Pane di Bocca (Bread out of Mouth) – part of the solo show Voce del verbo avere, curated by Beatrice Merz and Valentina Bruschi at Palazzo Branciforte in Palermo – is made up of seven 1935 original wedding rings that bear the engraving “oro alla patria 18-11-35-XIV” (gold to the country, Novembre 18th 1935) held in the clamps of dented dental pincers. La Giornata della fede (The Day of the wedding ring), was a propaganda campaign promoted by the fascist regime aimed at the Italian population in support of the war in Ethiopia. The population was called to hand over their wedding rings to the homeland, receiving in exchange an engraved tin ring, like the ones that are part of the work. The installation refers to the concept of faith, in the combination of giving-receiving between the authority of the State and the people who inhabit it, and to the practice of transition starting from a patrimony of affective and personal values also referencing the function of former pawn shop.
Bread out of Mouth
2018
Seven steel dental forceps, from 15,2 x 2,9 cm to 17,1 x 3 x 1 cm; seven original wedding rings engraving “Gold to the country, Novembre 18th 1935”; seven iron bases 12 x 12 x 0,6 cm each; setting dimensions. Detail view, Ex-Monte dei pegni di Santa Rosalia, Palazzo Branciforte, Palermo. Photo by Sandro Scalia. Courtesy: the artist; Fondazione Merz, Turin
