Superflex is a Danish artist group founded in 1993 by Jakob Fenger, Rasmus Nielsen and Bjørnstjerne Christiansen. Superflex describe their projects as Tools, as proposals that invite people to participate in and communicate the development of experimental models that alter the economic production conditions. Often the projects are assisted by experts who bring in their special interest, these tools can then be further used and modified by their users.
Often their projects are related to economic forces, democratic production conditions and self-organisation. Superflex has examined alternative energy production methods (Supergas[2]) and commodity production in Brazil, Thailand and Europe in their projects, which both expose and question the existing economic structures. These artistic activities — as, for example, the ongoing project Guaraná Power,[3] in which the artists developed a drink together with local farmers who cultivate the caffeine-rich berries of the guarana plant — are not necessarily opposed to commercialism and globalisation, but try instead to render economic structures visible and to establish a new balance.
Through their projects engaging with alternative models for the creation, dissemination and maintenance of social and economic organisation – such as Copyshop,[4] Guaraná Power, Rebranding Denmark and Free Beer – Superflex has become involved in legal disputes, as well as suffered prohibition orders and police raids, relating to their artistic use of commercial signs and symbols. However, finding that the restrictions placed on their work sometimes led to unexpectedly interesting results, Superflex began to explore the productive potential of prohibition and conceived a series of projects structured to impose regulations on others.
My Superflex experience goes back so far, we didn’t even call it Superflex in the early days. Jumbo Flex was the name we used. Today, Superflex is the tag that’s stuck, and I’m fine with that. Welcome to the Superflex Academy! Get to know Superflex and the 14 original Unthinkables—characters who represent common unexpected behaviors—and dive into self-regulation strategies. The storybook introduces kids to the world of Superflex and the Unthinkables, and the curriculum includes lessons, handouts, and visual tools to transform your classroom, clinic, or home into a Superflex.
Superflex has gained international recognition for their projects. They have had solo exhibitions, among others, at the Kunsthalle Basel in Switzerland (Supershow — more than a show), GFZK in Leipzig, Germany (Social Pudding in collaboration with Rirkrit Tiravanija), Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt am Main (Open market), the REDCAT Gallery in Los Angeles (Guarana Power), Mori Museum in Tokyo, Gallery 1301PE in Los Angeles and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Superflex has participated in international arts biennials such as the Gwangju biennial in Korea, Istanbul Biennial, São Paulo Biennial, Shanghai Biennial and in the 'Utopia Station' exhibition at the Venice Biennale. They contributed to the exhibition Rethink Kakotopia shown at the Nikolaj Centre of Contemporary Art in Copenhagen 2009 and at Tensta Konsthall 2010.
Films[edit]
- Burning Car (2008)
- Flooded McDonalds (2009)[5]
- The Financial Crisis (2009)
- Modern Times Forever (Stora Enso Building, Helsinki) (2011)
Publications[edit]
- An Artist with 6 Legs
- Editor: Pernille Albrethsen. 336 pages, ISBN978-87-88944-97-6
- Published by Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2014
- Superflex
- The Corrupt Show
- Editor: Patrick Charpenel & Daniel McClean. 360 pages, ISBN978-607-95845-4-2
- Published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König 2013
- Superkilen
- Editor: Barbara Steiner, Photos: Iwan Baan, Hans Joosten, Torben Eskerod, Graphic design: Rasmus Koch.
- 224 pages, Format: 225 x 265 mm, Publication date: October 2013.
- ISBN978-91-87543-02-9
- Tools
- Editor Babara Steiner in cooperation with Superdesign. 295 pages.
- Published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König 2003.
- ISBN3-88375-612-1
- Self-organisation/Counter-economic Strategies
- Edited by Will Bradley, Mika Hannula, Cristina Ricupero and Superflex.
- Published by Sternberg Press 2006
- ISBN1-933128-13-5
- Supermanual - The incomplete guide to the Superchannel
- Published by FACT, Liverpool UK, 2000
- ISBN0-9521221-3-8
- Remarks on interventive tendencies - Meetings between different economies in contemporary art.
