Judith Kakon

Back wall project ¤

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Judith Kakon, detail view, ¤, Kunsthalle Basel back wall, 2020. Photo: Gina Folly / Kunsthalle Basel

Judith Kakon, detail view, ¤, Kunsthalle Basel back wall, 2020. Photo: Gina Folly / Kunsthalle Basel

Judith Kakon, detail view, ¤, Kunsthalle Basel back wall, 2020. Photo: Gina Folly / Kunsthalle Basel

Judith Kakon, detail view, ¤, Kunsthalle Basel back wall, 2020. Photo: Gina Folly / Kunsthalle Basel

Judith Kakon, detail view, ¤, Kunsthalle Basel back wall, 2020. Photo: Gina Folly / Kunsthalle Basel

Judith Kakon, detail view, ¤, Kunsthalle Basel back wall, 2020. Photo: Gina Folly / Kunsthalle Basel

➔ Exhibition text (PDF)
➔ Press images (ZIP)

Judith Kakon (* 1988, Basel) takes the symbol ¤ as the title for her artwork, sited on Kunsthalle Basel’s back wall. It is a sign that denotes an unspecified currency, first encoded for computers in 1972. The artist places it, along with various terms of the global realty trade (PRIME, TRUST, ESTATE, etc.), rendered in hand-wrought iron and set against a wall painted in the grey specific to computer applications. A rotating display of wilted flowers is tucked each week between the lettering and the wall, as if to mourn a loss or commemorate the fallen. This performative gesture, turning an institution’s exterior wall into a memorial site and vanitas, presents a quietly mordant reflection on the circulation of currency, the market, time and value.

Press clippings:
Die Kunsthalle-Rückwand kehrt zurück, Basellandschaftliche Zeitung (9/2020)
Die Schatten der Immobilienwirtschaft, swiss-architects.com (10/2020)
JUDITH KAKON ¤, CURA Magazine (11/2020)

 This video, made in collaboration with Nefeli Chrysa Avgeris, provides insights into the creative process of Judith Kakon during the preparation of the back wall project for Kunsthalle Basel.