KVT – An Exponential Experience in My Dinh
KVT a bit late with a bit about a soopa show
Had a soopa doopa piece written in praise of one of the most soopa doopa art shows in Hanoi this year and my computer decided to have a soopa hissy fit and vomit all over the place and I lost it completely….so here’s a digested version and later in the year I plan to write a retrospective piece on spectacular artist Tran Trong Vu that will pay correct homage to his artistry.
The soopa doopa show was at a soopa doopa new art space in My Dinh
As this is Tran Trong Vu’s 50th year on the planet it was fitting that he premiered his important new work in the city of his birth. He now lives in Paris and his work is internationally acclaimed
The walk around installation of 60 oil paintings on long, transparent plastic sheets was at the ultra modern Heritage Art Space underneath the soaring new Dolphin Plaza…and in my opinion, if a few more elegant art galleries and spaces were able to establish in the immediate vicinity, we’d have a perfect suburban art hub that would compliment the present hub which is loosely congregated within a km or two of the city center.
The best way for a novice to take in Tran Trong Vu’s installation, THE EXPONENTS WITHOUT NUMBER is to sit back and view the short video that takes you on a journey through its maze
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/107407936[/vimeo]
A recent article by George Monbiot in the Guardian Newspaper about loneliness and social isolation (although it is based on research in the UK it could be a globalized epidemic with more profound effects than Ebola) seemed to succinctly nail Tran Trong Vu’s themes ….and an apt piece is quoted here:
These structural changes have been accompanied by a life-denying ideology, which enforces and celebrates our social isolation. The war of every man against every man – competition and individualism, in other words – is the religion of our time, justified by a mythology of lone rangers, sole traders, self-starters, self-made men and women, going it alone. For the most social of creatures, who cannot prosper without love, there is no such thing as society, only heroic individualism. What counts is to win. The rest is collateral damage.
A few images:
And an image of the cricket perched on the concrete block which pulls you up with a startled jolt when it confronts you during your wanders
Here’s a good place to introduce the artist’s blogspot which gives a detailed history of Tran Trong Vu’s excursions into 3D installations
One I saw this year on my travels complements the themes in EXPONENTS
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/63001510[/vimeo]
And another exhibited at Manzi early this year and perhaps with a similar theme, was some pieces from 18 PROPOSALS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE and featured the engrossing CORRESPONDENCE OF A LONELY MAN
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/63002815[/vimeo]
Tran Trong Vu’s plastic sheeted installations since 20008 have dealt with a variety of important issue exampled in these examples that I’ve stolen from that excellent blogspot
Installation of 45 suspended transparent plastic sheets, as a huge labyrinth.
Installation de 45 feuilles suspendues de plastique transparent, sous forme d’un grand labyrinthe.
“The panels, like heavy shower curtains, feature South Vietnamese soldiers on one side and on the other, unseen from the first side, North Vietnamese soldiers. The panels allow visitors to actually enter the work. There is also the feeling of nature and the jungle, imparted by floral patterns. As you move through the panels, you get a sense of the horror, fear and confusion “as Vietnamese brothers killed each other using foreign weapons” (The Australian)
Installation de 70 images réalisées sur plastique transparent.
Publié par “Painting like Writing is a Violation of Intimacy” à 06:08 Aucun commentaire:
About 20 young girls in two piece bathing suit, red color, life size, painted on transparent plastic sheets (100cm X 250cm), suspended in the open air to create a huge 3D image. The viewers can approach and enter the image to discover the setting in scene of the Miss Contest.
My work proposes an ironic and ambiguous glance on a cultural reality in Vietnam by creating a Beauty Contest and by inviting the public to attend it. The beauty of these young girls can deaden the cultural need of an individual who looks at them, but can it replace the need for cultural and artistic exchanges at the national level, in the globalization of today?
These last years, one of the most outstanding symbols of the globalization in Vietnam is the flowering of Miss Contests in all the country. Direct products of the Doi Moi (renovation period), the Miss Contests are extremely applauded by Vietnam, as if they were huge cultural activities. If cultural activities and art disciplines in Vietnam remain timid in front of the globalization by fear of losing their traditional identity, these Miss Contests on the contrary, and more than ever, keep open spirit, without any concern for the national identity.
Candidates and organizers of Miss Contests are ready to ignore traditional and decency rules for Vietnamese women, in order to show the body’s beauty in public places. They are congratulated by Cultural and Ideological Management Services. They are as well admired by the general public. But while a visual art exhibition represents nudity, it receives certainly many criticisms and discussions on the national identity, the Vietnamese manners and the moral values.
Well done Misses! Well done Globalization!
Publié par “Painting like Writing is a Violation of Intimacy” à 11:16 Aucun commentaire:
Installation, transparent plastic sheets in 12 pairs, each sheet 100 x 270cm.
Some people feel more confident thanks to photographic tools. This is a chance for them to show their right of owning not only the camera but also the subject taken by the camera. In other words, camera have taken them to the position of subject and every thing else around them is object. Taken pictures also helps the camera owners to show their power. They have all the privileges to control the lens and choose their subject.
Publié par “Painting like Writing is a Violation of Intimacy” à 13:26 1 commentaire:
A lot of Tran Trong Vu’s fans are more enamored with his art works on paper or canvas
And an overview of these biting, ironic, sarcastic, farcical etc (take your pick) can be found here.
The Heritage art show featured a very more-ish 3 sided installation on corrugated plastic
Which is probably closely associated with the very more-ish men in aeroplanes which I’d love to see installed as a hanging, 3D maze
And which were even more delightful when viewed through the isolates
BRILLIANT SHOW
| Kiem Van Tim is a keen observer of life in general and the Hanoi cultural scene in particular and offers some of these observations to the Grapevine. KVT insists that these observations and opinion pieces are not critical reviews. Please see our Comment Guidelines / Moderation Policy and add your thoughts in the comment field below. |
The ‘cricket’ in Tran Tron Vu’s installation is actually a Praying Mantis. The female devours the male at her leisure as they copulate which I think has a bearing on the creature’s appearance in the show.