“Iconoclasron” (a portmanteau of “iconoclasm” and “arson”) is a drawing I did inspired by the 2019 Notre Dame fire. At the time, the professors in my architecture classes told us about the debate surrounding the cathedral’s reconstruction — should it reconstructed as it was, or should it be updated to accommodate modern sensibilities? This sent me into a period in which I was meditating on the importance cultural touchstones. I was asking myself questions such as: “what institutions and artists do I idolize?” and “do any of these figures contradict one another?” and “why are these figures worthy of cultural worship?” In this drawing, I’ve collage together a few of my “creative educators” — the burning Notre Dame represents a traditional architectural education; the simplistic gridded windows are borrowed from Wurster Hall, the brutalist architecture building at my university; and the man is Lou Reed, one of the few people I would consider an “idol” of mine. The reference image I used isn’t an incredibly recognizable photo of him, allowing his identity to be obscured in this work. Avoiding obvious recognition, he becomes just another student pondering the conflict between past, present, and future creative movements.
I am uploading this now to accompany Mia’s interview with Jordan Kerner, which I produced. Jordan spoke with Mia about how the digital mapping his team did of Notre Dame during the production of The Smurfs 2 was later used during reconstruction efforts.