It’s no secret that sometimes truckers like to get a little creative with their rig. From doll’s heads to vulgar stickers to truck nuts, it’s a small but meaningful opportunity for someone who spends their life on the road to share a slice of their personality with their fellow drivers. But one Caracas camionero took this tendency for flair a step further and turned his flatbed into a psychedelic folk art installation on wheels. And it’s freaky.
Multinational creative agency Verona Office recently picked up a camera and rode along with Jesús Alesio Poleo Díaz, who for 11 years has been amassing a collection of discarded doll parts to adorn his truck. Along the way, a variety of urban legends have sprung up among caraqueños to explain this unsettling fixture of the urban landscape, with some of the more elaborate examples involving the tragic death of an unsuspecting girl.
In El coleccionista de muñecas (The Doll Collector), Poleo finally has the chance to clear up the rumors and tell the world that it’s all just the result of a chance encounter with a doll’s head at a local dump, which slowly turned into an obsession. He’s not practicing brujería, or atoning for a past transgression; he’s just a funky guy who likes to be noticed. As Caracas storyteller Gladys Laporte explains in the 3-minute doc, he’s become something of a small-time celebrity on the streets of the Venezuelan capital.
Now it’s still up in the air how hygienic this coterie of abandoned dolls really is, but the important thing is that Poleo is having a blast and bringing a little joy – or terror, or both – to the chaotic streets of his native city.
Oh, and in case you thought this guy had maybe dropped a lot of acid, Poleo assures us he doesn’t drink or smoke or practice any vices. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you: he’s a healthy guy.