Crank of Forgiveness

Crank of Forgiveness 2022

Sven Windszus (DE)

background info:

There are currently more than 2 billion Christians around the world, which makes them the largest religious community. Much of this faith group uses the Internet on a daily basis and communicates through social media channels. Behavior on the net is often not in line with Christian ethics. We are faced with fake news, bullying, sexism, self-indulgence and other transgressions.

As a society, we like to cite our moral principles. This is based on a 2000-year-old Christian value system influencing our behavior in many parts of the world. The degree of this influence on our virtual lives has barely been touched upon so far.

The "Crank of Forgiveness" installation seeks to mirror our daily social media behavior and to question our actions in an ironic way. The ritual of confession only serves here as a dramaturgical framework; instead, the focus lies on the meaningfulness of our digital world.

concept:

"Crank of Forgiveness" is made from the wood of an old confessional. There is a screen inside, in which an animation starts as soon as the built-in hand crank is moved. The crank lets you influence the speed of the animation or finish it by stopping.

At first, you see a golden chalice disappearing in the distance. After a few turns, circular planes emerge on which human-like figures move. The avatars perform a disturbing choreography, they move in a universe where they live out their social media exploits. We see the narcissists with a neck ruff obstructing their view, women and men jumping to the point of exhaustion looking for as many "likes" as they can get. We see generals madly riding the "Twitter bird" and servants attached to their lines to receive messages. We see people baring their behinds so that others can film them, etc.

The Heart of Jesus appears at the end of the procession, framed by a crown of thorns and illuminated by the sacred flame. At the moment the network connection to the heart is cut, it begins to bleed. Jesus sheds his blood for us – it washes away our digital sins.