To Cache

This work is collaboration with Monika & Bohuš Kubinskí and Omar Mirza. The site-specific installation consists of a monumental object that interacts with the audience.

From the project website:

“The object is made from a fragile and artistically untypical material – matzo, traditional unleavened Jewish bread. The visual appearance of the work is based on an authentic family heirloom, a crocheted tablecloth made by Monika Kubinská’s grandmother. The object installed in a plexiglass display case evokes a museum artifact – protected and preserved.

The title refers to memory, which is a key element of the work. The word “cache” means something hidden, but also the fast storage buffer in the central processing unit of a computer. Thus, the title of the work can be perceived as a metaphor of the problematic coping with the collective memory and the history of Slovakia, especially the fascist regime during World War II. The artwork deals with various topics: the tragic fate of the Jewish population, the criticism of increasing extremist moods around Europe, and the link between tradition and modern technology.

The audio component of the installation works with voice tracks that the audience records with a microphone. The recordings are stored in a computer’s memory and digitally processed to form an acoustic field which reacts with the help of motion sensors to the presence of the viewer. Depending on how the person approaches the object, the sound intensity increases from a soft whisper to a loud and intense noise – as if the object was protecting itself with such a sound barrier. Words can be used to attack or to defend, but also to reconcile and comprehend. It is up to us which words we use and what intensity of voice we choose. By recording their voices, the viewers become an integral part of the artwork. A personalized print of their acoustic trace will be provided to them as an artifact they can take home. The audience is free to say, to sing or to shout anything they want. However, it must be remembered that “anything you say can be used against you”…”