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Bang Nhat Linh

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Summer Grasses

Bang Nhat Linh

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The Vacant Chair

2013-2015

Mixed-media installation, repurposed pilot chair found from a MiG-21 aircraft, wooden frames, two-way mirror, LED monitor, single-channel video: 00:18:28, cotton swab holder made out of found 50 mm bullet case, cotton swabs, ceramic box, comb made out of found remnants of a B-52 aircraft, music sheet of the song The Vacant Chair engraved on plexiglass, lacquered photo album, found photographs, stamps and maps, handwritten notes

Dimensions variable

Cameraman: Tran Minh Tuan 
Editors: Bang Hai Ngoc and Tran Luong 
Actors: Veterans Nguyen Khac Nhi and Duong Phu Hien

As an attempt to re-bridge and tranquilize a haunting passage of history, The Vacant Chair encompasses a collection of objects that sing. A rusted chair that once served as the seat of an airstrike pilot during the Vietnam-American War is now positioned in front of a single-channel video for this installation. There, two war veterans from the two ends of a deeply divided country reconvene through an act of mutual grooming, reminiscing of a long-gone past – the tales of which have more or less become smoldering lullabies. In the other corner of the room hung the music sheet of the song The Vacant Chair, once popular during the American Civil War. As a whole, the work invites us to think about what constitutes the making of peacetime and what has been left behind during this process. 

The work is on permanent display at EMASI Nam Long, HCMC, Vietnam.

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Exhibition history:

– Mien Meo Mieng, curated by Tran Luong, Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden, 2015.
– The Vacant Chair, Nhà Sàn Collective, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2015.
– The Vacant Chair, Dia Projects, HCMC, Vietnam, 2015.
– People, Victory, and Life after the War, curated by Gridthiya Gaweewong, Nguyễn Art Foundation, HCMC, Vietnam, 2021.