Installation by AP Nguyễn. Curator Bill Nguyễn
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…
“Look at this trove
Treasures untold
How many wonders can one cavern hold?
Looking around here you'd think
Sure, she's got everything”
And so it goes, one of The Little Mermaid’s ⁽¹⁾ most memorable moments, where we see Princess Ariel swirl around in her secret grotto, excitedly singing about the mundane objects she has collected during her exploration of shipwrecks and caves under the sea - objects that have been discarded, lost or forgotten by those living above the surface of water. In the exhibition ‘Lovecore’⁽²⁾ by artist AP Nguyễn, a similar sense of sweetness and strangeness, of wonder and puzzlement, emerges. For here, the artist also welcomes us into her personal treasure trove which has been accumulated over the years, and openly displays - for our viewing pleasure - the objects of her own desires and dreams, in all their brilliance, vulnerability, and honesty.
Penjing. Áo dài. Hạ Long Bay. Picture frame. Bikini bottoms. Karaoke. ‘Vietnam - my home country’. Appearing in this exhibition are but a few objects, phrases and images (or rather, subjects of enquiry), selected from AP’s ongoing project which started in 2017 when the artist left Vietnam to study and live abroad. Embracing her position as someone twin-cultured, having always been fascinated by both the kitsch and camp⁽³⁾, and to all things “quintessentially Vietnamese”⁽⁴⁾. AP makes art that takes inspiration from, brings together, and at times, sits uncomfortably between personal memories and public imagination. Borrowing from popular cultural phenomenon, utilizing the aesthetic of mass-produced souvenirs, as well as their well-known and over-exhausted iconography, AP playfully subverts the conventions and expectation of such objects and images - by altering their properties and functions, or by weaving in her autobiographical reflections and experiences. Thus, her work teases with what we think we know.
Footnotes
- ‘The Little Mermaid ‘is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures, loosely based on the original 1837 Danish fairy tale of the same name written by Hans Christian Andersen. In the mid 1990s, together with other Walt Disney box office hits, ‘The Little Mermaid’ arrived in Vietnam in the form of videotapes, and has since then become a part of Vietnamese local popular culture.
- The title of the show refers to an Internet aesthetic (born out of TikTok, Instagram and Tumblr) that celebrates love and nostalgia, often incorporating the colors pink, red and white, and heart-shaped pattern, and is “based on the visual culture of manufactured romance and affection.
- Traditionally, kitsch is associated with Western culture, especially with the post-industrial revolution when society started to grow affluent and more people had more time for entertainment and recreation. As “cheap imitations, humble religious art objects, vulgar souvenirs, and kinky antiques”, kitsch is mass-produced, combining stylistic conventions of vastly different periods, countries and cultures. Kitsch is popularized and adored by many because of its accessibility, affordability and what scholar/critic Matei Călinescu referred to as “instant beauty”. Often hard to distinguish from kitsch, camp “cultivates bad taste… as a form of superior refinement,” and is at times consciously used by artists to “subvert the conventions of a “good taste” that eventually leads to sclerosis of academicism.”
- Taken from AP Nguyễn’s artist statement, November 2020. Here, the phrase “things quintessentially Vietnamese” refers to the ideas, images and locations that have come to symbolize an imagination of what constitutes ‘Vietnam’. They themselves have been turned into mass-produced souvenirs one collects as they go on holiday (i.e. keychain, fridge magnet, picture frame, postcard etc.), or interior decors one displays in their home. Visually connected by a kitsch aesthetic, these objects express not only a yearning to possess (a place or a culture), but also a need to hold onto the past (one’s memory and impression of said place/culture).
Artist Bio
AP Nguyễn (b. Hanoi, 1999) is a contemporary artist practicing in the mediums of sculpture, painting, video and writing. She is informed by her experiences of migration and movement, and is interested in the notions of the ‘cute’ and ‘zany’, two aesthetic categories coined by scholar Sianne Ngai. Within her works, Ap Nguyễn explores both the historical and modern mythologies of water. She examines bodies of water, ocean water and water used for cleansing, drinking and rejuvenating. Language is also an important factor of her work - allowing for wordplay and poetry to influence how she understands everyday concepts and material artifacts. Drawing from the kitsch and the carnivalesque her aesthetic approach is playful and transformative by using the mundane to craft a spectacle.
Before the pandemic, she had started studying art at Chelsea College of Arts, London. During the pandemic, she was in her sophomore year and returned to Vietnam as a precaution. Here she began to experiment with clay and lacquer painting and with this material and its rich cultural history opened up new meanings and perspectives on the world. AP Nguyen is fellow of Manzi’s residency program.
This is part of
Manzi’s art programme supported by the
Goethe-Institut.
Communications Partner
hanoigrapevine.com
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