KVT – Phơi sáng và khuấy động tại Nhà Sàn Collective

… it could have been fabulous to get fascinated with the “familiar stuff’ displayed by Nguyen Thuy Tien at Nha San Collective …
… if only one could get rid of this nagging sensation of being radically dumbed down…

Thanks to KVT for seemingly being everywhere at the same time and caring for and talking about art and culture so consistently.

One small technical correction – the original Skylines exhibition of this work was 2 years ago in 2012, not 1 year ago. This has been said a couple of times and I just wanted it mentioned. It does seem like only yesterday…….

But much has happened in those 2 years – for better and for less good. Thanks again, KVT and Hanoi Grapevine!

I would like to respond quietly to the comment made below critical of the installed work of Thuy Tien at the exhibition Narratives Of Exposure/Phoi Sang.

The very purpose of the space at Nha San Collective – a single, tiny room devoted to experimentation, art, youth, investigation and the intersection of all of those – sitting as it is in the middle of stale commercial drudgery, censorial policies, and hollow educational landscapes, is to support and provide space to those young artists for whom support and space would otherwise not exist. Functioning with little more than determination to do this work (because it would otherwise not be done), it seems nothing short of miraculous that Nha San Studio/Collective continues to exist and, even, thrive.

Of course when works-in-progress and experiments are put on public display there is the temptation to look at these works in the same light as a finished work. This is a mistake. It is the reason these exhibitions are mostly called ‘open studios’/mo xuong and they should be considered as such. One should also enter into these experiences open-minded to this idea. One will see imperfection. One will see failure. One should not be disappointed by this experience. One should celebrate that this opportunity is available to the artists and EQUALLY available to the viewing public. This is major.

And so I think it is condescending to look at the honest and personal experimentation of Thuy Tien, who at age 20 and still a college student is pursuing a multiplicity of visual and performative investigations of her own life and her relationship to the world around her in a way a far more senior artist might envy, and express disappointment at not being ‘fascinated’. I dont think it is anyone’s purpose to supply this sensation to any other person and certainly it is not an artist’s role. One may not like a work – whether in progress or not, whether an experiment or a completed thought; that is the prerogative of the viewer. But the artist owes you nothing. Nothing. And I think as an artist, and a mature one, you know this. So I found the comment you placed here as a kind of shorthanded complaint to be pretty much unhelpful and, ultimately, irrelevant. Calling a young artist’s work ‘radically dumbed down’ is pretty strong stuff and I wonder where the moral authority, which you seem to wield so mightily and offhandedly, where did that come from and why does it matter? Your judgement implies a superiority – to the work and to the artist – and, honestly, calls your position as critic into question, not the work of the person whose creativity you are so cavalierly demeaning.

Imagine, if you will, that there was no Nha San Collective and these works were not simply not-permitted, but not ABLE to be seen because there was no place for them. How dumbed down would we all be for that condition? How much the poorer for the creative environment here in Vietnam? What could provide the fascination then?

And if you find points of disagreement with my comments here, that is alright. I simply think a more thorough and thoughtful critique of the work you disparage would be a better use of your ink than disagreeing with me. Please consider, as you think, your place in the world – where you’re from, your background, opportunities, etc. – and how that possibly relates to your life in Vietnam and to what you write here and why any of this, in the end, really matters at all.

Thanks so much.

Jamie

Dear Jamie,

Thank you for your comment. I appreciate the fact that you have spent time and energy in putting your thoughts in writing, and most importantly, for sharing them publicly on the Hanoi Grapevine.

In turn, allow me to spend time, “ink”, as you put it, and energy in reply to your writing and to address your grievances.

Firstly, I applaud your passionate defense of Nha San Collective’s platform for the experimental arts, though it was hardly needed, if directed as it appears, to my personal understanding and appreciation of it. As an artist I support any platform for the arts, as long as it is non – restrictive and non – elitist.

Secondly, re:”And so I think it is condescending to look at the honest and personal experimentation of Thuy Tien, who at age 20 and still a college student is pursuing a multiplicity of visual and performative investigations of her own life and her relationship to the world around her in a way a far more senior artist might envy, and express disappointment at not being ‘fascinated’.”

