Supershow - More Than a Show

With SUPERSHOW – more than a show at Kunsthalle Basel SUPERFLEX subjected the institution to a precise analysis and demonstrated to the visitors the increase in the immaterial value of the institution since its beginnings. Instead of paying an entrance fee all visitors were paid 2 Swiss francs upon entering the kunsthalle. Except for basic informations printed on the walls – such as the number of square-meters, wall color, max number of people allowed in each room and so on – the exhibition space was stripped bare. Talkative visitors, in fact embedded actors with each their ‘financial character’ (Marxist, investor etc.), was placed as to make contact with the ordinary visitors in order to discuss various economic issues based on a manuscript. The “Kunsthalle Basel factor” was calculated based on the average difference between the former value of artworks, before exhibiting in the institution, and their current market value. SUPERFLEX also exposed the institution's ideal value. The focal point of the artists' attention was the audience: the visitors were both the subject and the producers of the SUPERSHOW. Hence, the exhibition itself became a “value escalation machine” in which the visitors assume an active role as producers of surplus value. 

Curated by Adam Szymczyk
Graphic design by Rasmus Koch Studio