His works are born from the combination of performative interventions in various spaces and their reproduction through photography. Sebastian Stumpf is a German photographic artist who studies in his practice the relationship between the body – his own, or of other people – and space, when the body is still or in motion, in spontaneous or staged actions.
These days, he is presenting his works at Goethe-Institut, as part of the exhibition „With / Against the Flow. Contemporary Photographic Interventions”, which ends on March 23. Sebastian proposes two photographic series entitled „Sukima” and „Zenith” and the video installation “Puddels”.
"I deal with the relationship between body and space, stillness and movement, authenticity and staging. A perception increasingly shaped by virtual realities is met with precise constellations of immediate physical experience and photographic image".
We talk to Sebastian Stumpf about inspiration and creativity.
Some information about you
My name is Sebastian Stumpf. In the early 2000s I studied at the art schools in Nuremberg, Lyon and Leipzig. My artistic background ranges from subcultural appropriation of urban spaces to performative art practices and from relational aesthetics to analytical photography.
First artistic steps
What I like about art is that a rather small yet individual and unexpected disruption can change the way we perceive our surroundings and make us more aware. My first works were playful examinations of the act of walking.
The first exhibitions
My first exhibitions were during my studies in Leipzig. At that time there were many empty houses and a lot of vacant space. It was easy to find spaces for self-organized exhibitions. My first institutional exhibition that was received by a wider public was in 2007 at the Museum Folkwang in Essen.
„With Against the Flow. Contemporary Photographic Interventions de la Goethe Institut”
People who shaped your artistic practice
The teachers that I had the most exchange with were Timm Rautert, Valérie Jouve and Rolf-Gunter Dienst.
The way you explore the connection between the body and the urban landscape through art
My works arise from the combination of performative interventions in found spaces and the recording and reproduction of these actions by means of analogue photography and video. The movements are aimed at gaps, voids and transitional possibilities in the architectural structure, as well as at the limits of photographic and filmic representation. I deal with the relationship between body and space, stillness and movement, authenticity and staging. It can be my body and it can also be the body of passers-by or the body of the viewers. A perception increasingly shaped by virtual realities is met with precise constellations of immediate physical experience and photographic image.
„With Against the Flow. Contemporary Photographic Interventions de la Goethe Institut”
Your mission as an artist
I don't have a mission. However, I am interested in unusual deviations, the expansion of boundaries and questions of accessibility. I take a critical look at the functionality and rationalization of urban spaces.
What inspires you
The urban space is planned and can seem chaotic at the same time. Often it is quite functional. I look for gaps and openings, blind spots or „mistakes„ in the urban fabric. Specific details in the urban design provoke an action or a deviant intervention.
How you define your creativity
I would not define it. For me creativity happens unexpectedly. If I try to do anything in order to achieve it, most likely nothing happens.
„With Against the Flow. Contemporary Photographic Interventions de la Goethe Institut”
Your participation in „With / Against the Flow. Contemporary Photographic Interventions"
In 2019 I was invited by the curators Christin Müller and Florian Ebner to participate in the exhibition series 'With/against the flow - contemporary photographic Interventions' of the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations. At the Goethe Institut I am showing two photographic series titled 'Sukima' and 'Zenith' and the video work 'Puddels'.
The interaction with the local artistic community
I am really happy to exhibit together with Vladimir Florentin, Mihai Șovăială, Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs. I think our different approaches will provide many possibilities for exchange. I hope to come to Bucharest to meet them and to have conversations together with the curators and the public.
