Sebastian Jung
The Penguins Save the World
February 20th until June 5th, 2022
How alluring the idea of being saved, in a time in which the world seems to be drifting endlessly from one crisis to the next! What a comfort to not be called upon, for once, to save others, but rather to receive an offer that someone might save us! Human beings may just as well lose their way somewhere between unbearable tension and ultimate despair – no matter, the penguins will continue to keep a stiff upper lip, facing a conflicted, anxious humanity with unshakeable serenity.
This exhibition is devoted to the relationship of human beings to a world that they themselves have altered and shaped. The starting point of Sebastian Jung’s artistic work is his excursions into his own society – to shopping malls, crash-car shows, an anti-Corona demonstration, or the penguin pool at the zoo. He observes, he documents. His begins with pencil drawings. These he develops into collages, paintings, sculptures, and performances. And so, the exhibition becomes one huge installation, in which all artworks are linked and related.
The Penguins Save the World is based upon a project dealing with bioeconomy and social mentalities, titled Bio Bio SUV. For this project, Jung created interventions in the Botanischer Garten Jena and in the Museum Starnberger See. Both have in some way been incorporated in the exhibition. In Starnberg, Jung’s intervention took place in November 2021, with the title The Penguins of Starnberger See Are Close to Dying Out. They seem to have saved themselves, and are forging onward towards bigger and better things.