CHILE: Streetart Angol - Ilabaca 580 - ZEN

This entrance, featuring a grand staircase, once housed a residential care facility for boys and male adolescents. It was designed to provide temporary shelter for young people facing social vulnerability or those subject to court-ordered protective measures. Over time, these protection programs underwent transfers of responsibility between the state health service and the municipal administration, eventually leading to the facility’s abandonment.

Over the years, this abandoned property was taken over and inhabited by homeless individuals. To avoid problems and issues with the neighborhood residents of this place, the entrance was boarded up with metal sheets to prevent people from entering and occupying the abandoned property. It was then that ZEN saw the opportunity to leave his “Smile” character emblazoned on this shiny metal door. Over time, as seen in the photos, other artists began leaving their tags around ZEN’s “Smile” character.

Not only did I document how this metal door was gradually drawn upon and modified by various artists, but the photographs also show how the site looks at different times of the year and how the interplay of light and shadow affects the door and staircase. The winter season is clearly evident due to the lack of vegetation, whereas in summer, greenery covers everything. It is also apparent that in autumn, the staircase becomes carpeted with yellow leaves. In other words, these photographic records show the passage of time, as well as the influence of the time of day on the colors and luminosity of the place.

Salvador J. Seda – Angol – July 2026