Carrying TV
set, dancing in rubbish 23/03/2009 VietNamNet
Bridge – An art show with the provocative name “Trash Mind”
recently
took place in Hanoi. It was a performance art and video show by three
artists: Le Nguyen Manh from Hanoi, Le Van Son from Hue and Christian
Falsnaes
from Denmark. The Hanoi
Future Art, No. 64, Alley 310, Nghi Tam Road, Hanoi, was full that day.
This
address has recently become a popular centre for young
contemporary art, such as installation, performance art
and video
art. The three
artists had three different shows, as well as a common one. Without any
explanations, the audience could feel the messages that they conveyed. Le Van
Son
industriously ran on the spot. His shadow projected on the wall. At the
same
time a video projection showed his running feet, at a regular pace,
which can be
compared
with a humdrum machine. The video clip was displayed on an arytenoids
screen,
creating a special effect of tthe feet directing to an infinite road. Running
for
over 30 minutes in cold air, the artist looked like an athlete. Son
tried to
express the struggle of humans in modern society. The race cannot stop,
but it
is tiring, boring and tense. Son’s show raised questions that are
difficult to
answer. Le Nguyen
Manh struggled with a big piece of nylon. He seemed to be tied, and
choking in
the struggle with transparent compulsions. Behind him, the screen
showed a
big
fish striving on a piece of glass. With this
performance, Manh’s message was quite clear. After the show, he said:
“I wanted
to show the dying moments when individuals cannot find a suitable
environment.
The environment is not only air, but it is much broader.” The work
by
Christian Falsnaes looked funny, which helped change the dull
atmosphere caused
by the two previous shows of the Vietnamese artists. Falsnaes stood and
sang in
front of a 3x4m painting. The
speaker
was loud with a song by Modern Talking. On the screen we saw the
singing
Falsnaes in a costume reminiscent of a pop star in the middle of the
disordered streets. Behind him,
Manh and Son held a painting (which was shown in the performance) to
hide parts
of the ugly background. The work exposed the ludicrous romantic fashion. While
the Vietnamese artists looked at big issues of the human race, the
foreign
artist
lively expressed the contemporary atmosphere in Vietnam. Many audience
members,
including artists, writers and journalists liked Christian’s approach. The key
show was the common one, when the three artists wore the costumes of
street
cleaners and a TV set on their heads to dance in the room. On the
screen, they
performed between rubbish trolleys. The
performance of the three artists proves that Vietnam’s contemporary art
is
integrating into the world. VietNamNet/TP
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