A bizarrely dressed quartet playing a lute, a violin, an accordion, and a xylophone appears upon a stage in front of a painted theatrical backdrop of a castle. These ragtag players are seemingly directed by a man in a dunce cap, the proverbial “fool” of the title, with an outstretched hand, as if he is about to sing. The photograph is filled with visual signifiers of unknown meaning, including red-rouged eyes on three of the women, bird and fish motifs on one of the costumes, and thick collars of flowers on the players. Other images in the series include horns of incredible length, and seemingly fantastical instruments that recall Steampunk, operated by a figure completely covered in tarot cards, which obscure the identity. The figures are shown actively playing instruments, and the photographic compositions by the artistic partnership of Nicholas Kahn (New York, New York, 1964) and Richard Selesnick (London, England, 1964) make use of discovered, invented, and forgotten histories. The artists often present a cheerily post-apocalyptic vision of the world, inhabited by an absurdist theater troupe they call the Truppe Fledermaus. “We’re like a kind of traveling circus,” says Kahn, speaking about himself and Selesnick, as well as about their fictional theater troop.