POP&ROLL
Budapest, Hungary
Status: completed

POP&ROLL is an innovative art project that blurs the boundaries between functionality, design, and artistic expression. This project, located in the heart of Budapest, designed by artist kissmiklos brings together three distinct yet interconnected spaces: the ART GALLERY, ART SHOP, and the pioneering ART TOILET.

KISSMIKLOS
kissmiklos is a visual artist and designer known for his strong conceptual approach and vibrant playfulness. His works have been exhibited in numerous museums and galleries across Europe and Asia. His practice challenges the traditional boundaries between High and Low Art, reflecting on the complex relationships between art, social media, capitalism, and individual perception – all while maintaining a humorous, ironic, and tongue-in-cheek sensibility.

ART TOILET
PUBLIC x ART x TOILET
A public restroom meets art in this unique space. My mission is to make art accessible, enjoyable, and an integral part of daily life. Nearly 100 artworks and 20 unique toilets are on display in this special interior, where the space itself becomes a public artwork. The concept transforms a mundane utility into an extraordinary aesthetic experience, inviting visitors to engage with art in an unexpected setting. Even the music and scent in the TOILET area have been carefully composed. The music follows the narrative of a fictional video game, from LEVEL 1 through DUNGEON and FIGHT to YOU ARE WIN. The space draws inspiration from Budapest’s historic spas and swimming pools, the pixelated gaming world of the 80s and 90s, and his own signature artworks, such as goldenroaches and emograms (figures whose faces are made from letters of a word, expressing emotions or thoughts).

Irony and social commentary permeate the entire interior. As visitors enter, they encounter a giant mouth painting – a prime “photo point” – only to later discover its title, “GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY LIKE,” reflected in their first photo.

The lockers in the foreground serve as both functional storage and museum showcases, housing 106 artworks, objects, and installations. I’ve collected and restored lost toys, replacing their faces with letters spelling the word “LOST.” On another side of the lockers, visitors find yellow emogram faces paired with words relevant to the bathroom setting, such as TABOO, SHIT, OOPS, NICE, PEACE, PEE, and POO.

In the third area, the lockers are filled with an acrylic painting series titled SELECT WEAPON, featuring painted water guns familiar from shooting games, with HATE words hidden in the code of the weapons.

There are also graffiti tags, and a canvas inscribed with “JUST DECORATION” in the style of these tags.

Among the many intriguing pieces is a 14-carat gold Goldenroach, displayed in a locker with a security camera – is it a prisoner or a priceless artifact? In another locker, a similar Goldenroach lies pierced by a needle, perhaps a martyr, surrounded by fake plastic roaches.

A mock tear-off ad in a locker reads, “IF YOU NEED ART – TEAR OFF AND GET IT,” with tear-off pieces numbered like art prints, but the locker remains locked, making the art inaccessible.

Some even have glass doors with sculptures in mid-action, accompanied by a “DO NOT DISTURB – ART IS AN UNWELCOMING SOCIETY” sign. Each detail invites the visitor to uncover deeper meanings.

ART shop
This elegant interior features a giant toy monkey with an “ENJOY” face and limbs transformed into armchairs. Is it design or art? Function, selfie point, or sculpture?

The walls are covered with countless “likes,” questioning the value of social media validation. How many likes will this space earn? The shop, too, dances on the edge between design, function, and art.

ART Gallery
kissmiklos – POP BY exhibition
The POP BY exhibition is just a little teaser or a small addition to the POP&ROLL Art Toilet and Art Shop. Here, visitors can explore artworks in a “white cube” space, free from the elaborate interior design. These acrylic paintings and plastic sculptures are colorful and seemingly simple, yet they often reflect on the depersonalization of war, the craving for love fueled by social media, and the complex history of the Eastern bloc.

more. www.popandroll.art