“DISLOCATE” TALK WITH BUI CONG KHANH

Please join the artist for the last day of his solo exhibition ‘Dislocate’. Bui Cong Khanh shall share his two-year journey in realizing what is his most significant installation to date, showcasing the brilliance of Vietnamese culture in history and technique.

‘‘Dislocate’ is a kind of fortress. The central structure, likened to a bunker, is deliberately left incomplete; its roof and walls are not solid, possessing space between beams where wall panels are spread randomly throughout. Taking traditional imperial architectural techniques of Hue (the ancient capital of Vietnam) as its style, Bui chose the design of defense (the bunker) as its structure – it has only one entrance, its roof angled to hit the ground at the opposite end.

The wood is a mixture of tones in yellow: the brighter color indicative of the youth of the jackfruit tree, in comparison to a darkened complexion illustrative of age. In ‘Dislocate’, Bui combines the antique with the newly carved. He has literally taken apart the bones of a traditional home and re-purposed particular structural and decorative elements within his own design. The compass of this fortress is guarded outside by what could be likened as sentinels: four-miniature Buddhist pagoda sitting atop their own tall square plinth, each dramatically near-suffocated by penjing (bonsai) in representation of the seasons that govern the cycle of time – Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. This is a quietly theatrical installation, a structure poised ready to protect from eminent danger – but from whence does this danger come?’ (Excerpt from exhibition catalog essay by Zoe Butt, please see FCAC/San Art for more information)