pace, 2014-2028, 2009
A series of 15 different vector drawn prints showing the fading, by the sunlight, on the flags of the Pace da tutti i balconi campaign in Italy, hung out in the streets in protest of the impending war in Iraq, and sometimes left hanging for many years afterwards.

< back to overview

exhibition text excerpts (ENG)
by IAC Villeurbanne

* Pace, 2014-2028, 2009

Pace is an edition of fifteen different prints on paper, glued on to aluminium panels and taken from the same pattern of the peace flag. The prints differ from each other only in their loss of opacity and contrast during the printing process.

This flag became very popular in 2002, starting as a protest against the Iraq war. It was hung on many balconies, especially in Italy («Pace da tutti i balconi») and the colour gradually faded. «Pace», peace in Italian, can also be read as the English word «pace», given in particular by the series of seven colours and the fading of tones.

If it is examined from right to left, the chromatic change towards erasure can be seen as an affirmation of peace (white) or as a metaphor of the degradation of commitment.

The image in Pace is a vectorial drawing and it can be converted to text. Thus each part of the image corresponds to coordinates in digits and letters using the SVG code in which Denicolai & Provoost have hidden the certificate of authenticity of the piece. The image consisting of the word PACE, crumpled like a hanging flag, and the line of the fold is given by the artists under free licence (copyleft).