Liu Dao is a group that was founded by Thomas Charveriat in 2006 and consists of painters, photographers, videographers, curators, engineers, and filmmakers. Depending on the complexity of a piece there can be 6-26 people that collaborate to create cross-functional Shanghai-based art. Liu Dao has exhibits within galleries worldwide: Taipei, Shanghai, Beijing, Washington D.C., Paris, etc.
Tools and Techniques
Liu Dao’s artwork is a combination of painted plexiglass and an RBG LED display. The hand-painted plexiglass is usually the traditional portion of the art and is stationary. The interactive/moving portion is a perfectly aligned recording that is transferred onto the LED display. These two parts are then combined to create a piece of artwork that is displayed within a teakwood frame.
This art piece is about how life is limitless and indefinite. It explores the idea that humans find comfort in routine and habits that this will do over and over again without a question. So, this piece has a person dusting the vase off for hours just to do it all over again the next day.
Concepts and Ideas
Liu Dao works to combine old and new Chinese culture with modern technology. The center of the painting is usually a piece from Chinese culture, oftentimes nature, vases, symbols, cityscapes, or other representative images. Then the LED design is symbolic of a deeper story of life and all its potential, sometimes referring to different theories and concepts. There is a lot of emphasis on the interactions that occur within the art piece, which drives the engagement and collaboration between the creators. All these people bring their expertise to a piece of art, where they can work together to tell one story, instead of showing the values of a single artist within a piece.
Indigo Oriental – This piece connects back to nature and how the blue hues of the vase speak to the butterflies to attract them to the flowers on the vase.
Abracadabra – This piece connects to curiosity that exists within humans and how magic is just a deception of the mind, where it causes people be interested in how it works.
Paw Me Up – This piece represents the concept of luck and how it is similar to a magic trick, where people believe that doing certain actions will bring them luck, whereas it is just a simple matter of cause and effect.
Miaoqian Dajie – This piece represents the old and new streets of Shanghai and explores the idea of eternalism, where things that existed in the past and things that exist in the future all coexist together.
Sources:
https://island6.org/liudao | https://island6.org/LiuDao_info.html | https://www.eternitygallery.com/liu-dao