Summe

Salon des Riso Refusés

∑ SUMME is launching a new Basel off-scene leporello featuring an overview of all the off-spaces and initiatives associated with ∑ SUMME.

To round off this project artistically, an open call for riso prints was held. Unfortunately, from the many fantastic submissions, we were only able to select three works for printing.

Therefore, in parallel with the Leporello launch, sigma_space is launching the exhibition ‘Salon des Riso Refusés’. Here we are showing a selection of works from the open call to mark the launch of the first ∑ SUMME Offspace city map leporellos. On display are works by:

Anna Caiata

Annegret Eisele

Gerda Maise

Giulia Martinelli

Parvez

Protoplast

Jennifer Merlyn Scherler

Jasmin Tanner

Sylwia Zawiślak

Anna Caiata

Grow Seed Grow

The work is closely linked to the Swiss Seed Exchange collective. Based in Basel, the collective operates at the intersection of art and nature, reflecting on seeds and their personal and social value. The two figures in the picture are wearing suits, a reference to the collective’s bank-like aesthetic. At the centre is the plant, which grows as a result of being watered collectively.

Annegret Eisele

neben dir, Nordwest

This work explores the ephemeral, as well as our relationship with resources. It concerns chance moments that can become deeply ingrained in us as profound experiences. The work consists of reused everyday materials and pieces of painted paper. The elements lie on the floor, having been fleetingly brought together by a gust of wind; they exist in this arrangement for only a short time. The photograph shows a detail for documentation purposes.

Gerda Maise

2 Soft Grids

Sheets from my long-deceased parents’ collection. For more than 50 years, I have been transforming existing objects into something new with minimal intervention. This lends interiors and exteriors a different atmosphere and temporarily imbues them with new meaning. My aim is to create an environment that invites the audience to reflect on their expectations of what art is and how it should appear.

Giulia Martinelli

Be Bold

In times of uncertainty, it’s easier to be brave because you’ve got nothing left to lose. It’s time to take a chance, break out of the comfort zone that surrounds us, and broaden our horizons and our creativity.

Parvez

Invisible nightmare (Unsichtbarer Albtraum)

The work began as a compilation of images from war zones, which social media and the news have been bombarding us with on a daily basis for several years now. I then extracted sections from numerous photographs to create a collage. The line drawing, outlined in red brushstrokes, was created subsequently to present the collage as a sombre image that hovers between dream and reality.

Protoplast

«morpholokoon»

In September 2021, the Protoplast artefact ‘morpholokoon’ (2 × 1.80 m, paste-up on concrete) suddenly appeared in an underpass near the Gare du Nord in Basel. The work intertwines the Laocoön motif with a motorbike, translating the ancient theme of entanglement and overpowering into a contemporary urban iconography. In June 2025, during Art Basel, it was also featured in a poster campaign by Galerie Sammlung Amann, Stuttgart, around the Messeplatz.

Jennifer Merlyn Scherler

The Moon Would Fix Me

Time off and holidays are privileges: those who can travel and afford leisure time buy themselves a special status compared to others. Space tourism takes this phenomenon to the extreme – it is reserved solely for the super-rich. The work draws on internet memes that humorously explore the idea of nature as a romantic refuge and the expectation of healing through travel. In this scenario, ‘space bros’ such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos become ‘sad girls’ seeking a new form of emotional fulfilment through space tourism.

Jasmin Tanner

The series visualises imaginary images of parasitic, symbiotic and infiltrating systems of unknown origin.

Sylwia Zawiślak

Waiting for better times

The work depicts a distorted figure enclosed within a cramped, confining box. The body is unnaturally compressed and constrained by an external structure. The only contact with the outside world is through a small opening. The figure attempts to look through it, unaware that their view is mediated – the opening turns out to be a periscope which, instead of a perspective, merely shows the image of a dark storm cloud.

The linocut addresses the limited access to reality, as well as the way in which social, cultural or systemic structures shape our perception. The work refers to the illusion of freedom of choice and perspective, and suggests that even the attempt to look beyond predetermined boundaries can be controlled and predetermined.