Superflex is a collective comprised of the Danish artists Jacob Fenger (b. 1968), Rasmus Nielsen (b. 1969), and Bjørnstjerne Reuter Christiansen (b. 1969), who have been working together since 1993. They consider their works as a way to question systems of power, capitalism, and the potential of artistic practice in different social fields. They have received international attention with their provocative political initiatives such as their 2007 campaign to include Palestine in the “Eurovision Song Contest”, and their cooperation with Brazilian farmers to create an energy drink called “Guaraná Power”. More recently, in 2017, they exhibited fully functional medical equipment, which was subsequently sent to a hospital in the western Syrian city of Salamiyah. In exchange for purchasing this work, the potential collector receives a photograph of this post-readymade in its original exhibition setting.
Flooded McDonald's
Flooded McDonald’s (2009) shows a setting which might recall a post-apocalyptic scenario where humans would have deserted only a short time ago. In order to film this scene, Superflex built a life-size model of a 1980s era McDonald’s. They placed it inside a transparent glass case in a large swimming pool in Bangkok and filmed it through the glass, while the pool was filled with water. The realism of the installation, enhanced by the effect of the sound recorded inside the restaurant creates a sense of irony, but also puts forth a clearly underlined critique in which a floating Ronald McDonald figure and hamburger boxes become paradigmatic symbols of the drowning of globalization, capital accumulation and mass homogeneity, referring as well to some of the devastating consequences of climate change.