Song Dong & Ex De Medici
"Things"
“Compare & contrast how each artist has used materials and techniques
to communicate ideas in their art making practice.”
Song Dong’s 2013 work ‘Waste Not’ and the 2010 work of Ex De Medici ‘Cure for Pain’ both present conflicting ideals and symbolism through their art making practice through the technique and application of colour, tone, line, shape, form, depth and dimension to express specific themes and communicate personal ideals. Their cultural and societal context has shaped the way in which they approach art making and the way in which audiences are invited to interpret their works.
In ‘Cure for Pain’ 2010 (1415 x 114 cm), Medici incorporates an aesthetically pleasing range of watercolours and applies them in a detailed and consistent manner across the work. Through her constant use of symbolism and motif (often alluding to themes of death or warfare through the use of skulls and weaponry as subject matter), her work is laden with meaning. It lures the viewer in to consider both the social and structural statements her work creates. For instance, incorporates ideas of power, despair, consumption and the ever-shifting life cycle. Medici’s past work with CSIRO Entomology Divisions Australian National Insect Collections greatly informed her practice in subsequent works such as this one (moth illustrations influenced works with her ‘Species Collection’).
For instance, she would represent much of her subject matter in an interesting, almost furry textural pattern. Upon closer inspection, this is in fact revealed to be many layers of moth pelts. This reflects the precision and timeless beauty of natural history illustration and reflects her internal experiences in the field to her audiences.
Dissimilarly, Song Dong’s work ‘Waste not’ 2013 (installation) consists of 10,000 objects collected by Song Dong’s Mother, Zhao Xiangyuan over the course of her adult life and are arranged in neat, symmetrical grids on the ground by both the artist himself and the ‘subject’ of the work, his Mother. By including her preferences ad decisions in the installation of the work, it becomes more auto-biographical an raw as the Mother is rediscovering each of these past objects which once contained high sentimental value and memories, but are now reduced to old, worn objects and whispers of the past.
This structural process has allowed for the removal of boundaries between the subject matter and the artwork – they are interwoven and expertly joined to one another.
There is little distinction between the subject and the art making practice. The element of recycling and reuse is highlighted by the care taken with each individual object- everything put into use, each placement as significant as the next and the collective unit of possessions forms an eye catching and thought provoking installation.
The beguiling paradox of Medici’s work, contrasting dissimilar insights into violence and alluring beauty, is profoundly informed by her past occupation as a tattoo artist. Her highly pronounced penchant for miniaturist scale and precise tone and line stems from her tattooing expertise and high patience levels fastened to them. In many ways, Medici’s experience in the tattooing industry has influenced her approach to symbolism within her works. She views tattoos as much more than permanent body art, rather an emblem used to represent a persons personal outlook or judgement.
For instance, her repeated incorporation of ‘impossible guns’ covered in layers of moth hide: an emblem of both defenceless beauty and sheer destruction. Similarly, her past experiences as the Official War Artist for Australia in the Solomon Islands began her tendency to reproduce violent or war related imagery in her works.
Separately, in Song Dong’s work ‘Waste Not’ 2013 incorporates the ‘found’, everyday objects e.g. flowerpots, clothes, blankets etc. of domestic life as oppose to the worldly, social and natural themes of Medici’s work. The impermanent and transitory dimension of the work is intentionally reflective of the symbolism the artist has highlighted through the work – an installation altered by the slightest movement, fragile and easily changed in its multilayered and complex state. The work is consumerist and chaotic with many colours and shapes, line, direction and forms, spreading from the centre of the work (the wooden structure of the Mothers home).
Despite their great variety, all the objects are interwoven into a single thriving unit of life and consumption (much like the work of Ex De Medici) to become tranquil and breathtaking instead. During the cultural Revolution, a period of extreme hesitation and privation, Song Dong’s Mother became a compulsive hoarder. During her last few years of life, she would save everything from plastic bags to old water bottles. This process is labelled ‘wu jin qi young’ in Chinese, the English translation being the literal title of the work: ‘Waste Not’. This collection of objects is unbearably poignant in their sheer relatable ordinariness, striking an uncomfortable relevance and intimacy in the eyes and hearts of audiences.
In this way, we begin to see how the miniature cityscape, the community of memory and sentiment created by the found objects of Song Dong’s 2013 work ‘Waste Not’ that allows audiences to interact and navigate through the installation (immersing themselves in the cultural history and connections of a woman who suffered greatly, but lived no less) contrasts with the 2010 work of Ex De Medici ‘Cure for Pain’. A work which stands as a culmination of organic ad manufactured symbolism, and binds to produce an animated mass of ideas and attachments – an artists practice born from past encounters and worldly perspective.
We empathise with the cultural history and sentiment attached to the subject matter both artists have incorporated in their works and we recognise the common themes of consumption, greed, obsession and sensory experience, and how the human/manufactured world often opposes internal opinion and perspective.
In conclusion, Song Dong’s 2013 work ‘Waste Not’ and Ex De Medici’s 2010 work ‘Cure for Pain’ are similar in their ideals and underlying connotations, reflective of cultural roots and worldly notions of consumption, environmental degradation and belonging. These notions have been fluently expressed through the use of different materials & techniques to communicate ideas in their art making practice. E.g. The use of watercolours and tonal relationships in Medici’s composition and the use of found objects bound by string and paper in Song Dong’s work.
