Fire
‘Noi vogliamo glorificare la guerra – sola igene del mondo – il militarismo, il patriottismo, il gesto distruttore. Noi vogliamo distruggere i musei, le biblioteche, le accademie d’ogni specie e combattere contro il moralismo, il femminismo e contro ogni villar opportunistica o utilitaria” -Manifesto Futurista
Some hundred years ago a group of Italian intellectuals called the futurist formulated the idea of destroying the proud monuments of the past. They glorified industrialization and mechanization. They loved cars and planes for their speed and vitality. They believed the man had proved himself to be in control of nature, and they saw destruction as artistic expression: tradition is nothing, the future is all.
The artist Pio Diaz, and his former wife Thyra Hilden (Copenhagen 2004). Call to a reflection over our moral statements and institutions by burning symbols of common culture and generating shocking reaction intended to awake in the spectator trivial questions that will end in profound ontological issues and throbbing ideas of preservation and consciousness.
A magnanimous work and his more exhibited one, that started with the burning of the Danish culture institute of Rome, followed by the Louvre museum, Aros Museum, Frankfurt cathedral, Trevi Fountain and ended up with one of the most televised transmitted art installation in the last decade: the Rome colosseum; reached by more than 500 000 people and Giving to Pio a worldwide recognition in the world of art.
