Flop Shop: Hard discount of fine arts.

A project by Uno and Laszlo Biro, Rome 2015.

Inspired by the legendary Keith Haring's Pop Shop that opened in 1986 in New York, which sold merchandise, objects, and clothes designed by the artist, this project is fundamentally aimed at bringing the art world radically into pop culture. Flop Shop is an installation inspired by this experience, and aims to make the audience question the links and differences between the art world and commercial dynamics. Each piece for sale in the shop is personally designed and produced by the artist—even though conceptually intended for serial production—resulting in original art pieces. The pricelist, an element usually set back, becomes the central part of the entire operation, emphasizing the fine line that divides the market and the commodification of art. This conceptual turning point involves the main elements of UNO’s production: seriality, Pop imagery, and the Situationist lesson of Guy Debord. Flop Shop has been conceived to be an itinerant installation that transforms exhibiting spaces into an atypical gift shop: a franchising discount store of fine arts.