—Unexpected Subjects (After Carla Lonzi), 2010

Scaffolding tarp, duct tape, aluminium flagpole, text on paper

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The term ‘Unexpected Subjects’ has been taken after the concept coined in 1970 by Italian art critic and feminist activist Carla Lonzi in her text Let’s Spit on Hegel (1970). With this term, Lonzi defines the position of women who rebel against the ruling patriarchal system: “Not being trapped within the master-slave dialectic, we become conscious of ourselves; we are the Unexpected Subject”. We have re-used her concept –as we did already in an essay published in 2000- to put up a precarious flag that will be employed in different works, and which echoes the transitory, but nevertheless effective, aesthetics articulated in the moments of revolutionary change.