Lunds Konsthall

Participating artists: Ant Farm, Bambi van Balen, Anetta Mona Chisa & Lucia Tkácová, Elise Eeraerts, Eventstructure Research Group, Anna Hoetjes, Franco Mazzucchelli, Dawn Ng, Tomás Saraceno, Graham Stevens, SUPERFLEX, Tools for Action, UFO, The Yes Men, Ahmet Ögüt

“Southern Sweden and the Copenhagen region offer interesting histories of city activism, including utopian art projects with inflatables. Lunds konsthall was part of activistic displays already in the 1960s, with exhibitions such as ‘Superlund’ and ‘New Babylon’. These were events directing attention to the future and attempting to imagine what place humankind would come to occupy in relation to nature and the city. ‘Floating Utopias’ joins this progressive tradition. The exhibition shows inflatable objects to imagine different futures, not just from the perspective of 2020 but also with retrospective glances at visionary innovation in the age of the Enlightenment and radical change in the post- war era. It raises questions about the anticipation and hesitation people experience when technical innovations become commonly used and thereby change society. The possibilities and limitations of public space are scrutinised in a range of works that, thanks to their ephemeral character, facilitate subversive interventions in urban space. As pneumatic technology has become more accessible, its usability has also increased.”