For Unbound Exhibition at Trap Projects, Lucas Gómez Cid presented Ketchup Cult, a performance and installation blending satire, personal history, and pop culture. Drawing from his upbringing in a religious family in Chile, the piece reimagines worship through the absurd lens of ketchup devotion.
Inside a stark white chapel, the artist—dressed in ceremonial robes of the “Ketchup Church”—conducted a mock ritual centered on a monumental Heinz bottle marked SUBMIT. Anthropomorphic ketchup-bottle figures surrounded the altar in poses of reverence, while a sacred book recorded the names of new “believers.”
By mixing humor with ritual acts, including anointment with real ketchup, Ketchup Cult critiques organized religion while reflecting on the universal human need for faith, structure, and belonging. It is both parody and homage: a playful yet unsettling exploration of idolatry, memory, and the objects we choose to elevate to sacred status.