C.R.E.A.M.

People visiting the Kunsthaus and local businesses have expressed the desire for an ATM for many years. But the new cashpoint is more than just a simple cash dispensing machine: The Danish art collective SUPERFLEX has given the machine the title C.R.E.A.M. – drawing their inspiration from the song by the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan – and changed the ATM’s appearance accordingly. The cash dispenser is completely chrome-plated and has been placed in the centre of the foyer, turning it into a luminous sculpture, fetish and money-laundering machine alike.

‘By cladding the ATM with chrome, it takes on an immaterial aspect, yet remains an oddly material object. It becomes a powerful fetish operating in the consumer world, but still remains a vile, cheap-looking object that reminds you of a mechanical toy,’ Barbara Steiner remarks.

The refrain from the provocative song C.R.E.A.M. ("Cash rules everything around me") is placed in a conspicuous spot next to the shiny ATM. At irregular intervals, this refrain is also displayed on the in-house BIX façade. By using this refrain from the song by the well-known hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, SUPERFLEX draws an even clearer connection between the ATM and the architecture of the Kunsthaus, actively shaping its overall appearance.

The planning of the ground floor of the Kunsthaus Graz, which hosts the areas used for marketing, ticket sales, the café and shop, takes questions of consumption and marketing closely into account.

‘To me, the ground floor is a crucial zone that cannot be used purely for commercial purposes. For this reason, we’ll set up a series of art projects there in the future, which will focus on the relationship between commercial and non-commercial areas,’ said Barbara Steiner, Director of the Kunsthaus Graz, at the presentation of the new ATM.

The Danish art collective SUPERFLEX has concerned themselves with value creation processes, alternative economies, self-organisation and ethical action for many years. They have been given the prestigious Hyundai Commission at the Tate Modern in London for 2018 and are well-known among members of the art scene for their critical opinions. In Graz and the Kunsthaus, they will complete several projects over a total of five years. In 2018, SUPERFLEX create the Free Shop in Graz; the Power Toilets will be presented in 2019, and the SUPERSHOW will follow in 2020. These projects all address the fetishization of money (C.R.E.A.M.), the collapse of value (Free Shop), the multiplication of power (Power Toilets), the factors of value in the Kunsthaus – which range from the value of an asset to symbolic value – and the reversal of financial transactions (SUPERSHOW). The finale will be a solo exhibition of works by the art collective, to be held for 2021.