In need of an ice-cold Polar on our way to Banda Bou, we decided to pit-stop at Unico Bar Restaurant in Souax… only to park our car in front of the most peculiar outdoor museum.
Instinctive camera-in-hand, but not sure where to start, I decided to do the polite thing and approach the middle-aged man dressed in all-white linen emerging from the front gate. Roberto Pinedo is a friendly man with alert eyes, not to be confused with local painter Luigi Pinedo, he creates by recycling things he collects or finds on the side of our (otherwise) beautiful roads and mondis. Knock on wood, his outdoor, mostly weather-resistant museum protects his family and property from unwanted guests. “I change his cashmere sweater from time time, don’t want him to get overly bleached by the sun!” Roberto says, pointing to his male mannequin.
Roberto Pinedo.
His latest project: Recycled Robots. Made predominantly from discarded wires, disks, water bottles, remote controls, obsolete CDs, fans, antennas, hangers etc. His robots make us acutely aware that our time on earth is limited if we don’t take better care of what’s free and natural and curb our selfish materialism.
A walk outside, we notice and innovative irrigation system, channeling air-conditioner, shower and (clean) toilet water into a makeshift fruit and vegetable garden. His tabasco pepper is muy caliente! (you’ve been warned!)
Thank you for posting this on your site. I love the work of Roberto Pinedo, which I call outsiders art. He has a very interesting way of working with waste material and transforming it into real eye catching art pieces. His consern with the way we deal with our invironment is real.
I would like to suggest to him to recycle his shower water to the plants and trees outside somehow…..using an earth friendly soap like Amway….I think would not kill the plants…..a man once told us to make an opening in our shower to drain thru a pipe to some trees or plants…above the ground….would love to know if it would work. One would have to secure the opening so the lizards wouldnt enter the shower …..hmmmm….