Superflex
Encyclopedia
SUPERFLEX is a Danish
artists' group founded in 1993 by Jakob Fenger, Rasmus Nielsen and Bjørnstjerne Christiansen. Superflex describe their projects as Tools, as proposals that invite people to actively participate in and communicate the development of experimental models that alter the prevailing economic production conditions. Often the projects are assisted by experts who bring in their respective special interest, these tools can then be further utilized and modified by their users.
Often their projects are related to economic forces
, democratic production conditions and self-organisation. The artists have examined alternative energy production
methods (Supergas) and commodity
production in Brazil
, Thailand
and Europe
in their projects, which both expose and question the existing economic structures. These artistic activities — as, for example, the on-going project Guaraná Power, in which the artists developed a drink together with local farmer
s who cultivate the caffeine-rich berries of the guarana
plant — are not necessarily opposed to commercialism
and globalisation, but try instead to render economic structures visible and to establish a new balance.
Through their projects engaging with alternative models for the creation, dissemination and maintenance of social and economic organisation – such as Copyshop, Guaraná Power, Rebranding Denmark and Free Beer
– Superflex have become involved in several legal disputes, as well as suffered prohibition orders and police raids, relating to their artistic use of commercial signs and symbols. However, finding that the restrictions placed on their work sometimes led to unexpectedly interesting results, Superflex began to explore the productive potential of prohibition and conceived a series of projects structured to impose regulations on others.
Superflex has gained international recognition for their projects. They have had solo exhibitions, among others, at the Kunsthalle Basel in Switzerland
(Supershow — more than a show), GFZK in Leipzig
, Germany
(Social Pudding in collaboration with Rirkrit Tiravanija
), Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt am Main (Open market), the REDCAT
Gallery in Los Angeles
(Guarana Power), Mori Museum in Tokyo
, Gallery 1301PE in Los Angeles and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
. Superflex has participated in many international arts biennials such as the Gwangju
biennial in Korea
, Istanbul
Biennial, Sao Paulo Biennial, Shanghai
Biennial and in the "Utopia Station" exhibition at the Venice Biennale
. They contributed to the exhibition Rethink Kakotopia shown at the Nikolaj Centre of Contemporary Art in Copenhagen 2009 and at Tensta Konsthall
2010.
Editor Babara Steiner in cooperation with Superdesign. 295 pages.
Published by Verlag Der Büchhandlung Walther König 2003.
ISBN 3-88375-612
Self-organisation/Counter-economic Strategies
Edited by Will Bradley, Mika Hannula, Cristina Ricupero and Superflex.
Published by Sternberg Press 2006
ISBN 1-933128-13-5
Supermanual - The incomplete guide to the Superchannel
Published by FACT, Liverpool UK, 2000
ISBN 0 9521221 3 8
Remarks on interventive tendencies - Meetings between different economies in contemporary art.
Edited by Henrik Plenge Jakobsen, Lars Bang Larsen and Superflex
Published by Borgen 2000
Distribution: Büchhandlung Walther König, Cologne
ISBN 87 21 01624 0
Tools
Infosite5 / Superflex-Tools / Kunstferein Wolfsburg 1999-2000
By Doris Berger
Published for the exhibition TOOLS in Kunstferein Wolfsburg.
Three public projects
Published by Blekinge Lansmuseum and Statens Konst Råd, Sweden, 1999
An urban park project in Copenhagen
divided into three main areas: the red square, the black market and the green park. While the red square designates the modern, urban life with café, music and sports, the black market is the classic square with fountain and benches. The green park is a park for picnics, sports and walking the dog. The people living in the immediate vicinity of the park relate to more than 50 different nationalities. Instead of using the designated city objects/furnitures used for parks and public spaces, people from the area was asked to nominate specific city objects such as benches, bins, trees, playgrounds, manhole covers and signage from other countries. These objects were chosen from a country of the inhabitant’s national origin or from somewhere else encountered through traveling. The objects were either produced in a 1:1 copy or bought and transported to the site. Furthermore, five groups traveled to Palestine, Spain, Thailand, Texas and Jamaica in order to acquire five specific objects. The objects have since been installed throughout the park. In total there are more than 100 different object encountered from more than 50 different countries. Commissioned by City of Copenhagen
and RealDania, the concept for Superkilen is developed by SUPERFLEX in collaboration with architectural firms Bjarke Ingels Group
(BIG) and Topotek1.
Power Toilets
Power Toilets is a permanent public art work erected on a beach in the recreation area Park van Luna in Heerhugowaard
, The Netherlands
. The interior of the lavatory building is a copy of the toilets used by the members of the United Nations Security Council
in the UN headquarters in New York
, identical in detail to that of the sanitary facilities at one of the most secure buildings in the world. Typical for the 1950's corporate style the design includes marble, big mirrors, stainless steel, yellow ceramic tiles, grey anthracite mosaic floor tiles and American Standard appliances.
