We met Chris Lewis and Amelia Martinez on Sunday afternoon in the small triangle park at 9th and Rhode Island NW as they were working on their collaborative multimedia piece, “Revolutionary Crash.” Martinez is a “published author from Guadalajara, Mexico” and Lewis is a “rock musician from southern California, stuck in DC for professional excuses.”

They met about a month ago through a friend and, after realizing that they shared a passion for the arts, decided to collaborate on some projects. Their Sunday piece, “Revolutionary Crash,” was inspired by Martinez’s experience with machismo culture and discrimination.

Lewis says they agreed that the only way to combat the problem was by “starting a revolution.” But, after discussion, they decided that a sufficient substitute for a revolution would be a blueprint for revolution in the form of painting: “painting the revolution.”

The pair decided to “paint outdoors where the message could more easily swell the ranks of potential revolutionaries.” Once Sunday’s painting revolution on canvas was underway there was a car crash nearby.

“After the police had left the scene, pieces of the actual crashed cars were collected and then glued, hammered, duct taped and painted into the piece–our first collaborative effort,” says Lewis.