'Memorial Project Nha Trang, Vietnam (2001)

Research this project to identify the ideas behind the work. Can you connect some of the concepts and ideas from the renaissance, Enlightenment or Modernism with the work. Discuss your answer.

Discuss how do you think the title of the work reflects the artists' intentions?

Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba was originally born in Tokyo, Japan who works and lives in Vietnam today. He is an artist who devotes himself to his work which mainly focuses on the history and life of the Vietnamese people. His video work Memorial Project Nha Trang, Vietnam: Towards the Complex—For the Courageous, the Curious, and the Cowards is a 13 minute video that was shot completely underwater in 2001 at Nha Trang, Vietnam. This work features “captivating images of some local fisherman’s pulling cyclo’s (rickshaws) underwatertoward an area where the artist stretched about thirty mosquito nets across the sea bed.” (Tezuka, 2008)

The fishermen must remain calm while pulling their cyclo’s until they run out of breathe until they rush to the surface for a gasp of air, “the arduous job of dragging the cyclos through the ocean speaks to the difficult burden of the past in the face of modernization.” (Hewitt, 2008) This video signifies what local Vietnamese drivers go through in the current reality of their lives.

The meaning behind this work is the reflection of the crucial lifestyle of some Vietnamese people, who struggle with the change in modernization and industrialization, “The cyclos, submerged in deep water, represent the weight of tradition and reference Vietnam’s historical past in the context of the country’s struggle with the processes of modernization.” (Vietnam: A Memorial Work, n.d.) The cyclo’s was a well-known vehicle that was used in the olden days for transportation, cyclo’s was driven by men who used their man-power to pull the cyclo’s, delivering people and goods around places. Cyclo’s was a good tool for the environment, it did not need fuel or gas to help it run, although the government has decided to forbid the making of cyclo’s because they thought that it was a slow and old-fashioned vehicle. The cyclo’s was also seen as a cheap way of transportation that provided a source of income for all of the unemployed people in Vietnam, this resulted the official banning of the cyclo’s and was strictly not to be used on the streets of Vietnam, “Rickshaw drivers and fishermen, both of whom are being replaced by industrial fishing and cars”.

The Enlightenment era, was the start of the development and reason for making the world a better place for humankind, this concept can be clearly reflected onto Nguyen-Hatsushiba’s work, the Vietnamese government wanted to sacrifice their old traditional ways to become more of an advance and updated country surrounded with new technology that are a common use today. The community however found it difficult and challenging to adjust to their new environment and lifestyle. The title for this project Towards the Complex—For the Courageous, the Curious, and the Cowards is the representation of the nation discovering Vietnam’s own identity and after its war and political chaos.

“The men come across a portion of sea-floor, adorned in tents of mosquito netting, too rocky for the carts. They abandon their loads and swim together towards the surface in a tentative kind of victory or failure, which isn’t necessarily clear, and emerge into a new, unknown future.” (Hewitt, 2008)

Reference:

Hewitt, K, (2008), For the Courageous, the Curious, and the Cowards. Retrieved May 18th, 2010, from http://www.nyartbeat.com/nyablog/2008/07/for-the-courageous-the-curious-and-the-cowards/

Merchants Road, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, (n.d.). Retrieved May 20th, 2010, from http://www.tulca.ie/merchants_road.html

Tezuka, M, (2008), A Memorial Work By Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, Asia Society. Retrieved May 16th, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jun_Nguyen-Hatsushiba_ref-3

Vietnam: A Memorial Work by Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba. (n.d.). Retrieved May 11th, 2010, from http://www.asiasociety.org/arts-culture/asia-society-musuem/past-exhibitions/vietnam-memorial-work-jun-nguyen-hatsushiba

Landscape and the Sublime

1. What and when was the Enlightenment?

The Enlightenment was the philosophical, intellectual and cultural movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It was the interest of the observation and examination of human life, human society and the universe itself. The Enlightenment introduced humankind to a new idea that through the use of education and reason, human life could be more improved. With this idea, it created conflicts which challenged the political and religious organizations for their authorities. The Enlightenment wanted to advice humankind that through science and reason the outcome of living life would be better.

2. Define the concept of the Sublime.

Sublime : aesthetic category associated with ideas of awe, intensity ruggedness, terror, and vastness emphasizing Man's relative insignificance in the face of Nature, arousing emotions, and stimulating the imagination. It was therefore distinct from the beautiful and the picturesque, and was of profound importance in relation to an appreciation of the grandeur and violence of natural phenomena.

- Encyclopedia.com

James Stevens Curls (2000) Sublime, A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-Sublime.html

3. How did the concept of the Sublime come out of the Enlightenment thought?

A range of artists during the Enlightenment era started to focus and recognize the beauty of nature, which therefore introduced a new idea exploring human life, and the vast greatness of the universe.

4. Discuss the subject matter, and aesthetic (look) of Misrach's work to identify the Sublime in his work. Add some more images.

Richard Misrach is an American photographer known for his captivating works that exposes the beauty of nature itself. He has been photographing the American desert for more than twenty years and has been a successful artist in contemporary photography since then. Misrach’s shares his passion on revealing the spectacular scenes of nature towards his viewers by capturing every glance of natural creation.

His work relates to the Sublime because he focuses and reveals the different characteristics of nature, which features landscapes and/or seascapes.

5. Identify some other artists or designers that work with these ideas around the sublime, from the Enlightenment era as well as contemporary artists.

Caspar David Friedrich , Viviano Codazzi

6. How does Misrach's photography make you feel? Does it appeal to your imagination?

Misrach’s photography of the landscapes is somewhat surreal and divine for viewers like myself. Words such as calmness, tranquility and beauty spring into mind which therefore draws my attention, wanting to see more of the natural sceneries that are featured here on earth. I give credit to Misrach’s work for his passion of capturing magnificent sceneries and landscapes.

7. Add a Sublime image of your choice to your blog, which can be Art or just a Sublime photograph.

References

Robert Wilde (n.d.) The Enlightenment,Introduction to the Enlightenment. Retrieved April 28^th , 2010, from http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/thenineteenthcentury/a/enlightenment.htm