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In questa rilettura del Quarto Stato di Pellizza da Volpedo, ho deciso di utilizzare gli scontrini fiscali trovati qua e là o chiesti alle persone che avevano appena acquistato qualcosa. l’unione tra questo oggetto e la rappresentazione di un’icona così carica di significati rimanda a nuove forme di rivolta sociale, di controtendenze positive che partono dal basso come risposta ad una concezione della società in cui le persone sono considerate sempre meno come cittadini e sempre più come consumatori, dove la politica è piegata dall’economia. In quanto consumatori abbiamo però anche il potere di fare scelte consapevoli consone ad un etica del consumo, essere parte attiva di un meccanismo e non spettatori passivi.

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In this reinterpretation of the The Fourth Estate by Pellizza da Volpedo, I used all of the tax receipts I’d received from purchases made within a specific time-frame. In a process that almost resembles that of an archaeologist attempting to restore a fragile artefact, the painting was recreated by painstakingly matching and combining receipts which had been treated with products that chemically react to paper, such as alcohol, fire and clear lacquer spray, in order to create colour-alterations that occur naturally and are not produced by applying paint. Using these objects to represent such an iconic and meaningful work of art mirrors the way in which new types of social rebellion and positive counter-trends begin to emerge in response to a society in which people are treated less and less like citizens and increasingly more like consumers, a society in which politics are bent and twisted to suit economic interests. From this standpoint a tax receipt acts almost as a trace that we leave behind us, cold proof of our own existence, our habits and lifestyle; I consume therefore I am. In our role as consumers, we do however have the power to make well-informed choices that are appropriate to ensure ethical consumerism, and in doing so we then become active cogs in a mechanism rather than passive bystanders.