DAVID THEOBALD | THE WORK
STATEMENT
David Theobald's work attempts to capture such a situation, caught in a perpetual state of transit where increasing complexity is often presented as the illusion of 'progress'. As the global economy lurches towards an uncertain future, these complex connections that form the basis of day-to-day existence seem ever more evident and ever more precarious.
How can art respond? Theobald believes that art is the ideal place for thinking about these issues. By reinterpreting ethics as a process of imagining and recognizing new possibilities rather than simply choosing from commoditized options, we can shift it to the heart of a political process of artistic production. Perhaps, by attempting to immerse ourselves in new styles of perception, we can break away from 'normative' models of human behaviour where the consumer is assumed to have predictable desires and interests. This response brings together ethical and aesthetic concerns in a way that preserves a vital distinction between art and the products of the culture industry. Under these conditions, art becomes a sticking point– the complex sensory/cognitive gristle that remains when all else has been rationalised away.
Working with video inevitably raises questions about mediation in modern society. Advances in imaging technology have the potential to stretch the limits of our senses and what we are capable of perceiving. However, much digital animation and game technology instead appears directed towards anthropomorphism and a pre-canned form of wish fulfilment, the spectacular effects holding the spectator in thrall of the screen. In contrast, the use a restricted viewpoint, repetition and flat narrative in my work seem more likely to generate feelings of futility, frustration and perhaps humour which, in some cases, might give way to a deeper contemplation of the systems within which we live.
CV
EDUCATION
2006 - 08 Goldsmiths College, MFA Art Practice (Fine Art)
2003 - 06 Wimbledon College of Art, BA Hons Fine Art
1983 - 87 Imperial College, MEng Chemical Engineering
SELECTED EXHIBITION | SCREENINGS
2011
Open West 2011, Summerfield Gallery, University of Gloucester, UK
2010
Curiouser and Curiouser, Submit2Gravity, Old Vic Tunnels, London
Exeter Contemporary, Exeter Phoenix Gallery, Exeter
Cube Open 2010, Cube Gallery, Manchester
Home Sweet Home, Werkstatt der Kulturen, Glogauair, Berlin
RE:animate, Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown, Wales
Lobe Gallery, Berlin
Haye-on-Wye Film, Haye-on-Wye Literary Festival, UK
Videozone, MUV Festival - Fabbrica Europa, Florence, Italy
After the End..., Elysium Gallery, Swansea, Wales
Holding Time, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London
ev+a 2010, Limerick, Ireland
2009
Baggage Reclaim, Prussian Projekte, Nottingham (solo show)
Celeste Art Prize 2009, Alte AEG Fabik, Berlin
COE 2009,Claremorris, Ireland (selected by Tom Morton)
Modern Times, Vegas Gallery, London (curator and artist)
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2009 (selected by Richard Wilson), London
Creekside Open 2009 (selected by Mark Wallinger), APT Gallery, London
Oxford Contemporary, Ovada, Oxford, UK
Trampoline: Platform for New Media Art, Radiator Festival 09: Exploits in the Wireless City, Nottingham
Strawberry Fields, Souvenirs from Earth Cable TV, France and Germany (ongoing)
2008
Figuring Landscapes touring exhibition, Various UK and Australia (ArtSway, Tate Modern, FACT, QUAD...), Britsh Artist Film and Video Study Collection (curated by Catherine Elwes and Steve Ball)
Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2008, Liverpool and London
ArtSway Open 08, New Forest, UK
Inside-Out, Switch, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, Ireland
Quantifying Play, Submit2Gravity at The Jago Gallery, London
Goldsmiths Art at DIUS (Dept for Innovation, Universities and Skills), Whitehall, London
Cube Open 08, Cube Gallery, Manchester (curated by Juneau Projects)
Visions in the Nunnery 2008, Bow Arts Trust, London
700is Reindeer 2008, Iceland and tour (UK, Sweden)
2007 and before
ArtSway Open 07, New Forest, UK
The Sleep of Reason, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, Ireland
Raindance Independent Film Festival 2004, UGC Trocadero, London
Residencies, Commissions and Awards
Artist Prize, Open West 2011 (selected by Richard Billingham)
Artist Prize, Creekside Open 2009 (selected by Mark Wallinger)
Warden’s Purchase Prize, Goldsmiths MA Show 2008
Teaching
Associate Lecturer at Wimbledon College of Art, University of the Arts, London