KVT – Lots of Joy at Chula

KVT waiting one minute for Jamie Maxtone Graham with a photo essay about lots of good portraiture

Last year at the Skylines With Flying People installation cum exhibition at the Japan Foundation that lasted for a month and was properly described as a multiplex project of contemporary art

One of many memorable ongoing performances was that by Jamie Maxtone Graham and his SORRY CAN YOU WAIT ONE MINUTE? studio where he invited passers by to pose naturally and be photographed (and- unbeknown to them- also video-ed) while the photographer excused himself and said he’d be back in a minute… leaving the subject or subjects to wait sort of bewildered in the studio. Upon the photographer’s return and photos taken, the subjects were asked to sign a waiver that their images could be used publicly.

At the conclusion of the project Jamie had a public screening of his video on a small screen and it was obvious that he had all the makings for a very impressive art work. I indicated that on a huge wall in its own space it was likely to be a winner.

Almost a year later Jamie has teamed up with Chula to present, what I call, phase 2 of Sorry, can you wait one minute?

While still not on the huge screen that I hope it lights up one day, the exhibition of the piece of video art plus photographs (large ones under glass and smaller ones mounted on cardboard) is quite a wow!

It’s a joyous sort of exhibition which is probably why Chula was chosen as the right venue for it

While chula is a Spanish colloquialism for ‘cool’ I maintain that Chula in Hanoi is best described as cool and full of joy

Thus phase 2 is one of those exhibitions that you should take in with joyful gusto

The framed photographs come across as fresh and vivacious, even the ones where a few subjects still have that bewildered stare on their faces or a not so relaxed pose.

Smaller images are scattered throughout Chula…under stairs, in trees, on statues, in the ornate altar room …..

……and in the inviting courtyard café that is a newer, and joyously feeling addition to the Chula complex

Sometimes the photographs may have a bitter sweet tinge to them if the subjects you know have died or become less active

It seems to be a fairly eclectic range of subjects, primarily Vietnamese, with varying degrees of fame, social status, age and lifestyles, and those savvy with the art cliques in the city will recognize people wrapped up in their winter woolies (It was a chilly December last year)

And my favorite that expresses the jump for joy of it all

The video presented in the foyer of Chula is well worth pulling up a Chula design chair and watching in its entirety, with the sound turned up. Its been nicely edited and the sound…mainly a lot of white noise…has its delightful moments as the bemused/bewildered subjects use up that vital minute when left alone. Some stand still, others fidget, some move in and out of screen, some attempt to digitalize the experience.

I particularly liked the sequences featuring pairs or trios

I can imagine the whole stock and caboodle in a major gallery with the video on a forever loop and with even more of the permissive ‘victims’ included

A totally delicious exhibition in a totally delicious setting

I didn’t ask the photographer for proper images from his collection or for a bit of the video because, even though taking photos of photos (and excellent ones at that) is stupider than taking coals to Newcastle or salt water to Halong Bay, I’m hoping that I may persuade some people who want add a bit-or a bit more- joy to their lives to visit Chula before Dec 5 to experience the real thing

PS: I wish I could persuade Diego from Chula to part with this designer outdoor table setting