about | sebastianklug

If photography can be described as the freezing of a constant flow into one picture, it is my attempt to melt this frozen moment and to bring the flow back to it. Using the picture carrier itself as the base material for sculptural elaborations that emphasize the optical and haptic qualities of the printed paper, means leaving the photographic principle of reproducibility in favor of the creation of unique objects that distort and alienate the image content and play with the viewer's perception.

Starting from my own, grainy images which I have been taking with an old Nokia 6300 mobile phone within the environment of Berlin's nightlife that offered me a vast spectrum of human conditions – from pure euphoria to morbid melancholy - I developed a technique that combines two prints of one picture by manually cutting and interweaving them. The loose character of parts of the three dimensional structure of the resulting images brings a vivid fluidity into the previously strict photographic build- up and makes the constructs oscillate between genres, perceivable as both image and object, according to the viewer's perspective and distance.

The fragmentation of the image into pixels, that occurs during the weaving process, closes the circuit to the origin of digital image formation on an optical level. The combination of photo prints with different materials such as foils and fabrics adds a sensual aspect to the works that opens channels to more subtle sensations beneath the dominant visual perception. The sculptural approach and the unbound use of the photographic material free the medium from its constraint to represent parts of reality (or imagination) on a solely plane level, they explore unknown ways of sensual perception and facilitate expressions of serene self-dissolution.

Sebastian Klug

Sebastian Klug is a German photographer based in Berlin. He started using photography whilst studying architecture and since 2008 has exhibited widely. His work has been shown as a highlight at the European Month of Photography Festival in Berlin during 2010 and across venues in various cities including Helsinki, Venice, Amsterdam, London, Munich, Istanbul, Detroit and Oklahoma.

Using a Nokia 6300 mobile in low light conditions, Klug creates an atmospheric visual diary that mixes the grain, noise and strange colours of his phone's pictures, with that of his nocturnal encounters. The people he photographs float like ghosts, leaving small traces of theirs existence as they journey through the night.

Adam Geary in "Berlinoir"- photobook

As Europe’s cherished club scene slumbers beneath the shroud of COVID, the fragments of what was seep across different mediums as a new expression of old desires. What is left in the reflection of a shattered disco ball?

Sebastian Klug’s series ‘Mirage’ weaves a unique narrative, in both the literal and figurative. Through the eye of a by-then glaucomic Nokia 6300, the trained architect captures images of bars and clubs across various cities, a distillation of nightlife unfettered, yet seen through an obsolete technology. One might apply this ancient phone’s low-res camera to the haze of an infinite number of evenings spent amongst darkened rooms thick with the hum and throb of pulsating exuberance and intoxication.

Using an interwoven technique that combines two photographs into a chimaeric sculpture, Klug reconceptualizes the events of one night or several, blurring the boundaries between image and object, as well as artifact and memory. Clear ideas are stripped of context; what you thought you knew has become something entirely different. New patterns emerge in the spaces between, a secret and intimate language born of night. It tells of the illusion that permeates our forays into those dimmed halls of joy—that this is Forever.

In this Blurred New World, the architect's hands are our guide. While the shape of these memories might seem familiar, they travel to phantasmagorical places.

Daniel Jones for "Photographic Landscapes"- exhibition, EMOP Berlin 2020

Current:

Photoszene United Festival, Cologne, exhibition with Vanessa Leissring, may 25 - aug 22

Coming up:

Solo exhibition at Salon Gartenhaus Parterre, Krefelder Str. 17, 10555 Berlin, june 19 - july 31

Co-curating Schein und Sein, group exhibition at Gefängnis Amtsgericht Köpenick, Berlin, sept. 12

Exhibitions

2020

Photographic Landscapes, part of European Month of Photography (EMOP Berlin),

Mainoeuvre, Berlin, 1.10. - 8.11.

Fragmented Realities, exhibition with Markus J. Becker, curated by Suzy Royal,

Andreas Reinisch Project, Berlin, 10.9. - 15.10.

2019

Interwoven, Artist Quarterly at Sotheby's Munich, Oeonsplatz 16, München, 4.7. - 29.9.

Stadtansichten, Kirchen und Schlösser in zeitgenössischer Malerei, Grafik und Fotografie, Klostergalerie Hochfranken, Hof, curated by Galerie Fortak, 29.4. - 29.9.2019

Other Identity - altre forme di identità culturali e pubbliche, group exhibition,

curated by Francesco Arena, gallery Guidi & Schoen, Genova, 9.3 - 29.3.

