Multimedia installation at the main hall of Museum of Biology - University of Science Hanoi, Citizen Earth group exhibition
Lakes, 2019 - 2020
Site-specific multimedia installation
Acid-treated mirrors, sound design by Nhung Nguyen, wooden plinths
Dimensions variable
“Water and water surfaces are integral for Hanoi, not only physically but also spiritually. Taking this inspiration from the historical and cultural significance of water in the form of lakes and ponds in Vietnamese culture and spiritual life, Chi L. Nguyễn created ‘Lakes’. The unique network of lakes and ponds together with the Red River in Hanoi helps create natural open spaces, interwoven in the built elements of the city and above all, has distinctive geographical, environmental, economical as well as historical, and cultural significance. However, these lakes and ponds are rapidly being vanished or degraded due to various reasons including waste dumps, landfill, urbanization and privatization of public spaces. Ironically during her research, Chi found out the majority of “spiritual waste” from daily rituals in the city including old wooden alters, ceramic incense holders or lucky money’s ashes is the reason for the pollution of Hanoi lakes.
Chi’s long interest in folk tales and knowledge and how these traditions sometimes teach us much more about living in harmony with nature than modern science led her to the exploration of mirror painting technique from an old artisan and the reinterpretation of different Buddhist symbols. The fragility of the mirror as well as the technique of forming images by erasing parts of the mirrors, and the sound is a poetic reminder of Hanoi lakes and ponds’ appearance and disappearance and our human impermanent existence on earth.”
Text
Đỗ Tường Linh
Exhibition view photographs
Trịnh Quang Linh, Di sản Trung hưng
Photographs of artworks
Nguyễn Đình Hưng, Trần Thảo Miên
Sound design
Nhung Nguyen (Sound Awakener)
Filming
Trịnh Quang Linh
Detail of an acid-treated mirror
Curator’s tour with Đỗ Tường Linh
Artist’s notes ----
Vietnam is an agricultural producing country. Since ancient time, Vietnamese people had to rely on natural forces in order to maintain their agricultural production. With animism as well as the amalgamation of folk beliefs and Buddhist notions, for long, Vietnamese people worship natural forces as gods and deities. Specifically for agriculture, water is among the most sacred elements. Hence, there are numeral folk tales and theophanies in relation to the element of water.
However, in modern life, after religious rituals, people discard the religious objects such as altars, ceramic incense holders and votive money ashes to natural sites, right back to places with the said sacred element. Instead of sending these objects to the assigned places for waste or finding a more sustainable alternative, they believe by doing so, it would prevent them from being disrespectful towards the holy. Therefore, lakes, rivers and other open water spaces became places for discarding religious waste objects.
Born and raised in Hanoi, I have a special attachment to the city’s lakes and ponds with early memories of sightseeing lakes with my parents. In front of our family’s house, there used to be two lakes situated within very close distance to each other (Hoàng Cầu lake and Đống Đa lake). Back in the days, beside being a peaceful scenery, Hoàng Cầu lake was used as a site to soak buffaloes and cow bones for artisanal crafting process. That degraded the water condition of the lake and created horrific odor. In 2010, Hoàng Cầu lake was landfilled due to urban city planning while it was used as a parking lot for several years. Eventually, it became the land for high-rises. Đống Đa lake has a different fate. It is preserved as a city lake, yet beside its seemingly tranquil and idyllic outlook, it has been also a site where people discard religious objects alongside daily waste.
All these have inspired me to create this site-specific multimedia installation as a response to Citizen Earth(*). My work was installed in the main hall of Museum of Biology Hanoi inside University of Science where the mosaic-tile floor, the surrounding architectural and interior details took influence from Buddhist and Vietnamese folk symbols.
The materiality of the mirror directly replicates water surfaces. However, each mirror has a specific symbol inspired from Buddhist and folk religions in Vietnam that was created through a process of destroying parts of the mirror surface with acid, leaving them transparent. I wanted to create the thresholds between contradictions. Between the alluring, glorified reflections of the historical details and the re-interpreted religious symbols on the mirrors; between the soothing sound work featured by Nhung Nguyễn and the blurry traces of my destructive process left on the glass surfaces; between one’s praise and loyalty to the divine and one’s dependence on the endless cycle of greed and desire; between being human with traditions to follow and duties to the well-being of our planet. The audience were challenged in an unsettling state, in-between contrasting extremities and are invited to question while negotiating with the said contradictions.
(*) Citizen Earth is the one-year year project by Six Space that brought together artists and researchers from various fields to broaden discussions on environmental awareness and encourage action for positive change in Vietnam with support from Goethe-Institut and Prince Claus Fund in 2020-2021