» Pierced

In Pierced, Tuan Andrew Nguyen unveils the lethal velocity of modern warfare by de- and re-contextualizing weaponized images of technological advancement. Taking the form of bamboo curtains colored in a gradient of blues, the artwork unfolds layers of imagery that pierce through each screen, centered around a high-speed photograph of a bullet caught mid-trajectory – a visual reference to Harold Edgerton’s pioneering strobe photography of the 1960s. But where Edgerton’s iconic image of a bullet piercing an apple celebrated photograhic and scientific vision, Nguyen suspends this ballistic terror and renders it across the fragile bamboo curtains. 

Oscillating between opacity and transparency, the curtains act as both a porous veil and a moving screen. As we part and move through this everyday domestic material, the strands sway and clack, and the image accordingly splinters. The visuals shift continuously in sync with our movement and interaction, much like the flight path of the bullet itself – tearing through its surroundings and leaving only fragmentation and ruins in its wake. Yet, the artwork invites us to physically step through these relics of history, to gently part the line of fire with our own bodies. As the painted nodes quietly reunite and the curtains fall back in place, the shattered memories are softly rearranged back together, potentializing a glimpse of reconciliation and recovering.