There are some five introductions to my “Introductory lectures on Psychoanalysis,” of which I read three. Generally I don't bother with intros, but in this case I figure it can't hurt to have as much background as I possibly can. I was pleasantly surprised that in the introduction written by Peter Gay called “Sigmund Freud: A Brief life,” Dr. Gay makes an apropos comment in his description of Freud's dissatisfaction with a group of papers that he wrote on variety of topics. The comment is as follows:

“[Freud's] map of the mind was inadequate to the evidence he had accumulated in his clinical experience. But he still lacked a satisfactory alternative.” page xix

First of all, note the reference to the theme of our blog: map of the mind! Also, Dr. Gay pinpoints here a specific problem that I and many others (apparently including Freud himself) have with some of his theories...they simply don't add up when it comes to clinical expressions in patients. I will withhold further criticism as I'm surely being unfair, I thought. Then I read onto Freud's very own introduction, or Lecture 1. Here I was surprised to find a self-deprecating Freud, who both warned his audience against continuing the lectures and attempting to insert themselves into a psychoanalytic realm of practice. Of course then, in the beginning days of psychoanalysis (1917ish) Freud was acutely aware of the un-popularity of his ideas among the Viennese and many others, and so was probably quite accurate in his warning. On top of this, I find his next warning also surprising:

“I will show you how the whole trend of your previous education and all your habits of thought are inevitably bound to make you into opponents of psycho-analysis and how much you would have to overcome in yourselves in order to get the better of this instinctive-opposition.” page 18

Er...wait, Freud knew all that??

These are all over, these plaques on the sidewalk.

My geotag says this is on San Blas between
Cuenca and Campana.  I, however, don't ever
recall being in the middle of nowhere as this
address indicates.  So, anybody's guess.

"Bellas Artes en la Lucha"="Fine Arts in the Fight/Struggle".  Great stencil, clever play on the solidarity symbol.  I think I would like to examine the plan of said fight, though, before giving my endorsement to this particular endeavor.

Lyric Opera, Avenida de Mayo


WE'RE PUTTIN ON THE MAGIC FLUTE BY MOZART.  That's what neon says to me.  Something about opera and neon just doesn't mix.  But what would one have instead?  Some antique marquee?  That would just be old, and look more like a movie theater.  Plus, those are a one time use thing.  Maybe they have a collection of neon lights they mix and match like marquee letters.  I want one.

"Mercado Monserrat"
Calle San Jose between Venezuela and Belgrano


This was once the Monserrat Market.  Once.  Good, sturdy, functional building.

I looked into what MNG meant, and got way more than I bargained for, as it led to me pissing away an hour on the umpteen websites and fotostreams devoted to Buenos Aires graffiti, both political and not.  Here's a photo of another MNG from Michael Ramalla on Flickr.  I also found this post from magicalurbanism.com on political graffiti in Buenos Aires, mostly centered around the dictatorship and the disappeared.

Now, the really good stuff.  I found the actual artists' websites.  Notice at the bottom of the photo above is says "elodio"?  Here he/she is.  Apparent friend of el odio, Koam, has a fotostream on Flickr here.  Having briefly been obsessed with hip hop culture and the "pillar of hip hop" called writing (graffiti), I can satisfy myself with competing narratives played out in private/public spaces and their reacquisition for creative purposes.  And these guys get to keep vandalizing.  Everybody wins.  With the exception of the property owners.  But they don't have a website.

Now for the grand finale, this masterpiece...


     Love it.

Argentines commonly remind foreigners that at one time, compared to other nations Argentina ranked in the top ten countries in the world in wealth and "power", whatever that means.  At least in terms of wealth, the architecture of Buenos Aires would back up that assertion....it's as if they built the grandest and most stylish buildings during a twenty year period spanning from fin-de-siecle, through art nouveau and to art deco, and didn't build again for another 60 years.  In this series, I'll explore the resonant vision of Argentina's "good ol' days."

On Entre Rios and Belgrano