Scherzo
audio recordings, 2010-2011

In the 13th century, theologian Pierre de Poitiers invented a theory meant to ensure the validity and effectuality of sacramental liturgy without any reference to the agent. The problem posed was: if the priest administering the baptism is a murderer or an apostate, is the baptism valid? After extensive discussion, the church decided that, irrespective of the moral character of the priest, the baptism is valid in any case.

As a matter of fact the only case in which the baptism is not valid is if the priest is joking. That would be the only cause that can nullify a baptism, a sacrament.


In the Church of Notre Dame de Fourvière in Lyon, I recorded a series of conversations with different priests in a confessional. Starting with a series of fictional information I provided, the dialogue delved into Pierre de Poitiers’ theory, questioning the joke as a human device that deactivates the dichotomy between truth and fiction. As in a joke, an uncomfortable laugh concludes each conversation.

In Italian, the saying “scherzo da prete” (priest’s joke) indicates a nasty trick, a joke so bad that it doesn’t seem to be a joke any longer.

Conversation 1 (French, Italian subtitles)

Conversation 2 (French)




Exhibited at: MAMbo – Museo d'Arte Moderna di Bologna, Italy (2017); Universidad Javeriana, Cali, Colombia (2014); Jarach Gallery, Venezia (2013); ENSBA, Lyon (2011).