Bildersturm // Iconoclasm (2015)

Four iPod shuffles, four sets of headphones
Audio installation, 14'40'', loop

In Bildersturm, Françoise Caraco invites the visitor to experience for him or herself a theatre piece set in the space of a church with various protagonists through their own mind’s eye. Caraco defines the stage as the nave, the pulpit, the rood-screen and the mighty cathedral organ that rests upon it. The speakers are the culture enthusiasts Astrid and Max along with Mark, a guest from abroad, as well as Esther the enquirer and the voices from the gallery. The text that can be heard via the headphones is a series of online readers’ comments collected by the artist from articles dealing with the current critical problem of the destruction of artworks in battle-torn regions. In so doing she allows opinions, statements and questions highlighted within them to emerge. Additionally she includes details of the events of the iconoclastic fervour in Basel as documented from the turmoil of the Protestant Reformation around 1529.

With her work Françoise Caraco draws attention to the fact that the eradication of images and the destruction of cultural objects is a continuous leitmotif in human history. Such an obliteration of artefacts that serve as vehicles for identity is a highly symbolic act, aimed at wounding the self-worth of a people or a religious group.

The text, spoken by Esther Becker, is accompanied with subtle organ tones and sounds from sound artist Simon Grab.

Françoise Caraco (b. 1972) comes from Basel and lives in Zurich. The basis of her artistic work is research into family histories, historical events and places steeped in history. In her texts, audio works, video works and installations she interweaves fact and fiction so as to forge a connection to the pressing topics of today.