The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre (FCAC) is a new 1010 sqm creative hub that will incorporate significant exhibition spaces, an educational arts library, workshop, a co-working space, and concept restaurant and bar. FCAC’s aim is to support the development of contemporary art in Vietnam, and at the same time provide an opportunity for a cultural enthusiastic community to explore, work, and socialize.
On 31st of March 2016, The Factory launched its first exhibition ‘TechNoPhobe’, a group show of internationally acclaimed and emerging artists based in Saigon who are employing technologies in their practice, such as 3D printing and video holograms, audience-activated sound installations, smartphone apps, motion sensing video, animation, and social media. Artists include UuDam Tran Nguyen, Truc-Anh, Le Thanh Tung, Cao Hoang Long, Ngoc Nau, and Thierry Bernard-Gotteland.
In a country driven by constant progress, Vietnam’s drive to the future goes hand in hand with the digital advancement and technologies that fuel it. Though still in its nascent stages, the fast flow of information and access to new communication tools allow artists to experiment with new ways to create thought-provoking work while expanding the lexicon of traditional media.
Cao Hoang Long’s installation ‘The Infinite in the Finite’ is inspired by poetic reflections of the moon. It comprises a “water well” that uses Kinect motion sensors to digitally generate images “deep below” inside the well. Le Thanh Tung’s ‘Ownership. Zero’ plots the closing divide between virtual and physical objects. Also using Kinect tools and various programs, Tung’s collaboration with Ngoc Nau – ‘HAU DONG CA’ – is a video hologram creating a short- circuited image of Nau dancing to a séance, where the divining medium goes digital. Thierry Bernard-Gotteland’s contributes an interactive sound installation that mixes Beckett stage sounds, weather data, mined audio, and room acoustics generated by Factory visitors. UuDam Tran Nguyen’s ‘License 2 Draw’ is a smartphone application that crowd sources collaborators from all over the world to create artwork. The app lets users guide a mechanical drawing device that makes colorful marks and drawings on a giant floor canvas.
In addition, The Factory invites one artist who has never worked with 3D technologies before to create sculpture using 3D printers. In collaboration with Loga3D, Truc-Anh will produce a collection of 8 golden masks that invoke the ritualistic and shamanic power of figuration, as filtered through personal histories. The artist will then utilize the masks in a performance that uses pantomime and improvisational theater.
TechNoPhobe is curated by Trong Gia Nguyen and Ti-a.