The "Selbstbedienungszentrale" (Self-Service Center) questions economic supply and demand rules by offering a space, both physical as virtual, where people can offer, exchange, acquire and trade all sorts of things and services, at no cost. The center’s goal is to break out of the rigid circulation system of goods in a hardened economy and to trust solidary self-regulation according to the motto, “the first is looking for that what the second has – it is only a matter of successful networking”.

This Self-Service Center is a project by the artists Folke Köbberling/Martin Kaltwasser and Claudia Burbam’s, presented at various exhibitions and events since 2002. In it, people can offer possessions that they no longer need via e-mail or telephone and, when applicable, can announce that they are looking for a certain item. These include also cultural sharing in the offer of films, readings, concerts or exhibitions.

This experience promotes an alternative system based on self-organization, spontaneous balance of the system, and cross-linking between users, as modern survival strategies in nowadays' cities.

As a local base of operations, a temporary office is set up (most often in the respective exhibit rooms) in order to register and compile the offers and requests that come in. The complete waiver of any form of equivalency is the basic condition for participation in the Self-Service Center’s activities.