Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s wide-ranging practice roots youth culture and contemporary forms of expression within a social and political framework. Nguyen grew up in the United States, and returned recently to Vietnam choosing to live and work there and, in collaboration with Phù Nam Thúc Hà, founded The Propeller Group, an art agency that produces experimental films, music videos, and television programs. In 2007, Nguyevn, together with Phù Nam Thúc Hà and Tiffany Chung, established Sàn Art, an independent art space that includes an exhibition space and a reading room.
Hip Hop History Sampling Hip Hop History: The Red Remix is a sound sculpture that remixes about 60 American hip-hop songs that use the word “Vietnam” in their lyrics, blasting from speakers placed on an old-style Vietnamese bicycle, connecting the American musical genre that articulates identity and self with an old bicycle that mimics the tools used to spread propaganda in Vietnam. The work reflects the socio-cultural dilemma of Vietnamese youth in negotiating the desire to be part of popular culture while also resisting the portrayal of Vietnam as a cipher of trauma and violence.