2018

Blue Memories, Monat der Fotografie Off, Bernheimer Contemporary, Berlin, 18.10. - 18.11.

Ansbach Contemporary 2018, Biennale für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Ansbach, 17.8. - 30.9.

Intrecci Artistici, group exhibition, Bottega dell'Immagine, Triest, 21. - 30.6.

Here3, group exhibition, Cavallerizza Irreale, Turin, 18. - 27.05.

Wonderland, group exhibition, Bernheimer Contemporary, Berlin, 24.4. - 2.6.

2017

Viola Ballin Store, art & fashion, solo exhibition, Fasanenstrasse 68, Berlin, 10.12. - 31.01.
Streamflow, group exhibition with Alexander Deubl and Cristiano Tassinari, Bernheimer Contemporary, Berlin, 17.10. - 30.11.

Weinonsten, group exhibition, Hilbertraum, Reuterst Berlin, 12. - 21.5.
Art Karlsruhe, stand with Bernheimer Contemporary, Karlsruhe, 16.-19.2..

2016

When did we stop playing?, group exhibition, Anna Laudel Contemporary, Istanbul, 16.12. - 12.2
Other Identity, group exhibition, Loggia della Mercanzia, Genova, 6.2. - 7.3.
Berlin Art Week Exhibition, Enter Art Foundation, Berlin, 14. - 25.9.

2015
Die Lichtenberg Norm, group exhibition, Galerie Zwitschermaschine, Berlin, 7. - 15.11.

Sleepers, solo show, Giftraum, Berlin, 13. - 15.2.

2014
Shunga - Träume einer fließenden Welt, group exhibition, Glashaus, Berlin, 22. - 23.2.

O du mein holder Abendstern, solo show, Team Titanic, Berlin, 7. - 10.1.

2013
Dissolutions, solo show, Factory Street Gallery, Helsinki, 24.5. - 8.6.
Nattens Møder i Berlin, solo show, Mellemrummet, Copenhagen, 1.8. - 30.9.

Berlin meets Wiesbaden, group show, Galerie Grötecke, Wiesbaden, 1. - 31.12.

2012
Portrait Salon, group exhibition/slide show, London, Leeds, Cardiff and Brighton, 29.11.
Cell Phones in Summer, group exhibition by Artspace at Untitled, Oklahoma City, 1.6. - 30.9.
Compressed. 2 years. 100 exhibitions. 1 auction, group exhibition, Neonchocolate Gallery, Berlin, 3. - 5. 4.

2011
...off the beaten tracks, group exhibition with Peter Franck, Matthias Gephardt and Sven Marquardt, Neonchocolate Gallery Berlin, 1. - 15.12.
08. Berliner Kunstsalon, Art Fair, Uferhallen, Berlin,15. - 18.9.
Berlinoir, installation, Schiume Festival, Forte Marghera, Venice, 23. - 26.6.
Berlin - Choreographie einer Stadt, group exhibition, Forum Factory, Berlin, 29.4. - 15.5.

2010

Durch die Nacht, 4. European Month of Photography Festival, Galerie Ina Köhler, Berlin, 16.10. - 10.1. 2011
[proyecto final]: Es war so schön bei dir Marie..., solo show, Fenster 61, Berlin, 16.2. - 15.3.

In the Nighttime, solo show, Galerie Fango, Cottbus, 15.1. - 12.2.

born 1981 in Munich, Germany

2002-10 Architecture Studies at TU Cottbus (Diplom), IUAV Venice (2004/05), ETSA Granada (2006/07)

2016-17 Photography Studies at Neue Schule für Fotografie, Berlin

lives and woks in Berlin

awards

Preis der Nationalgalerie 2021 (longlist)

Publications

Durch die Nacht, von der Sehnsucht nach Auflösung in 1000 Pixel, von Ina Köhler, Museumsjournal 4/2010

Europäischer Monat der Fotografie 2010 (Catalogue)

Techno, Tristesse, Tacheles, Tagesspiegel, 29.10.2010

Berlinoir, monography by AGLU (www.aglu.co.uk), Scotland, 2012 (ISBN 9780954961244)