KVT – Project Black up in Smoke

KVT gets a documentary head buzz

Went to the back room at the Cinematheque with high hopes on the last day of leap year February. Project Black was back! The other events in the series that I’d previously seen were nicely provocative and gave me two outstanding art buzzes that I’ve raved about in earlier opinion pieces.

As usual the night in the room – that was packed on both levels with mainly local arty looking types with a couple of bewildered looking westerners thrown in for good measure – began with a performance art bit. Performer Nguyen Xuan Hoang gave a longish piece wherein he phoned up a pre-determined list of well known Vietnamese artists and attempted to interview them. Apart from enjoying the various musical ring tones owned by the victims, I was uncomfortable with Hoang’s premise, as the invasion of privacy in a public forum seemed very callous. But, then, I hate TV programs like Candid Camera for the same reason. But in most of those shows the bunny usually has the option of having their embarrassment deleted before the show goes to air (thank goodness for liability laws).

The documentary “Clash” set around the life and art of young lacquer artist Chu Viet Cuong was, I thought, the strongest and most cohesive that Taiwanese film maker Wei, has shown so far in the series. The subtitling was a smidgin Vinglish but that’s a trifling crtiticism. As is usual the paintings that the artist has been seen working on in the film are displayed as the lights go up. The triptych of lacquer female nudes were interesting in a decorative way but not enough so to make me want to ooh and aah.

However it was the smellorama effect that left me gasping. The enclosed room forgot to enforce its no smoking rule and a small coterie of the viewing artists were puffing away like vintage train engines. Cuong, the documentary’s enfant terrible, was continually filmed enveloped with smoke and fumes issuing from his nostrils or whisping up from finger held fag ends – in fact the doco would add smug grins to the faces of all Phillip Morris executives – and by the end of it all I felt as if I’d been an essential part of the action and had, visually and actually, inhaled enough second hand smoke and nicotine to give me a prolonged head buzz and watering eyes. As a performance art piece it was a smoking success though I suggest that next time they hold the event in the open air courtyard.

Whatever! I’ll still be there because overall I still think it’s a worthwhile and innovative concept. I’ll be the member of the audience wearing a gas mask!