Open Studio & Performance as part of Artspring 2026
Image by James McKinnon, 2018
Ankę Buchmann, Sredzkistr. 46, 10435 Berlin
Open Studio May 30–31, 2026
Performances May 31, (60 min. each): * 11:00 a.m. | 1:00 p.m. | 3:00 p.m. | 5:00 PM
“… if here was any justification at all for designing objects, it could only be found in the performance of a kind of therapeutic act, an act that would enable objects to heighten the awareness all human beings have, or can have, of their own adventure.” (Sottsass, 1995)
As part of the 10th anniversary of the Artspring Festival, Anke Buchmann opens her Berlin studio for a comprehensive retrospective. The exhibition presents sculptures, process studies, and drawings that explore the intersection of somatic abstraction and autographic gesture.
Buchmann uses clay as a medium for “live archiving”, a tangible documentation of lived experience that examines the tension between disciplined structures and the radical freedom of the body. Her work acts as a bridge between Zen-influenced minimalism and a visceral, immediate materiality.
The central element of the exhibition is the participatory performance “Noting Absence.” In a four-hour cycle, Buchmann activates her body by shaping clay bowls, radically synchronizing her breathing and gestures. With the aim of remaining fully present in mind.
The archaic craft method of the thumb-pressure vessel is recontextualized and transformed into a haptic feedback system for meditative introspection.
The work visualizes the paradox of presence: The moment the artist notices her thoughts wandering, she stops the forming process. The emerging vessel is dropped with an exhalation. The often very unconscious process of distraction thus becomes a conscious act. Only those objects created in complete unity of body and mind remain. The clay fragments accumulated on the floor form a sculptural installation that reveals the “data stream” of our consciousness.
Visitors are invited to sit on the chair opposite to explore their own stillness and emptiness through contact with the material. The somatic experience is enhanced by a garment designed for the performance by fashion designer Lukasz Studencki, which slows down movements and sharpens physical introspection.
When the action pauses, the performance installation functions as a sculpture that reveals the processes in our minds through the clay that has fallen to the floor.
An interactive performance, following previous appearances in London and Berlin, will be presented for the fourth time by the artist during artspring, and for the first time in her Berlin studio.
About the artist
Anke Buchmann (born in Germany) combines ceramics, performance, and sculptural research to explore identity and somatic memory. After studying at Central Saint Martins (UAL) and the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK), she developed her practice as a form of quiet resistance to the optimization logic of our time. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the British Ceramic Biennial, Ceramic Art London, and in the Wellcome Collection. She is a member of bbk berlin and an alumna of the UdK.
Schedule
On May 31, the one-hour performance will be presented four times. There will be a one-hour break between each performance. The first performance begins at 11:00 AM. The last performance begins at 5:00 PM.
11:00 – 12:00 Participatory Performance
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. break
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Participatory Performance
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. break
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Participatory Performance
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. break
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Participatory Performance
Visiting Hours & Performance Schedule
Saturday, May 30, 2026, 5:00–8:00 p.m.: Open Studio & Exhibition
Sunday, May 31, 2026, 11:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.: Open Studio & Exhibition
Performances May 31, (60 min. each): * 11:00 a.m. | 1:00 p.m. | 3:00 p.m. | 5:00 PM
Contact & Information:
Web: http://www.anke.live and https://www.artspring.berlin/veranstaltung/noting-absence
Instagram: @ankebuchmann
Email: ankebuchmann@gmail.com
ANKE BUCHMANN 
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