We Exist in the Ambivalence of Those Motherfuckers departs from the mainstream commemoration and reflection by Vietnam and the United States of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. While the injuries of the past remain present decades later and have been well-examined by Vietnamese-American artists, the history of experimental performance in Vietnam has emerged amidst a negotiation of ambivalence and resistance to government interference. To instigate a global conversation around art-making and censorship, the program provides self-determined Vietnamese-centered environments and contexts within which audiences may engage with contemporary Vietnamese practitioners. Supported by long-term residencies, conversations, and provocations in Performance Space New York’s theaters over the course of a month, the program will culminate in debut performances by four intergenerational artists, and conversations with the program’s instigators and co-organizers Anh Vo, maura nguyễn donohue, and Lumi Tan.
The title of the project comes from unreleased lyrics by Ngoc Dai, a former soldier turned avant-garde composer, inferring that a radical existence can be both a refusal of the ambivalence of those in power, and enabled by that same ambivalence.
We Exist in the Ambivalence of Those Motherfuckers is a part of a broader series of events featuring talks, screenings, publications, and more, collaboratively organized between organizations during the fall and winter seasons. Movement Research Performance Journal Issue #62 will be entirely dedicated to experimental Vietnamese performance, featuring reflections from 21 Vietnamese artists and curators including Tuong Linh Do, Vu Duc Toan, Viet Le, Phuong Linh Nguyen, Nhung Dinh, and Tra Nguyen. Public programs include a virtual engagement with artists ahead of their residency as presented in partnership with the Center for the Arts at Wesleyan University; a conversation between Lumi Tan, maura nguyễn donohue, Anh Vo, and Do Tuong Linh around the origins of the project at Asia Art Archive in America; a screening and discussion exploring early video of experimental performance in Vietnam including work by Truong Tan and Vu Dan Tan at CARA (Center for Art, Research, and Alliances); and a conversation between Lai Dieu Ha and Nhi Le at New York University’s Institute of Fine Art.
We Exist in the Ambivalence of Those Motherfuckers is co-produced by Performance Space New York and the Center for the Arts, Wesleyan University.
Public Programming:
We Exist in the Ambivalence of those Motherfuckers with Thanh Toàn Doan, Vu Đức Toàn, Nhi Lê Phương, & Lai Dieu Ha Thi
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In conjunction with We Exist in the Ambivalence of Those Motherfuckers, co-organizers maura nguyễn donohue, Lumi Tan, and Anh Vo guest edited Issue #62 of Movement Research Performance Journal, inviting 21 Vietnamese artists, curators, and organizers engaged in experimental performance to contribute reflections on their own work, on historical spaces, performances, and events, or on present concerns.
To celebrate the launch of the journal, donohue, Tan, Vo, contributor Vu Duc Toan, and MRPJ editor-in-chief Joshua Lubin-Levy will read excerpts from the journal, followed by a screening of the documentary Hanoi Eclipse – The Music of Dai Lam Linh (2010) directed by Barley Norton.
Contributors:
Anh Vo, Lyon Dat Nguyen, Đỗ Tường Linh, Nguyễn Minh Phước, Ly Hoàng Ly, Châu Kim-Sanh, Luu An, Nguyễn Quốc Thành, Đinh Nhung, Phương Linh Nguyễn, Phuong Phan, Nguyễn Xuân Sơn (SơnX), Tam Thi Pham, Vũ Đức Toàn, Trà Nguyễn, Bùi Duy Thanh Mai, Trần Lương, Vân Đỗ, Thảo Hồ , Việt Lê, Hải Nam Nguyễn
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Nhi Le will introduce her artistic methods through performance practices focusing on experimenting with materials, creating “original” movements, and evoking feelings. Participants will begin with their old memories, make new memories together, and then listen to a song. Any human or alien can join in.
What is surreal in front and funny in the back?
What is disgusting when it goes sideways and shameful when it goes down?
What is exhausted when it stays down and gentle when it jumps up?
What is great when it opens its eyes and free when it holds?
It is Nothing
It is Nothing
Only know that the East is blood
The West is Man
The South is soil
The North is mother
Just walk the path.
Cái gì siêu thực ở đằng trước mà buồn cười ở phía sau?
Cái gì sang ngang thì kinh tởm mà xuống dưới thì hổ thẹn?
Cái gì ở lại thì kiệt quệ mà nhảy lên thì dịu dàng?
Cái gì mở mắt thì vĩ đại mà nắm lại thì tự do?
Chẳng có gì cả
Chẳng có gì cả
Chỉ biết phía Đông là máu
Phía Tây là Người
Phía Nam là đất
Phía Bắc là mẹ
Cứ thế mà đi.