Anh Thuy Nguyen

Semiotics of Distance

In this work, two metal stands of different heights are each topped by a broken piece from a traditional Vietnamese aluminum platter, and connected by a hand-casted, visceral silicone tube of predetermined length. Two performers walk around the piece, moving their assigned stands to different locations in the room once they reach them. Semiotics of Distance offers an allegorical study of migration. Using found objects of cultural significance as signifiers, the work illustrates persistent connection when confronting a futile, repetitive transformation of proximity and location. No matter which location the two stands are positioned within space they remain at a fixed "distance" from each other, which is the length of the silicone tube linking them. This work fashions a situation in which “sculpture” no longer functions only as an object but also as dematerialisation – an act of happening.

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