New Management – Simon Denny

Simon Denny's new body of work for Portikus ranks among the most ambitious the artist has developed to date. Over the period of one year, the artist researched and developed an intricate project that has grown to considerable dimensions - both physically and in terms of its critical content. For two months, the monumental gallery space is turned into an homage to technology, communication, and the relentless need for innovation. Simon Denny has produced an embracing and multi-faceted installation that functions as a documentary of the South Korean technology giant Samsung and its global success story. The exhibition's title, "New Management", refers to the legendary management philosophy that Lee Kun-hee, Chairman of the Samsung Group, infamously introduced in the early nineties. 

The “Frankfurt Declaration” as it is referred to within Samsung, is in a way the origin story of their mobile and TV production dominance of today. Samsung are the “biggest electronics company by sales” on the planet. Their hardware is inside many of the most used devices we all rely on, including other brands such as Apple. Samsung products are everywhere today—most present in our mobile devices. These objects clearly have a huge cultural impact and to know the philosophy that they developed from is some way to start figuring out what these objects are.