Interview by Jimon

First things first is it Bunger or Buenger?

It’s Bünger actually (with german dots on top of the “u”) but if not it’s Buenger

1-Where do you reside and work currently?  Berlin

2-One word to describe Philipp Buenger?  Two words: happily solitary

3-How long have you been making art and what lead you to start?  It’s always been around but there was a turning point around ten years ago when I quit my job as an architect.

4-Do you remember the first piece of art you created? How old where you?  I was about five or six drawing the mountains in Italy. I still have a very clear memory of that situation.

5-You work in multiple platforms. Photography, Illustration and drawing. Do you have a favorite?  Illustrations are the most fun for me. Drawing is very meditative and also physically demanding for me. Photography is the medium I use the most these days and where I have been experimenting the most. Photography gives me the possibility to include other mediums like sculptures, installations, still life.

6-Do you have a favorite out of the three?  Drawing, but the boundaries between drawing and illustrating are fluid sometimes.

7-Can you tell me the process in your photographic work?  I take pictures of moving objects using long exposure.  Also I shoot at night with the light sources moving and long exposure time. It is essential for me not  to do any touch once the photos are printed.

8-Your drawings are very detailed using a ballpoint pen, what is the longest you have spent on one drawing?  My drawing are created over a time span of more than a year however if you timed the drawing only it would be two months.

9-To be honest I like your illustrations the most, which of the three art forms was first for you?  Illustrations. I just never stopped my childhood -drawings. Some of the series which are still alive were actually born in very early childhood days.

10-What has the most influence on your work?  Stress kills my creativity. If I am under lots of there will no art produced.

11-How do you define success?  To lose myself in the process of making

12-Who is your favorite artist?  Its constantly changing depending on my daily mood.

13-How would you like to be seen as an artist years from now?  It would be nice to be remembered in many different ways.

14-What impact would you like to see from your work?  It’s already very nice seeing people contemplate in front of my drawings.

15-Do you have a place/person/thing that you visit for inspiration?  Several: Norway for example is very inspiring. I have done a lot of artist -residencies recently. If the residency is long enough, inspiration comes in an unexpected way. I prefer that rather than following the same old paths.

16-If you could have dinner with 3 artists living/dead who would be at your table?  Maurice Sendak, Monet, Dominicus Böhm (Architect)

But I might give you another answer next time.

17-Three things you can’t live without in your studio?  Ballpoint pen, paper, Photo camera

18-How would someone find you on social media?  Instagram @philippbuenger

19-Please name the first thing that comes to your mind while reading the following:

Art= meaning

Food= joy

Sports= fitness

Politics= I don`t believe in the easy solutions

Poor= stress

God= symbol

Rich= no stress

Luxury= everything you don’t need, but means fun

Sex= Sex

Picasso= pops up every now and then

Religion= tradition