Guerrilla Tactics #7

For Nguyễn Quốc Chánh to align his latest series of ceramic sculptures with the idea of a ‘Guerilla’ mentality, is to place them firmly within Vietnamese history and cultural memory. To understand this process, just swap the image of a jungle soldier, living opportunistically within their environment and replace it with an artist whose materials are found and requisitioned. What emerges are assemblages that fuse multiple symbols, removing them of their positions in conventions that produce individual hegemonic meanings. At a glance, it seems chaotic, but the Guerrilla is always forced to deal in chaos until balance is reached. As Chánh himself suggests, balance is the mouse that skitters between conventional lines and the cat is yet to swallow it. (MoT+++)