One day, ARKEN will be underwater. In the solo exhibition Come Hell or High Water, this future serves as the point of departure for the Danish artist group SUPERFLEX, as they transform the museum into an ark for all species. The museum is staged as a sunken ship deep below the surface of the sea. Blue light fills the galleries, and at the entrance, sandbags and barricades bear witness to attempts to keep the water out.

Transport crates are piled in the museum's Art axis. They contain works from SUPERFLEX's more than 30-year career, ranging from the group's earliest works from 1993 to brand new productions. The crates are both an archive of their art and cargo of a ship – ready to be transported onward, opened, or left behind.

Over the past several years SUPERFLEX has developed artworks that function not only as art, but also as housing for fish. This practice culminates in the exhibition's new long-term project, The Ark Factory.

At the center of the exhibition, a functioning factory will be set up in which parts of a large ark are produced using a new technique for creating habitats for marine life. This ark will not float but instead serve as an artificial reef that fosters biodiversity as sea levels rise. Over time, parts of the ark will be placed on the seabed in locations around the world. SUPERFLEX's ark will become a platform for coexistence across species – a vessel that carries life into the future, with or without humans on board.
Come Hell or High Water insists on action in uncertain times and unfolds as a space for preparation, collaboration, and imagination.

SUPERFLEX is a Danish artists’ collective established in 1993 by Jakob Fenger (b.1968), Bjørnstjerne Reuter Christiansen (b.1969), and Rasmus Nielsen (b.1969). They have since used their artistic practice to address social and political issues and to create action and change. Their work often balance on the verge of being artworks and functional objects. SUPERFLEX have, among many other projects, created Supergas (1996), a biogas facility in Africa, Superchannel (2000), their own TV channel, Superkilen (2012), a public park in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen, and Hospital Equipment (2017), a fully functional operating table used in hospitals in Gaza and Syria. SUPERFLEX have exhibited at museums worldwide.

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You can book a private tour of Come Hell or High Water - SUPERFLEX here.

The exhibition is supported by
Det Obelske Familiefond
Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond
Ny Carlsbergfondet
Knud Højgaards Fond
Augustinus Fonden