» Rubber Soap Tobacco

In Rubber Soap Tobacco, Nguyen Phuong Linh transforms memory into matter. The work consists of three monumental cubes – one of rubber, one of soap, one of tobacco – each weighing hundreds of kilograms and mounted on iron bases. These dense, minimalist blocks function as sensorial time capsules, reviving the atmosphere of Hanoi’s Nguyen Trai Street two decades ago, where three major factories once stood side by side.

As a student, Phuong Linh would pass these factories daily, enveloped by the pungent mix of their smells – the heavy acridness of rubber, the sharp cleanness of soap, the earthy bitterness of tobacco. These scents became embedded in her consciousness, a strange combination of pride and discomfort, representing not only the pulse of the city’s industry but also its uneasy leap into modernization in the aftermath of war.

By isolating these raw materials and presenting them as minimalist cubes, Phuong Linh reduces an entire chapter of urban and economic history to its most elemental sensory markers. The installation engages the viewer’s body as much as their mind – inviting them to smell, to remember, to confront how collective memory is shaped not just by sight but by scent, labor, and the industrial production that once defined a generation’s idea of progress.

The work is on permanent display at EMASI Van Phuc, HCMC, Vietnam.