- View Spark segment on Thai Bui. Original air date: June 2005. (Running Time: 7:59)
Watch Video
Play Real Media
- Vietnamese-born sculptor Thai Bui makes haunting works of art that speak to a sense of displacement and longing that has characterized the artist's own turbulent life. Bui's extraordinary objects combine references to his experiences in both the United States and Vietnam, simultaneously communicating a witty humor and penetrating sense of loss. In "Looking East," Spark visits with Bui as he installs a major public commission for the city of Palo Alto.
Growing up in Hanoi during the Vietnam War, Bui's childhood was marked by uncertainty and terror. In 1981, at the age of 21, Bui emigrated to the United States to study art. The transition was difficult for the artist, who has had to deal with language and cultural barriers. In addition, as a northerner, Bui often feels like an outsider within the Vietnamese community in the Bay Area, which is largely composed of southern Vietnamese.
Much of Bui's work deals with these experiences, making reference to childhood games as well as feelings of displacement. Spark visits the artist in his studio as he makes a series of shallow clay bowls. While they are still wet, Bui slams the bowls onto the floor, blowing a hole in the base of the pots and making a loud sound. The activity references a simple childhood game in which the participant that makes the loudest sound wins. Bui then gathers the remnants and incorporates them into an installation.
For more please click on the following link: Thai Bui, Spark profile
Thai Bui's work is on exhibition through February 28.
No comments:
Post a Comment