City Life

But has anyone ever considered that this is actually an art form? After all, it takes a lot more than a can of spray paint, ability to stand still and lots of patience. In fact, in the city of Arnhem in the Netherlands, there is a yearly World Statues Competition held in August for these creative masters of stillness.

With its bohemian atmosphere, all-year-round tourism and police tolerance towards practically anything, Barcelona was destined to be a stage for these street performers. Heck, the city even holds the world record for a human statue standing still the longest. The unusual feat was performed in 2003 by Antonio Santos, originally from Portugal, who managed to stand motionless for a jaw-dropping 20 hours — hate to think what he’d do if he had to sneeze, cough or pee.

So who are these people behind the face paint and how did they get here? More importantly, how much of what they do is actually about a love of art rather than a pursuit of money?

Euzebio Dos Santos, 30, from Brazil has been portraying Edward Scissorhands on Barcelona’s famous boulevard for over three years now. His story is similar to that of many other statues. “When I arrived I didn’t have any papers and couldn’t get a job,” he explains. So, like many others, Dos Santos chose to make Las Ramblas his office. From a childhood fascination with the blade-handed boy, he developed his own Scissorhand character interpretation and set up his spot. Three years later and with his work permit in order, he surprisingly adds, “I enjoy this job way too much to stop.”

Daz Noize, 31, from Manchester is another longterm employee of Las Ramblas. However, Daz’s story has a much different outset. “It all started as a joke but on my first day I ended up making loads of money and having a great time”, he reveals. A lover of the attention he receives when up on the box, Daz alternates between the personas of an Angel and the Grim Reaper. For Daz, “the opportunities are endless,” when it comes to being a statue.

Not all the statues however share Daz’s affection for this art. Greg Mannion, 33, from Liverpool, better known as the Toilet Man got his costume passed down to him by a friend. Although the Ramblas character has been around for six years, Greg’s been on the ‘throne’ only since last summer and doesn’t seem like he wants the responsibility for an extended time. “It is possible to enjoy being a statue, but sometimes the sheer repetitiveness of it will drive you crazy,” he comments.

In order to liven things up, different statues use a variety of techniques, especially when being taunted by the occasional heckler. “I like to play with the people, and it ends up becoming like a pantomime,” Greg says.

Although traditionally human statues only come alive when money is placed in a hat by their feet, more recently audience interaction has become an acceptable mechanism of entertainment. There are however other techniques that many statues frown upon. Particularly if something goes against the artistic integrity of the job.

Daz recognizes that being a statue is as much about the money as the art, since after all, it is a job. However, he clarifies, “I don’t believe in giving out bribes for example, like statues who entice kids over with a marble or hold on to their hands till the parents take a photo and leave money.” Unhappy with this kind of money play, he adds, “Where’s the art in that?”

Adrian Haragus, 37, from Romania has been both a Pirate and a golden Einstein figure during his time in Barcelona. He also believes that being a statue involves both, art and money. “My job is to impress people through my immobility and although there’s definitely an art involved in that, how much is up to you to decide. Unfortunately as time goes by it’s becoming more about money and less about entertainment.”

Scissorhands fuels the art versus money debate further dividing the street performers into those who stay immobile, others who entertain through interaction and another group that simply sits and waits to get paid. “Personally, I do feel that I need to offer something back if I’m doing this,” he states. He goes on to say, “I still remember when I first started, and a girl in the audience told me, ‘Don’t speak because it ruins the magic.’” This left a big impression on him and made him aware of the valuable artistic element to what he was doing.

The general consensus among the more long-term entertainers is that the recent increase of statues has had a lot to do with plummeting artistic standards. As far as they’re concerned a large part of the blame for this lies with the City Council.

Adrian explains the situation bluntly; “The Council could easily help us by putting up a sign pointing out that the general practice is to leave something in exchange for a photo. As they don’t, people often take photos and don’t pay. It’s frustrating but you can’t force someone to pay.”

The Council’s input – or rather lack of – doesn’t stop there either. As Adrian points out everything is too easy. “The rules are too flexible. No license is required and all you have to do is paint your face, and wear a costume!”

A few years ago the Council came up with a unique idea. They decided that they would have an ‘artistic test’ to judge if someone deserved a license to work on Las Ramblas. Just as the painters and artists are required to present a CV of their work, the statues would be required to show their costumes and ideas before getting permission. The problem though was an abundance of gray areas.

Who would be suitable to judge the statues? After all, who is actually qualified to say whether Dracula sitting in a coffin is any better than a woman dressed as a giant butterfly? The idea was supposed to raise the standards but unfortunately – just as many other things in this fair city – it was swept under the rug and forgotten about after the first sign of trouble.

Jaume Cusco from the Department of Communication in the Barcelona Ajuntament however, says that everything is actually regulated. Referring to a list of Ramblas’ Do’s and Don’ts available at the city council, he assures that there are indeed rules and that if any of the street entertainers fail to abide by them, the police take the necessary actions.

Jaume makes it clear that the police enforce certain laws. “Statues are not allowed to wear masks, and face paint is absolutely compulsory. They can only stand within certain areas and they are not allowed to beg or ask people for money.” In addition to these rules, the statues must abide by laws concerning the noise level, cleanliness and general behavior. As Cusco reaffirms, “Nothing is left to chance and everything is regulated.”

Despite the Council’s official comments, a walk down The Ramblas confirms suspicions that all this is bureaucratic jargon. Very little is controlled and a large amount of statues can often be found both crowded in their allocated zones, or simply outside them altogether.

As far as the artistic test goes, Cusco was somewhat vague. “It’s actually a good idea, however there are a lot of complications that need to be analyzed before this law is passed. For now at least I can’t really see it happening.”

Then again not all statues think this is such a bad thing. Ricardo Perez, 26, from Bulgaria has been The Devil on Las Ramblas for nine months now. Being one of the newer statues, his view is unsurprisingly different.

“An artistic test would be a terrible idea!” Ricardo says. Elaborating further he explains, “For me this isn’t art or entertainment. It’s a job.” As others before him, Perez would like to have a fixed contract, but until then he’ll stick to the Ramblas. Recognizing the increase in competition and decrease in wages, he bluntly states, “If having more statues here means we earn less, than so be it!”

The Council’s inability to sort out the problems is in turn leading to a ‘turf war’ of sorts between the statues. The general feeling on the street is that the Ajuntament is concentrating on the wrong things. “I do think there should be priority or a roster as to who can be on the street when,” admits Daz. After doing this for so long, sometimes he turns up to find another in his spot. It is an issue that he hopes will be looked into, but for now at least he recognizes “it’s first come, first served business.”

The Toilet Man wraps it up best. “Whether it’s art or money; the coin’s still in the air. It depends on who you talk to, but the truth is it’s a very thin line between the two. You’d be surprised just how complicated the politics of the statue world are.”

Although that may undeniably be true, it seems that the specific debate could rage on forever. There are several certainties. One, that there is an inexplicable magic that happens between spectator and statue resulting in enormous crowds watching the action in awe and two, for a group of supposedly ‘mute’ human statues, these guys certainly have a lot to say.

August 29th-30th
2009 World Statues Competition