» Integral analysis no. 2

Integral analysis no. 2 takes as its point of departure the enduring presence of Lenin as a political figure in Vietnam’s historical consciousness. At its core is the east-facing Lenin statue in Hanoi, whose three o’clock shadow was measured by the artist during the spring equinox. This shadow, simultaneously ephemeral and precise, emerges from the meeting point between the natural (the sun’s path and the earth’s rotation) and the manmade monument erected to ideology.

Collaborating with a mathematician, the artist calculated the shadow at different times of day, consolidating the measurements into a single mathematical equation. Transposed onto blackboard panels, the work becomes an austere meditation on the boundaries of human thought – suggesting that even our most steadfast ideals and worldviews are ultimately shaped, and held within, the invisible order of nature.

(Edited from text excerpts provided by the artist and the 14th Istanbul Biennial)