professional confessional professional confessional
redemption: the professional confessional, was originally conceived as a site specific installation for the Woolworth Building, on view in September 2003 in the building’s lobby and various other locations in Lower Manhattan.
The piece refered to the divide between the usage of the Woolworth Building and its aesthetic form as a cathedral. Known as the “Cathedral of Commerce,” the Gothic skyscraper is abound with religious iconography which has been transformed to symbols of capitalism and manifest destiny. The offices of the SEC are housed within the Cathedral of Commerce, providing obvious reference to recent corporate scandals. The ostentatious opulence of the building’s interior mirrors the material excess found in cathedrals of the Gothic period.
redemption: the professional confessional consisted of a collapsible, portable confessional for the receiving of workplace related indiscretions. The outside of the confessional resembled a traditional confessional, while the interior was modeled after a bank teller’s window.
Redemption in the Professional Confessional was based on a system of exchange. Confessors write their work related “sins” on a dollar bill, and were given clean dollars in exchange along with receipts. For severe indiscretions, more intensive redemption packages are available, and those options were carefully discussed with the visitor.
After the dollars were collected, the merger of commerce and faith continued. The dollars were used to purchase various items at local Dollar Stores which furthered the system of exchange, and gave the confession a physical form.