When thinking about the idea of the auto-exotic, I found in narco-aesthetics a source of curiosity and aesthetic inspiration.

Bred in Colombia in the 70s, narco-aesthetics encompass a complex form of expressions derived from drug traffickers and their exuberant lifestyles. Funda- mentally based on ostentation and fueled by the yearning to belong to a higher social class, these criminal world-infused aesthetics followed one simple ethos:

WHY BE RICH IF YOU CAN'T SHOW IT OFF?

From cars to yachts, mansions and opulent parties, narco-aesthetics are all about: The Bigger, The better. Architecturally, money was showcased throu- ghout materials. Marble imported from Italy covered entire building façades, while faucets were made in gold. As for fashion, drug dealers and their families wouldn’t wear anything less than Versace, with expensive jewelry and watches to compliment it.

It’s also curious how the beginning of narco-aesthetics was built on the idea of the exotic. Power couldn’t be displayed if it wasn’t through lavish commodities. For example, the infamous Hacienda Napoles in Colombia didn’t just have cats and dogs. Instead, it hosted a zoo with over one-thousand species, including rhinoceroses, elephants, camels, zebras, giraffes, cranes, impalas, deer, tapirs, kangaroos, flamingos, ostriches, and a unique pair of black parrots among others.

Nowadays, the vast reach of narco imagery has permeated society. From TV series like Netflix’s Narcos, to music idols like Bad Bunny, we’re currently con- fronted with a chic aesthetification of what the drug world created.

As a Colombian designer based in Milan, I want to look into the auto-exotic through a narco-aesthetics lens. I want to embed my work with words like exag- geration, abundance, and voluptuousness. I want to explore bad taste, trans- gression, and excess. I wish to continue experimenting with marble, gold and precious stones. Overall, I want to see if I can appropriate narco-aesthetics, radically reinterpret them, and push them to become my own exotic.