elmgreen + dragset seem to have it all. the scandinavian-born artists are among the contemporary art world’s best-loved, most exhibited duos.they are xtures at biennales and big museums. they even own one of the world’s most unusual stu- dios: a gargantuan renovated pumping station in Berlin’s modish Neukölln dis- trict. What more could they possibly do?
Well, they could transform an entire city with art. on the bidding of Munich’s department of Arts and Culture, the pair are orchestrating a nine-month outdoor exhibition that will put 12 projects by 12 artists in public spaces throughout the city. one of the project’s goals is to make residents and visitors aware that the Bavarian capital, and not just over- hyped Berlin, dares to take artistic risks. Another is to open a discourse on public art’s role in a society whose open forums are shifting into the virtual realm.
the duo are project curators but it didn’t start that way: Munich initially commis- sioned elmgreen + dragset alone, for 1.2m city-funded euros, in January 2012. “We were asked to do something tempo- rary with the outdoor public space with that chunk of money. it was not de ned at all,” says Michael elmgreen, danish- born and the more talkative of the two. “We could have taken all the money our- selves and done a giant work,” he jokes.