Fiona Yun-Jui Chang - Note Passing, 2025

Fiona Yun-Jui Chang uses banknotes as her canvas, spreading rumors and poetic messages. Is that allowed? Isn't it illegal to write on banknotes? Is this artist breaking the law, just like graffiti writers? Well, no — as long as she doesn't cover essential details such as serial numbers, or use the note to advertise. You can only be fined or jailed for six months if you mutilate, cut or perforate a banknote. This project won't get her in trouble with the Secret Service. But how will the general public react if they get a bill like that at a store? Do you think they'll notice the message? And will they be pleasantly surprised by this informal attempt at communication? Or will they still see it as defacing and disfiguring their money?

Escif - Infinite Still Life, 2025

What was the motivation behind Escif's decision to adorn the walls of Valencia with depictions of fruit? Did he want to provide the citizens with an added benefit of vitamins (vitamin S for Smile)? But do people who are always on their phones—even when they're walking through the city—actually notice these small paintings? The fruit is located between the “normal” graffiti tags. These are manifestations of identity or claims of territory. Is Escif's fruit meant to convey the same message? Is it his signature, does he see himself as a greengrocer? Or does he want to comment on the marginalization of classical painting in our society? Is he implying that art is of minimal importance nowadays and in general overlooked by the majority of the population?

Hana Al-Saadi - Third Skin, 2025 

Does a pedestrian experience the soft rubber tiles that Hana Al-Saadi has placed between the other paving stones as ‘bodies’, i.e. does the pedestrian recognize the surface of the rubber stones as ‘skin’, or is it mainly the softness that stands out? It is the surprise of the unexpected, but to what extent will the passerby be prompted by the work to reflect on themes such as femininity, domestic space, outward appearance, and being culturally restrained?

Emmanuel Aggrey Tieku - Cemetery of Belongings, 2025

Do we create our identity through the clothes we wear? What, then, is the difference between people who wear their clothes until they are worn out and people who buy the latest fashions several times a year? To what extent can you still recognize something of the wearer in the discarded clothing of the Global North? Even though clothing takes the shape of the human body, isn't every suggested memory a projection of the viewer? Textile fabrics are colorful and therefore, by definition, touch on the history of painting when you incorporate them into your art, and the use of waste from the Global North is not only an ecological approach, but also undoubtedly evokes memories of the history of colonialism. But isn’t calling your art project "HOW TO HEAL A B-R-O-K-E-N WORLD" an overestimation of the possibilities of art?

Enno Haar - Urban Rescue, 2025.   

Did people really use the lifeboat that Enno Haar floated in the fountain bassin at Ernst-Reuter-Platz? Or was it primarily a visually appealing but absurd addition to a busy urban location? On a nice sunny day, would it remind people of holidays on the beach with inflatable toys? Or would it mainly evoke the grim image of refugees trying to reach Fortress Europe? Does an empty lifeboat first and foremost make us think of all the people who lost their lives? What do the German people think now, ten years after Angela Merkel’s “Wir schaffen das”?

Deana Kolencikova - Room For Chat, 2025

When people in Strasbourg are leaving their house or coming home, are they not saying hello to their neighbors? Do they ignore each other and pass in silence? Would setting up a table with two empty coffee cups encourage them to interact more? Do they have to bring their own coffee or is Deana Kolencikova there every day with a full thermos? Or is there only some kind of interaction when she organises a meeting between neighbors at a set time? Does she take the table away when it rains and put it back when the sun comes out? How many conversations took place between neighbors who didn't speak to each other before the table was installed?

Kara Rooney - Todo Estaba Previsto (Everything Was Predetermined), 2025

Is walking around with a banner that reads “Everything Was Predetermined” the act of a depressed philosopher or a call to action by a political activist? And who is the intended audience? Does it want to be successful as an artwork or as a protest? Or both? What is “poetic resistance”? Isn’t the main goal of a demonstration to make the demands of the protesters heard, and to convince others, for example the government? Or is it enough for the demonstrators to feel part of a collective, to feel that their opinion is shared by all those who participate in the protest march? What impression will passersby have when they encounter this solitary protester?

Stephanie Brown - Swinging Into Reality, 2025

Doesn't the title “Swinging Into Reality” suggest that you can actually use the swings? But they seem to be hanging too high for that. This enables one to read the text "All Men Are Created Equal" that is engraved at the bottom of the five swings, but wouldn't the hopeful wish evoked by those words be felt more strongly if people could actually swing happily? Or is it about the frustrating feeling that the swings can't be used, just as there's still no sign of equality? Is the work meant to be cheerful or depressing?

