Tuan Andrew Nguyen: Unburied Sounds: Gallery Exhbition at 52 Walker Street

James Cohan is pleased to present Unburied Sounds, an exhibition of new video and sculptural work by Tuan Andrew Nguyen, on view from April 12 through May 7 at the gallery’s 52 Walker Street location.

In Unburied Sounds, Nguyen explores the ways in which material contains memory and holds potential for transformation, reincarnation and healing.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is The Unburied Sounds of a Troubled Horizon, 2022, a single channel video installation exhibited alongside related sculptural objects crafted from fragments of unexploded ordnances. The project is inspired by the people of Quang Tri, in the North Central Coast of Vietnam, which was one of the most heavily bombed areas in the history of modern warfare. For multiple generations, its residents have lived with the physical residue and lingering trauma of war. Approximately 80 percent of Quang Tri is still contaminated by undetonated mines and explosives.

The film screens hourly each day in the gallery, beginning at 10 AM. A screening link is available upon request.

She embarks on a journey to uncover the source of this uncanny likeness, consulting along her way a spirit-medium and a monk. On her search, as Nguyet opens herself up to the possibility of reincarnation, she also learns about sound and vibrational healing. She helps her mother through her trauma and reconnects with her cousin Lai. 

“I find it absolutely crucial at this moment to make these connections between spaces, people, times, and stories, as well as to reevaluate the relationship between object and maker, victim and agent. Reconsidering and imagining these connections are stepping stones towards empathy, healing, and creating new futures.” - Tuan Andrew Nguyen

Giving physical form to the inherited and intuited memories propelling his protagonist’s journey, Nguyen’s hand-made sculptures and mobiles appear as props throughout the film. These works are filtered through the artist’s own relationship to the region and to the work of Alexander Calder. 

The sculptures on view in the gallery, all built from UXO fragments, are shaped by Nguyen’s belief in the possibility of material reincarnation: of reconfiguring objects of war into spiritual objects capable of healing. Just as Nguyet does in the film, and the residents of Quang Tri do in their daily life, Nguyen transforms what was once destructive into tools that open up new paths toward understanding. 

The two large-scale photographs in the exhibition document the disposal of a 15 in. 50 caliber artillery shell shot from a US Naval ship during the Vietnam War that failed to detonate upon impact. Nguyen incorporated fragments of this UXO into several of his sculptural objects and hanging mobiles. 

 For Nguyen, material animism and reincarnation are a generative space, one that holds the potential to construct futures built upon deeply embodied notions of building and rebuilding. The video and sculptural works in this exhibition are both an exploration of these transformative possibilities and a testament to the resilience of communities who find ways to work through trauma.