Real Life Is Dead And Other Show Tunes

Ross Sinclair is a drummer, guitarist and founding member of The Soup Dragons. In the early 1990s Sinclair left the group to complete his studies at the Glasgow School Of Art. Ross Sinclair is best known for his Real Life project, initiated in 1994 when he had the words 'Real Life' tattooed across his back. Since then Real Life has become a 23-year performance project, taking form in a wide range of exhibitions, public art and publication contexts. Over the two decades of the Real Life project, Sinclair's work has employed various mediums including performance, painting and music, often at the same time.

Sinclair worked with students at the GSOA over a period of two years to develop and record two songs (Real Life is Dead and Long Live Real Life) which lay at the core of the exhibition. The songs were recorded in both English and Chinese. In Shanghai, Sinclair worked with local musicians, artists and singers to create the Chinese-Scottish Real Life Orchestra - a musical dialogue between the Chinese audience and Sinclair's Real Life Project. The group came together in a collective voice, in English and Chinese, to share experiences through music. The orchestra presented a live performance at the opening reception of the Phase Three exhibition of CURRENT: Contemporary Art from Scotland, which provided the soundtrack to Sinclair's installation consisting of multiple editions of banners and videos representing the 23-years of the Real Life project. Participants were also invited to respond to the themes of Real Life is Dead/Long Live Real Life with words and pictures which were displayed on banners and placards.