For Your Reference: Mungo Thomson

video still showing a black surface with white registration marks and a photo print of a hummingbird in flight laid on top

Mungo Thomson, Volume 10. A Field Guide to Hummingbirds (still) from the series Time Life, 2024. Video installation with sound, 3 minutes, 13 seconds. SBMA, Purchase with funds provided by Kandy Budgor; Luria/Budgor Family Foundation. © Mungo Thomson.

video still of a black surface with white registration marks and an image of a green stone artifact layed on top

Mungo Thomson, Volume 12. Everything (Abridged) (still) from the series Time Life, 2025. Video installation with sound, 17 minutes, 15 seconds. SBMA, Purchase with funds provided by Kandy Budgor; Luria/Budgor Family Foundation. © Mungo Thomson.

video still of a book layout featuring a variety of portraits including paintings, photos, and sculptures of white and black individuals

video still of a black surface with white registration marks and a book of black and white photos of a performer laid open on top

Mungo Thomson, Volume 13. Tacet Measure (still) from the series Time Life, 2025. Video installation with sound, 3 minutes, 53 seconds. SBMA, Purchase with funds provided by Kandy Budgor; Luria/Budgor Family Foundation. © Mungo Thomson.

Description

Combining humor and philosophical inquiry, Mungo Thomson (b. 1969) mines archives and mass-produced books to create immersive video installations. SBMA presents three films containing images scanned from birdwatching field guides, history textbooks, and a handbook for mimes.

These films playfully comment on the presumed authority of reference materials. Thomson asks: Can anyone really tell the entire history of the world in just one volume? Can humor be practiced and perfected through gesture alone? He reveals how these books flatten complex ideas such as nature and history.

May 17 – October 25, 2026
Galleries:

Colefax,

Colefax

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For Your Reference: Mungo Thomson

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