Basel | ArtRegion: Basel - Oberrhein

von Bartha

Superflex: Connect with us

16. November 2018 – 19. Januar 2019

Von Bartha is pleased to present their third solo exhibition from Copenhagen-based art collective SUPERFLEX. Taking its title from the slogan of Falcon bank – the first in the world to trade with bitcoin – the exhibition explores the significance and effect of cryptocurrencies and data within our global economy.

Since its release in 2009, bitcoin’s value and trade has increased considerably. The inability of governments or financial institutions to control cryptocurrencies has led to unstable and unpredictable values, constantly varying at a staggering rate.

Designed specifically for von Bartha’s Basel gallery space, Connect with me is a new, five-part sculptural installation revealing the precise fluctuations of the value of bitcoin over an 18 month period. Advancing and retracting, ascending and descending, a three dimensional blue line unfolds in five different areas across the gallery space, with variable rhythm and intensity. Reflecting upon the irrational fervor on which digital currencies’ value is based, the work paradoxically translates this intangible medium into a large-scale sculptural installation.

Exhibited alongside Connect with me, the wall piece All Data To The People points to the current disproportionate access to data, information and distribution of power. When gathered and analysed, data has tremendous economic potential, providing companies with valuable sources of competitive advantage and new commodities. All Data To The People further explores how this data defines our identity, in the artists’ words “we are who we are registered as”.