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MSCHF "Material Values"
Nanzuka Underground
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MSCHF
NANZUKA is pleased to present the Brooklyn-based art collective, MSCHF’s solo exhibition of new works “Material Values.” This is MSCHF’s second show with NANZUKA, following their first solo show in Japan “No shoes. No phones. No service,” held as a teaser to this exhibition in January 2024 at 3110NZ by LDH kitchen.
MSCHF, founded in 2019, is a conceptual collective developing elaborate interventions that expose and leverage the absurdity of our cultural, political, and monetary systems. They have exhibited their work widely both in the United States and abroad, including solo exhibitions at Perrotin New York (2024, 2022) and the Daelim Museum in Seoul (2023), as well as participating in numerous group exhibitions such as “Andy Warhol. Money on the Wall” (2024) at the Spritmuseum in Stockholm and “Blood: Medieval/Modern” (2024) at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
This exhibition showcases new works in three different media: paintings, installations, and sculptures integrated with devices connected to an online system.
“MATERIAL VALUE SCULPTURES,” from which the exhibition takes its title, is a series of work that humorously redefines the relationship between art and material value within the context of today’s highly capitalist society. The work features strangely posed human sculptures whose bases are fitted with devices that track the real-time market value of the raw material indium. Indium is a type of rare metal that continues to be in increasing demand for its semiconductor-related applications including its use in the production of LEDs, and its prices are prone to significant volatility. The works are set up so that the fitted device raises the temperature of the sculpture to its melting point the moment the market value of indium exceeds the price of the work, thus causing it to melt and self-destruct, cynically calling to attention the discrepancy between the intrinsic value of art and its material value. This fleeting self-destruction seems to reveal the fact that not only the value of art as a simulacrum, but also the inflation of material values is merely part of a system based on the simulation principles of the capitalist society in which we live.
The “Animorph Painting” series is inspired by the American children’s science fiction novel Animorph, which depicts the gradual transformation of humans into animals. The series, by “transforming” classic portraits from art history, such as those by the likes of Rembrandt and Raphael, into contemporary icons, draws on art historical transitions to suggest that notions of beauty and art are in a state of constant flux. This exhibition presents four works from the series including a version featuring the “Sexy Robot,” a characteristic motif of NANZUKA’s representative artist Hajime Sorayama.
“RAIN CUBICLE SCULPTURE” is an installation work consisting of a paneled clipped ceiling and the type of partitioned office cubicle commonly seen in the American workplace. This absurd device, in which rain continues to fall in the cubicle as long power is supplied, alludes to the tedium and meaninglessness of labor in contemporary society and allows the viewer to intuitively experience the contradictions of capitalist-induced labor.
The three different endeavors in this exhibition bring to mind historical debates about the definition and value of art such as those surrounding Marcel Duchamp’s readymades and Andy Warhol’s Brillo Box and Campbell’s Soup Cans. MSCHF, however, sublimates these debates into artworks imbued with an air of humor and mischief against the backdrop of contemporary economic structures and technology.
Additionally, in conjunction with the exhibition, we will be launching a limited selection of merchandise, including the book “Made by MSCHF”, which summarizes their past endeavors, on the NANZUKA Online Store starting from February 1st.
MSCHF, founded in 2019, is a conceptual collective developing elaborate interventions that expose and leverage the absurdity of our cultural, political, and monetary systems. They have exhibited their work widely both in the United States and abroad, including solo exhibitions at Perrotin New York (2024, 2022) and the Daelim Museum in Seoul (2023), as well as participating in numerous group exhibitions such as “Andy Warhol. Money on the Wall” (2024) at the Spritmuseum in Stockholm and “Blood: Medieval/Modern” (2024) at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
This exhibition showcases new works in three different media: paintings, installations, and sculptures integrated with devices connected to an online system.
“MATERIAL VALUE SCULPTURES,” from which the exhibition takes its title, is a series of work that humorously redefines the relationship between art and material value within the context of today’s highly capitalist society. The work features strangely posed human sculptures whose bases are fitted with devices that track the real-time market value of the raw material indium. Indium is a type of rare metal that continues to be in increasing demand for its semiconductor-related applications including its use in the production of LEDs, and its prices are prone to significant volatility. The works are set up so that the fitted device raises the temperature of the sculpture to its melting point the moment the market value of indium exceeds the price of the work, thus causing it to melt and self-destruct, cynically calling to attention the discrepancy between the intrinsic value of art and its material value. This fleeting self-destruction seems to reveal the fact that not only the value of art as a simulacrum, but also the inflation of material values is merely part of a system based on the simulation principles of the capitalist society in which we live.
The “Animorph Painting” series is inspired by the American children’s science fiction novel Animorph, which depicts the gradual transformation of humans into animals. The series, by “transforming” classic portraits from art history, such as those by the likes of Rembrandt and Raphael, into contemporary icons, draws on art historical transitions to suggest that notions of beauty and art are in a state of constant flux. This exhibition presents four works from the series including a version featuring the “Sexy Robot,” a characteristic motif of NANZUKA’s representative artist Hajime Sorayama.
“RAIN CUBICLE SCULPTURE” is an installation work consisting of a paneled clipped ceiling and the type of partitioned office cubicle commonly seen in the American workplace. This absurd device, in which rain continues to fall in the cubicle as long power is supplied, alludes to the tedium and meaninglessness of labor in contemporary society and allows the viewer to intuitively experience the contradictions of capitalist-induced labor.
The three different endeavors in this exhibition bring to mind historical debates about the definition and value of art such as those surrounding Marcel Duchamp’s readymades and Andy Warhol’s Brillo Box and Campbell’s Soup Cans. MSCHF, however, sublimates these debates into artworks imbued with an air of humor and mischief against the backdrop of contemporary economic structures and technology.
Additionally, in conjunction with the exhibition, we will be launching a limited selection of merchandise, including the book “Made by MSCHF”, which summarizes their past endeavors, on the NANZUKA Online Store starting from February 1st.
Schedule | Feb 1 (Sat) 2025-Mar 22 (Sat) 2025 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | https://viewing.nanzuka.com/mschf-material-values?locale=en | ||||
| Venue | Nanzuka Underground http://www.nug.jp | ||||
| Location | 3-30-10 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001 | ||||
| Access | 8 minute walk from exit 5 at Meiji-jingumae Station on the Chiyoda and Fukutoshin lines, 10 minute walk from the Takeshita exit of Harajuku Station on the JR Yamanote line. | ||||
| Phone | 03-5422-3877 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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