4. Virus

Alongside the reconstructed Louvre gate of Ich oder das Chaos, Virus is the second work in the exhibition to draw a geographical cross reference to Paris. For Virus, Kapfer copied wrought-iron security grills from balconies (known as Parisian windows) and reproduced them true-to-scale. These decorative elements from the 19th century are part of the large scale regulation plans of Paris drawn up by the prefect and city planner Haussmann, who was commissioned by Napoleon III to replace the uncontrollable maze of alleyways with spacious, clearly organized avenues, allowing better deployment of his army in the city.

The Parisian windows Kapfer focuses on are lattices, the tips of which fulfill another function beyond their appearance, particularly for the architecture in the new cityscape. The pointed spikes with their floral details were originally intended as a defensive measure. The Parisian bourgeoisie’s aim was to use this precaution to protect themselves and, above all, their private property on the now generously laid out, light-flooded streets. It is possible to imagine these ornate and pointed lattices as a kind of membrane separating the grand bourgeoisie and the lower societies of the 19th century. For a long time, the internal societal conflicts of post-revolutionary France were obscured by the First World War’s atrocities, which is why this period is often subject to much romanticization. Moreover, the documented violence of the Napoleonic wars led to a concealment of the horrors perpetrated during the numerous French Revolutions, which were only later investigated and gradually revealed.

The ornate grills are witnesses to their time. They can be described as a historical precursor to ​‘defensive design,’ by means of which both public and semi-privatized places, spaces and buildings are designed to exclude certain people or groups, or to render impossible their use for certain individuals. A common example of such a practice is the design of armrests on public benches so that they can no longer be used as sleeping places by homeless people. Likewise, the pretty, decorative forms of the Parisian grills mask an inherent exclusivity and structural violence.

Precisely as in the first room of the exhibition, Kapfer uses a powerful light bulb to cast a shadow so that the grills, which dangle from the ceiling like mobiles, are multiplied across the wall and floor. The installation’s title Virus is an attempt to address the supposedly organic forms of the grills, revealing a different, much more sinister interpretation, and illustrating that they spread around the world just as a virus.


Franz Kapfer, Virus, 2016
Four-part installation
Lacquer on wood, spotlight
Variable dimensions, each 230 x 110 x 0,5 cm
Courtesy the artist