» Sanctified Clouds

Almost 200 small masses of Sanctified Clouds fly over the wall, foam beautifully and shine in a blue hue – the blue of peace, Oriental ceramics, and sacred mosaic paintings in Arabic temples. However, looking closely, we realize that these soft white are not clouds, but actually the masses of dust and smoke bursting all around. Nguyen Phuong Linh collected images of bomb explosions, initially in the Vietnam War, and then gradually expanded to other conflict areas in the Middle East. This expansion seems to be a reasonable progression along the historical timeline, yet it is strikingly cruel when it demonstrates the never-ending repetition of acts of armed forces throughout human history. To emphasize further the insensitive violence of bombing, Phuong Linh cut off the entire context of the photos, leaving only smoke and dust swirling in midair. When viewers are immersed in seemingly harmless and splendid clouds printed on pottery sheets, one suddenly awakens from the aesthetic illusion and realizes that he or she has fallen into a cloud of burning dust from hundreds of thousands of bombs. When the exploded cloud dissolved, another explosion occurred to generate another cloud. They become immortal like saints. 

The work is on permanent display at the Khai Sang headquarters, Paragon, HCMC, Vietnam.

(Edited from text excerpts provided by Arlette Quynh-Anh Tran)