- Edited by Henrik Plenge Jakobsen, Lars Bang Larsen and Superflex
- Published by Borgen 2000
- Distribution: Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne
- ISBN87 21 01624 0
- Tools
- Infosite5 / Superflex-Tools / Kunstverein Wolfsburg 1999-2000
- By Doris Berger
- Published for the exhibition TOOLS in Kunstverein Wolfsburg.
- Three public projects
- Published by Blekinge Lansmuseum and Statens Konst Råd, Sweden, 1999
Public art[edit]
Superkilen[edit]
An urban park project in Copenhagen is divided into three main areas: the red square, the black market and the green park. While the red square designates the modern, urban life with café, music and sports, the black market is the classic square with fountain and benches. The green park is a park for picnics, sports and walking the dog. The people living in the vicinity of the park are of more than 50 nationalities. Instead of using the designated city objects/furnitures used for parks and public spaces, people from the area were asked to nominate city objects such as benches, bins, trees, playgrounds, manhole covers and signage from other countries. These objects were chosen from a country of the inhabitant’s national origin or from somewhere else encountered through traveling. The objects were produced in a 1:1 copy or bought and transported to the site.
Five groups traveled to Palestine, Spain, Thailand, Texas and Jamaica in order to acquire five objects. The objects have been installed throughout the park. The park has more than 100 objects from than 50 countries. Commissioned by the City of Copenhagen and Realdania, the concept for Superkilen was developed by Superflex in collaboration with architectural firms Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and Topotek1.
Power Toilets[edit]
Power Toilets is a permanent public art work erected on a beach in the recreation area Park van Luna in Heerhugowaard, The Netherlands. The interior of the lavatory building is a copy of the toilets used by the members of the United Nations Security Council in the UN headquarters in New York City, identical in detail to that of the sanitary facilities at one of the most secure buildings in the world. Typical for the 1950s corporate style the design includes marble, big mirrors, stainless steel, yellow ceramic tiles, grey anthracite mosaic floor tiles and American Standard appliances.
Power Toilets was designed in collaboration with Nezu Aymo architects. Originally commissioned by DRFTWD office associates for the municipality of Heerhugowaard in 2004, it was accomplished in 2010 with support from the province of Noord-Holland and SKOR, Foundation Art and Public Space. Contractors: Bouwbedrijf Gerrits and Sinnige b.v. and Sculpfiction.
Public collections[edit]
Superflex' works are represented in public art institutions such as:
- MoMA (New York)
- Queensland Art Gallery (Brisbane)
- Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (Denmark)
- FRAC - Nord-Pas de Calais (Dunkerque)
- Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst (Leipzig)
- MUSEION - Museum für moderne und zeitgenössische Kunst (Bolzano)
- Coleccion Jumex (Mexico City)
- Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven)
- Museum Boijmans van Beuningen (Rotterdam)
- The Museum of Contemporary Art (Oslo)
- Musac - Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León (Spain)
- Kunsthaus Zürich (Switzerland)
They have been commissioned to produce the 2017 Hyundai Turbine Hall installation at the Tate Modern gallery in London, opening 3 October.
Marks of honor/awards[edit]
- International Association of Art Critics, Annual Prize Denmark 1997.
- Statens kunstfonds 3 årige arbejdslegat, Denmark 2000.
- George Maciunas Award,2009.
- The Great Indoors Award, Frame Magazine 2011.
- Civic Trust Awards, UK, 2013.
- AIA - American Institute of Architects - 2013 Institute Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design, USA, 2013.
- ARCHITECT MAGAZINE - Design Review 2013 Citation - Category: Play, 2013.
- IEDC - International Economic Development Council Promotional awards, 2012.
- MvdR Prize - Mies van der Rohe Prize 2013 - Finalist.
- Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Award 2014.
