Static Friction - The Propeller Group

Static Friction
2012
Multimedia installation including the following works:
1967
Collision
The Dream
Portraits of Mechanical Reproduction
Chasing Inertia
‘Static Friction’ takes as its point of departure the ubiquitous motorbike
as it is experienced in Vietnam – as an icon of social and economic mobility; a vehicle for individual identity amid social collectivity; a machine for
a lawless subculture obsessed with speed and violence; and as a classic
symbol of an historical era. Though the exhibition is rooted in the context
of Vietnam where over 85% of the population use motorbikes as their chief
mode of transport, the central theme highlights broader issues related to
globalism, identity, transgression, urban and economic growth.
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3 Me Linh, District Binh Thanh
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
Static Friction
1967: April 28
2012
Honda ss50 [Honda ‘67], modified wheel spokes, metal frame
190 x 116 x 130 cm
Honda classics such as the Dream and the ’67 are significant icons in the
Vietnamese landscape, and in this exhibition both models are explored as
cultural, historical, and aesthetic objects. A Honda ‘67 is caught and caged in
mid-wheelie position by a web of spokes, formally foregrounding action and
mechanism. Inspired by the posture of the rearing steed in Jacques-Louis
David’s portrait of Napoleon crossing the Alps, ‘1967’ pointedly references a
revolutionary year in history that is indelibly branded onto the collective, global
conscience.
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Static Friction
1967: April 28
2012
Honda ss50 [Honda ‘67], modified wheel spokes, metal frame
190 x 116 x 130 cm
1967 was a monumental year in history. It was the year that US troops
launched the largest offense during the war in Viet Nam. It was also the year
that Muhammed Ali was imprisoned for refusing military service, The Beatles
released their hit song “All You Need Is Love”, Nguyen Van Thieu became president of South Viet Nam, Aretha Franklin released her hit song, “Respect”, Robert McNamara announced his resignation as U.S. Secretary of Defense, Chu
Guevara is captured and executed in Bolivia and Elvis Presley marries Priscilla
Beaulieu. It was also the year that Honda released and exported its ss50 to
Viet Nam. The ss50, was a sport inspired moped, with a top speed of 90km/h.
Although it wasn’t as fast as its competitors, the ss50, was more reliable and
offered a stronger pulling capacity. This solidified the bike’s stronghold in the
landscape of south Viet Nam, visually, socially and culturally, making it an icon
that has lasted throughout those intense years of war to this day, almost 45
years later. It has been known in Vietnamese vernacular as the ’67 for almost
as long.
It is the collapsing of this year in history and this particular symbol of mobility that catalyzed the inception of this work. The ss50/’67 not only carries with
it the weight of its passenger and payload, it carries with it moments in our
global and social fabric; moments that have frozen themselves in our psychic
landscape.
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Static Friction
1967: April 28
2012
Honda ss50 [Honda ‘67], modified wheel spokes, metal frame
190 x 116 x 130 cm
www.the-propeller-group.com
hello@the-propeller-group.com
Static Friction
1967: April 28
2012
Honda ss50 [Honda ‘67], modified wheel spokes, metal frame
190 x 116 x 130 cm
www.the-propeller-group.com
hello@the-propeller-group.com
Static Friction
Collision: Combustion
2012 vinyl sticker decals on aluminum panel, polyurethane varnish
100 x 178 cm x 3 mm
Motorbikes are unquestionably a means of demonstrating social status in
Vietnam today. A complicated but universally understood hierarchy of brands
and specifications exists, with Piaggios and Vespas at the top and so-called
“Chinese” bikes at the bottom.v Those who cannot afford the new high status
models can “upgrade” their old bikes by having new-style farings, stickers and
colour schemes applied to them by businesses that have sprung up to serve
precisely this need.
In the “Collision” series, vinyl stickers are used to create vibrant and surprising compositions that celebrate the rish aesthetics and complexities of motorbike culture. These colorful and glossy graphics are also the symbols of the
rider’s subcultural and countercultural associations.
