First presented at the group exhibition Solidarity Spores (2020) at the Asia Cultural Center in Gwangju, representing Vietnam. “At Each Encounter, Imagine a Thousand Things...” reflects the multi-faceted influences of Vietnam’s history, including foreign colonization, liberation, and shifting ideologies. The work acknowledges digital media and the Internet as contemporary catalysts of cultural transformation, while expressing a desire to embrace Vietnam’s ever-evolving socio-cultural landscape.
The piece is built from 350 generative modules derived from L’Art à Hué (1919), an archival volume by Léopold Cadière documenting ornamental motifs of Hue — Vietnam’s former imperial capital. These modules underwent computational processes, producing digital images with intentional distortions and degradations. Effectively a process of computational mimicry that emulates human craft.
The work displays the word “Gặp Gỡ” (Vietnamese for “Encounter”), symbolizing the chance meeting of cultures: both the outcome of the piece and the historical layering that shapes Vietnamese identity today. The chosen word remains open to alternatives, whether adapted to the exhibition context or proposed by the curator, in dialogue with the artist.
