Kristina Argentina

El Hospital Bordo - Art in a Mental Hospital

Now when someone invites you to something that they say will be very interesting in Buenos Aires… always say yes, because it very well will be.

On the 3rd of December, Willie invited me to go to an art exposition. Judging by the facebook message, it seemed to be very close to my house, so we met up and headed down there. We walked around Constitución for awhile until we finally got in touch with someone who was at the event (cause it was in fact about 10 blocks from where the invite had said it was) and took another adventurous trip, told we were looking for a hospital.

It turned out to be a mental hospital, on the border of La boca. We walked right onto the grounds, minimal security. There were also no directions, so we almost walked into a patient’s birthday party. Finally found the place. Let’s just say, it was something out of some scary movie. a bunch of people sitting around, some in costume, most walking around as if their brains were not there. There was a large abandoned building falling apart that served as the canvas. Every inch of the wall was covered with art, and every room had unique little surprises, each playing on the “mental” theme that it had going. What a creative way to reuse rubber gloves, x-rays, old teeth molds, etc.  

We found out that the crowd was a mix of current patients, out-patients, and guests. It was hard to tell who was who, but I suppose in some way, that was the beauty of it. The bands were mixed as well. You could tell that everyone was ecstatic about being there, even if the drummers couldn’t keep the beat all the time. 

We even stumbled into a room that had a fantastic DJ playing electronic music. We also went into the black mold infested basement and saw what could possibly have been an original Banksy piece. It was like living in a dream, or like being on the sunny side of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Halloween, but with a twist cause it wasn’t actually Halloween. Living on the edge, not knowing if it was a trap just to be lured in just before our throats were cut (especially when we went through the maze). It was thrilling, and fascinating, but that’s the closest I ever want to get!