Ikon presents Deepest Sympathy (2011), a digital animation by British video artist David Theobald.

Through this short video, a biography is conveyed through the medium of greetings cards. Beginning at birth, they mark all of life’s loves, successes and tragedies: childhood birthdays, exam passes, career development, marriage, birth, divorce, retirement and death. In so doing, one person’s story is catered for as a set of pre-packaged events and standarised sentiments available for purchase.

David Theobald is a video artist born in Worthing in 1965. Although originally trained as a chemical engineer, he pursued a career in finance for fifteen years, living both in New York and London. Ten years ago he decided to change profession and dedicate himself to becoming a full-time artist. Most recently, his main works have been animations structured from photographs, scanned images or single frames extracted from video footage, blending these together to create a familiar yet alien environment. These may be structured as conventional films or as continuous loops with no discernible beginning or end.

David Theobald    
Deepest Sympathy
18 July – 2 September 2012
Tower Room
Ikon Gallery Website