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For
Sequences,
Trong G. Nguyen buried a work titled TIME CAPSULE OF APPROPRIATED
OBJECTS (TO BE OPENED AT TIME'S END) at an undisclosed location in
Iceland. Upon the artist’s demise, the work’s GPS coordinates
are to be passed on to a lone inheritor, who promises to continue the
tradition perpetually. It is literally the passing on of Time.
The burial was videotaped and broadcasted live at Safn
Foundation, where the band Seabear
(two rooms removed from the audience, but with their speakers funneling
into the main gallery) played an improvised score to accompany Nguyen’s
mission. As the tricky title indicates, every item inside this time capsule
was stolen– both materially and experientially, as in a “stolen
moment,” literally translated from stolnar stundir, the
playful epigram referencing kitschy Icelandic romance novels.
The small wooden container itself was an (legally) appropriated box that
originally housed a series of Vito Acconci etchings from 1985. Thwarting
the notion of what a time capsule is suppose to be, the object does not
reward patience or posterity, but rather, finds satisfaction in loss,
lament, and dismissal. It is the resigned fate of Kronos devouring his
children.
Generous support for this project provided by Digital
Society and the city of Reykjavik. Heavenly thanks to Sindri, Örn
Ingi, Guggy´, and Birta!
Inside
Safn, 8:45am
Seabear, in another room at Safn |
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