The exhibition unfolds as a stroll through a sculpture garden that invites philosophical reflection on the status of the original work of art and its copies. Using the example of the Laocoön, it challenges the way we perceive masterpieces, revealing a hidden network of cultural constructions and biographical ramifications that broaden the field of authenticity of an artwork. The exhibition infiltrates the interstices of the University of Geneva’s plaster cast collection through a minimalist intervention that aims to preserve the beauty of the space and its plaster replicas. It revolves around two videos and a spatialised sound piece, playing with dematerialisation to disrupt curatorial and museographic norms and explore new exhibition formats.

Extract from sound piece:

Copies are gateways to alternative interpretations of an original artwork. They function as historical documents of the original at a particular point in time, whether the original has survived to the present day, or has been lost. Copies translate the original into another medium – be it drawing, printing, casting, photography, or a 3D reproduction. Each of these renditions, created in different historical contexts and locations, enriches the biography of the original with new meanings, narratives, uses and values.

Copies can also challenge our propensity to trust in the inherent originality of the artwork, unlocking ambiguous zones where thoughts can philosophically perambulate. When we look beyond the familiar narrative of the original, new ways of seeing it begin to emerge. This exhibition digs into the intricate network of meanings engendered by Laocoön’s copies, presenting an alternative narrative that confronts our trusting gaze as we gather in front of the sculpture in the Vatican museum. What if what we see is not real, but rather, hyper-real?

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