A concrete reference to reality anchors the works in the presence. The title of the show refers to the CASA AMALIA: a representative building from 1970, built by the Mexican architect Agust"n Hernandez. Not the narrative moment or the reference to the history of architecture is relevant here but rather the strategy as a tool in order to design a work. While Hernendez' building as well as Thomas Scheibitz' mode of expression are characterized by geometrical form, strength and its over-subscription, at the same time a fantastic appearing world "in between" arises by the apparently playful handling with the very form repertoire.
The usual environmental arrangement is relevated by variations of the standard The motive of the invitation shows models for sculptures which seem staged as in an exhibition by exact arrangement and light installation. At closer inspection, it becomes clear that it concerns small paperboard models arranged on a desk while in the background the door leads to the actual artist's studio.
On the right side of the picture a model can be seen which is evocative of the work Turm ('Tower') in the same exhibition. To the short moment of the alleged recognition, Scheibitz however counters at the same time: the Turm is not the biggest but the smallest sculpture in the exhibition. In its characteristic as a tower, it does not overlap the other sculptures but is banished on a suspended plinth to the wall. Thus the works avoid the narrative element and refer to themselves.
The sculpture Shakerbau refers first of all to the religious Shaker Community. But the focus is not on the illustrations of their way of lifes or "constructions but on their structural parallel. In reality, the overreaching sense of order and the endless prayer don't lead to deliverance but cancel each other out: the community became extinct after 150 years because of absolute abstinence. Thus, strategy becomes more important than function and becomes an end in itself.
Like the sculpture Casa Amalia, the biggest painting in the exhibition, which carries its title Casa Amalia Index, is defined by the form of the square and the cube respectively. At the same time the works seem to present a reduced form index to the viewer: while in the painting a continuous loop is suggested by the "picture in the picture", the sculpture follows the same principle. If the viewer looks through the removable cover of the box, he discovers immediately further small boxes.
The works of Thomas Scheibitz consistently avoid the interpretation. If it seems at first glance that its carefully selected titles report from concrete references to reality , they neither serve the illustration, nor do they fill the works with a narrative moment. The strategies of the artist actually refer to the surface of the works, to their structures and the forms themselves, which they do not represent but report on themselves.
The reference to a reduced index of a minimalistic appearing form repertoire, the references to the contemporary reality through the titles of the work, the formal reference to the art and architectural history don't represent concrete references, which lead to the clear classification of Thomas Scheibitz' works. The artist rather creates a coexistence of forms and references, which create an own world resulting from the redefinitions of the artist. Sculpture, painting and relief don't stand illustrating side by side, but refer to the nature of the art. In its preface in the catalog of the Biennale Julian Heynen writes: "related to the vision in the remaining world but nevertheless incomparably, parallel to thinking but nevertheless without ideals."
