PONTE (ORIZONTALE) [2013]

Embossed works on paper - 1540mm x 2540mm each | fluorescent lights

 

Two works on paper that have been embossed by rubbing. The rubbings are taken from two large marble monoliths installed at the Foro Italico in Rome. Each monolith has the date of a significant event in the history of fascist Italy, however, the two included here are dates that were included post-1945, therefore once the fascist regime had been defeated. These dates mark, respectively: (a) the date of the end of the fascist regime in Italy, and (b) the date of the implementation of the Italian Republic. They thus (literally) mark the transition or bridge (i.e. ponte) from fascism to democracy in Italy after WWII.

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PONTE (VERTICALE) [2013] 

Mixed media installation: Single-channel digital video projection - 00:05:46 looped - colour - 4:3 | Other materials: plywood | installation dimensions: variable

 

Appropriates a scene from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s film Accattone (1961) where the sub-proletarian protagonist dives into the Tiber River in Rome. The footage utilizes a proprietary slow-motion technique to extend the footage durationaly as well as across the physical surface of a vertically elongated screen.

VIEW: vimeo.com/108953422

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INSTALLATION VIEW: https://vimeo.com/240456355

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SHOWN

BSR Gallery (Rome)

SCA Galleries (Sydney)

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WRITING

Frederico Camera, 'John Di Stefano’s Bandiera Nera'. Australasia Journal of Popular Culture, 2015

Gary Sangster, 'In Theory', Bandiera Nera. SCA Galleries, Sydney, 2015

Aleksandr A. Wansbrough, “Archaeological Journeys: John Di Stefano’s Bandiera Nera”. Alphaville - Journal of Film & Screen Media, 2016

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PONTE (ORIZONTALE) and PONTE (VERTICALE) are part of the PASOLINI PROJECT - a project inspired by Italian filmmaker and poet Pier Paolo Pasolini

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INSTALLATION VIEW: SCA Galleries (Sydney) and BSR Gallery (Rome)