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In ‘Cure for Pain’ 2010 (1415 x 114 cm), Medici incorporates an aesthetically pleasing range of watercolours and applies them in a detailed and consistent manner across the work. Through her constant use of symbolism and motif (often alluding to themes of death or warfare through the use of skulls and weaponry as subject matter), her work is laden with meaning. It lures the viewer in to consider both the social and structural statements her work creates. For instance, incorporates ideas of power, despair, consumption and the ever-shifting life cycle. Medici’s past work with CSIRO Entomology Divisions Australian National Insect Collections greatly informed her practice in subsequent works such as this one (moth illustrations influenced works with her ‘Species Collection’).
For instance, she would represent much of her subject matter in an interesting, almost furry textural pattern. Upon closer inspection, this is in fact revealed to be many layers of moth pelts. This reflects the precision and timeless beauty of natural history illustration and reflects her internal experiences in the field to her audiences.
Dissimilarly, Song Dong’s work ‘Waste not’ 2013 (installation) consists of 10,000 objects collected by Song Dong’s Mother, Zhao Xiangyuan over the course of her adult life and are arranged in neat, symmetrical grids on the ground by both the artist himself and the ‘subject’ of the work, his Mother. By including her preferences ad decisions in the installation of the work, it becomes more auto-biographical an raw as the Mother is rediscovering each of these past objects which once contained high sentimental value and memories, but are now reduced to old, worn objects and whispers of the past.
This structural process has allowed for the removal of boundaries between the subject matter and the artwork – they are interwoven and expertly joined to one another.
There is little distinction between the subject and the art making practice. The element of recycling and reuse is highlighted by the care taken with each individual object- everything put into use, each placement as significant as the next and the collective unit of possessions forms an eye catching and thought provoking installation.
The beguiling paradox of Medici’s work, contrasting dissimilar insights into violence and alluring beauty, is profoundly informed by her past occupation as a tattoo artist. Her highly pronounced penchant for miniaturist scale and precise tone and line stems from her tattooing expertise and high patience levels fastened to them. In many ways, Medici’s experience in the tattooing industry has influenced her approach to symbolism within her works. She views tattoos as much more than permanent body art, rather an emblem used to represent a persons personal outlook or judgement.
For instance, her repeated incorporation of ‘impossible guns’ covered in layers of moth hide: an emblem of both defenceless beauty and sheer destruction. Similarly, her past experiences as the Official War Artist for Australia in the Solomon Islands began her tendency to reproduce violent or war related imagery in her works.
Separately, in Song Dong’s work ‘Waste Not’ 2013 incorporates the ‘found’, everyday objects e.g. flowerpots, clothes, blankets etc. of domestic life as oppose to the worldly, social and natural themes of Medici’s work. The impermanent and transitory dimension of the work is intentionally reflective of the symbolism the artist has highlighted through the work – an installation altered by the slightest movement, fragile and easily changed in its multilayered and complex state. The work is consumerist and chaotic with many colours and shapes, line, direction and forms, spreading from the centre of the work (the wooden structure of the Mothers home).
Despite their great variety, all the objects are interwoven into a single thriving unit of life and consumption (much like the work of Ex De Medici) to become tranquil and breathtaking instead. During the cultural Revolution, a period of extreme hesitation and privation, Song Dong’s Mother became a compulsive hoarder. During her last few years of life, she would save everything from plastic bags to old water bottles. This process is labelled ‘wu jin qi young’ in Chinese, the English translation being the literal title of the work: ‘Waste Not’. This collection of objects is unbearably poignant in their sheer relatable ordinariness, striking an uncomfortable relevance and intimacy in the eyes and hearts of audiences.
In this way, we begin to see how the miniature cityscape, the community of memory and sentiment created by the found objects of Song Dong’s 2013 work ‘Waste Not’ that allows audiences to interact and navigate through the installation (immersing themselves in the cultural history and connections of a woman who suffered greatly, but lived no less) contrasts with the 2010 work of Ex De Medici ‘Cure for Pain’. A work which stands as a culmination of organic ad manufactured symbolism, and binds to produce an animated mass of ideas and attachments – an artists practice born from past encounters and worldly perspective.
We empathise with the cultural history and sentiment attached to the subject matter both artists have incorporated in their works and we recognise the common themes of consumption, greed, obsession and sensory experience, and how the human/manufactured world often opposes internal opinion and perspective.
In conclusion, Song Dong’s 2013 work ‘Waste Not’ and Ex De Medici’s 2010 work ‘Cure for Pain’ are similar in their ideals and underlying connotations, reflective of cultural roots and worldly notions of consumption, environmental degradation and belonging. These notions have been fluently expressed through the use of different materials & techniques to communicate ideas in their art making practice. E.g. The use of watercolours and tonal relationships in Medici’s composition and the use of found objects bound by string and paper in Song Dong’s work.
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Bibliography
o http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/815199/violent-beauty-controversial-australian-artist-ex-de-medici
o http://www.escapeintolife.com/art-reviews/ex-de-medici-death-emblems/
o http://www.teachingchineseart.blogspot.com.au/p/song-dong.html
o http://theartlife.com.au/2013/the-ancestral-temple-memory-and-mourning-in-the-work-of-song-dong/
o https://thepostpost.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/song-dong-one-womans-trash/
Date of Access: 10th - 13th of March 2015
o http://www.escapeintolife.com/art-reviews/ex-de-medici-death-emblems/
o http://www.teachingchineseart.blogspot.com.au/p/song-dong.html
o http://theartlife.com.au/2013/the-ancestral-temple-memory-and-mourning-in-the-work-of-song-dong/
o https://thepostpost.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/song-dong-one-womans-trash/
Date of Access: 10th - 13th of March 2015