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Static Friction
Collision: Mio Future Wave
2012 vinyl sticker decals on aluminum panel, polyurethane varnish
100 x 178 cm x 3 mm
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Static Friction
The Dream
2012
Frame of Honda Dream, single channel video [04:20]
154 x 180 cm x 120 cm
This video installation features a Honda Dream left as prey on a random Ho
Chi Minh City street. As the night moves forward, thieves move in to pillage the
machine of all desirable parts. The new day yields a “fallen” dream, stripped
down and vulnerable yet still standing, a skeleton of its former self.
The Honda Dream has lived up to its name as the icon of Vietnamese transportation and economic mobility since it was first introduced to the country
in 1985. Only manufactured for export outside of Japan, the Honda Dream at
certain points in history have become an icon, seen as the most sought after motorbike of the masses, the symbol of class and economic mobility, and a symbol
of durability and reliability; making it literally a dream by many to own one.
Conversely, it is also the motorbike that is most sought after by thieves, who sell
the ubiquitous parts on the black market [parts from the Dream can be used on
many other bikes]. This video & sculptural installation features a fallen Honda
Dream, in a random location in Sai Gon. The video documents the events as
the Dream lies there, in the middle of an abandoned street. Unbeknownst to
passers-by, the motorbike frame is attached to the foundation. Thieves come and
begin to strip it of its parts. And by the end of the night, the Dream is almost
naked, a skeleton of what it used to be.
Static Friction
The Dream
2012
Frame of Honda Dream, single channel video [04:20]
154 x 180 cm x 120 cm
Static Friction
Portraits of Mechanical Reproduction
Thành Dat, Racing Boy, November 10, 2011 (Canon PowerShot G11)
2012
graphite on paper
104 x 128 cm
In contrast to the bold and colorful Collision pieces, the realistic black and
white graphite drawings of racing motorbikes explore the connection between
a rider and his bike, and the broader notion of identity. The subjects of these
large-scale drawings are the bikes of well-known illegal street racers in and
around Ho Chi Minh City. Serving as portraits of their owners, the souped up
bikes also reveal the racers’ desire to assert their individuality amid the social
collective. The works, based on images of the racing bikes sent by their owners
via email, also touch on contentious issues surrounding reproduction, appropriation and authenticity.
Static Friction
Portraits of Mechanical Reproduction
Underground, February 14, 2012 (Nokia N95)
2012
graphite on paper
104 x 128 cm
Static Friction
Portraits of Mechanical Reproduction
Daytona, February 14, 2012 (Nokia N95)
2012
graphite on paper
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Static Friction
Portraits of Mechanical Reproduction
Polini, February 14, 2012 (Nokia N95)
2012
graphite on paper
104 x 128 cm
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Static Friction
Portraits of Mechanical Reproduction
Thành Dat, Racing Boy, March 2, 2012 (Canon PowerShot A710 IS)
2012
graphite on paper
104 x 128 cm
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Static Friction
Chasing Inertia
2012
approximately 50 black tire inner tubes [sized 2l25/2.50 - 17]
120 x 100 x 120 cm
Like “1967”, “Chasing Inertia” is another phantasmagoric object produced
from leftover motorbike parts. Approximately 50 motorbike tire innertubes,
all of them in the most common size used in Viet Nam [2.25/2.50 - 17], were
cut and reconfigured into into one large, abstract, inflated, and interconnected
system of rubber tubing that has semblance to a an infinite knot or a mass of
entangled intestines, possibly even a cloud of smoke or a twisted dragon. Only
one air-valve is found on the object.
This object was created using techniques learned form motorbike repairmen,
found on almost every other street corner in large urban areas, patching tires
and doing quick fixes for motorbike riders, and recalls a time, after the “reunification of Viet Nam”, between the ’80′s and early ’90s where the majority of
the population were forced to patch different used tires together in order to be
able to use their bicycles, the main means of transportation at that time.
Although the viewer can’t help but to relate the floating object to something
otherworldly, possibly from the realms of science fiction; the reference to the
layered histories are undeniable – the resourcefulness of those in the midst
of economic reform and trade embargos is intertwined with a history of a raw
material, i.e. rubber, that has its own economic significance to the region.
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Static Friction
Chasing Inertia
2012
approximately 50 black tire inner tubes [sized 2l25/2.50 - 17]
120 x 100 x 120 cm
www.the-propeller-group.com
hello@the-propeller-group.com