collage and photo by: Banco de Alimentos 15M Tetuán. 1 August 2014.

To read about and collaborate with Banco de Alimentos 15M Tetuán, visit their webpage.

To see pieces by La Banda del Rotu, here is a link to their webpage.  Click here for an interview with a number of photos in La Mezcla Magazine. You can also check out their page in Facebook, among other sites.

To see pieces by RBN, here is his webpage.  Here is a link to pieces by Curruncho.  Here is a link to pieces by Mufasa Mordiscos. And another to works by Astronaut.