Caseros Prison

Saturday 3 February 2007

This is the prison on Caseros Avenue in the Parque Patricios neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is closed down now, but in its day was known for being dirty, over-crowded, hellish, and full of political prisoners. Conditions were horrible, torture was rampant, and the entire building was in fact designed to let no direct light in, keeping the prisoners in a hazy twilight. A reminder of the military dictatorship, and an ugly building to boot. They are demolishing it now, floor by floor because of all the hospitals nearby, and it is slowly shrinking in size.

A New York artist named Seth Wulsin came down here a couple of years ago, was impressed by the art scene, and decided to stay. He said that he was walking past this prison one day and saw faces in the smashed out opaque windows. He decided to do an art project, despite the fact that it would exist only as long as it took for the demolition crews to get down to the ground floor. So, he carefully punched out more of the glass circles, making faces in the grids. These faces represent the people who were imprisoned here. They can only be seen from just the right angle, where the sun hits the glass. (It took Ryan and I a while walking around to find just that angle. For a closer view, check out his site.)