TRONG G. NGUYEN projects.......bio


Library
2007-Present, Rice kernels, ink, gold paint, clear mylar.
Each grain of rice contains a single word written in ink - with the book titles written on grains painted gold. The first chapter, last chapter, or complete text written word for word on the rice kernels.
5 x 3-1/2 x 1/4 inches each



Roland Barthes: La chambre claire (complete book, 48 chapters)
2009-10, rice kernels, ink, gold leaf, mylar
48 packets each 5 x 3-1/2 x 1/4 inches

La chambre claire (Camera Lucida in English translations) was Roland Barthes’ last book, a meditation on aesthetics and photography, and by extension, mortality and the fleeting nature of what is captured.

For this project, the book is neatly divided into 48 short chapters – each denoted on the top right corner of each mylar rice packet.  The packets are hung in groupings of three, forming a total of four columns and rows.

For the first time, the artist has used blue ink, and the gold grains (on which the title is written) are made with gold leaf instead of spray paint.



Installation view at Galerie Quynh
2009, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam



Machiavelli: The Prince
Goethe: Faust
Yogananda: Autobiography of a Yogi
Dick: Radio Free Albemuth
2007, Rice kernels, ink, gold paint, clear mylar.
Each grain of rice contains a single word written in ink - with the book titles written on grains painted gold. The first chapter, last chapter, or complete text depending on the length of each book.
5 x 3-1/2 x 1/4 inches each
Click image above for Close-up.



Installation view in a private collection