Benign Tumour

Group exhibition by Nguyễn Huy An, Hoàng Minh Đức, Vũ Đức Toàn, Nguyễn Văn Song, Nguyễn Dương Hải Đăng, Ngô Thành Bắc
2011
L'Espace, Hanoi, Vietnam
Photo courtesy of SOI and Phụ Lục.
Exhibition statement:

With the title “Benign Tumor”, the starting point is not something directly related to medicine, nor to a set of issues concerning human health or illness. Here, “Benign Tumor” is an indirect language: it is the entire sense, the qualities, the feelings, and the facets that the phrase evokes…

U lành tính & “U Lành Tính”, placed side by side, already imply a difference.

We believe that the context of this exhibition cannot be overlooked. The group decided on an exhibition title that, at first glance, provokes curiosity and even humor. At the same time, many exhibitions and projects have been realized around burning, thorny, grave, and uncompromising issues—often executed in ways that are sweeping, loud, and heroic. We think there are other paths and other ways of doing things. “Benign Tumor” seems not to stand in the same line with such issues. Thus, here “Benign Tumor” also acts as a humorous, satirical attitude toward the current art context. And the phrase itself produces a sense of awkwardness, contrariness…

“Benign Tumor” is something not good, something that must be removed—yet it is not urgent, not critical, not vital… but ultimately, it cannot be left untouched.

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Individual work statements

Nguyễn Huy An, Wind:
Sometimes the wind becomes confined and suffocating.

Nguyễn Song, My Cake:
Glutinous rice 30 kilos; hammers 3; scissors 6; pliers 9; saws 12; wrenches 7; adjustable spanners 5; nails 7 kilos; anvils 5; …

Hoàng Minh Đức, Fieldwork in October:
The trousers I wear, the road I walk, and the beggar-ticks that cling.

Ngô Thành Bắc, Shock Absorber:
I go searching for a shock absorber for my spirit.

Vũ Đức Toàn, “Bột lọc” (Clear Dumpling):
When the envelope turns translucent like a dumpling skin
It becomes hazy, faintly clear
Everything inside this “volume” appears suddenly possible.

Nguyễn Dương Hải Đăng, Screensaver:
Meaninglessness is my source of inspiration.

Last updated: 06/09/2025 — subject to continuous revision