Jurriaan Benschop and Thomas Demand at the Brooklyn Rail:
Who is in control of the image? This question is at home in the work of Thomas Demand (b. 1964). The German artist pays meticulous attention to the execution of his sculptural and photographic work. But also as a viewer, while looking at the public images in news- and other feeds, he is interested in the decisions that have been made before we get to see a photo. The two worlds are not unrelated.
When Demand encounters an image that he wants to stage and reflect on, he first builds the scene as an abstracted model of paper. When this paper sculpture is finished, he photographs the result, finetuning the framing and lighting in the studio. The scenes relate to life, but with the absence of people, or explanations, there is just the abstracted scene, expressed in objects, as a kind of still life. Demand’s current exhibition in Berlin adds a new chapter to his work. The majority of works are printed on copper, a material he has not used before, but which obviously has a history in print making. As it is a heavy material the works on copper can only be small in size; they are intimate and iconic. The way they hold and reflect light is different from the support he has used in previous works.
more here.
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