Simon Fujiwara The Happy Museum, 2016
Mixed media installation
Dimensions variable
The Happy Museum was developed in collaboration with the artist's brother, Daniel. As a 'happiness economist', Daniel's job is to turn the complex factors that contribute to a society's well-being into data. Such data influences companies, governments and NGOs to promote policies that will create more well-being. In speaking to his brother, security, safety and trustworthiness came up as key values for the well-being of Berliners-the work was first conceived for the 9th Berlin Biennale. The objects, artefacts and performances were literal materializations of data on the well-being of today's Berliners, even if the associations that made these relevant markers of happiness were not always immediately apparent.