TENEBRE 

Polaroid photographic prints, 420 mm x 520 mm each. Edition: 1

 

TENEBRE is a series of four large-scale, one-of-a-kind Polaroid photographs. The photographs appropriate paparazzi photographs of the Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini, and crop them so as to focus only on details of the human gestures in the images. The images are exposed on Polaroid film (unique prints) with a very shallow contrast range. This produces very dark images with the subject appearing only just to be emerging from a dark and barely discernable field. This re-appropriation and decontextualization of sensationalist paparazzi photographs attempts to transform them into something altogether antithetical. 

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SHOWN

Articule (Montréal)

A-Space (Toronto)

Moving Image Centre (Auckland)

New Zealand Film Archive (Wellington)

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

Laurence Simmons, 'Passion for Pasolini',  Illusions - Journal of Moving Image & Performance Criticism, 2004

Kate Griffin, Texts & Subtexts. Moving Image Centre, Auckland, 2003

Sherry Simon, Deviant Translations. Articule, Montréal, 2002

Will Kwan, Another Version: John Di Stefano’s Redeeming Translations. A Space Gallery, Toronto, 2002

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TENEBRE is part of the PASOLINI PROJECT - a project inspired by Italian filmmaker and poet Pier Paolo Pasolini