Every morning and evening all inhabitants of Soft City take a ‘Soft Pill’ that makes them apathetic though hard-working, and exploits their dreams. In his masterpiece Soft City Pushwagner (b. 1940) designs a society, controlled by a meticulous structured everyday life, put into a loop. The apparently endless rows of houses, cars and assembly lines are bitterly furious commentaries on the strictly organised world of capitalist labour.

Efficiency and standards rather than joy and fantasy form the everyday life of people in his work. Aesthetically, the Norwegian artist’s works borrow from Pop Art – which makes for a wonderful contrast with the critical content of his drawings and animated films. With precision and irony, the artist seduces the public to recognise the sadness that lies in his overwhelming cosmos. At Kunstmuseum Luzern, Pushwagner is being shown for the first time in Switzerland.