Every year, internationally renowned artists are invited to present an artwork especially conceived for the salon. Past editions have already welcomed several performances, sculptures and concerts. Tino Sehgal, who was part of the Documenta 13, Pawel Althamer, whose work was exhibited at the New Museum in New York, or Henrik Hakansson are three major artists, amongst others, who have taken part in artgenève.
In 2015, the fair’s guest is Ahmet Ögüt, the latest resident of the Turkish pavilion during the Venice Biennale. For artgenève, the conceptual artist has addressed a common practice in the United States. Sign spinners are people hired by important companies for advertising purposes. A roadside and a sign to spin, it is both simple and striking.
Ahmet Ögüt’s project consists in hiring three performers to work in shifts. Spinning monitors are displaying his film Sign Spinners. As part of the project, performers, the curator and the artist are all paid 50€ per hour, that is as much as the art fair’s director. Additionally, the three performers have equal access to the director’s amenities (including lunch, VIP area access, car service, etc.) during the art fair. Every day, the director’s expenses are counted and added to the performers’ per diem. The project tends to expose and reevaluate the hierarchies of pay and repute within cultural production.
