Sounds of Dust Live Performance + Site specific installation

Curator: Liu Lifen
Artists: Jedsada Tangtrakulwong（Thailand）, Nguyen Huy An（Vietnam）, Hoang Minh Duc（Vietnam）, Vu Duc Toan（Vietnam）
Poster design: Stone
Assistant: Zhang Xuemei, Li Jianbo

Reception: 17 – 21pm, July 2, 2011
Performance start at 19:30pm
Duration: July 2 – 9, 2011

Location: 943 Space, A Zone, Loft•JinDing 1919, North Jinding Shan Road No.15, Kunming, China
Tel：0871-5385159
www.943studio.cn

With support from: 943 Studio(Kunming), Gallery Dongxi(Norway), Nha San Studio(Vietnam), Loft•Jinding 1919(Kunming)

【Preface】
Sounds of dust
By Liu Lifen and Shi Zhijie

It is the fourth time for 943 Studio to invite Vietnamese artists to involve in the Artist-in-residency program. In fact, we have been old friends with Vietnamese contemporary art even though our contact with them is not that much long. The first Vietnamese contemporary art we contacted with when we went to Vietnam in 2008 for the art exchanging program is Nha San Studio. It was founded in 1998 by Artist/Antique restorer Nguyen Manh Duc and Tran Luong, a leading artist in Vietnam. It is an independent art space run by artists and the earliest experimental contemporary art space in Vietnam, providing a stable and sustaining place for Vietnamese contemporary art. The Studio is actually Duc’s home. Nguyen Manh Duc is an artist who is engaging in traditional Vietnamese wood carving of Buddha. Therefore, the exploration of Vietnamese contemporary art was such a fantastic journey started from this room which is full of wood carving of Buddha and vajra. Our observation of Vietnamese contemporary art can be seen from a conversation between me and Stone, another member of 943 Studio.
Liu Lifen: After the Mekong Lab-Conference of Southeast Asia’s Contemporary art Collaboration, Chiangmai, in 2003, I have been feeling that Yunnan has a lot in common with south-eastern countries both in geographical and cultural aspects. Therefore I wanted to have continuous collaboration in 943 Studio’s Artist-in-residency program with south-eastern art communities, especially for Vietnam, which is always attractive for me in many ways. Perhaps it is because I sensed somewhat friendliness and gentleness from the first time of contacting it. Starting from Vietnamese, I believe there will be many more south-eastern artists accepted in our Artist-in-residency program in the future. And Jedsada Tangtrakulwong is the first Thai artist involved in the program in 2011.

Shi Zhijie: I can tell the exhibition of “Yunnan-Vietnam Female Artists exchange” in 2008 was very good and the later exchange in Vietnam was very valuable for it was the first time that Vietnamese Female Artists had their exhibition in China. It was the early 1990s that Vietnamese contemporary art started to be paid attention to. Nevertheless, it was still in a marginalized situation, let alone the exchange of group female artists. For some extent, “Yunnan-Vietnam Female Artists Exchange” project opened a door of long-term collaboration and exchange. Either they come out to view us or we go to observe them closely is a great opportunity.

Liu Lifen: The Vietnamese contemporary art itself is actually attractive to me all the time. It has a vigorous nature. For the reason of breaking out after accumulating for years, it always presents in a frank and strong way either in its attempt or in its exploration.

Shi Zhijie: Yes, it is a very precious nature. I appreciate very much their material context in their art creation. You know, when the artists create their work in a difficult circumstance, their body or those wasted cheap materials are powerful tools for them to express themselves. On the other hand, the “cruel poetry” hidden in Vietnamese nationality can be presented through their special expression.

Liu Lifen: During the past 3 years, majority artists we contact with are all focusing on installation and performance art, I would rather say that they like this kind of cheap way to keep themselves all the time in the course of seeking and creation.

Shi Zhijie: In my eyes, these young contemporary artists are all very diligent in different kind of attempt of non-frame artworks every day. There is no exception among those Vietnamese young artists I contact with.

Liu Lifen: In the processing of co-working with them, I found that their attitude towards the materials is so earnest, nearly stubborn. They usually put extreme attention in those trivial materials they have collected; sometimes they even pay a great deal of attention to those tiny dusts, such as moss and lichen, studying and testing them again and again.

Shi Zhijie: Yes. They can use whatever they got in their art creation. In their eyes, these moss and lichen are same as the forest.

Liu Lifen: Exactly, these dusts also have the ability of singing.

Shi Zhijie: If the art can be paid so much passion like this, all the dust will be able to have its own sounds and to say something. None of them is wasted.

June 28, 2011

Pictures from the performance and exhibition:

Nguyen Huy An（越南）, Hoang Minh Duc（越南）, Vu Duc Toan（越南）
梦话   Somniloquy
集体行为  Performance Art
概念Concept: 无限-不安全-永恒infinite-unsafe-everlasting
2011年6月15 – 7月1日

 

 

Jedsada Tangtrakulwong(Thailand)  “Growth”  47 x 9 x  814cm（overall dimensions） 47 x 8.6 x 10 cm (Each)
Site Specific Installation     1mm. cold rolled steel plate, oil paint   2011