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Jan Svenungsson

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Jan Svenungsson

(Born 1961, works in Berlin)

The Eighth Chimney, 2007

Bricks, mortar

Height 17 m

With support from Kungl. Akademien för de fria konsterna, Stiftelsen Hjalmar Wicanders donationsfond, Stiftelsen Marcus och Amalia Wallenbergs Minnesfond, Sveriges Skorstensfejarmästares Riksförbund

Jan Svenungsson’s The Eighth Chimney stands 17 meters high and was built in connection with the 20th anniversary of Wanås Konst. Svenungsson laid the first brick at the opening on May 13 and then constructed the chimney along with a team of bricklayers consisting of Göran Holgersson, Ronny Murare, and Marcus Adamsson. The chimney was finished midsummer that same year. Svenungsson has created several chimney sculptures, and with every new chimney, Svenungsson has added a meter to the height. He created the first, ten-meter-tall chimney—which no longer exists—outside of Moderna Museet in Stockholm. Today, his chimney sculptures can be found in Norrköping, Sweden; in Taejon, South Korea; and in Hamm, Germany, among others. His latest chimney is 19 meters tall and was erected in Uppsala in 2015. Svenungsson’s chimneys lack any function, are monumental in size, and can be seen either as art or architecture, as a phallic symbol, or as a relic of industrialism. Svenungsson also returns to the motif in etchings, photographs, and drawings.