Rafaela Pandolfini, Say what we mean, Do what we say

Artist: Rafaela Pandolfini 
Title: Say what we mean, Do what we say 
Size: 
Option 1. 50cm wide x 73cm high. 
Option 2. 80cm wide x 106cm high
Material: Textile (digital print on waratah fabric) 
Date: 2021

'Say what we mean, Do what we say' was originally installed as a large sticker on Wurundjeri land (Collingwood Yards precinct, Melbourne) for Myths & Facts, a commission for West Space and PHOTO 2021. 

Myths & Facts is an ongoing research project and in early 2021, the project took form as a processional series of ten images displayed on billboards along the Hume Highway in Eora, Wiradjuri, Taungurong and Woiworung countries, between New South Wales and Victoria.

Myths & Facts interrogates Australia’s failure to address environmental violence at a policy level. Evasive phrases pertaining to the government’s position on climate change have been transposed from the mouths of politicians onto “Chux” cleaning cloths. Stripped of context, these empty phrases signal our government’s disguise and deferral of the environmental emergencies we currently face. The familiar zigzag pattern of these ubiquitous household cloths is a recurring backdrop for Rafaela’s ongoing exploration of gendered and emotional labour.