“Memorial Project Vietnam” and “The Paper Sculpture Show”

Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba and… “Memorial Project Vietnam” and “The Paper Sculpture Show”

Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba and Independent Curators International

Regina Gouger Miller Gallery

Carnegie Mellon Campus

(412) 268-3877

Who owns art? What is the relationship between idea development and idea execution? When the creator of the physical work and the creator of the conceptual basis are not the same person, who declares responsibility for the subsequent art? These are all questions subtly posed by a new exhibit at CMU’s Regina Gouger Miller Gallery, “The Paper Sculpture Show.” And during a year when the Deputy Assistant Attorney General John G. Malcolm testified to parts of Congress on the proposed links between such things as organized crime, terrorism, and “Intellectual Property Piracy,” such questions reveal a new urgency.

What makes “The Paper Sculpture Show” so unique is the origin of the artwork filling the gallery’s third floor space. While artists and teams of artists were pulled together by Independent Curators International to submit blueprints, visitors of the show build the actual sculptures. The sculptures have already been designed by the artists, and all the necessary materials and instructions are provided.

The result is a gallery exhibit that more closely resembles an art studio – complete with wooden workstations, scissors and glue, and, perhaps most importantly, stacks of paper, which provide the two-dimensional medium of this three-dimensional show. Furthermore, as more and more guests attend the show, adding their own artistic contributions, the artwork itself grows in volume, and the character of the show itself undergoes change.

The artists who created the ideas behind the sculptures are acknowledged for the role they play in the exhibit’s development. In addition, the amateur sculptors piecing the plans together have an opportunity to lay claim to their labors; visitors are permitted to put their names on the sculptures they create and then reclaim them at the end of the show. The show is an interesting opportunity for the artistically challenged to create something aesthetically pleasing, while simultaneously contemplating their relationship to their works.

Also featured at the Regina Gouger Miller Gallery are two short films created by Japanese artist Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba. The films, which are collectively known as “Memorial Project Vietnam,” are delivered in homage to “boat people,” individuals who fled Vietnam at the official end of the war, in 1975. Approximately a third of these “boat people” drowned while trying to flee.

Much of Jun’s artwork pays tribute to these fallen Vietnamese, and he decided to create the films based on his idea – the construction of an underwater memorial that could be visited by snorkelers and scuba divers. The most memorable images of the films include streams of color created by food coloring, the dance of a traditional New Year’s dragon puppet, underwater competition between traditional cyclo drivers and a visit to a submerged camp that comes to resemble a burial area.

The background is filled with loud, eerie sounds – a combination of musical arrangement, simulated water sounds and Jun’s own voice. The videos, which were filmed in Vietnamese waters, show the lingering heartache for lost life and the cultural importance attached to bodies of water in Vietnam. Jun is able to comment on war without relying on any traditional imagery. His message is subtler, gentler – yet clearly filled with and motivated by deep sadness.