From Reverence to Ridicule is a process-based project that explores the proliferation and degradation of the image of Pope John Paul II within Polish culture and national identity. Once viewed as an iconic figure due to his contribution to the collapse of communism, the Pope's legacy has become increasingly controversial due to recent allegations of child abuse cover-ups, leaving Poles divided over his renown. This debate is particularly visible on social media, where archival images of the Pope are reappropriated both to sanctify and to degrade his figure. These images, often marked by low quality and heavy manipulation, raise important questions about the meanings of the original archival image and its circulation in modern digital media.

Drawing from Ariella Aïsha Azoulay's Errata in Retro-Prospect, the project resists the narrative enforced by the official archive, integrating perspectives from contemporary social media (Azoulay, 2020). By establishing an archive of reappropriation - consisting of images downloaded from the internet - the project challenges the authority of the archive and the production of official knowledge. To activate the archival image, I draw on Hito Steyerl's In Defense of the Poor Image, which argues that low-quality digital images - those that have undergone significant copying and compression - reflect the 'constellation of social forces leading to their online circulation as poor images' (Steyerl, 2012). The images are classified using image recognition and reverse search software to track instances of reuse, later organized by number and quality.

The project aims to engage with the electronic format of the archival image and its degradation, highlighting how it is constructed, circulated, and viewed today. It records instances of failure in the image's preservation, both formally and contextually, and embarks on the impossible task of establishing shared reconciliation with the complex legacies of national history.