SALIM BAYRI, Panic, 2025
In the exhibition ‘Civil’ the visitor has to draw a number and wait in the gallery’s anteroom until the drawn number appears on a screen. In a corner of the anteroom, which is set up as a waiting room, there is a black lacquered coffee machine made of cardboard and tape. If a coffee machine in a bank or city counter is not working, Salim often sees the “panic that arises over something essentially small”. In such a situation, coffee or tea is so important that those waiting raise the alarm. Those waiting then wait until an employee or technician starts the machine up again. “Everywhere we are supposed to wait, fortunately often with the message that everything will be fine.....,” says Salim.
The object 'Panic' has a touch screen on which films with coffee reviews can be clicked. With friends Lee McDonald and Kenji Nakama, Salim Bayri tests coffee that is offered for free at places such as supermarkets, banks and municipal offices. A grade is given for taste, quality of equipment and living space.