APRDELESPURBAN GAZE
3.30-4.15, 2024
This exhibition is supported by Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)eitoeiko is pleased to present "Urban Gaze," a solo exhibition by APRDELESP from March 30 to April 15. This exhibitionis supported by Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture). APRDELESP was foundedin Mexico City in 2012. APRDELESP has been involved in a wide variety of activities, including the Mexican Pavilion for
the Venice Biennale of Architecture, 2023, Lodos, Mexico City, 2021, and Material Art Fair, Mexico City, 2016-21.
APRDELESP is a collective of architects which investigates the relationship between social conventions and physicalconditions, and continuing "practice as research" on the use of space. The name APRDELESP comes from the word
"apropiación del espacio". In this exhibition, APRDELESP attempts to take a practical approach to research on a fightbetween emo kids and punk rockers which that took place in Glorieta de los Insurgentes in Mexico City in 2008.

On March 16, 2008, a group of fans of the urban subculture of emo (a form of rock music) gathered in Glorieta de losInsurgentes, which is a park in the center of Mexico City and a major transportation hub to protest the punks' violence
that was prevalent in the suburb.

This peaceful demonstration resulted in more hostility and, in turn, more attacks

from the punks. The police eventually intervened, but followers of the Hare Krishna movement (*an emerging religion
originatet by Indian religion) who happened to be passing by helped to separate the two groups, adding an absurd layer
to the incident. Some self-proclaimed punks accused the emo kids of copying
their style and stealing their scene, but the hatred came primarily from
homophobia and misogyny. This conflict is now called "emos versus punks," andsince it occurred at a time when the Internet was just beginning to become theubiquitous form of communication that it is today, people posted videos andcomments on YouTube and social networking sites, and reporters in traditional
media such as national newspapers and television news broadcast the images
and comments, and the stories once again went viral online. The exhibition will consist of a physical model of theGlorieta de los Insurgentes and a film using archival material from the research (fragments of films and television
broadcasts, found footage and photographs), based on the urban space where the Emos vs. Punks cursing took place.
APRDELESP's research project continues to view the city through its urban subcultures of different vectors: from thecounterculture of the 1960s through the student massacre of 1968 to Glorieta de los Insurgentes, which was built in1969. Glorieta de los Insurgentes is also a near-future science fiction city inspired by Tokyo with its shimmering neonsigns, which appeared as a location in Paul Verhoeven's classic film "Total Recall”. Glorieta de los Insurgentes is also
close to Tianguis Cultural del Chopo, a weekly open-air market specializing in punk, metal, emo, and other subcultures,and is connected by metro bus. The Mexico City Metro Line 1, where the Insurgentes station is located, also has thehome of the 1970s and 1980s punk gang Sex Punchtos Punk as its westernmost Observatorio station, and the home ofthe 1990s punk band Mierdas Punk as its easternmost Pantitlan station, connecting the two.

eitoeiko
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Open everyday during the exhibition at 12PM-7Pm