Disco Volante features a tea towel on a stretcher frame, suspended from a coat hanger. A silkscreened image of a “flying saucer” hovers above the towel’s typical red and white Mediterranean grid pattern, juxtaposing the everyday with the fantastical. These familiar objects, configured into a surreal constellation, question the relationship between the mundane and the mythical, the veritable and the visionary. Like Armleder’s Painting with a Coat Hanger (1984), it can easily be displayed on or from other objects, such as a door handle, a cupboard door, the back of a chair and so on, and can be stored away in a closet should one want to take it out only for special occasions.

Armleder's work was initially displayed in the cosy confines of John Gibson's apartment, a fitting setting that perfectly complemented the intimate nature of the artwork. The piece pays homage to the avant-garde Russian artist Kazimir Malevich, whose work served as a powerful inspiration throughout Armleder's career. Rendered in oil on canvas, Armleder's piece features a uniform silver background, a yellow circle, and a slightly tilted white shape that evokes Malevich's iconic white square. Each work was painted by hand, making the 60-edition masterpiece a unique and one-of-a-kind creation.