Superflex
SUPERFLEX was founded in 1993 by Jakob Fenger, Bjørnstjerne Christiansen, and Rasmus Rosengren Nielsen. Conceived as an expanded collective, SUPERFLEX has consistently worked with a wide variety of collaborators, from gardeners to engineers to audience members. Engaging with alternative models for the creation of social and economic organisation, works have taken the form of energy systems, beverages, sculptures, copies, hypnosis sessions, infrastructure, paintings, plant nurseries, contracts, and public spaces. Working in and outside the physical location of the exhibition space, SUPERFLEX has been engaged in major public space projects since their award-winning Superkilen opened in 2011. These projects often involve participation, involving the input of local communities, specialists, and children. Taking the idea of collaboration even further, recent works have involved soliciting the participation of other species. SUPERFLEX has been developing a new kind of urbanism that includes the perspectives of plants and animals, aiming to move society towards interspecies living. For SUPERFLEX, the best idea might come from a fish.
There is an Elephant in the Room
2019,
LED lights, plexiglass, aluminum letters
With its oversized, glowing ocean-blue LED letters, There is an elephant in the room (2019) employs a commercial advertising aesthetic familiar from facades or rooftops, as if to point out the consequences of human consumerism. The expression «there is an elephant in the room» refers to a pressing issue or question that everyone is aware of but no one wants to acknowledge, typically because it is controversial or polarizing. The meaning of the work, which shines a glaring spotlight on this void with its advertising aesthetic, is expanded through this reference to include current world events or local and international politics. The associations are numerous, as the piece unfolds its effect in a field of tension with the visitors and the other works exhibited alongside it. The sublime presence of There is an elephant in the room suggests common responsibilities for unspoken, challenging problems that concern everyone. Viewers are invited to reflect on these and to question responsibilities and scope for action. (Yannick Fritz)
Augarten Contemporary, hoast, IG Architektur, Laurenz, Neuer Kunstverein Wien, Never At Home, Waffen Franz Kapfer, New Jörg, Ve.Sch
October 17–December 17
Main Exhibition
Curators: Serge Klymko, Hedwig Saxenhuber and Georg Schöllhammer