Kirstiecat | Blog

Pilsen is not a band and I normally don’t blog about things not related to music here but I do think that there is an artistic element to so many bands many people (and I) listen to. From the liner notes to the way that the lyrics are sometimes put together with the music, I think the world of art and music isn’t too far removed. Basically, it’s creation and both enhance the sort of collective consciousness of the world that keeps a sense of balance.

In any case, last Sat. I took a trip down to Pilsen to visit my good friend Jonathan. It’s really a whole different world down there even though it is technically in Chicago. Mostly populated by Latinos, it’s perhaps the only area of the city I’ve been where art really dominates. There aren’t really any billboards and there isn’t a bombardment of advertisements everywhere either. It’s art for art’s sake on the side of buildings where people live. Some of it is heavily on the religious connotation but much of it highlights the community. Many people in Chicago are worried about regentrification in the area, or specifically what happened to Wicker Park. The artists end up moving to a place where they can afford rent. But in addition to creating an arts community, there is now a source of cheap labor and the area ends up developing so much that it becomes more “the place to be” than “the place to live” and, in fact, people can no longer afford to live there. I hope this doesn’t happen to Pilsen but the more I thought about it, the more I was glad to take pictures in case someday the sides of buildings are all pristine facades whitewashed with no character. It would be a sad shame.

View the complete photo set on flickr

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 26th, 2006 at 6:53 am and is filed under art. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.