Superflux : Subject to Change

Subject to Change is the first ever solo exhibition of London-based design and art studio Superflux. As a critically acclaimed, boundary-defying practice, Superflux confronts us with the complex and deeply interconnected nature of the challenges we face today. They invite us to remain open to a multitude of possibilities and navigate precarity with active hope. Their stories, films, objects, immersive installations and speculations craft new, optimistic, and enduring relationships with our planet, other species, technology, landscapes and each other. 

Translating future uncertainty in present-day choices 
Superflux’s work has been described as “powerful,” “stirring,” and “electrifying.” Now in its 13th year, Superflux has exhibited work at various international exhibitions, such as the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale, National Museum of China, MoMA, V&A, the Venice Biennale, MAK Vienna, Vitra Design Museum, Science Gallery, KUNSTHAUS Graz and many more. Invited by Renny Ramakers, Superflux will take over Droog’s gallery with a provocative new exhibition. 

The Intersection
In their most recent work The Intersection they explore the idea of active hope to navigate a murky and fragmented near future. This short film’s narrative arc revolves around four protagonists whose lives have been shaped by the dissonance of extractive technology norms, misinformation, surveillance capitalism, and context collapse. Moving away from a violent to a cooperative future, the protagonists and their communities find hope in craft, community and care. 

Refuge for Resurgence
The centrepiece of the exhibition Subject to Change is Refuge for Resurgence, a multispecies dining experience with animals, birds, plants and fungi: a magnificent four-metre-long table set for 14 guests: a snake, a beaver, a raven, a wasp, a mushroom, a fox, a wolf, a wild boar, an old cow, a rat and a pigeon and three humans.  

“What does it mean to give every other animal we share the planet the same love, attention, and care we give each other? To do that we invite various different species to dine together with us (humans) as equals around this table” —Jon Ardern

Superflux expresses their desire for a more-than-human future in a recently published manifesto: a shift from fixing to caring, from planning to gardening, from systems to assemblages, from innovation to resurgence, from independence to interdependence and from extinction to precarity. 

And perhaps it is this perspective that connects Superflux’s activities in the realms of culture, politics and technology with the climate crisis. By reframing humans in direct interdependence with other species, Refuge for Resurgence and Invocation For Hope challenge the long-standing histories of human exploitation and extraction. Quite simply, Superflux reworks the order of things.

Opening 
Special previews of Subject to Change will be held on February 15, 16, and 17. Book your time slot here.

About Superflux
Anab Jain (1976) and Jon Ardern (1978) are artists, designers and the founders of Superflux, an Anglo–Indian speculative design & art practice based in London. From climate change and growing inequality, to the emergence of artificial intelligence, the metaverse and the future of work, Superflux have explored some of the biggest challenges of our times, and investigated their potential and unintended consequences with rigour, poetry and care. 

About Renny Ramakers
Co-founder of the Droog Design collective, the Dutch designer, art historian, critic and curator Renny Ramakers (1946) has championed the notion of furniture and industrial design as a reimagination of today’s world for more than three decades, combining virtual technologies and social media with the craft of design to develop new social relations. When Droog first exhibited at the Milan Furniture Fair in 1993, its assemblies of found materials and witty forms instantly changed the landscape of design. Since then, Ramakers has worked with makers and creators to move beyond slick objects towards critical projects that open our eyes to our multifaceted realities, while bringing joy to visitors.

Press
For more information, interviews and imagery, please contact:
Yev Kravt, T +31 (0)6 83 67 97 37 / hello@yevkravt.com

Superflux Studio’s team
Ed Lewis
Nicola Ferrao
Matt Edgson
Leanne Fischler
Camille Dunlop

With thanks to:
Dr Kristin Alford (Director, Museum of Discovery, Adelaide)
Eshanthi Ranasinghe (Principal, Exploration and Future Sensing, Omidyar Network; TED)
Marlies Wirth (Curator, Digital Culture and MAK Design Collection, MAK, Vienna)
Christoph Thun-Hohenstein (Director, Vienna Biennale for Change, MAK, Vienna)
Hashim Sarkis (Curator, Biennale Architettura 2021, La Biennale Di Venezia)
CreaTures (Creative Practices for Transformational Futures)