Paper trail – History and archives in the work of Thomas Demand
Dr Amelia Barkin, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Art History, University of Queensland
Thomas Demand, 'Kontrollraum / Control Room', 2011. Courtesy Taka Ishii Gallery, Sprüth Magers Berlin London, Esther Schipper, Berlin, Matthew Marks Gallery © Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn / VISCOPY, Sydney
Dr Amelia Barkin discusses Thomas Demand’s photographic work in relation to theories of historiography and archival practice in contemporary art.
Date: 12:30 pm, Friday 15th March 2013
Venue: Clemenger Auditorium, NGV International, St Kilda Rd
About the exhibition
Thomas Demand is regarded as one of the world’s leading contemporary artists whose work in photography and, most recently stop-animation films, is at the forefront of contemporary art. Demand initially worked as a sculptor who used photography to document his ephemeral creations. From 1993 his creative practice changed and, from then on, he made sculptures for the sole purpose of photographing them. Demand begins with an image, often taken from media sources and frequently dealing with traumatic or politically important events, and creates a life-size replica of the image using paper and cardboard. The effect of these uncanny reconstructions is to destabilise our understanding of the sites which we ‘know’ so well through reproduction. This exhibition features a selection of photographs and 35mm films as chosen by the artist. Until March 17th 2013 at NGV International website.