About

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

benandsebastian3

 
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