Thomas Hirschhorn – Gramsci Monument

“Gramsci Monument”, an homage to one of the 20th century’s most important philosophers, is the installation which Swiss artist Thomas Hirschhorn–who was present at this year’s Biennale di Venezia–produced in the summer of 2013 for the Dia Foundation at Forest Houses, in The Bronx, New York. The site-specific monument was conceived as a place made up of different ambient spaces: laboratories for art- and political workshops, a library, and play-areas for children. Famous for provocative works which confront social themes, Hirschhorn lived with the neighborhood’s residents for five months and dealt, not always peaceably, with their different realities and ethnicities. A shared human experience was his attempt to divulge the Italian philosopher’s thought, and to build a temporary monument destined to remain in the collective memory. Director Angelo Lüdin shot the various phases of the work, documenting the active collaboration of a poor and isolated community.