Power Toilets was designed in close collaboration with NEZU AYMO architects. Originally commissioned by DRFTWD office associates for the municipality of Heerhugowaard in 2004. It was accomplished in 2010 with support from the province of Noord-Holland and SKOR, Foundation Art and Public Space. Contractors: Bouwbedrijf Gerrits & Sinnige b.v. and Sculpfiction.
(New York), Queensland Art Gallery (Brisbane), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
(Denmark), FRAC - Nord-Pas de Calais (Dunkerque), Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst (Leipzig), MUSEION - Museum für moderne und zeitgenössische Kunst (Bolzano), Coleccion Jumex
(Mexico City), Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven), Museum Boijmans van Beuningen
(Rotterdam), The Museum of Contemporary Art (Oslo), Musac - Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León
(Spain), Kunsthaus Zürich
(Austria)
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
artists' group founded in 1993 by Jakob Fenger, Rasmus Nielsen and Bjørnstjerne Christiansen. Superflex describe their projects as Tools, as proposals that invite people to actively participate in and communicate the development of experimental models that alter the prevailing economic production conditions. Often the projects are assisted by experts who bring in their respective special interest, these tools can then be further utilized and modified by their users.
Often their projects are related to economic forces
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, democratic production conditions and self-organisation. The artists have examined alternative energy production
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
methods (Supergas) and commodity
Commodity
In economics, a commodity is the generic term for any marketable item produced to satisfy wants or needs. Economic commodities comprise goods and services....
production in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in their projects, which both expose and question the existing economic structures. These artistic activities — as, for example, the on-going project Guaraná Power, in which the artists developed a drink together with local farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
s who cultivate the caffeine-rich berries of the guarana
Guarana
Guarana , Paullinia cupana, syn. P. crysan, P. sorbilis) is a climbing plant in the maple family, Sapindaceae, native to the Amazon basin and especially common in Brazil. Guarana features large leaves and clusters of flowers, and is best known for its fruit, which is about the size of a coffee bean...
plant — are not necessarily opposed to commercialism
Commercialism
Commercialism, in its original meaning, is the practices, methods, aims, and spirit of commerce or business. Today, however, it primarily refers to the tendency within open-market capitalism to turn everything into objects, images, and services sold for the purpose of generating profit...
and globalisation, but try instead to render economic structures visible and to establish a new balance.
Through their projects engaging with alternative models for the creation, dissemination and maintenance of social and economic organisation – such as Copyshop, Guaraná Power, Rebranding Denmark and Free Beer
Free beer
Free beer may refer to:*Gratis versus Libre, the distinction between "free as in free beer" and "free as in free speech"*Free Beer, an open source beer formerly known as Vores Øl, Danish for Our Beer...
– Superflex have become involved in several legal disputes, as well as suffered prohibition orders and police raids, relating to their artistic use of commercial signs and symbols. However, finding that the restrictions placed on their work sometimes led to unexpectedly interesting results, Superflex began to explore the productive potential of prohibition and conceived a series of projects structured to impose regulations on others.
Superflex has gained international recognition for their projects. They have had solo exhibitions, among others, at the Kunsthalle Basel in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
(Supershow — more than a show), GFZK in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(Social Pudding in collaboration with Rirkrit Tiravanija
Rirkrit Tiravanija
Rirkrit Tiravanija is a contemporary artist residing in New York. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1961. His installations often take the form of stages or rooms for sharing meals, cooking, reading or playing music; architecture or structures for living and socializing are a core element...
), Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt am Main (Open market), the REDCAT
REDCAT
Opened November 2003, REDCAT is a contemporary arts center that is an extension of CalArts campus, and serves as the professional presenting arm of the Institute...
Gallery in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
(Guarana Power), Mori Museum in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Gallery 1301PE in Los Angeles and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft and is part of the...
. Superflex has participated in many international arts biennials such as the Gwangju
Gwangju
Gwangju is the sixth largest city in South Korea. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister...
biennial in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
Biennial, Sao Paulo Biennial, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
Biennial and in the "Utopia Station" exhibition at the Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
. They contributed to the exhibition Rethink Kakotopia shown at the Nikolaj Centre of Contemporary Art in Copenhagen 2009 and at Tensta Konsthall
Tensta Konsthall
Tensta Konsthall is a centre for contemporary art on the outskirts of Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1998, the art centre has exhibited works by international artists which include: Wolfgang Tillmans, Julian Opie, On Kawara, Shirin Neshat, Susan Hiller, Tracey Moffat, Kutlug Ataman, Mark Wallinger...
2010.
Films
- Burning Car (2008)
- Flooded McDonalds (2009)
- The Financial Crisis (2009)
- Modern Times Forever (Stora Enso Building, Helsinki) (2011) (see List of longest films by running time)
Publications
ToolsEditor Babara Steiner in cooperation with Superdesign. 295 pages.
