Artist Tammy Nguyen, also participating in CABF under her imprint Passenger Pigeon Press, will give an artist's talk on her exhibition 'How to Breathe in Selected Tropics,' a visual novella incorporating books, pamphlets, and works on paper organized in four boxes. Each box is a chapter in the novella: A Cyclops, Hog, The Fan, and Banana. This project is Nguyen’s reflection on her experience in the tropical places of Vietnam, the Philippines, and Hawaii. Nguyen uses her memories as a starting point to explore the geopolitics of these locales, the history of US military involvement, and the transformation of these places into “paradise”. Through this fantasy fiction, Nguyen hopes to point at how today’s foreign policy in these regions is more contentious than ever.
This exhibition is a collaboration between the Indochina Arts Partnership and the Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection. Curated by Nhung Walsh. Sponsored by SAIC Office of Engagement.
'How to Breathe in Selected Tropics' is on view at the Flasch throuch December 11.