What Is Unique About The No Show Museum Of Zurich?

The art of nothing includes the display of blank picture frames and empty rooms.
The art of nothing includes the display of blank picture frames and empty rooms.

The No Show Museum refers to a museum that is devoted to promoting “nothing” as an art. The museum displays nothing and its various forms. An example of nothing as an art is the display of blank picture frames and empty rooms.

Overview of the Museum

The No Show Museum of Zurich is an art museum concept that was started by a Swiss curator named Andreas Heussser four years ago in Zurich. The museum is currently managed and run by the Society of Nothing which is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The board members of the society work on a voluntary basis. Heusser is the current director of the society. The membership to the No Show Museum society is open to citizens of different nationalities. To become a member, one has to pay a fee of US$75. The benefits include getting an internationally recognized membership card and information on the upcoming events.

What Is "Nothing" Art?

The “Nothing” art museum initially began in 1966 by an American artist named Robert Smithson. Over the years, many artists from around the world have joined hands to grow this unique art concept, spreading to other places in the world. The museum currently hosts around four hundred art projects from one hundred and twenty artists from around the world. Some of the artists include Ceal Floyer, Yves Klein, and Andy Warhol.

The Uniqueness of the No Show Museum

The No Show Museum is a first of its kind and is dedicated to “nothing.” It has a lot of unique features and concepts. “Nothing” has over time become a clear-cut art category and has opened up a new outlook in the art world. However, it is not possible to explain nothing in one way.

The No Museum show has different themes on approaching “nothing.” These include nothing as emptiness as the art of absence; nothing as annihilation as the art of destruction; nothing as invisibility as the art of the imperceptible, the Unseen, and the hidden; nothing as refusal as the art of doing nothing; nothing as a statement as the art of saying nothing; nothing as the reduction as the art of minimalism; nothing as lacuna as the art of mission; and nothing as notion as the art of pure imagination.

The unconventional Museum has a goal to display the beauty of “nothing.” Its unique exhibitions include empty picture frames instead of the usual paintings in a regular museum and presentation of artistic creations made of air. The exhibition can also include just bare rooms instead of artwork filled rooms. The No Show Museum also displays conceptual art, theatre works, film, literature, and photography all around the theme of the concept of nothing. The artwork is displayed on four floors and each one of them has four wings.

The No Show Museum has created a movable display, with exhibitions of artwork done in a refurbished bus. The bus has toured Europe and North America with the mission of spreading "nothing" through the world and show that any place can be a place of art.

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