Bonanza Hi-Speed Six-Pack Sketch

Andrew Smaldone


"I don't know what the word 'space' means either. I keep using it. But I'm not quite so sure what it means'

Gordon Matta-Clark1

I'm on my way to Siena for a press preview of an exhibition of the work of Gordon Matta-Clark. But before I get there, I must travel through the outskirts of Florence. I am forced to follow the blue traffic signs with white arrows - there is something fascinating about them, as they seem to betray the city's renaissance display of reason, logic, and bulky masculinity. Here something has run amok and nothing seems to make any sense. Why are there only 2 arrows when I need 3 arrows? One for left, one for straight ahead, and one for right -- but alas there are only 2. Nothing of my knowledge of street sign vocabulary has prepared me for such a banal misunderstanding, and so I make a wrong turn, and am forced to retrace my path.


Street Signs #1, 2008


Street Signs #2, 2008


Street Signs #3, 2008


Street Signs #4, 2008


Street Signs #5, 2008


1 Gordon Matta-Clark, by SIAE 2008, Silvana Editoriale Spa Cinisello Balsamo, Milano -- catalogue from exhibition Gordon Matta-Clark curated by Lorenzo Fusi and Marco Pierini at sms Contemporanea, Siena p225, interview with Judith Russi Kirshner 1978