Daniel Spoerri, Fallenbild im Quadrat: Paraphrase auf die Aktion 365 Tische des Rest. Spoerri, 1972

In the bowels of the recently built, multi-million-franc Kunsthaus Zürich extension, designed by David Chipperfield Architects and home to the controversial Emil Bührle Collection, lies a nine hundred square metre art depot, part of the museum’s back-of-house storage infrastructure. Entering these subterranean facilities feels like infiltrating the fictional CIA headquarters of a spy thriller. It was late October 2025 when I had the privilege of passing through various layers of security deep beneath the Zürich streets — somewhere under these same streets lies 8.5 billion francs’ worth of gold, stored by the Zürich Kantonalbank. I was here to view a curious work by the Swiss artist Daniel Spoerri (1930–2024), Fallenbild im Quadrat: Paraphrase auf die Aktion 365 Tische des Rest. Spoerri (1972). As the final door opened, I came face to face with the piece, precisely installed on colour-coordinated dollies, all positioned at the same angle for my private viewing pleasure. A tabletop chaotically covered in tools and foodstuffs, all glued down and intended to be hung on the wall.