Pepe & Matilda
The concept of Pepe & Matilda is inspired by Walter Benjamin’s essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” It includes different jewelry pieces intended to provide a new, different, and stimulating aesthetic experience with a provocative interpretation of conventional elements. This project began as a response to hippos currently invading the Colombian ecosystem. Back in the late 80s, the worldwide infamous drug dealer Pablo Escobar brought four hippos to Colombia. After his death, the Colombian government sized these animals but was incapable of taking care of them. The animals finally escaped and managed to propagate, thirty (30) hippos is the latest estimated population, become a nuisance to locals and the inspiration for the Pepe & Matilda project.
God told Pablo, build a Narcoark with your people´s blood and Bring them a symbol from distant lands so they can always remember you. ¨
That's how a couple of red hippos came to the country of Cockaigne, the male was called Pepe and his wife Matilda; these animals plump, hairless and violent had no choice but to start a new life in paradise.
They spent their days enjoying all that was around him: killing livestock, destroying fences and walls, seizing crops, delighting those who see happen with their barrel-shaped bodies and small legs. ¨ It was fun to be hippo! ¨
But one day the leaders of Cockaigne, began having problems with Pepe, as he said that everyone should be equal, we all have a hippo inside.
- Whoever wants to be hippo should be able to fight for his dream!.
- We must get rid of Pepe politicians said, ¨ he wants to propose an amendment to the law where everyone can be hippos and that is not morally right. ¨
This argument was enough for the army of Cockaigne use his bullets against a hippo. ¨ armed. ¨
Little did they know is that Matilda was pregnant and their children grow in secret, hidden in the jungle, away from public life.
Spanish version
El Cuento.
Dios le dijo a Pablo, ¨construye una narco arca con la sangre de tu pueblo y tráeles un símbolo desde tierras lejanas para que siempre puedan recordarte.¨
Así fue como un par de hipopótamos rojos llegaron al país de la Cucaña; el macho se llamaba Pepe y su mujer Matilda; estos animales gorditos, lampiños y violentos no tuvieron mas opción que comenzar una nueva vida en este paraíso.
Pasaron sus días disfrutando de todo lo que estaba a su alrededor: matando ganado, destruyendo cercas y muros, apoderándose de cultivos, maravillando a quienes los ven pasar con sus cuerpos en forma de barril y sus patas pequeñas. ¨¡Que divertido era ser hipopótamo!¨
Pero un día los dirigentes de la Cucaña, comenzaron a tener problemas con Pepe, pues éste decía que todos debíamos ser iguales, que todos llevamos un hipopótamo interior.
- ¡Quien quiera ser hipopótamo debe poder luchar por su sueño!.
-¨Hay que deshacerse de Pepe¨ dijeron los políticos; ¨pues quiere proponer una reforma a la ley donde todos puedan ser hipopótamos y eso no es moralmente correcto.¨
Ese argumento fue suficiente para que el ejercito de la Cucaña usara sus balas contra un hipopótamo. ¨armado¨.
Lo que no sabían es que Matilda estaba preñada y sus hijos crecerían en secreto, escondidos en la selva, lejos de la vida publica.
The concept of Pepe & Matilda is inspired by Walter Benjamin’s essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” It includes different jewelry pieces intended to provide a new, different, and stimulating aesthetic experience with a provocative interpretation of conventional elements. This project began as a response to hippos currently invading the Colombian ecosystem. Back in the late 80s, the worldwide infamous drug dealer Pablo Escobar brought four hippos to Colombia. After his death, the Colombian government sized these animals but was incapable of taking care of them. The animals finally escaped and managed to propagate, thirty (30) hippos is the latest estimated population, become a nuisance to locals and the inspiration for the Pepe & Matilda project.
God told Pablo, build a Narcoark with your people´s blood and Bring them a symbol from distant lands so they can always remember you. ¨
That's how a couple of red hippos came to the country of Cockaigne, the male was called Pepe and his wife Matilda; these animals plump, hairless and violent had no choice but to start a new life in paradise.
They spent their days enjoying all that was around him: killing livestock, destroying fences and walls, seizing crops, delighting those who see happen with their barrel-shaped bodies and small legs. ¨ It was fun to be hippo! ¨
But one day the leaders of Cockaigne, began having problems with Pepe, as he said that everyone should be equal, we all have a hippo inside.
- Whoever wants to be hippo should be able to fight for his dream!.
- We must get rid of Pepe politicians said, ¨ he wants to propose an amendment to the law where everyone can be hippos and that is not morally right. ¨
This argument was enough for the army of Cockaigne use his bullets against a hippo. ¨ armed. ¨
Little did they know is that Matilda was pregnant and their children grow in secret, hidden in the jungle, away from public life.
Spanish version
El Cuento.
Dios le dijo a Pablo, ¨construye una narco arca con la sangre de tu pueblo y tráeles un símbolo desde tierras lejanas para que siempre puedan recordarte.¨
Así fue como un par de hipopótamos rojos llegaron al país de la Cucaña; el macho se llamaba Pepe y su mujer Matilda; estos animales gorditos, lampiños y violentos no tuvieron mas opción que comenzar una nueva vida en este paraíso.
Pasaron sus días disfrutando de todo lo que estaba a su alrededor: matando ganado, destruyendo cercas y muros, apoderándose de cultivos, maravillando a quienes los ven pasar con sus cuerpos en forma de barril y sus patas pequeñas. ¨¡Que divertido era ser hipopótamo!¨
Pero un día los dirigentes de la Cucaña, comenzaron a tener problemas con Pepe, pues éste decía que todos debíamos ser iguales, que todos llevamos un hipopótamo interior.
- ¡Quien quiera ser hipopótamo debe poder luchar por su sueño!.
-¨Hay que deshacerse de Pepe¨ dijeron los políticos; ¨pues quiere proponer una reforma a la ley donde todos puedan ser hipopótamos y eso no es moralmente correcto.¨
Ese argumento fue suficiente para que el ejercito de la Cucaña usara sus balas contra un hipopótamo. ¨armado¨.
Lo que no sabían es que Matilda estaba preñada y sus hijos crecerían en secreto, escondidos en la selva, lejos de la vida publica.