Now, you are entitled to your judgment, but what concerns “envy” as an expression of age relations, as in young vs not so young/old, or seniority, as in junior vs senior, and maturity as an expression of experience — what makes you presume it to be the case?
Are you inferring that I have a problem expressing my life experiences and / or my sexuality in my art, because I am old for that, or what?
What do you know about my art?
What are your assumptions based on?
So, on one hand you are excusing an artist and on the other, accusing another artist on the basis of their age.
If I may say so, this is known as ageism and not very pleasant neither to the excused, nor to the accused — it is patronizing to both.

Thirdly, what concerns my ability to get or not to get fascinated — is my private business, which I am at a liberty to publicly declare or not, which was the case of placing my comment on THG under an article I read; which I have the right to do as much as any member of the public.
Do you disagree with this given by THGV freedom, Jamie, or you disagree with my personal freedom to do so?

What concerns my “disappointment”, as you put it — what makes you think that you can tell anybody, not just me, how they “should” or “should not” feel?
You say:” I dont think it is anyone’s purpose to supply this sensation to any other person and certainly it is not an artist’s role”.

What is the artist’s role, Jamie, if not to supply through their work a myriad of sensations — whatever these might be — to whoever looks or is exposed to it?
Forgive me, but isn’t art “a sensual form of truth” by definition? And if you do not agree with that, then what is it that artists are doing according to you, Jamie? Stuff?

You say: “… the artist owes you nothing. Nothing. And I think as an artist, and a mature one, you know this. ”
Your last assertion is your fancy and I personally do not know such thing.
In my understanding, the artists owe their public everything, unless they do it strictly for themselves and do not show their work publicly at all.
As Albert Camus famously said: “Artists have a guilty consciousness. They need to confess. A work of Art is a confession”.

Re:”Calling a young artist’s work ‘radically dumbed down’ is pretty strong stuff and I wonder where the moral authority, which you seem to wield so mightily and offhandedly, where did that come from and why does it matter? Your judgment implies a superiority – to the work and to the artist – and, honestly, calls your position as critic into question, not the work of the person whose creativity you are so cavalierly demeaning.”

If you’ve read my remark more carefully, you might have noticed that I did not call this artist’s work “dumbed down”.
I relied on her description and referred to it as “familiar stuff”.
But, having “a nagging sensation of being radically dumbed down” is my prerogative and saying so privately or publicly is my right, no matter how this might unsettle you or anybody else.
In fact, you have misconstrued what I said.
However, the implication that my feelings were caused by this artists work is correct and I have nothing further to add to that.
The fact, that her work produced an effect on someone’s feelings is enough for her, or any artist for that mater, to claim they have done something noteworthy in the literal sense of the word.
Would you have rather preferred my indifference as a viewer?

Now, if you asked me why I felt dumbed down — that would have been eventually a subject for a more interesting and perhaps beneficial conversation about art, not about my remark or me, or your outrage with me.

So, lets come to the further accusations you level at me – concerning wielding moral authority — I honestly have no Idea of why you perceive my comment to be so — I did not accuse the work of immorality and my comment contained no moral connotations, as far as I can see.
The “implied superiority to this artist or her work” is your interpretation and it belongs to your mind, but not mine.
To this I juxtapose my feeling of being radically dumbed down or feeling stupid, when the significance of what I am looking at is beyond my grasp.

In conclusion, on the basis of your moral outrage and indignation with my remark and my person, you bring into question my entire contribution to this web site, which I was asked to provide by its founder in 2012, precisely because of my straightforward comments on its pages.
This is not paid work and it takes much time away from my creative pursuits as an artist; it requires considerable effort on my part to keep the commitment I made.
This should be enough of an answer to your deeply embarrassing appeal to me below:
“Please consider, as you think, your place in the world – where you’re from, your background, opportunities, etc. – and how that possibly relates to your life in Vietnam and to what you write here and why any of this, in the end, really matters at all.”

Lastly, I thank you for bringing to my and readers attention your concerns with my contribution to The Hanoi Grapevine.

All best,

Ilza.