YDMD

Bio

YDMD is a Beijing based studio that co-founded by four graduates from the Royal College of Art -- Min Zhong, Meng Yang, Ming Zhao and Chong Shi. New member Ke Bao joined the studio in 2021. Materials, functions, technologies and meanings encountering, they make the unexpected expectations. Their works are filled with combination, critical thinkings, humour and speculation. Traditional materials and crafts are post positioned as secondary tools for concepts here, while the functionality of objects become ‘jokes’, letting their works filled the possibilities of the future of craft with fantastic ideas.

Statement

YDMD considers the appropriate relationship between material, function, technology, and concept in the contemporary practice of making. What exactly are we talking about when we talk about the “concept” of contemporary crafts?
There is no doubt that the “concept” here is related to the word concept in conceptual art. Ann Coxon has given a broad consensus that 'conceptual art" mainly considers "idea" and "meaning", while the form and representation of ideas are secondary.

When we juxtapose "concept" with the craft medium, first of all, we mean making objects with "ideas" and "meaning". Second, "conceptual art" places "concept" prior to "form", which means that the practice of the artists is more about choosing the best form for the concept. Thus many ideas are released in the act of breaking through the traditional forms, and many traditional forms are deconstructed under the idea-led principles. However, when the idea of conceptual art helps the contemporary craft media to break the shackles of materials and forms of expression, there’s still one last thing left, which is the craft media itself.
Therefore, it is vital to establish a proper connection between idea, meaning, and media in the practice of contemporary crafts, so that media can play a positive role rather than in a state of repression. Therefore, we need to find a method that could drive infinite possibilities in this connection.

Marshall McLuhan's idea of "media is message" inspired YDMD. We learn that both creators and viewers should not only pay attention to the "content" expressed by works but also think about the significance that media contributed. At the same time, as Graham Harman noted, everything has an inexhaustible surplus. This shows that the message provided by the media is endless, and our exploration of any direction will have endless surpluses. YDMD uses phenomenological methods to establish a critical connection between the two.
Therefore, YDMD conducts curatorial activities and artistic practice in both horizontal and vertical dimensions. Horizontally, YDMD tries to experimentally expand the richness of the medium to obtain more visual vocabulary, while vertically, we dig deeper into single mediums for more possibilities. Through this crossover research, we continue to establish, develop and improve our practice methodology. As our understanding of the cultural value of contemporary crafts deepens, we also try to export our voices towards this topic.
 

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