Untitled (Heads)
2013 - Installation (Installation)
Dimensions variable
Phan Thao Nguyên
On September 22, 1940 the French signed an accord, which granted Japanese troops the right to occupy Indochina. The Japanese presence in Indochina lasted until the end of World War II and during the occupation, jute supplies from India were interrupted. Jute was used to make sacks as well as gunpowder, a crucial material for the war industry. Looking for new jute supplies, the Japanese authorities forced Vietnamese farmers to uproot rice and grow jute. This was one of the main reasons for the horrific famine in North Vietnam in 1945, resulting in the death of 2 million people. The installation Untitled (Heads) by Phan Thao Nguyên is made from locally grown jute plant. For this project, the artist dried the jute stalks, cut them into smaller modules and then manually combined them into a structure. The structure is similar to the shape of a chandelier, but is actually inspired by the Ma Mot tree, a ritualistic tree constructed by Thai minorities in Northern Vietnam for religious purposes. Totems made from animal bones and amulets are hung on the Ma Mot tree, each object representing a dead or evil spirit. The purpose of this action is to cure illness. The artist hung portraits of farmers whom she interviewed during the course of her research from the branches in an attempt to create a ritual yet individualized space of healing from painful histories. Through this artwork, the jute plant, a body that is both the cause and witness of a tragic event, is infused with poetic meaning.
Phan Thao Nguyên is a multimedia artist who uses painting, installation, video, and performance to depict historical events, narrative traditions, and minor gestures that challenge received ideas and social conventions. Nguyên’s work combines references to history, literature, philosophy, and open poetic spaces conducive to reflection. Through literature, philosophy, and daily life, she observes ambiguous issues in social convention, history, and tradition. The artist is expanding her “theatrical fields”, including what she calls performance gesture and moving images. Nguyên is also a member of the collective Art Labor, which explores cross-disciplinary practices and develops art projects that will benefit the local community.
Colors:
Related works sharing similar palette
© » KADIST
Michael Rakowitz
2017The Ballad of Special Ops Cody by Michael Rakowitz is a serio-comic stop motion animated film in which an everyday African-American G...
© » KADIST
Elisheva Biernoff
2009In her recent work, Biernoff is interested in investigating fictions and fantasies embedded in the remnants of consumer culture (for example magazines) or through ephemera such as postcards and old photographs...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
Who pays for art? (via Bangkok Post) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Radar July 12, 2018 Should museums be funded by the state or by private sponsors? The question looms large with the current problems at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), the largest publicly-funded art gallery in the country — and with the rise of many private galleries that seem to flourish with the burgeoning art scene...
© » KADIST
Edgar Arceneaux
2006Untitled (Wheelchair Drawing) is a ten-foot photo transfer of the image of a wheelchair with burning embers in its seat...
© » KADIST
Photo-writing Sammy Baloji and Filip De Boeck in conversation with Dominique Malaquais “Starting from our own practice, a collaborative ‘photo-writing’ between a visual artist and an anthropologist, this presentation will reflect on the possibilities of combining various artistic and anthropological approaches and inroads into the city (in our own case this means the urban contexts of the Global South, in particular Central Africa)...
© » KADIST
Bady Dalloul
2017geopoliticalThe Great Game is a series of works composed of a number of card combinations illustrated by the faces of key political figures shaping the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East...
© » KADIST
Lim Sokchanlina
2017The photographic series Wrapped Future II by Lim Sokchanlina brings fences used on construction sites to enclose the surrounding areas, to different locations, lakes, valleys and forests; and places them at the center of works to obscure the beautiful Cambodian landscape...
© » DAZED DIGITAL
Taylor Swift deepfake porn is the tip of the AI iceberg | Dazed â¬…ï¸ Left Arrow *ï¸âƒ£ Asterisk â Star Option Sliders âœ‰ï¸ Mail Exit Life & Culture Feature The recent wave of AI-generated celebrity porn highlights the harmful role of text-to-image models in enabling image-based sexual abuse 12 February 2024 Text Brit Dawson For those who’ve been keeping track of the ever-advancing abuse of deepfake technology, the story sadly came as no surprise...
© » KADIST
Chemi Rosado-Seijo
2016Map of the Universe from El Cerro continues Chemi Rosado-Seijo’s long-term engagement with the community of El Cerro , a rural, working-class community living in the mountains of Naranjito, Puerto Rico...
© » LARRY'S LIST
Collect Like an Expert: How to Find Great Emerging Artists | Art & Object Skip to main content Subscribe to our free e-letter! Webform Your Email Address Your Role Art Collector/Enthusiast Artist Art World Professional Academic Country USA Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Ascension Island Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia & Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Canary Islands Cape Verde Caribbean Netherlands Cayman Islands Central African Republic Ceuta & Melilla Chad Chile China Christmas Island Clipperton Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo - Brazzaville Congo - Kinshasa Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curaçao Cyprus Czechia Côte d’Ivoire Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard & McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao SAR China Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar (Burma) Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands North Korea North Macedonia Norway Oman Outlying Oceania Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Réunion Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka St...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
The working processes of artists: NADA | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles June 22, 2020 Artists Rizman Putra and Safuan Johari of the duo NADA talk about the evolution of their artistic practice, from being a fictional band at the Malay Heritage Centre to becoming an international art/music juggernaut...
