SONG DONG

Early Years

Born in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution, Song Dong experienced firsthand the societal upheavals that would later inform his art. His father, Song Shiping, was sent to a re-education camp, leaving Song to be raised primarily by his mother, Zhao Xiangyuan, who instilled in him a deep appreciation for art and frugality. He graduated from the Fine Arts Department of Capital Normal University in 1989, initially focusing on oil painting before transitioning to more experimental forms of expression.

Song Dong Artworks

Song Dong utilises everyday materials to explore complex concepts—often expressing the transient nature of human activity and the shifting enviornments of urban China.

Notable Works

Waste Not (2005)

This large-scale installation comprises over 10,000 items, such as bottle caps, shoes, blankets, toothpaste, toys, and pens, all collected by his mother who was loathe to dispose of anything. The work is renowned as an astounding musing on the archive, memory, impermanence, gloabalisation, ephemerality, and a monument to a life lived. It has traveled extensively around the world, to major art galleries like the Museum of Modern Art, the Barbican Centre, and Vancouver Art Gallery.

Writing Diary with Water (1995)

A performance piece where Song used water to write daily diary entries on stone, which dry in time, leaving no residual trace—reflecting on the ephemerality of memory and documentation.

Touching My Father (1997)

A video work projecting an image of Song’s hand over his father’s body, exploring generational gaps and expressions of filial love.

Eating the City (2003—)

This participatory installation work is often a popular attraction as it involves a model city constructed out of thousands of biscuits and sweet treats. A quite literal take on consumption culture, the work also evokes the malleable nature of our urban environments—especially in China, which are often undergoing redevelopment.

Exhibitions

Song Dong has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

• Song Dong, Eating the City, Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art, Suzhou Olympic Sports Center Commercial Plaza, Suzhou (2024)
• Song Dong, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus (2017)
• Song Dong, I Don’t Know the Mandate of Heaven, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2017)
• Song Dong, Waste Not, Barbican Art Gallery, London (2012)
• Projects 90: Song Dong, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2009)

Group Exhibitions

• Signals: How Video Transformed the World, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2023)
• The 7th Guangzhou Triennial: Symphony of All the Changes, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou (2022—2023)
• Global(e) Resistance, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2020—2021)
• The Allure of Matter: Material Art from China, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2019—2020); Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago (2020); Seattle Art Museum (2020); Peabody Essex Museum (2020—2021)
• Minimalism: Space. Light. Object., National Gallery Singapore and ArtScience Museum, Singapore (2018—2019)

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