Carbon 12 is proud to present a duo presentation with Bernhard Buhmann's (b.1979 Austria) painterly explorations of social milieu and Amba Sayal-Bennett's (b.1991 UK) series of drawings and sculpture of interpretive encounters as they both investigate the strength of the formality in geometric reduction.
There is a synergy between the works of the artists that compels one to examine the relationship between their practices with great interest.
In A Thousand Plateau's Deleuze and Guattari use the term 'plane of immanence' to signal a turn away from notions of transcendence, pre-existing forms and original genesis. The clarity of the formal language and the exactness of the composition may have their correspondence on the superficial, theoretical level in the concept of immanence. In the image plane the constructive elements dominate and build the prerequisite on which the quality of the relativity, the relationships, can develop.
Sayal-Bennett presents drawings and a sculpture, the latter can be understood as drawings in an expanded sense. She is interested in how formal elements or relationships between certain objects can generate references outside of the work's physical material context.The two large scale paintings of Buhmann create a similar tension.
Beginning with formal reduction both gain their breadth of content in the formation of different kinds of relationships, the relationship itself being the central moment. In Sayal-Bennett's work, the relationship to the viewer is essential. Which references are generated, what references are produced, and how do they differ from other interpretations? The fragmentary character of Buhmann's work represents the ongoing process of reciprocal references and at the same time symbolizes the contingent and transient nature of all social negotiation processes. His particular interest is the emergence of social negotiation processes, whereby relationships (as in the case of Sayal-Bennett's work) get into the focus as a constitutive element.
