Performance by Phụ Lục (Nguyễn Huy An, Hoàng Minh Đức, Vũ Đức Toàn)
2011
943 Studio, Kunming, China
As part of 943 Studio's Sounds of Dust, Kunming, China in 2011.
The residency program at 943 Studio (943 Space, A Zone, Loft JinDing 1919, No. 15 North Jinding Shan Road, Kunming, China) is set for a period of one month. In the summer of 2011, Vietnam had two consecutive rounds of participation. The first took place in June with three artists from Hanoi: Hoàng Minh Đức, Nguyễn Huy An, and Vũ Đức Toàn. The second, in July, hosted the Ho Chi Minh City–based artist Ngô Đình Bảo Châu.
Founded in 2007 by a group of artists and designers from Yunnan province, 943 Studio is a non-profit, non-governmental organization. Its mission is to promote exchange and collaboration among artists working across diverse disciplines as well as geographies. The studio also emphasizes support for experimental art forms, and deepening the relationship between different kinds of art and the public.
Vietnam has been a frequent partner since 2008, with artists such as Ly Hoàng Ly, Lý Trần Quỳnh Giang, Nguyễn Phương Linh, Nguyễn Trinh Thi, and Nguyễn Anh Tuấn (Tuấn Mami) having participated.
Every month, 943 Studio welcomes groups of international artists-in-residence. Alongside the three Hanoi-based artists, that same round also included Jedsada Tangtrakulwong from Thailand.
During the one-month residency, artists receive support including furnished apartments, studio space, a stipend for food and local travel, among other basic expenses. The program emphasizes immersion into the local living and artistic environment. Artists are responsible for setting their own work schedules and exchange of ideas. Most activities are voluntary, self-directed, and self-accountable.
At the end of the first week, residents are asked to meet with the organizers to share their intentions and working plans, so that the studio can provide the most relevant support. An exhibition or public presentation at the end of the residency is not required.
Throughout the residency, participants are notified of cultural events and exhibitions happening weekly. They may also explore independently the galleries, studios, museums, Kunming Academy of Fine Arts, or historical and natural landmarks around the city.
Midway through the program, the artists joined a day trip to a creative camp for 30 outstanding students in the outskirts of Kunming, organized by the Kunming Fine Arts Association. Each student there was provided a studio, art supplies, and basic living needs. Most worked in easel painting, with only a few pursuing sculpture; installation art was rare, and performance art entirely absent. Contemporary painting appeared to be the dominant aspiration for young artists, who noted that those establishing their careers tended to move to Beijing, while some older, well-known painters had begun returning to Yunnan.
Within this context, 943 Studio stands out as an important site for presenting work that goes beyond painting.
Performance at 943 Studio by Hoàng Minh Đức – Nguyễn Huy An – Vũ Đức Toàn
The three artists collaborated on an 80-minute group performance using minimal and humble materials:
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Hoàng Minh Đức with a cluster of dried moss,
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Nguyễn Huy An with a stone larger than an egg,
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Vũ Đức Toàn with a line drawn from “exploding fruits” (a type of wild fruit that bursts and scatters seeds when wet).
They began moving silently and at an extremely slow pace, close to the ground. Hoàng Minh Đức crawled across the floor blowing and shifting the moss. Nguyễn Huy An lay on his back, stone clenched in his mouth, dragging himself along the floor. Vũ Đức Toàn crawled sideways like a crab along the boundary marked by the exploding fruits, dropping water onto each so they would burst and scatter seeds.
These gestures produced movements both natural and uncanny. At first, the audience perceived the performers as trapped in difficult, isolating circumstances. Yet their persistence and cold determination created an atmosphere of tension that gradually unsettled the audience—until, over time, the viewers began to “experience the triviality” that the work evoked.
After 80 minutes, when the artists’ exhaustion brought them to stillness, the “scene” emerged more clearly. The neat border of fruits was shattered into dust and debris, fragile and meaningless. The once bright white stone rolled away from the performer’s aching mouth, now covered in saliva. The dried moss had long since dispersed in all directions, animated by hours of subtle breath.
The artists described the work with the statement: “infinite – unsafe – everlasting” (also translated by someone else as “limitless – precarious – unceasing”).
Studio director Liu Lifen reflected on the performance with her team: “Even dust can raise its voice in song.”
[Written by Vũ Đức Toàn]
Last updated: 06/09/2025 — subject to continuous revision