Leon Reid IV - Of a Free Will, 2025

Leon Reid IV is exhibiting ‘Of a Free Will’ in a metal frame on the street, a location he frequently uses to show his work. One side is facing the passing cars, the other side the pedestrians on the pavement. The pedestrians can read the text 'stop worshipping machines', while drivers see two hands in handcuffs holding a smartphone. The message is clear. In theory, pedestrians have more time to take in the work than drivers do. So which communicates faster, text or image? Would it not have been more logical to direct the 3D image at the pedestrians, given that there is more to take in and enjoy than just text? Or are there hardly any pedestrians and does Leon Reid IV prefer to focus on people who choose to drive around in their machines? Would car drivers have felt more addressed if the text, rather than the image, was directed at them?

Jason deCaires Taylor - Enshitiffication, 2025

Is the golden vulture placed close enough to the Shell gas station to catch the attention of drivers who stop to refuel? Is one vulture enough to evoke a sense of unease, or do we expect to see a group of vultures circling the carcass? Does the fact that the vulture is gold-colored create a nice ambivalence, or does our present-day situation rather require an endless amount of black vultures? How hopeful does the artist want us to be?

Nina Katchadourian - Perfect Shot, 2025

How did Nina Katchadourian put the basketball on the pylon, and will it stay there on windy days? Did she glue it to the pylon? Was her aim a sculptural unity of color and shape, or is the sports reference more important? Or is the work too static for that? How many passersby will take note of this small addition to our public space? Is its modesty what makes this piece appealing? Will it put a smile on the faces of people who aren't looking at their phones all day? Could this be the small miracle that lights up their day?

Libor Novotný - Stolen Light, 2025

Did Libor Novotný 'steal' electricity from a lamppost to light up the halo above the sculpture? Did he have to add a transformer? Will the city workers who pass by think that the halo was put there with permission? Do they care? It’s a nice way of adding new meaning to a familiar sculpture and an elegant way of showing the public this social-realist sculpture in a new light.

Yannos Majestikos - Yé, 2025

Is it appropriate to inform an artist that other artists have created similar works much earlier (for example, Job Koelewijn in 1992, walking in a park with his head in a cube of mirrored glass)? Does the shift in meaning that occurs when a Black artist performs this work in a European city rather than a white artist provide sufficient legitimacy for the work? Is that Yannos Majestikos' intention? Or is this work so 'archetypal' that variations of it are created by artists from all over the world again and again, and is that not a problem?

Mayela Rodriguez - HyperCare!, 2025

How likely are we to notice Mayela Rodriguez's flags when we go for a walk? Are three small orange flags enough to evoke an association with a celebration? Or with construction site warnings? Wouldn't more or larger flags be needed for either association? Or will we notice her small interventions only after we run into a few of them on our usual route? And would that make us want to scan the QR code? Or should it have looked more attractive, for example by printing the QR code on the orange fabric? What are the bare minimum conditions for getting the attention of people passing by?

Julian - Cities Under Tension, 2025

How many interventions with colored rope did Julian make in Seoul? How many works on the street would be neccesary to communicate the intended meaning? When people see the ropes, will they think about "the hidden geometries that shape how we move and relate", or will they just see a colorful structure? Is the effect different from all the knitted street art that decorates trees and fences just to add some color and happiness to our streets?

Jodae - Pieces of Luck, 2025

Is Jodae planning to create more murals featuring these cryptic symbols? Or is it enough that residents of three different Seoul neighborhoods are able to encounter a mural that "visualizes the invisible energy of luck"? Do passersby want to decode the signs that make up the mural? Does it seem like a message from an artist who wants to convey an idea through cryptic language? Or will people just see a decorative mural? Can an indecipherable black-and-white pattern really have a positive effect on our luck, or is that just the artist's wishful thinking?

Chulayarnnon Siriphol - Monument to the Fourth International, 2025

Isn't the 1.04-minute video Chulayarnnon Siriphol made the only thing that explains his ideas? Shouldn't he have presented the video on location instead of installing small golden snails inside and outside an art institute? If people see the small snails - if they notice them at all - will they understand what they represent? Is that possible without the video? Is there any need for these miniature anti-monuments?

Alexandre Farto - Antennas, 2025

Was Alexandre Farto invited by KUNSTLABOR 2 in Munich to show his work? More or less like a normal art exhibition, with faces carved in satellite discs that do not look that much different than the figurative paintings shown inside the art institute? Would this not limit his audience to art lovers rather than casual passersby, making it different to most of the works in 'Uncommissioned'? If the satellite discs were not grouped on the outside wall of an art institute but on rooftops or balconies where we used to find them, would that not create a more ‘authentic’ feeling?