13 standard panels of gypsum plaster board painted with black industrial lacquer; dimensions variable
Steven Parrino’s 13 Shattered Panels (for Joey Ramone) (2001) is a large-format site-specific installation dedicated to the lead singer of the punk rock band The Ramones. This work is recreated for each installation and plainly displays the results of violent actions such as breaking, bending, and folding. Glossy black industrial lacquer paint covers a set of 13 panels that are arranged so that they rest against the wall and on the floor, subverting the strict divide between two-dimensional painting and three-dimensional sculpture. In an age of brutality – against the environment, human rights, legislative order, civility, and each other – the visceral depiction of destruction in 13 Shattered Panels becomes a poignant commentary on nihilism and its alternatives. Parrino’s disorderly organization of the monochrome panels, broken fragments, and detritus dramatize and serve as evidence of the production process of the work, creating an intense, affective experience for the viewer.
