Walking down the streets of downtown Gainesville, large murals on the walls of businesses and shops give the 352 a distinct, urban feel. Pedestrians gaze at the projects as they pass by and drivers scan the colorful walls while they wait at red lights. It’s artful food for the eyes of everyone who experiences downtown.
Expansive white walls seem like the perfect medium for art, but there are a lot of other city surfaces that don’t get much TLC from artists.
Until now.
With the help of European artist Add Fuel, art is migrating from the walls to the electrical boxes downtown.
Add Fuel, or Diogo Machado, uses the local land to get inspired for his work. In most cases, he uses the traditional mosaic patterns of the place where the art will be seen. But for Gainesville, Machado decided to use animals that are commonly seen around the Florida landscape.
“Inspiration was a bit difficult for Gainesville because there is no ceramic tile tradition, so that is why I decided to focus on the rich animal life for these boxes,” Machado said.
His work, known as Electrical Animal, uses animals such as the manatee, mocking bird, armadillo, sea turtle, and, of course, the alligator to beautify electrical boxes.
These animals come to life through Machado’s use of stencil. His process of reinventing a boring metal box is a meticulous one that requires a lot of patience.
“I draw everything manually with pencil and finalize with pen. Then I move the piece over to the computer, add details and split it into layers. Then it is laser printed,” Machado said.
These small spaces were no challenge for Machado, but rather a daily reward. After spending roughly six to seven hours a day on a single box, he feels a sense of satisfaction from completing the work in one day.
However, the purpose is what drew really drew Machado to the project.
“It is always a pleasure to be involved in beautifying a city and bringing art to the people who see it,” Machado said.
Add Fuel’s art can be seen on electrical boxes surrounding downtown Gainesville, so start at the corner of 1st Avenue and Main Street and stroll around to discover his pieces of electric beauty.
