BigShinyThing

His ideas appear whimsical but pragmatic – a truly human response to the horrors of our times. For instance, in response to 9/11 he proposed that the Twin Towers be rebuilt but with plane-shaped holes at the top enabling future attacks to fly through leaving the building unscathed.

Dedomenici’s proposal explains:

I have formulated a plan to resolve the potential economic conflict of building an Oklahoma-style memorial garden at ground zero – the most expensive piece of real estate on earth.

I propose that the twin towers are recontructed exactly as before – except for two airliner-shaped holes passing through the towers at the original points of impact. Within these spaces would be situated two memorial gardens.

To prevent the possibility of a simliar attack to that of September 11, all US planes would be fitted with tamper-proof technology so that if an aircraft was ever flown dangerously close to the towers again, it would automatically pass through one of the holes.

Dedomenici has also packed himself into a suitcase and been left outside Helsinki Central Railway Station for several minutes without being exploded by the security service.

Most recently, he built a 1980s style nuclear fall out shelter in one of the rooms of the Great Eastern Hotel in London. The luxury bath covered with cling film to prevent contaminated air seeping in is pictured. Dedomenici slept in his bunker for the 14 days of the ‘Stay’ art project, of which it formed a part, and wrote, “The installation toys with the aesthetic of the trashed hotel room, and should be oddly nostalgic, given the current era of asymmetrical warfare.”

Stay ran from 1st and 14th July and featured 14 artists’ interpretations of the hotel space. It coincided with the 7th July terrorist attacks on London.

More details about the artist and his projects are on his website.