References[edit]
- ^ProgramArchived 2015-07-03 at the Wayback Machine on taipeibiennial.org 'Workshop: 'FREE BEER factory', Superflex Sep.7, Tue.1500-1700, Venue: GOOGLE OFFICE, TFAM, Superflex inaugurates their work for TB10 with a free workshop. Learn to brew your own beer.'
- ^http://www.supergas.dk
- ^http://www.guaranapower.org
- ^http://www.copy-shop.org
- ^review of 'flooded McDonalds' at the Independent, 18 January 2009
External links[edit]
Superflex® the Team of Unthinkables and the Five-Step Power Plan
Michelle Garcia Winner, MA, CCC-SLP
Updated: Feb, 2021
© 2021 Think Social Publishing, Inc.
Superflex Character
When we introduced the Superflex® teaching curriculum in 2008, little did we realize the far-reaching effect it would have on kids, parents, teachers, counselors, and clinicians across the country and around the world. Superflex and the engaging characters that are part of the curriculum – the Unthinkables and Thinkables – have been infused in creative ways into social groups, classrooms, even on a school-wide basis to help all students become better social detectives, social thinkers, and social problem solvers.
Superflex and the Team of Unthinkables Background and Brief History
Superflex is a superhero people have in their minds to help them use strategies to promote self-regulation, social thinking, and related social skills. Superflex…A Superhero Social Thinking Curriculumwas first published in 2008, and is a colorful, kid-friendly Social Thinking curriculum created for K-5 students. It’s paired with a cute comic book that introduces the concept of the Team of Unthinkables, characters that represent the different ways our brain has not-so-flexible thinking in social situations. The first comic focuses on the very common Unthinkable, Rock Brain, who gets kids stuck on just one thing and thwarts their superflexible thinking. While the curriculum was originally designed for K-5, over the years we’ve learned that the self-regulation piece requires a deeper level of thinking and processing that is better suited for third to fifth graders. So, even though K-2 kids really like to learn about the powers of their Social Detective, and about Superflex and the Unthinkables, in using the curriculum with this age range we let go of the expectation that they will self-regulate to control their Unthinkable’s power and maximize their superflexible thinking.
Today the Superflex series is also being introduced in mainstream elementary school classrooms for use with all students, and as part of Social Emotional Learning, Positive Behavioral Intervention Supports (PBIS) and Response to Intervention (RTI) programs. Teachers also use these pro-social teaching methods for helping students analyze characters they are reading about in language arts or to help students develop narrative essays for written expression. The concepts related to Superflex and the Team of Unthinkables have also been used by mainstream teachers as part of teaching concepts included in the Common Core Standards. Forexample, students learn about “Point of View” as they study the powers of One-Sided Sid (right), another popular Unthinkable who likes to make people talk only about their own interests or themselves.
As interesting and motivating a teaching curriculum this is, Superflex is not the place to start when preparing students to learn more about the powers of their brains in socially-based situations. We first introduce our young learners to the concepts of expected verses unexpected behaviors in particular situations to help them explore their own Social Detective skills. Our comic book, You Are a Social Detective, teaches both adults and children about Social Thinking concepts that are the foundation of, and precursor to, learning about Superflex and how to monitor and empower superflexible thinking while learning to minimize the powers of our Unthinkables. It’s an important first step.
After students are introduced to these core concepts (also taught through the use of our more expansive curriculum, Think Social: A Social Thinking Curriculum for School Age Students), the Superflex curriculum now has the power to help students learn more about their own self-regulation while also paying better attention to the expectations that surround them. Ultimately we want kids to learn that Superflex, our Social Thinking superhero, can help the citizens of Social Town outsmart the Team of Unthinkables and diminish their powers to distract, disengage, and otherwise detour children in their efforts to think about others and use their social thinking abilities.
