The Column

A block of marble quarried in China crosses the sea on a cargo ship. On this apparently destination-free journey, the block is transformed into an elegant classical column; the craftsmen are several Chinese artisans, who work decisively and masterfully, excluding any possibility of error; the marble-dust powders their faces, and whitens the ship’s bridge. The story of this event, which Paci “allowed to happen” on board a factory-ship, becomes an eloquent visual metaphor, which, through art, touches themes such as work and cultural identity and, in the economic context, social and global dynamics. This is the Albanian artist’s most involved work, as far as production’s concerned, and also his most stratified, and most loaded with symbolic references. In his video, “everything flows”, in fact, around the column as architectural element, which, taking form, represents the dialogue between East and West. Paci enchants with his images of rough beauty: the telecamera captures the crew’s expressions and gestures, when they occasionally muse on the sea’s troubled surface; slides along the sculptures vein-structure, revealing its silhouette before it disappears over the horizon. The video and the column were presented in the context of the retrospective Vite in transito (Lives in Transit) at the Jeau de Paume. Both continued to travel together until they reached PAC Milano, where they’ll be on display until Jan. 14, 2014.