ONE COULD, OF COURSE, LOCK THIS WORK INSIDE A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK. ONE COULD SPEAK OF SUSTAINABILITY, MATERIAL CYCLES, READY-MADES, MODULARITY, URBAN INTERVENTION, AND THE AESTHETIC RECODING OF LOGISTICAL RESIDUES. NONE OF THAT WOULD EVEN BE WRONG. IT WOULD SIMPLY BE THE CLEAN VERSION OF A DIRTY DECISION.

THE ACTUAL IMPULSE WAS LESS VIRTUOUS AND FAR MORE INTERESTING: I FELT LIKE DOING IT. THIS WORK WAS NOT AN ECOLOGICAL CONFESSION, NOT A DIDACTIC RECYCLING MANIFESTO, AND NOT A WELL-POLISHED CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY OF THE READY-MADE. IT WAS AN INVASION. A CHEAP, MODULAR, RATHER INSOLENT OCCUPATION OF THE CITY WITH CARDBOARD.

IN LISBON, I BEGAN PLACING THESE OBJECTS THROUGHOUT THE CITY: ON FAÇADES, RUINS, BRIDGE ARCHES, IN-BETWEEN SPACES, AND OTHER SURFACES THAT HAD NOT BEEN WAITING FOR THEM. NOT AS DECORATION, NOT AS A CULTURAL ACCESSORY, NOT AS THAT HARMLESS KIND OF PUBLIC ART THAT ENDS UP POLISHING THE CITY-MARKETING BROCHURE. RATHER AS A DISTURBANCE. AS AN INTERVENTION. AS A SMALL, SERIAL INFECTION OF THE URBAN SURFACE.

OF COURSE, THE OBJECTS WERE NOT ARBITRARY. FORM, MODULARITY, MATERIAL LOGIC, WEATHER RESISTANCE, AND MOUNTING PRINCIPLES WERE ALL PART OF THE WORK. ONE SHOULD NOT PRETEND THAT PRECISION IS A PRIVILEGE, OR THAT CHAOS IS STUPID. EVEN AN ILLEGAL OR SEMI-ILLEGAL GESTURE REQUIRES PRECISION. THE QUESTION WAS HOW A SIMPLE, CHEAP, REUSED MATERIAL COULD ATTACH ITSELF TO URBAN SURFACES: TO A RUIN, UNDER A BRIDGE ARCH, ON A FAÇADE, IN AN INTERSTITIAL SPACE.

BUT THE WORK DID NOT ARISE FROM A NEED TO BE CORRECT. IT AROSE FROM DESIRE, EXCESS, FRIENDSHIP, DIRT, HEAT, CHEAP ALCOHOL, AND THE HEALTHY IMPULSE TO DO SOMETHING: TO MAKE SOMEONE HAPPY, OR TO BREAK SOMEONE’S BALLS, BEFORE IT GETS APPROVED, CURATED, CAPITALIZED, INSURED, CONSERVED, AND BURIED INSIDE A PDF CATALOGUE. IRONICALLY, MY MODULES ARE NOW TRADED, DEPENDING ON THEIR CONDITION, FOR BETWEEN 700 AND 3,000 EUROS, WHILE I GET NOTHING OUT OF IT. IF THAT IS NOT FUCKED UP, I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS.

LISBON, BACK THEN, WAS NOT YET THIS SLICK POSTCARD MACHINE FOR DIGITAL NOMADS WITH OAT-MILK PROBLEMS. IT WAS NOT YET A RENTAL PLATFORM DISGUISED AS A CITY, NOT YET A SUN-DRENCHED COWORKING FANTASY WITH TILES, SEAFOOD, AND CAREFULLY FILTERED DECAY. THE CITY HAD A RAW, YOUNG, UNFINISHED ENERGY. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL BECAUSE IT WAS NOT PERFECT. IT STILL HAD DIRT UNDER ITS FINGERNAILS. THEN CAME THE SELLOUT: CRISIS, INVESTORS, AIRBNB CANONIZATION, RENOVATION AS DISPLACEMENT, HERITAGE PROTECTION AS A JOKE WITH A WRECKING BALL.

ONE CAN CALL THIS “URBAN DEVELOPMENT” IF ONE BELIEVES IN THE HYGIENIC POWER OF EUPHEMISMS. IN REALITY, IT WAS THE CLASSIC OPERATION OF GENTRIFICATION: THE RAW IS MADE CONSUMABLE, THE CHEAP IS MADE EXPENSIVE, THE UNPLANNED IS ADMINISTERED, THE LIVING IS EXTRACTED AS ATMOSPHERE AND SOLD BACK TO THOSE WHO HAVE JUST DISPLACED IT. A CITY DOES NOT LOSE ITS SOUL ALL AT ONCE; IT LOSES IT SQUARE METRE BY SQUARE METRE, BUILDING PERMIT BY BUILDING PERMIT, LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE BY LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE.

IN THIS SENSE, THE WORK WAS NOT A NICE PROJECT. IT WAS A SMALL ATTACK WITH VERY LITTLE BUDGET. CARDBOARD AGAINST FAÇADE. FRACTALITY AGAINST CITY MARKETING. CHEAP FORM AGAINST EXPENSIVE LIES. PLAY AGAINST EXPLOITATION. AN OBJECT THAT DID NOT HIDE ITS CHEAPNESS, BUT USED IT AS A WEAPON.

PACKAGING DID NOT BECOME SUSTAINABILITY ROMANCE, BUT A DISRUPTIVE BODY. A CHEEKY, MODULAR THING THAT BRIEFLY CLUNG TO THE CITY LIKE A BAD THOUGHT ONE CANNOT GET RID OF. A SMALL INFECTION IN THE URBAN BODY, BEFORE EVERYTHING BECAME TOO SMOOTH, TOO EXPENSIVE, TOO CURATED, TOO DEAD.