Rehearsal for a Synthetic Theatre

FIELD Contemporary presents Rehearsal for a Synthetic Theatre, a solo exhibition by Tom Richardson. Richardson’s practice draws from cinematic and videogame narrative conventions to reflect upon current events and the dissemination of violence. In this exhibition, a newly made animated film is presented in conjunction with a sculptural apparatus and new 2D and 3D works.

The display of objects and images in the exhibition points to intermingled histories and the slippage of time. Using state-of-the-art videogame technology used for US military applications, Richardson places global politics into the material he uses to create his cinematically infused work. Richardson’s film references events from T. E. Lawrence’s autobiography Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1922) and its cinematic adaptation, Lawrence of Arabia (1962), to create a contemporary refraction of historical events. This touchstone remains ever relevant as the fallout from the Western powers failure to heed the advice of T. E. Lawrence and the conflicting promises of the Sykes-Picot Agreement can be traced forward to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East we see today.