MILLE CAMICIE ROSSE
Mille Camicie Rosse
Studio Nucleo, 2011
By Piergiorgio Robino & Alice C. Occleppo
Painted shirts inside epoxy resin
250 x 110 x 72h cm
Unique piece
Mille Camicie Rosse is an aggregation of resin and fabric, a structure of cubes without hierarchies.
Each block is simultaneously unique and similar to the other nine hundred and ninety-nine.
Each cube contains a recovered and coloured shirt inspired by Garibaldi’s official uniform of troops during
the Expedition of the Thousand: the historical event that led to Italy’s unification in 1861.
In Italy, in museums dedicated to the Risorgimento, you admire the authentic Red Jackets;
you will make a surprising discovery: the uniforms are too small
to be used by adults because they are twelve-year-old child size.
The heroes who made Italy were men five feet tall, malnourished, belonging to a
land of pellagra and malaria, yet each of them was decisive for the revolution.
Likewise, each module of the table, despite its smallness, is essential to the overall structure.
The particular shade of red used is not without meaning: clear and vibrant,
Garibaldi chose red and wool for his men’s uniforms, a fabric once worn by butchers.
Red is an intense colour whose meaning is dichotomous:
red as rebirth, like life, like rising a new era
and red as death, as blood spilt for a new homeland.
In this red dress, Garibaldi breaks into history and becomes a symbol of Italy united.
© 2023 Studio Nucleo