Song Dong
26 Feb - 12 Jun 2011
SONG DONG
Dad and Mom, Don't Worry About Us, We Are All Well
Feb 26 — Jun 12, 2011
YBCA hosts a presentation of Waste Not, Song Dong's large–scale installation comprised of items that his mother and grandmother collected over a period of five decades. It follows the Chinese concept of wu jin qu yong or 'waste not,' as a prerequisite for survival. The project evolved out of a family necessity and the artist's mother's grief after the death of her husband. The assemblage of thousands and thousands of items ranging from pots and basins to blankets, bottle caps, toothpaste tubes, and stuffed animals take up a 70 feet by 60 feet area that viewers can navigate around and through. The centerpiece of the installation is the architectural armature of the building where the artist was born. Waste Not has been presented in several venues in Asia, Europe and the United States, however this is the first time that it will be presented within the context of other works by the artist. Waste Not will be the centerpiece of a larger project that will also include videos, photography, and a newly commissioned work. Song Dong is known for his innovative conceptual videos and photography that quietly impart, through conceptual performance, a window into the larger issues of China in transition and ways that he is coping with rapid development, while retaining a spiritual connection to the past. He has been particularly successful presenting the effects that radical change and social transformation had had on members of his immediate family. It is this latter aspect of his work that has set him apart from the many extraordinary artists who have been grappling with the rapid changes China is experiencing.
Dad and Mom, Don't Worry About Us, We Are All Well
Feb 26 — Jun 12, 2011
YBCA hosts a presentation of Waste Not, Song Dong's large–scale installation comprised of items that his mother and grandmother collected over a period of five decades. It follows the Chinese concept of wu jin qu yong or 'waste not,' as a prerequisite for survival. The project evolved out of a family necessity and the artist's mother's grief after the death of her husband. The assemblage of thousands and thousands of items ranging from pots and basins to blankets, bottle caps, toothpaste tubes, and stuffed animals take up a 70 feet by 60 feet area that viewers can navigate around and through. The centerpiece of the installation is the architectural armature of the building where the artist was born. Waste Not has been presented in several venues in Asia, Europe and the United States, however this is the first time that it will be presented within the context of other works by the artist. Waste Not will be the centerpiece of a larger project that will also include videos, photography, and a newly commissioned work. Song Dong is known for his innovative conceptual videos and photography that quietly impart, through conceptual performance, a window into the larger issues of China in transition and ways that he is coping with rapid development, while retaining a spiritual connection to the past. He has been particularly successful presenting the effects that radical change and social transformation had had on members of his immediate family. It is this latter aspect of his work that has set him apart from the many extraordinary artists who have been grappling with the rapid changes China is experiencing.