Superflex Mock Draft
Once the concepts and strategies in Social Detective and Superflex have been taught to children, adults can move on to individual comic books that focus on specific Unthinkables. These story-based books explain a character’s powers in more detail and provide workable strategies that children can be taught to use when that Unthinkable invades their brain and overpowers their thinking. Our books published after 2009 also each contain a CD which provides additional lessons plans–we call them “thinksheets” - to help kids complete “fun work” which promotes more learning around the specific concepts taught in the books. To date four comic books focusing on specific Unthinkables have been released; we have plans to release more over time:
- Superflex Takes on Rock Brain and the Team of Unthinkables (2008), which is packaged with the Superflex curriculum book
- Superflex Takes on Glassman and the Team of Unthinkables (2009)
- Superflex Takes on Brain Eater and the Team of Unthinkables (2012)
- Superflex Takes on One-Sided Sid, Un-Wonderer, and the Team of Unthinkables (2013)
Social Thinking’s teachings are a work in progress and we readily accept feedback from the community. Since its release we have received many accolades for how this teaching system helps students learn more about themselves, which helps them improve their own self-regulation skills. However, that doesn’t mean it is the perfect teaching tool. Over the years some teachers and parents asked us to explain how Superflex got his powers. To this end, in 2012 we released a new book (Social Town Citizens Discover 82 New Unthinkables for Superflex to Outsmart) with information on how to teach Superflex’s Very Cool Five-Step Power Plan. While the Power Plan can be very helpful, at this point the teaching becomes more complex and is best used with students who are at least in third grade.
Superflex’s Very Cool Five-Step Power Plan: Helping Students Organize their Thinking to Defeat the Unthinkables
Here’s the story we share with upper elementary school-age students about Superflex’s Power Pals. The more our students learned about their own Superflex the more they recognized that many more Unthinkables existed beyond the original 14 we had written about in our core curriculum. We started getting emails and drawings about Unthinkables such as Blurt Out Blue, Rule Police, Negasorus Nix, Empathy Eraser, Perfect Pete, and Dr. Downloader, to name just a few. In fact, when we issued an invitation to Social Town citizens everywhere, they responded with 500+ submissions of new Unthinkables that were invading the brains of our students!
Superflex realized that with the growing number of powers trying to defeat his own thinking, he needed to develop even stronger superflexible thinking. So he called on five of his closest pals to teach him more about the critical powers needed to truly defeat Unthinkables. His five pals—Decider, Social Detective, Brakester, Flex DoBody, and Cranium Coach - came together with Superflex’s guidance to think as a team to create a plan that would help Social Town citizens everywhere develop true superflexible thinking. Introducing Superflex’s Very Cool Five-Step Power Plan! In the plan, each of the Power Pals shares one special lesson or power:
Decider provides Power #1,the ability to stop, decide, and describe which Unthinkable(s) is trying to overpower your superflexible thinking. Decider taught Superflex how to stop and describe what was happening within the student’s body and brain so that Superflex and the student could decide which Unthinkable was attempting to invade. Once the Unthinkable was identified, Decider also helped Superflex select which of his/her many powers and strategies to use. As Decider explained to Superflex, it doesn’t make sense to use a strategy designed to defeat Mean Jean if he was trying to defeat WasFunnyOnce!
Social Detective provides Power #2,the ability to stop and observe the situation and the people in the situation. Social Detective took the time to show Superflex that a critical power lies within everyone’s own observation toolbox. Social Detective taught Superflex about using clues from his eyes, ears, and brain to help understand the situation and the people in the situation to figure out what was expected behavior at that particular time. Wow! This was amazingly helpful to Superflex because it helped him develop supersensitive observation powers (a whole surveillance system) in his brain.
Brakester provides Power #3,the power to stop and think to discover the hidden rules in the situation. Brakester taught Superflex how he could stop and think about the hidden rules once he’d observed the people in the situation. Brakester talked about how the hidden rules are almost like hidden treasures because they’re the secrets of the social situation and help to explain why people are expected to act in certain ways! Superflex was very excited to gain this power but also knew that our students needed to do more than just think about what is expected, they needed to do more expected behaviors.
