00-99, from Gran Pavese – The Flag Project

"00-99, from Gran Pavese – The Flag Project" is a monumental screenprint by Hanne Darboven that transforms the traditional format of a flag into a conceptual artwork through the presentation of numerical sequences. The work employs the functional materiality of polyester flag fabric while engaging with Darboven's longstanding interest in systems, seriality, and the visualization of time through numerical notation. By presenting the digits 00 through 99 on a flag form, the artist conflates everyday objects of national or institutional significance with abstract mathematical progressions, thereby questioning the symbolic authority of flags themselves.