iHelmhaus ZürichAltstadt
729 artworks, 724 on loan from six public collections and not shown for 50 years or more, set against five invisible works told by narrators.
The show's own text starts by counting: there are 729 artworks here, maybe 730. You can see 725 of them. The other five are on the second floor, and you don't look at them. One of nine narrators tells you about them, live, and the picture forms in your head.
The 724 visible works come from six public collections, among them the Aargauer Kunsthaus, the Migros Museum and the City of Zurich's own, and none has been on show for 50 years or more. Over 500 artists made them, and their names share one wall with the seven younger artists behind the told works. The show is also, in its own words, about doing nothing. In Zurich in November, sitting in the sun is the work here you'll have to imagine hardest.
No reviews yet, so go for the idea rather than a verdict. Entry is free, Tuesday to Sunday 11 to 18 and Thursday until 20, with audio descriptions by QR code in the rooms.
729 artworks, 724 of them borrowed from six public collections that had not shown them for 50 years or more. The other five are invisible, described to you by narrators. Free, on the Limmat.
The five told works
On the second floor, narrators describe five new works by seven artists, passing each one on to you person to person; whether they physically exist is left open.
The wall of names
One wall lists the more than 500 artists behind the 724 works brought out of storage, alongside the seven younger artists whose works are only narrated.