Flex DoBody provides Power #4,the power to use flexible thinking to determine which strategies would help the student do what’s expected. Flex DoBody reminds students there is a choice of strategies and helps students figure out which strategy to choose so they can practice new behaviors in that situation. Superflex knows this requires students to become more flexible thinkers so they can flexibly pick the best strategy to use at the right time and in the right place. So Flex gave Superflex a test by saying: “Now that you’ve described your Unthinkable, observed the situation, and stopped to think about what’s expected, what strategies will you flexibly think about? Which one or two will you choose to do to defeat this scoundrel?” Superflex realized that Flex was teaching him the secret of flex and do! Superflex understood that thinking and observing are super important but using flexible thinking, making choices, and carrying out a plan to defeat an Unthinkable are also important. This power helps Superflex finish any job he’s started!
Cranium Coach provides Power #5,using self-talk with help from your built-in brain coach! (Remember: This coach is usually in your brain and just silently coaches you.) Superflex learned the last strategy from his very wise pal, Cranium Coach, who explained to Superflex that everyone needs to develop an in-their-brain-coaching-system to help them self-evaluate when they “did a good job” or when they need to “hang in there” or “keep trying.” Cranium Coach revealed to Superflex that everyone actually has a built-in inner brain coach who can silently coach us and motivate us to keep working to defeat whatever Unthinkable is near. We need to practice accessing it and using it! Cranium Coach helps you notice that you’re improving even if you aren’t great at something yet! And, you can also use your inner coach to help you describe the things you did that helped you through the process!
Superflex Characters
The Thinkables Emerge
We noticed that citizens of Social Town were accomplishing some great feats by learning how to use their superflexible thinking and the Five-Step Power Plan to defeat the Unthinkable(s) that were trying to control their brains. As citizens became better and better at using their strategies and making choices to keep Superflex in charge of their brains, their Unthinkables weren’t showing up as much to really challenge Superflex anymore. Some citizens became so good at this that their Unthinkables were mostly defeated most of the time. This was very exciting! With the help of the five Power Pals, Social Town citizens were developing more positive thinking and as a result, new Thinkables started to appear. Rainbow Girl teaches people how to stay calm when something goes wrong. Space Respecter helps citizens to be mindful of others’ personal space. Focus Tron gives people greater focusing powers. Sunny Sun (right) helps people see all the good things in a day and feel pretty good about their lives. As more and more citizens developed stronger superflexible thinking, more and more Thinkables started appearing so that citizens were now getting help from entire teams of Thinkables! And, what was even better was that the very cool Five-Step Power Plan could also be used to figure out how to most effectively work with the Thinkables too!
The Learning Continues
Detailed information on how to teach and use the Five-Step Power Plan, along with many examples of completed Power Plans are presented in Social Town Citizens Discover 82 New Unthinkables for Superflex to Outsmart (2012). In this book, we also introduce various Thinkables and explore how students can replace their Unthinkables with Thinkables once they develop a certain level of self-regulation….but more on that in the next article!
Two Superflex games released in 2014 take Superflex learning to the next level! Superflex Superdecks, and the Thinkables & Unthinkables Double Deck, are both designed to be companion teaching tools for adults who are teaching Superflex or to use in creative new ways with students who are already familiar with the Superflex series. These card-deck based games are the ultimate superflexible products for adults to use in different ways to reinforce superflexible thinking in the individuals with whom they work.
You might also be interested in these related upcoming livestream events
Related upcoming livestream events
Part 1: Me in the Social World—It All Starts with Social Self-Awareness
Series Name: Social Detective, Superflex®, and Friends Take On Social Emotional Learning: Teaching the Concepts with Fidelity
Superflex Hose
Part 2: Using Social Competencies to Navigate in the Social World
Series Name: Social Detective, Superflex®, and Friends Take On Social Emotional Learning: Teaching the Concepts with Fidelity
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