Control the Masses

Control the Masses is a black and white video work that deals with the fragility of the Catholic Church. The video depicts myself stacking 1421 Eucharist wafers on top of one another. This is the exact number of people in my parish. The stacking becomes redundant and repetitive, until one wafer causes the entire stack to crumble down. This is representative of the fragility of the church. When one person starts to question Catholic doctrine, the result will be that many others will too. Without the people, the church loses its power. The stacker (myself) wears a cassock, but only the top layer and her hair is loose, therefore not adhering to the dress code for altar servers. The Eucharist wafers are not stacked on silver plates, but rather the dirty carpet. This is considered disrespectful. The stacking of the Eucharist wafers reminds one of the stacking of gambling chips. By being open- minded and creating art that is controversial, I am gambling with my personal relationships; with my parents, my grandmother, the church and God.