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torturing paeonia

The video is part of a trilogy based on three parliamentary questions, each on contemporary art presented to the European Commission. The purpose of the trilogy is to reveal the incongruos nature of bureaucratic schemes, the dark side of market values and the violence of theoretical definitions based on banal stereotypes by juxtaposing the ancient, conventional image of beauty related to flowers, against a reading of the questions which goes beyond their literal meaning. In this film, the question, presented in 2009, regards to the compatibility of auction house sales prices with european law. The questioner asks for clarity on the art market, in particular on the financial agreement between auction house and artists which are used to maintain high prices of art works. The original text is recited by a female off screen voice in a manner which gives an intentionally “contaminated” reading of the text which is incongruous to the content and form of the written question, while a bouquet of peonies is systematically chopped up with a butcher’s cleaver, until the flowers are completely destroyed.

Polidori Pasquale