The world according to Zhivago Duncan

‘All is futile’ laments Solomon in the Bible and its all “pretentious crap” agrees Zhivago Duncan in Christie’s and Saatchi Gallery’s Thinking Big. So nothing new through the passage of time then! Futility along with anarchy seems to be the big story in Thinking Big. In spite of the haunting beauty of Erick Swenson’s Untitled (2004), the visual poetry of Kader Attia’s Ghost (2007) and the comedy of Zhang Huan’s Donkey (2005) you can not escape this unrelenting message of futility and anarchy. As an exhibition Thinking Big is either an expression of a bored society or a world in despair for its existence. Either way this exhibition is a scary story garnished with the occassional visual gem.

Detail of Jon Pylypchuk’s image of anarchy.

By Depo Olukotun