A 256 m² black cloth, adorned with a pattern of white wildflowers, was laid out for a day on the runway of the former RAF Greenham Common, near Newbury. This historic site was home to the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp, a women’s protest against nuclear weapons that lasted for 19 years.

— Where have all the flowers gone? — asks the famous anti-war song. — They are all on black cloths, — responds 742, transforming public space into a field of collective mourning.

— These flowers are plucked, unnatural, lifeless. With this work, I mourn the whole world. I mourn the victims of every senseless slaughter. I mourn the belief that good will always triumph. I mourn our future and the future of our children, as I watch politicians juggle it for the sake of their own spectacle.

The world is once again heading down the same path that once led to catastrophe. I don’t want this to happen again. The black cloth is a reminder that war never truly disappears. It returns through the decisions made on our behalf, through loud words that drown out the truth, through our silence, which has no justification.

This work references the song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”, written by Pete Seeger in 1955. The simple melody, inspired by the lullaby “Koloda-Duda” from Mikhail Sholokhov’s novel And Quiet Flows the Don (Tales of the Don), became an anti-war anthem. In 1962, Marlene Dietrich performed it in multiple languages.

— When will they ever learn? — the song’s final refrain echoes as a desperate cry for peace and hope. — I ask the same question, — says 742, painting white flowers onto the black cloth.