Originally trained as a sculptor Thomas Demand's artworks are the photographed representation of old archive images. He recreates anodyne looking interiors out of cardboard and paper, down to their finest detail. The works are then photographed and the physical copy of the archive is disposed of - leaving only the chromogenic print for the audience to grapple with.
The original photographs he choose to recreate often have an immense emotional or historical presence, such as Room 1994 - Hitlers bunker were the last failed attemped was made on his life, Corridor 1996 - The hallway leading to the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmers apartment, Office 1996 - The east Berlin headquarters of Stasi secret police, Kitchen 2003 -The hideaway were Sadam Hussein was found.
Kitchen (2004) by Thomas Demand. C-print/Diasec @Thomas Demand: Courtesy Museum of Modern Art
Yet the ultimate significance is placed on the final reproduction - the photograph, and not on the physical presence of the interior or his cardboard fabrication.
The seemless refinement and detail of the photographed interiors give the impression of eerie banality - an antithetical conclusion to the reason behind the original scenes being captured. The lack of description in the title also adds to this bewilderment of significance, bringing into question our perception of their importance.
They merely offer us a window into the traces of a world we have never really seen or experienced. The audience is simultaneously connected to and disconnected from the world he depicts - leaving the viewer with false sense of reality.
The work that i find most beautiful is Clearing 2003, the way he recreates the impression of light filtering through the apparently organic and delicate leaves is amazing. This work is an exception to the scenes he usually depicts!
Clearing (2003) by Thomas Demand, C-print/Diasec. @ Thomas Demand: Courtesy Museum of Modern Art
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