Supermarket shelves as art objects can currently be seen in the Museum Starnberger See.
From the outside, of course, because the museum is closed.
Behind it is the artist Stephanie Senge.
Starnberg - "In the current situation, supermarkets are a museum substitute for me," says consumer artist Stephanie Senge.
The museums are closed and the supermarket is one of the few places where people meet other people.
How this can be turned into art can be seen in the Starnberger See Museum.
As part of the so-called museum walk to projects that can be seen from the outside - the museum itself remains closed.
Stephanie Senge sees supermarkets all over the world as her personal art needs and as a mirror of the respective society.
For 20 years it has been exhibiting packaging with distinctive slogans in exhibitions and its “consumer libraries”, as well as sculptures made from packaging.
She does not buy her products according to their content, but to match the topic, color or design.
The artist only exhibits the packaging and gives the contents to friends.
She adapted the theme in the Starnberg Window to the situation.
There is a lot of tea packaging on the shelf, a deodorant bottle and biscuit packaging, as well as porcelain figures.
"If the consumer pays attention to it, he will find some packaging with a soul and some that appeal to the sense of community," says Stephanie Senge.
In the Corona crisis, the packaging is provided with slogans such as "enjoy for home", "soul warmer" and "let go".
The industry responds to the hopes and wishes of consumers.
For example, the wanderlust is alluded to with sayings such as “Just get away”.
It is important to the consumer activist that people become aware of what they are doing when shopping, value the products and pay attention to which promises are also sold.
She notes: “Some products want to manipulate us.
It was similar in the stock market crisis.
The focus was on 'Now we count'.
For my art it is important to feel how the consumer feels. ”However, the artist does not demonize consumption, but suggests a playful way of observing society.
True to the motto: "We are what we buy."
Museum director Benjamin Tillig on the emotions in the supermarket
Museum director Benjamin Tillig knows the emotions in the supermarket: “Shopping is not just a necessity, we also see it as a very important freedom.
We want to be able to choose ourselves. ”Stephanie Senge, who lives in Berlin and grew up in Munich, travels all over the world for her art events and goes shopping.
On her travels she discovered that the Americans often produce rather monotonous packaging and the Japanese have very different types of packaging.
“People around the world also have completely different conceptions of museums.
For example in Hong Kong, where the museums are white and bare.
People from the western world don't know that, ”says the sculptor.
Even if the Corona crisis is holding her back, she has found the time to be enriching for herself so far, as she was able to relax and found time to design her own website.
The installation at the Heimatmuseum is accessible around the clock.
The artist's entire collection can be seen at www.konsumbibliothek.com.
During the museum walk you can also see old views of Starnberg, the Starnberg saints as a 3D scan, drawings from a P seminar at the Starnberg grammar school, the group of figures “Trophies” by the artist Tim Bennett and the facilities of the museum itself.
Stefanie Pfleger
