A WORK IN PUBLIC SPACE BY THOMAS HIRSCHHORN, PRODUCED BY DIA ART FOUNDATION NEW YORK
LOCATED AT FOREST HOUSES, THE BRONX - NEW YORK CITY, SUMMER 2013
“What is the story with the roses,” a visitor asked, speaking of the flowers in the
exhibition space near the images of Gramsci’s grave. I explained that the rose is
part of the monument and that we change it daily. However, I also admitted that the
effort is not without contradiction and pointed to the second bucket of roses that
lives in the Newspaper office. The culture of capitalism is unable to accommodate
the modesty of desiring a single rose. If you want to buy a rose within walking distance
from the monument, you need to buy an entire dozen. In sum, as we have been domesticated
to buy excess, the theatrics of a “good bargain” leaves us with extra roses each
week. Indeed, the gesture of counting the days with a fresh rose, paradoxically,
speaks to the nature of the gift, the expenditure of time and effort required. What
is a gift if not a rose? The artist Moyra Davey, who visited Gramsci’s grave when
she was in Rome, shared with me a copy of a photograph she took during her walk through
the Protestant/A-Catholic cemetery. The image shows a rosebush in bloom.
