From Puerto Rico to Parkville: Mercury on Bringing Tira Más Fotos to Life
INSIDE THE HARTFORD ARTIST’S RE-CREATION OF BAD BUNNY’S ICONIC ALBUM COVER, AND HOW A LATE-NIGHT IDEA TURNED INTO A CROSS-CARIBBEAN INSTALLATION.
When Debí Tirar Más Fotos dropped earlier this year, it was more than an album — it was a timestamp. Bad Bunny’s sixth studio release captured the kind of reflective energy that comes with fame, distance, and belonging. The cover — two white plastic chairs under a fading Caribbean sun — felt both intimate and universal, a reminder of home that could be anywhere.
That image now lives as a public installation thanks to Hartford artist Mercury, who, alongside Jose Arroyo of Support Local Goods, turned the album’s visual world into something people could physically step inside. Tira Más Fotos (TMF), a public photo booth, first appeared outside Bad Bunny’s residency in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, before making its way to the Puerto Rican Day Parade in Hartford this past summer. This weekend, it lands at Know Good Place, a DIY shop and creative hub in Hartford’s Parkville neighborhood.
“The idea for this installation actually belongs to Jose Arroyo, founder of Local Goods. We were talking projects one night and he gave me the, ‘You know what would be cool…’ I knew the idea was gold before he even finished. Turning Bad Bunny’s album cover into a photo backdrop was too brilliant not to do. I originally pitched the idea of a Bad Bunny-specific mural to a couple property owners around the residency in Hato Rey, PR. But like many ideas it just never got enough traction so I decided to pivot and collaborate with Jose instead.”
Tira Más Fotos documented in Puerto Rico by Mercury.
What began as a mural sketch became a full-scale installation — backdrop, chairs, merch, and all — designed to blur the line between audience and artwork.
“We ended up using the mural’s sketch as the design for TMF’s official shirt. That design has some special details. The frog for instance is a cartoon of a Coquí from the 70s. We repeated the character five times changing the color with each succession from green, to yellow, to brown. Borrowing colors from an aging plantain — a metaphor for the racial diversity within Puerto Rican peoples. The scribbles are from a drawing session with my niece Khloe, and nephew Savi. The shirts are packed in custom Pan Sobao bags (Puerto Rican bread). The project was a complete gamble. Jose and I spent the following weeks printing shirts, buying plastic chairs, and reaching out to sponsors. Those chairs, by the way, are harder than one thinks to find! It took many hours of shopping on marketplace as well as driving around the east coast and Puerto Rico.”
That combination of symbolism and improvisation defines Mercury’s practice. Their work often lives between art and action — part sculpture, part performance, part social experiment. The TMF installation echoes the spirit of earlier projects like An Ode to Hartford, which reflected on the city’s layered identity through performance and collaboration.
“We planned for two events: Bad Bunny’s residency in PR and the Puerto Rican Day parade in Hartford. I flew out to PR for Benito’s concert with a few shirts and the TMF installation. The plan was to attend the concert on a Saturday then set up outside the coliseum the next day. However, the wind gods had other plans. The island was expecting a category 4 hurricane on Sunday. So I did what any Boricua would do during a hurricane: I did the installation anyway.”
That act of defiance feels fitting for an artist whose work often challenges what art can look like, and where it can live. Mercury ended up finding refuge at 24 Marketplace, a hybrid bodega-slash-club near the Coliseum, where the installation debuted to locals who immediately recognized themselves in it.
Photographed by Ike Abakah (@ikeabakah) at the Puerto Rican Day Parade in Hartford, CT.
When TMF arrived in Hartford, the reaction was just as warm. The collaboration with Hasta Luego Friend, who provided coffee and drinks, turned the installation into a full-sensory Puerto Rican experience — part photo booth, part block party, part cultural mirror.
“The turnout at the parade in Hartford was even bigger. We partnered with one of our sponsors, Hasta Luego, to create an intimate Puerto Rican experience: café, merch, and a chance to be in Bad Bunny’s album cover. Be sure to check out Local Goods for all the merch and shoutouts to all the sponsors: ArtFX, The CAF, RiseUP, Hasta Luego, Vino Crudo, 24 Marketplace, and CICD.”
This Saturday, TMF opens once more, this time at Know Good Place, 1429 Park St #114, from 12–5 PM. It’s free, open to all, and built for anyone who’s ever seen themselves in a Bad Bunny lyric, a Hartford street, or a fleeting memory they wish they’d captured.
