BASS CREAM KART

The ambulant merchants’ Ice Carts (« carito de paletas ») are a common sight in urban Latin America. Another well spread image of latino culture is « low-rider ». This consists in transforming a vehicle (car, motorcycle, bicycle) by adding all sorts of gleaming accessories in order to show them off in the city. Equally commonplace in California, this is nevertheless rooted solidly in Mexican culture, to the extent that it has become an ethnic demonstration for the one performing it. The project was developed after meeting Oscar Vasquez, ‘Sabalo’, as he is called (a Sabalito is a little ice lolly commonly stocked in the ice cart), a former cyclist, proud of his Aztec ancestry and pioneer of Monterrey’s Hip Hop culture. Together, we decided to transform the ice cart into a slow moving « low-rider », playing ‘bass music’, to attract crowds to a technical, aesthetic curiosity which was previously a street object. After being shown at the final exhibition of the MI project at TEP, the Bass Cream Cart took part in a Tuning Show in Monterrey.