'Cine Concert: Hem City' at Salon Saigon - 23.4.2019

On Tuesday 23rd April Salon Saigon presented 'Cine Concert: Hem City' by Thierry Bernard-Gotteland and Andrew Stiff, both Lecturers at RMIT University here in Saigon.
The 'Hem' in question are the ones to be found in District 4 (Hem being the local term for the narrow, often meandering alley-ways to be found all over the city).

District 4 is an interesting phenomenon, delineated by rivers that separate it on all sides from other districts thereby effectively creating an island. The rapid development of the city that has been witnessed across Saigon has previously by-passed this area creating a pocket of residential and commercial buildings that looked back over its shoulder to the past. The district was a little down-at-heel, insalubrious, frequented by shady characters.

However, more recently there has been modern encroachment around the fringes as apartment complexes sprout up, especially along the riverfront facing District 1.

Andrew Stiff has been focusing on the Hem of District 4 as he 'investigates the process of collecting, archiving and (re) producing physical and ephemeral data from the urban realm' *

Thierry, on the other hand, specialises in experimental design and audio production. He is 'investigating through the lens of context/content about audio driven experience in installation and performance art'. *

For 'Hem City' these two researchers came together to create a live performance in which both the visual and audio aspects of the work would be manipulated in an improvised way for the audience using advanced software.

Luckily I had visited District 4 in the past and had spent an interesting morning wandering around, and temporarily getting lost in, the fascinating and seemingly semi-private spaces of the Hem. This meant I was able to use my personal experience as a point of reference for what I subsequently witnessed in the performance.

Thierry and Andrew sat on the right-hand side of the room, each with their Mac laptop as the film unfolded on the screen. The film itself unfolded with an initial shot of a table set up in the street, possibly as a makeshift drinks store for passersby. As the shot pulled back, away from the table, motorcyclists rode past across the frame, interrupting our line of sight. At first the motorcyclists were solid and well-defined but very soon others rode past and these were less distinct, semitransparent, diaphanous in nature.

Throughout the film this transformation recurred, people working or walking in the Hem appeared at first as well-defined figures but almost immediately began to lose their definition and sense of form, becoming shadows or ill-defined reflections. As figures passed through each scene they appeared to leave a trail of their own presence behind them as boats leave a wake in the water they pass through.

As I recalled my own visit to the District 4 Hem, the activity I had seen there formed similar impressions in my memory. The images and details of the things I had seen were now reassembled in my imagination but lacked chronological order or appropriate relationships to each other. In a sense, the film I was watching could easily have been an attempt to recreate the multilayered, yet slightly disorganised images constructed in my own recollections.

Similarly, the sounds played around with the senses. At first, sounds retained a relationship to the situation which created them but as the film progressed, this connection faded and from then onward a similar deconstruction took place (as had occurred with the images). Sounds were heard after or before the points of origin could be seen or the location of the sounds' origins exchanged their positions, approaching towards us (becoming louder) or receding (becoming quieter). Eventually, many of the sounds were gradually transformed further and lost their connection to any recognisable activity. These new sounds spoke to the chaotic nature of the district, the hustle and bustle created by this intense concentration of people going about their business on a daily (and nightly) business.

The performance was challenging and that made it enjoyable for me. Too often I see exhibitions of 'safe' work, or 'safe' performances in which no risks were taken. As an artist I try to work out of my comfort zone as often as I am able and I enjoy seeing the work of others when I sense that the artist who created it has taken a similar approach. I like to see this also in performance art. In the theatre we are used to seeing 'professionals' who have conducted exhaustive rehearsals in order to remove the unexpected but for me unpredictability is one of the important characteristics of performance art.

By working without a script Thierry and Andrew took risks, relying on their intuition and judgement. Sometimes there are repercussions to this approach. At one point the huge files being manipulated by Andrew crashed on his laptop. For me this was no disaster, it merely underlined exactly what was occurring live in front of me, and how he and Thierry were working without a safety net.

For art to develop, first you need to do something. Most ideas emerge not fully formed (at least the best ideas do in my opinion) and they need to be worked on. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen pieces that would have benefitted from a little more development. However, for performance, the only way to develop it is to do it. What happens, happens and this is the crucial feedback that begins the development.
As the great artist Joan Jonas said "You don't know what you're doing sometimes. You just begin". **

I thank Andrew and Thierry for providing an opportunity for me to witness the development of their work.

* Text taken from: http://www.salonsaigon.com/events/cine-concert-hem-city-by-thierry-bernard-gotteland-and-andrew-stiff/?event_date=2019-04-23

** Text taken from: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/mar/04/joan-jonas-video-art-pioneer-tate-modern-exhibition-interview

Richard Streitmatter-Tran at Salon Saigon

On Saturday 9th June I went to District 3 in Saigon to the hidden gem of Salon Saigon. Unless you have been before, it would be easy to miss this place as it is found towards the end of a small and secluded street. Situated in a beautiful house previously used as the residence of US Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge in the 1960s, the Salon now presents both traditional and contemporary art as well as hosting talks, musical events, exhibitions etc.

On the day I visited I first had a look at an interesting show of Vietnamese Contemporary Art and then took a seat on the ground floor to hear a presentation by artist Richard Streitmatter-Tran.

I had been aware of Richard's work for several years and had read descriptions of many of his installations during that time, but it is always illuminating to hear artists themselves introducing their work. I find the manner of an artists presentation can give us extra clues about the character of both the artist and the work.

Richard described how his practice has changed from working primarily in the fields of Conceptual Art and Performance Art, through to his current practice that involves working directly with materials, quite often in-situ as he constructs installations that are mostly temporary in nature.

I admire the way Richard approaches his work. After the direction of the work has been decided upon he boldly works towards it, following the natural development of the work. This often means that he needs to learn how to handle and manipulate new materials using new methods and techniques in order to realise the work. This is a brave way of working and, being aware of how many artists today have their work fabricated by technicians, he has made the conscious decision to make as much as possible by his own hands.

Admirable though this way of working is, the most impressive aspect of his approach for me,  is the way he arrives at a location with ideas, plans and tools but with little in the way of materials. These he finds at the location and the installation is constructed on-site during the time allotted for the installation. An artist needs a great deal of confidence and organisational ability as well as prompt decision-making in order to get the work resolved in time.

Following the resolution of the work, an extra aspect that is intriguing to me is how he often he allows natural decay and deterioration to degrade the work during the exhibition period. As an artist I am very attracted to this attitude for conceptual reasons but I wonder how curators, gallery owners etc. feel about this. Although we are now in the year 2018, this way of working is still effectively avant-garde as the weight of demand in the art world is for saleable objects and products. We have not moved on very far from the days when the Arte Povera artists sought to deliberately undermine the commodification of art.

On my home after the talk I reflected upon the plight of being an artist. Artists need to earn a living; often artists seek income through teaching but this is becoming more and more difficult these days unless an artist has become an academic and secured a PhD. This idea was unthinkable when I was an art student in the 1970s unless you wanted to become an historian or art critic. The emphasis then was to understand materials by working with them and to develop ideas by physically interacting with materials and learning how to be self-critical through trial and error and, if you were lucky, through peer discussion.

Since the days when the independent art colleges were swallowed up by Universities, artists are now also expected to be academics. This means that art is increasingly intellectual, based upon well conducted research that can be verified and measured, along with approved references and citations. Art which is not produced following this approach may be rejected and artists who have not overcome the enormous financial and time-consuming hurdle of securing a doctorate are unable to teach. This is a loss for artists but also a sad loss for students I feel.