The Independent - London, May 4th, 1997
Money talks. At least, 1,000-lire banknotes do. They are worth so little - 40p or so - that the Italians have taken to scribbling cryptic messages on them before putting them back into circulation.
This Italian graffiti - a sort of arte povera of the masses - has become a collectable art form. A booklet containing 320 of their slogans (price: 1,000 lire) has been published in Rome. Read a few dozen and a desperate surrealism reveals itself. "I am Rambo", says one. "Tomorrow, I commit suicide, goodbye, goodbye", says another.
Perhaps it is the ephemeral nature of the bank-notes that inspires ...
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