The MAK Center for Art and Architecture is pleased to present Rainbows, Sponges, Flies, and Spoons, an exhibition by the Danish artist collective SUPERFLEX. The exhibition brings together a focused presentation of works spanning more than three decades of the collective’s practice at the MAK Center at the Schindler House.
Designed by Austrian-American architect R.M. Schindler in 1922 as a multi-family dwelling, an experiment in communal living, the Schindler House was designed to accommodate collective daily life as well as personalized areas for individual activity. Playing off this history, Rainbows, Sponges, Flies, and Spoons presents four works, each occupying its own space, completely separate yet strangely connected. The Spoons (1994), an early photographic lightbox depicting a circular arrangement of spoons; Hunga Tonga Rainbow (2016), presenting two photographs in which a rainbow is mirrored, creating a sense of artificial symmetry, a false whole; Proposal for the World’s Second-Tallest Building, a sculptural installation composed of ceramic sponge as a proposal for a new form of architecture; and Two Flies Staring at Each Other (on a Glass of Water) (2025), a meticulously fabricated sculptural vignette arranged in a perfect formation that would be nearly impossible to find in nature. Through subtle manipulations of familiar objects and images, the works produce moments of humor and estrangement while exploring questions of infrastructure, ecological interdependence, and collective perception.
Organized by Beth Stryker, MAK Center Director + Curator with Susan Sherrick, and support from Caroline Ellen Liou, MAK Center Residency Manager + Associate Curator.
SUPERFLEX
SUPERFLEX was founded in 1993 by Jakob Fenger, Bjørnstjerne Christiansen, and Rasmus Rosengren Nielsen. Conceived as an expanded collective, SUPERFLEX has consistently worked with a wide variety of collaborators, from gardeners to engineers to audience members. Engaging with alternative models for the creation of social and economic organisation, their works have taken the form of energy systems, beverages, sculptures, copies, hypnosis sessions, infrastructure, paintings, plant nurseries, contracts, and public spaces.
Working in and outside the physical location of the exhibition space, SUPERFLEX has been engaged in major public space projects since their award-winning Superkilen opened in Copenhagen in 2011. These projects often involve participation, incorporating the input of local communities, specialists, and children. Taking the idea of collaboration even further, recent works have involved soliciting the participation of other species. SUPERFLEX has been developing a new kind of urbanism that includes the perspectives of plants and animals, aiming to move society toward interspecies living. For SUPERFLEX, the best idea might come from a fish.
SUPERFLEX’s work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including Tate Modern, London (2017); MoMA, New York (2012); the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. (2010); Kunsthaus Graz (2021); Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen (2013); and ICA San Diego (2024), among many others. The collective has participated in major international exhibitions and biennials including the Venice Biennale (2003, 2024), Gwangju Biennale (2002, 2018), Liverpool Biennial (2002, 2012), and Sharjah Biennial (2003, 2017). Their works are held in major public collections including Tate Modern; MoMA; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen; and MUSAC.
Related Events
Friday, June 12, 2026
6–8 PM
SUPERFLEX: Rainbows, Sponges, Flies, and Spoons is presented in partnership with 1301PE.
Support for the exhibition generously provided by David Johnson. Special thanks to Brian Butler from 1301PE and Kukje Gallery.
Generous in-kind support provided by UniFor.
