Helen Escobedo is recognized in Mexico as one of the first artists concerned with the relationship between art and the environment. Throughout her career - whether from installations, sets or public works - she has produced different pieces with a social commitment and developed various ways of relating her artistic production to problems of everyday life. As Graciela Schmilchuk, a student of her work affirms, “the city-people-nature triad that appears in her work, in the places where she carries them out and in her actions, also express her specific concerns about the quality of life. To pollution, illness, loneliness or misery, she responds with a functional constructive desire, with political criticism, with poetics of freedom, with humor and hope, with light and color.”[1]
In 2001, Escobedo created a mobile sculpture that functions as a proposal for mobility for Mexico City. Faced with the chaos and the great pollution that prevail in the country's capital, the artist imagined 'The Bicivocho'; a work that, as well as being a fully functional prototype of public transport, points out with humor and irony some of the most serious problems that afflict this city.
At the beginning of the new millennium, Mexico City's taxis were still mostly Volkswagen Sedan brand vehicles, popularly known in the country as “vochos”. 'The Bicivocho' is made up of the back of one of these cars and a bicycle towing it.
This mix between a conventional taxi and a pedicab includes different attachments. Among others: a periscope so that the driver can see over other cars; a bottle of water for those who drive it; smog masks and even a portable oxygen tank; a first aid kit in case of any accident; a national flag; a blanket that covers the seats; and, finally, a box to keep money that alerts to the fact that the driver does not have access to this safe - so it is not worth holding him up. In an interview, Escobedo pointed out that the work was much safer than pedicabs and said that it would be interesting to make a test fleet that would circulate through the city.
From this mobile piece, which intertwines her artistic production with environmental concerns, pop culture and the Chilango [T: slang term for Mexico City resident] imaginary, the artist points out and offers some solutions to several of the most serious problems of the city - such as pollution, traffic and crime - in addition to comfort, efficiency and a responsible ecological impact.
EKA, September 2020
https://www.jornada.com.mx/2000/12/10/sem-helen.html
Graciela Schmilchuk, Helen Escobedo: Pasos en la arena, México, Consejo Nacional Para la Cultura y las Artes / Difusión Cultural UNAM / Turner / G.D.E Ediciones, 2001, p. 271.
[1] Graciela Schmilchuk, Helen Escobedo: Pasos en la arena, México, Consejo Nacional Para la Cultura y las Artes / Difusión Cultural UNAM / Turner / G.D.E Ediciones, 2001, p. 70.
Helen Escobedo is recognized in Mexico as one of the first artists concerned with the relationship between art and the environment. Throughout her career - whether from installations, sets or public works - she has produced different pieces with a social commitment and developed various ways of relating her artistic production to problems of everyday life. As Graciela Schmilchuk, a student of her work affirms, “the city-people-nature triad that appears in her work, in the places where she carries them out and in her actions, also express her specific concerns about the quality of life. To pollution, illness, loneliness or misery, she responds with a functional constructive desire, with political criticism, with poetics of freedom, with humor and hope, with light and color.”[1]
