Tell me about ‘Off License – Cash Only’.
Oliver Sundqvist - 'Off License – Cash Only’ is a pop-up storefront that sells sculptures named after real life objects. The first edition will open in Copenhagen. It’s a happening that merges the concepts of art exhibition and commercial event.
Frederik Nystrup-Larsen - The exhibition is a critique of the overconsumption of our society, but also questions the process of art valuation and channels our irrational fear of online shopping, all with a slight twist of dark humor. I don’t think we’ve ever done something that has so many layers to it.
Why make it a storefront?
OS - In London, where we’ve both been living for the last six months, off-license is a term for shops that are allowed to sell alcohol off the premises. They’re basically liquor stores, but you can buy almost anything. In one place we went to, they had New Year’s decorations for sale in the summer. There was something really fascinating about these shops and all the weird stuff they were selling. At the same time, we’ve been having a lot of discussions about the way art is valued and sold compared to other commodities. Somewhere along the road, we stumbled upon Claes Oldenburgs ‘The Store’, a happening circumventing the traditional art gallery by selling sculptures through a storefront on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1961, and we decided to use his work as a reference for our store in Copenhagen. We’ve rented a retail space just off the central main street, and we’re hiring sales assistants to serve the customers.
So, you’re essentially turning the process of buying art into a shopping experience—like getting yourself a new pair of shoes.
FNL - You could say that, yes. And simultaneously, we’re transforming the shopping experience into an art exhibition. We call it a sculpture supermarket.