Human Nature Statement

Human Nature is violent,
predatory and arrogant,
blindly self destructive.

Intelligence is an illusion that makes us believe
we can use it for our own good.
We are animals who forgot their very essence
and lost the wisdom that comes from
being part of Nature.

We kill to eat but we also kill to possess.
We believe that if we have something, we own it
And we only feel that we possess something
when it has no life on its own anymore.

We step on Nature when we conquer it,
when we believe we can classify it,
understand and control it.

We step on each other’s bodies
when we step on each other’s ideas.
We threaten to scare
We are scared of threats
We are destroying our world
convinced that we are doing it for survival.

We slay animals to make shoes
I destroy shoes to make animals
I cannot give them life
but I may give them the echo of life
hich is as much as art can do.

Federico Uribe

It is often said that art mimics life, in the way we speak, act and go about our daily, merry ways. For Federico Uribe, an amazingly talented artist native to Columbia, he has taken that same way of thinking and incorporated it into his new, intricate, 4,000 square-foot exhibit, rightly titled Human Nature. Unlike any other exhibit for Uribe, this one uniquely stands out as he uses 25,000 shoelaces and 750 pairs of various PUMA shoes as the medium, held together by wood and 22,000 metal screws. The theme is simple, as he wanted to offer his own take on worldly affairs and the way in which our products are made today, and make animals out of the many shoes he worked with. PUMA provided the shoes for the project, but gave no parameters, subject or theme to work from, and let Uribe tackle the entire exhibit independently.

Known for his past work with household objects, in which he has created sculptures and other figures, Uribe was purposefully driven in this different approach. “All of my work is based on objects. I do objects out of objects. In the beginning, it was challenging because I’m used to working with objects that had no aesthetical intention, such as screws, coins or baby bottle nipples. So now I was going to work with somebody else’s design. My first thought when I first got the shoes was that I came from a poor country and the idea of destroying useful, perfect shoes was morally wrong. At the same time, I was fascinated by this material and the idea that people kill animals to make shoes, and I wanted to make animals out of them. Plus, I really wanted to appreciate the quality of these shoes and the designers behind them.” As Barney Waters, PUMA Vice President of Marketing, North America, says, Uribe was the perfect fit for this project. “Federico is known for taking household objects and creating art. We love that idea of transformation. It was Federico himself who drove the concept and design of Human Nature,” begins Waters. “He loved the Mihara collection as the colors and unique materials and shoe construction lends itself very well to his work. PUMA helped to supply Federico with the shoes to create his installation. One Mihara shoe may contain five or six elements that Federico can work with to create an animal.”

Off to work he went, and after first being contacted about the project last May, Uribe worked for over six months to finish the wildlife scene. Given an open slate, it was this creative freedom that provided Uribe with the self-trust and artistic integrity he desired in order to meet his own personal demands for the project. “They did not have any expectations because they did not know what I was going to do,” he says. “They trusted me and they did not intervene in any way and just gave me the shoes. I would not have done it otherwise.” In tackling the daunting task, Uribe set out to carefully craft an active scenery in which each character was either attacking or on the defensive, and the use of several different shoe models allowed him to depict various defining positions and poses. “I had planned to make this installation about the predatory condition of animals, including humans. I created situations in which all of the animals are attacking or fighting other animals,” states Uribe. “However, from the reactions from the public, I gather it looks more like a happy picture. People were smiling and kids were amazed, so I did not make my tragic statement, but I made a jungle out of shoes. That is an echo of life.”

The unique and somewhat unusual design of some of the PUMA models involved in the exhibit allowed Uribe to skillfully translate the design language of the footwear into the aggressive and tense scene. Models that featured PUMA’s classic smooth upper and rounded outsoles served a role in becoming appendages like arms, legs or paws, while other models were easily adaptable as beaks or other facial features. One of the most striking animals in the exhibit is the fierce white tiger, whose paws were cleverly created using the carbon fiber contoured heel counter of the white suede-based Trionfo Low GT II. In using two separate heel counters together, Uribe created a four-clawed paw that most clearly projects the hostility that he aimed for.

Though he quickly settled upon a theme and focus for the project, Uribe was met with a few struggles along the way. “The challenge was to work on somebody else’s design,” he begins. “Alexander McQueen and Mihara are real artists and I wanted to do something that they themselves would consider defining to their own invention. I wanted to be respectful to them with what I did.” In doing so, you’ll notice the meticulous effort that Uribe placed on each character in the scene, and the precision and detail that has brought him such widespread acclaim in his heralded career thus far. As he gradually got the hang of shaping the different suedes, leathers and uniquely-shaped rubbers into several different animals, Uribe quickly became certain of the project’s promise. “Like with any other material, you learn through practice,” he admits. “The last animals are better than the first, as I learned the technique and I grew confident about the material. I do like the crocodile, the red tiger jumping out of grass, the cheetah and the zebra.” The cheetah is possibly the most lifelike of the characters, but the red tiger leaping from a seemingly engulfing bush of grass remains one of the more impressive creatures.

The exhibit completed its initial showing in Miami, and it will continue a busy touring schedule over the next few months. After being displayed in the La Comunidad Warehouse just outside of Miami at Art Basel last December, the exhibit will begin showing in New York at the Chelsea Art Museum this May. Beginning May 22 and running until August 25, Human Nature will be available for viewing to all ages. The monstrous warehouse-type setting of the exhibit allows for the audience to not only methodically look over each character individually, but also take in the holistic nature of the project in its entirety. “We loved it! The level of detail and creativity of the construction was beyond what we ever imagined it could be,” raves Barney. “We know those who see it in New York will have the same reaction.” After spending countless hours planning, carefully shaping and lastly, completing Human Nature, Uribe is supremely proud of the finished product and his effort in reshaping our views on how such footwear is made. “Hopefully I will sell it, since I worked on it a lot, and I live out of this,” says Uribe. “It was great to work with PUMA and the people that I dealt with were nice, respectful, helpful and understanding. I have no complaints and this has been a great experience and given me an incredible opportunity.” Also, don’t be surprised to see similar collaborations on the part of PUMA, as Waters says, “We’re always open to unique projects that support art, design, music and film, and we have no set strategy for it, but love to support great things as they arise and catch our eye.”

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