Modern Traditions

Artist: David Thomas

22.09.07 - 14.10.07

Modern Traditions featured a solo show by British artist David Thomas. The work was made on residency in China, and shipped back to the UK for it's British debut before flying out to the USA's Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. It discusses the rise of China's economy and the interaction between business and tradition.

As well as the discussion of China's impact on it's own traditions, Thomas recontextualises slogans such as; 'Protect a Green Plot and Devote Your Loving Heart to it', inviting an international audience to interpret the language with their own set of cultural understandings, making new sense of these messages that feel at once well meaning and propagandist.

Two steps

Two Steps.

Printed Banner, David Thomas

Modern Traditions marks the first UK solo exhibition for David Thomas and contains part of a body of work made during a residency at VIS-A-VIS Art Lab in China over February & March 2007. This work was developed in Xiamen, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shanghai and now forms part of a permanent collection and a touring exhibition programme. The work explores notions of Cultural Heritage and social difference, in particular how these elements of life are lost or subject to change through economic and commercial development.

China is a country currently undergoing dramatic change, affecting the intrinsic balance of life for the country’s population. Over the last 20 years China’s GDP ratings have soared, far surpassing other countries, now placing the Chinese economy as the fourth largest in the world. With a new trend in leisure and retail, large shopping malls are appearing almost as quickly as the high-rise office blocks in major cities such as Shanghai and Beijing. The way of life in China is changing so quickly that large numbers of the population are struggling to accept and adapt to the new social norms. Certain elements of Chinese traditional life have begun to be forgotten in the wake of global development and economic power.

Whilst there is no denying that China is soon to become one of, if not the most powerful nation in the world, the question remains: At what Cost? It is apparent that there are parts of the traditional Chinese social structures that are beginning to be lost, as China becomes yet another country to adopt a single unified cultural identity along with countless other nations.

David Thomas is an artist currently based in Birmingham, UK. His work spans sculpture, performance, film and new medias, often working within an interdisciplinary capacity. He has shown extensively throughout the UK and in New York (USA), Tokyo (Japan) and China, and coordinated and curated projects across Europe. In 2008 David will exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Massachusetts USA and will have a residency in Beijing (China) concluding in a major solo touring show with accompanying publication.

In Interior Studies the viewer is presented with a small monitor. The imagery forms a careful study, moving with a deliberate pace over unidentified interiors. Shot on location in China.


Crowd6 <Home <Current Events <Previous Events <Send a Proposal <Info info@crowd6.org.uk		Modern Traditions Artist: David Thomas 22.09.07 - 14.10.07 Modern Traditions featured a solo show by British artist David Thomas. The work was made on residency in China, and shipped back to the UK for it's British debut before flying out to the USA's Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. It discusses the rise of China's economy and the interaction between business and tradition. As well as the discussion of China's impact on it's own traditions, Thomas recontextualises slogans such as; 'Protect a Green Plot and Devote Your Loving Heart to it', inviting an international audience to interpret the language with their own set of cultural understandings, making new sense of these messages that feel at once well meaning and propagandist. Two Steps. Printed Banner, David Thomas Modern Traditions David Thomas Modern Traditions marks the first UK solo exhibition for David Thomas and contains part of a body of work made during a residency at VIS-A-VIS Art Lab in China over February & March 2007. This work was developed in Xiamen, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shanghai and now forms part of a permanent collection and a touring exhibition programme. The work explores notions of Cultural Heritage and social difference, in particular how these elements of life are lost or subject to change through economic and commercial development. China is a country currently undergoing dramatic change, affecting the intrinsic balance of life for the country’s population. Over the last 20 years China’s GDP ratings have soared, far surpassing other countries, now placing the Chinese economy as the fourth largest in the world. With a new trend in leisure and retail, large shopping malls are appearing almost as quickly as the high-rise office blocks in major cities such as Shanghai and Beijing. The way of life in China is changing so quickly that large numbers of the population are struggling to accept and adapt to the new social norms. Certain elements of Chinese traditional life have begun to be forgotten in the wake of global development and economic power. Whilst there is no denying that China is soon to become one of, if not the most powerful nation in the world, the question remains: At what Cost? It is apparent that there are parts of the traditional Chinese social structures that are beginning to be lost, as China becomes yet another country to adopt a single unified cultural identity along with countless other nations. David Thomas is an artist currently based in Birmingham, UK. His work spans sculpture, performance, film and new medias, often working within an interdisciplinary capacity. He has shown extensively throughout the UK and in New York (USA), Tokyo (Japan) and China, and coordinated and curated projects across Europe. In 2008 David will exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Massachusetts USA and will have a residency in Beijing (China) concluding in a major solo touring show with accompanying publication. www.david-thomas.info Love, Truth And Beauty Posters David Thomas In The Palms of Their Hands. Print, David Thomas. Interior Studies video work David Thomas. In Interior Studies the viewer is presented with a small monitor. The imagery forms a careful study, moving with a deliberate pace over unidentified interiors. Shot on location in China. Waiting projection David Thomas. Waiting (Installation view)
Links: Organizations: `A.A.S.,` `Colony,[insertspace], Springhill Institute, 7inch Cinema, Pub Conversations, Ikon,` Artists: `David Thomas, David Miller, Jinpow,` Anne Guest, Feng-Ru Lee, Simon and Tom Bloor, `WebsterGotts,` Blogs: `Art Stalking, Ben Neal,Created in Brimingham, 7inch`