Flooded Europe
2025
Glass cup, water, one-euro coin
12 x 6 x 6 cm (sculpture) / 15 x 15 x 5 cm (wall plinth)
All images © Fábio Colaço
2025
Glass cup, water, one-euro coin
12 x 6 x 6 cm (sculpture) / 15 x 15 x 5 cm (wall plinth)
All images © Fábio Colaço
“Flooded Europe” (2025) is a work that comes from the logic of ready-made, consisting of a simple yet powerful arrangement: a glass full of water (to the limit) with a one-euro coin resting at its bottom.
This minimal composition encapsulates a profound critique of the European project, exposing its fractures, contradictions and constant, often invisible, tensions. The glass, transparent and fragile, becomes a metaphor for the lack of clarity in European politics, where ideological divisions, economic disparities and unresolved crises remain concealed beneath an apparent unity. The coin, partially obscured by the water, evokes a sense of drowning, an economy weighed down by its own structures, a currency burdened by inequities between nations and a political system sinking under the weight of indecision. This piece addresses the rise of Eurocentrism, the persistence of financial imbalances and the paralysis of EU governance. It speaks to a continent flooded with fallacies, uncertainties and corruption. Its stillness invites contemplation and reflection on whether Europe will remain afloat or succumb to the forces it has created.
This minimal composition encapsulates a profound critique of the European project, exposing its fractures, contradictions and constant, often invisible, tensions. The glass, transparent and fragile, becomes a metaphor for the lack of clarity in European politics, where ideological divisions, economic disparities and unresolved crises remain concealed beneath an apparent unity. The coin, partially obscured by the water, evokes a sense of drowning, an economy weighed down by its own structures, a currency burdened by inequities between nations and a political system sinking under the weight of indecision. This piece addresses the rise of Eurocentrism, the persistence of financial imbalances and the paralysis of EU governance. It speaks to a continent flooded with fallacies, uncertainties and corruption. Its stillness invites contemplation and reflection on whether Europe will remain afloat or succumb to the forces it has created.