Houses facing the street

From March 8th until March 28th, 2012, the Goethe-Institut Hanoi presents Nguyen The Son’s solo exhibition “Houses Facing the Street”. The exhibition focuses on an aspect of Hanoi’s rapid change which has spread without having been noticed: huge billboards that cover entire house fronts and compete for the viewer’s attention with their bright colors. All the human eye perceives, however, is the colorful advertisement, the gaze does not penetrate, one speeds past. Hanoi’s residential buildings, which have long shaped the face of the city, are changing: Instead of windows and balconies which facilitate the communication between neighbors, tall billboards seal the houses off, both towards the street, the outside, as well as the inside. What remains is a lightless living space behind the façade losing in value as well as a city with a changed face. Nguyen The Son seizes upon the issue of these billboards and, by digital means, makes it into entire streets. Using a unique printing technique on Xuan paper and silk, the artist manages to intertwine both old and new techniques in an appealing union. Furthermore, the exhibition features photographic installations which play with the beholder’s perception and blur the line between reality and fiction. A video installation documents the rapid change of the city. This extraordinary exhibition by Nguyen The Son, who has already focused his attention on other phenomenons of Hanoi’s urban landscape in earlier works, invites the visitor to see Hanoi with different eyes.