Published by Verlag Der Büchhandlung Walther König 2003.
ISBN 3-88375-612
Self-organisation/Counter-economic Strategies
Edited by Will Bradley, Mika Hannula, Cristina Ricupero and Superflex.
Published by Sternberg Press 2006
ISBN 1-933128-13-5
Supermanual - The incomplete guide to the Superchannel
Published by FACT, Liverpool UK, 2000
ISBN 0 9521221 3 8
Remarks on interventive tendencies - Meetings between different economies in contemporary art.
Edited by Henrik Plenge Jakobsen, Lars Bang Larsen and Superflex
Published by Borgen 2000
Distribution: Büchhandlung Walther König, Cologne
ISBN 87 21 01624 0
Tools
Infosite5 / Superflex-Tools / Kunstferein Wolfsburg 1999-2000
By Doris Berger
Published for the exhibition TOOLS in Kunstferein Wolfsburg.
Three public projects
Published by Blekinge Lansmuseum and Statens Konst Råd, Sweden, 1999
Public Art
SuperkilenAn urban park project in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
divided into three main areas: the red square, the black market and the green park. While the red square designates the modern, urban life with café, music and sports, the black market is the classic square with fountain and benches. The green park is a park for picnics, sports and walking the dog. The people living in the immediate vicinity of the park relate to more than 50 different nationalities. Instead of using the designated city objects/furnitures used for parks and public spaces, people from the area was asked to nominate specific city objects such as benches, bins, trees, playgrounds, manhole covers and signage from other countries. These objects were chosen from a country of the inhabitant’s national origin or from somewhere else encountered through traveling. The objects were either produced in a 1:1 copy or bought and transported to the site. Furthermore, five groups traveled to Palestine, Spain, Thailand, Texas and Jamaica in order to acquire five specific objects. The objects have since been installed throughout the park. In total there are more than 100 different object encountered from more than 50 different countries. Commissioned by City of Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and RealDania, the concept for Superkilen is developed by SUPERFLEX in collaboration with architectural firms Bjarke Ingels Group
Bjarke Ingels Group
Bjarke Ingels Group, often referred to as BIG, is an international architectural firm founded in 2005 by Bjarke Ingels in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 2010 it opened a branch office in New York City...
(BIG) and Topotek1.
Power Toilets
Power Toilets is a permanent public art work erected on a beach in the recreation area Park van Luna in Heerhugowaard
Heerhugowaard
Heerhugowaard is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia.-History:...
, The Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The interior of the lavatory building is a copy of the toilets used by the members of the United Nations Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
in the UN headquarters in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, identical in detail to that of the sanitary facilities at one of the most secure buildings in the world. Typical for the 1950's corporate style the design includes marble, big mirrors, stainless steel, yellow ceramic tiles, grey anthracite mosaic floor tiles and American Standard appliances.
Power Toilets was designed in close collaboration with NEZU AYMO architects. Originally commissioned by DRFTWD office associates for the municipality of Heerhugowaard in 2004. It was accomplished in 2010 with support from the province of Noord-Holland and SKOR, Foundation Art and Public Space. Contractors: Bouwbedrijf Gerrits & Sinnige b.v. and Sculpfiction.
Public Collections
Superflex' works are represented in a wide range of public art institutions such as MoMAMoma
Moma may refer to:* Moma , an owlet moth genus* Moma Airport, a Russian public airport* Moma District, Nampula, Mozambique* Moma River, a right tributary of the Indigirka River* Google Moma, the Google corporate intranet...
(New York), Queensland Art Gallery (Brisbane), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is an art museum located directly on the shore of the Øresund Sound in Humlebæk, north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the most visited art museum in Denmark with an extensive permanent collection of modern and contemporary art, dating from World War II and up...
(Denmark), FRAC - Nord-Pas de Calais (Dunkerque), Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst (Leipzig), MUSEION - Museum für moderne und zeitgenössische Kunst (Bolzano), Coleccion Jumex
Colección Jumex
The La Colección Jumex is said to be the largest private contemporary art collection in Latin America, with works by Jeff Koons, Andreas Gursky and Gabriel Orozco....
(Mexico City), Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven), Museum Boijmans van Beuningen
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is the main art museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The museum began in 1847 with the collection of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans . Much of the museum's original collection was destroyed in a disastrous 1864 fire...
(Rotterdam), The Museum of Contemporary Art (Oslo), Musac - Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León
The Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, better known as the MUSAC, is a contemporary art museum in the city of León, Spain....
(Spain), Kunsthaus Zürich
Kunsthaus Zürich
The Kunsthaus Zürich houses one of the most important art museums in Switzerland and Europe, collected by the local Kunstverein, called Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, and holdings running from the Middle Ages to contemporary art, with an emphasis on Swiss art.Kunsthaus is also the name of the tram stop...
(Austria)