simulacra

"In Simulacra or the Disappearance of the Referential Being, Donia Jornod confronts an era where the "absolute fake," as Umberto Eco described it, reigns supreme. Her work probes the very notion of originality and authorship in a world saturated with endless reproductions. Take the humble Bic pen: itself a copy of a copy, but what was the primal original it references? This paradox lies at the heart of Jornod’s exploration. She undertakes a meticulous process—sculpting a face, then continuously reshaping it, scanning it in 3D after each iteration. Through this cyclical act of creation and recreation, the face becomes a site of inquiry: does it retain its individuality, or has it dissolved into a generic simulacrum, a ghostly echo devoid of a true referent? Jornod’s work invites us to reflect on the fragile boundaries between authenticity and imitation, reminding us of the elusiveness of originality in our hypermediated age."