Episode 4: Temporary Iconoclasms
Hosted by Nicole Emser Marcel
Release date: December 9, 2021
In this episode, producer Nicole Emser Marcel asks: How can artists intervene in or mediate an existing monument? And could these interventions bring about long-term change? To answer these questions, two very different sites are explored from opposite sides of the Atlantic: Tony Oursler’s artist installation at the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam (2014-15) and Dustin Klein and Alex Criqui’s impromptu projections on the Robert E. Lee Memorial in Richmond, Virginia during the summer of 2020.
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About this episode of Monument Biography
About the host:
Nicole Emser Marcel studies modern and contemporary Caribbean art. Her research interests include iconoclasm, geography, feminist theory, and religion. She holds a M.A. in Art History from American University and a B.A. in History from Xavier University. She previously taught at IUPUI in Indianapolis and worked at the National Women’s History Museum in Washington, DC.
About the guests:
Jacqueline Grandjean is the director and curator of the Oude Kerk museum in Amsterdam.
Dustin Klein and Alex Criqui are artists and activists creating projection-based protest art addressing systemic racism, human rights, and historical narratives. Their work can be found at https://www.reclaimingthemonument.com/.
Want to learn more about the topics covered in this episode?
Oude Kerk/Tony Oursler
Official website of the Oude Kerk
Official website of Tony Oursler
Tony Oursler, Jacqueline Grandjean, and Petra Heck. Tony Oursler: I/O Underflow. Edited by Ester Serrano. Amsterdam: Stichting de Oude Kerk, 2015.
Robert E. Lee Memorial/Dustin Klein and Alex Criqui
Sabrina Tavernise, “Virginia Removes Robert E. Lee Statue from State Capital,” New York Times, September 8, 2021.
Laurel Wamsley, “Judge Orders Richmond's Robert E. Lee Statue Can Be Removed”, NPR, October 27, 2020.
Video of BLM protesters conducting a sit-in at Robert E. Lee Monument on July 4, 2020, Rockford Register Star.
Activism in Richmond (recommended by Dustin Klein and Alex Criqui).
Music credits for this episode of Monument Biography:
“Entwined Oddity” by Blue Dot Sessions
Organ music from the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam
Recording of Tony Oursler’s installation I/O Underflow, 2014
Scenes from Richmond, Virginia, available on Alex Criqui’s Instagram page