benandsebastian

(Ben Clement, 1981 Oxford, UK; Sebastian de la Cour, 1980 Copenhagen, DK)

“benandsebastian’s work questions how gaps in knowledge shape identity and how particular absences, for example in the form of lost objects, incomplete artefacts, or excluded narratives, act upon the imagination.”

‘The work of the collaborative artist practice, benandsebastian, teeters on a cusp between designed physicality and intangible theories of the mind. Trained in architecture and theoretically versed, their sculptures take on elaborate mechanics and boast intricate detailing, yet speak to vast philosophical and sociological systems. It is impossible to concretely anchor their work, an elusiveness made evident in their recent exhibition at the Designmuseum Danmark, ‘Phantom Limbs’.

Embedded directly within the permanent collection and specifically paired with unexpected inventory from Copenhagen’s Medical Museum, National Museum and the attics of Designmuseum Danmark, their work becomes not only the sculptures on display, but the myriad relationships made between context and object, between body and limb. Evoking the medical sense of phantom limbs, where an amputee still feels the presence of the absent limb, benandsebastian navigate the museum context and call into question the assumed wholeness we expect, perceive and viscerally feel.’

Cassandra Edlefsen Lasch,
independent curator, DAMn magazine, issue 33

benandsebastian see what they make as a way of exploring the constructive potential of doubt within material culture.

E X H I B I T I O N S

2022:

Traces of Niels Bohr
Sophienholm Kunsthal
Lyngby, Denmark

2021:

Autonomous Design
MAK Center for Art and Architecture
Los Angeles, USA

2019:

Where We Stand Now
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art
Kanazawa, Japan

2019:

Recollection
Galleri Specta
Copenhagen, Denmark

2018:

Department of Voids, solo exhibition
Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art
Copenhagen, Denmark

2018:

Matter Out of Place, solo exhibition
Galerie Maria Wettergren
Paris, France

2017:

Everyday Life
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art
Kanazawa, Japan

2015:

Göteborg International Biennial of Contemporary Art
Gothenburg, Sweden

2015:

Freitag, der 13. | יום שישי ה – 13
Circle 1
Berlin, Germany

2015:

Museum of Nothing
Shanghai Museum of Glass
Shanghai, China

2015:

The Beijing Archive, solo exhibition
Institute of Provocation
Beijing, China

2015:

The Fields Sculpture Park
Hudson, New York, USA

2014:

Beyond Reach
Den Frie Center of Contemporary Art
Copenhagen, Denmark

2013:

Homecomings
Gründerzeit
Berlin, Germany

2013:

Must Have
37-39 Commercial Road
London, England

2013:

Dysraphic City
Kunstlerraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien
Berlin, Germany

2013:

Zeigen
Nikolaj Kunsthal
Copenhagen, Denmark

2013:

Substitutes, solo exhibition
Etage Projects
Copenhagen, Denmark

2013:

Following the Museum, solo exhibition
Die Raum
Berlin, Germany

2012-2013:

Phantom Limbs, solo exhibition
Trapholt Museum of Modern Art
Kolding, Denmark

2012:

Treffpunkt: Berlin
Arken Museum of Modern Art
Copenhagen, Denmark

2011-12:

Phantom Limbs, solo exhibition
Danish Museum of Art and Design
Copenhagen, Denmark

2011:

Odense Sculpture Triennial
Kunsthal Brandts
Odense, Denmark

2011:

White Out
Tokyo Design Center
Tokyo, Japan

Drill Hall Depot
London, UK

Ordrupgaard Museum,
Copenhagen, Denmark

2011:

Mindcraft
Danish Crafts
Milan, Italy

2010:

Pastiche – When a Tree Falls in the Forest
Jyderup, Denmark

2009:

KURS: The Square
Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde
Roskilde, Denmark

2009:

Dialog
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
Copenhagen, Denmark

T A L K S

2018:

Artist talk
Krabbesholm
Skive, DK

2017:

Artist talk
Goldsmiths, University of London
London, UK

2017:

Artist talk
Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art
Copenhagen, Denmark

2014:

Found & Framed – Collecting within Art Practice: benandsebastian with Liu Ding
Today Art Museum
Beijing, China

2012:

Brooklyn Commons: benandsebastian in conversation with Fred Wilson
International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP)
New York, USA

2012:

ISCP Salon artist talk: benandsebastian with Rebecca Baumann
International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP)
New York, USA

2012:

Artist talk as part of ‘White Rabbit’ series
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Lausanne, Switzerland

2010:

Artist talk: benandsebastian and Jeppe Hein
Nordische Botschaft
Berlin, Germany

2010:

Artist talk
LEAP (for visiting group from AHO, Oslo)
Berlin, Germany

2010:

Artist talk
Holbaek Kunsthøjskolen
Holbæk, Denmark

P R I Z E S

2020:

Finn Juhl Prize 2020

2018:

Danish Arts Council award for the exhibition Department of Voids

2017:

Award from Esther and Jep Fink Foundation

2015:

Honorary Award from the Danish National Bank’s Jubilee Foundation

2012:

Niels Wessel Bagge Art Foundation Award

2012:

Danish Arts Council award for the artwork Completely Dusty

2011:

‘Planken Ud’ Award

2010:

Danish Arts Council award for the film Saadan Set er Byen

2009:

Awarded 3-year work grant by the Danish Arts Foundation

2009:

Danish Arts Council award for the artwork Burial of the Last Queen of Denmark

2008:

Winner of Politiken newspaper’s Art Talent Prize at Kunsthal Charlottenborg

2008:

Danish Arts Council award for the artwork City of the (Re)Orientated

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