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.
Exhibitions
2020
Photographic Landscapes, EMOP - European Month of Photography Berlin, Mainoeuvre, Meraner Str. 10, 10825 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 (Berlin) 29.4. - 29.9.2019
Other Identity - altre forme di identità culturali e pubbliche, group exhibition, curated by Francesco Arena, 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.
Exhibition at Viola Ballin Store, Fasanenstrasse 68, Berlin. 10.12. - 31.01.
2017
A Contemporary Show, group exhibition, Dovetail Brewery, Chicago. 21.10.
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. 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.
2012
Portrait Salon, simultaneous slide show, London, Leeds, Cardiff, 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 (IT). 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.
Sebastian Klug is a contemporary artist based in Berlin. His work can be defined as a hybrid between photography and sculpture. By manually cutting and interweaving two identical prints of his photographs he creates three dimensional objects that emphasize the material aspect of photography, i.e. the qualities of the printed paper, distort the original image and thus play with the viewer's perception. He loves the slow and meditative act of weaving and the combination of an ancient craft with contemporary digital photography.
Klug's photo weaves are based on the pictures he takes with a first-generation mobile phone camera. The noisy, oneiric images, findings from his countless wanderings through the nights of his adopted home town, are the base of his later elaborations. Using the skills from his architectural training, he developed an understanding of materiality and adopted the high standards of precision in his own, unique creations.
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 Munich, Venice, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, London, Istanbul, Helsinki, Turin, Triest, Chicago and Detroit.
Adam Geary in "Berlinoir": Using a Nokia 6300 mobile phone at low light levels, 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 their existence as they journey through the night.
born 1981 in Munich, Germany
2002-10 Architecture Studies at TU Cottbus (Diplom), IUAV Venice, ETSA Granada
2016-17 Photography Studies at Neue Schule für Fotografie, Berlin
Books
Berlinoir, photo book, aglu edition (www.aglu.co.uk)
Berlin What?, 102 contemporary artist, Olliver Thoben and Uwe Neu, Verlag Die Neue Sachlichkeit, Berlin 2013
Articles
Berlijn danst, photo essay in Tijd, weekend supplement of Dutch newspaper Trouw, 14.4. 2012.
De nachten van Sebastian Klug, photo essay in Berlijn voor gevorderden, book by Jaco Boer and Bram Vermeer, Amsterdam 2012.
Durch die Nacht - von der Sehnsucht nach Auflösung in 1000 Pixel, exhibition review by Ina Köhler, Museumsjournal 04/2010, Berlin 2010.