Nguyen Hoang Giang
1° WINNER
Interview
Because I found the prize corresponded to the theme of my works. Also it was one of a few prizes focusing on new technologies and art in Italy.
To answer this question, I’d like to start with Nobert Wiener’s cybernetic theory, in which errors (or mistakes) are seen as feedback to the whole system in the process of self-regulation against entropy. This view of human as essentially self-organized organism shed a new light on our common saying: “Failure is the mother of success”. So I think there is no contradiction in my performance as well as any duality between men and robots. I hope this helps clarifying my intention.
The idea of instructions in my work is to force a human being to follow it rigidly. However, the way we as human learn thing is different, as you mentioned improvisation and intuition. AI research since the beginning has been trying to inject these elements into machines so as to obtain a human-like intelligence. But the question really is why forcing machine’s intelligence to human’s standard wheareas they can have their own standard of intelligence like a species such as dolphins?
Yes. Actually the work relates to me more personally in the aspect of learning. I decided to take an artistic career seriously 5 years ago, which is quite late. 2 years ago I came to Italy to pursue an MA in Net Art and here I am, finishing my formal learning with a prize. It’s a good feedback to embark on my life-long learning ahead. Thank you!
Nguyen Hoang Giang - The Fall - ReHumanism Art Prize
Biography
I live and work between Hanoi and Milan. My works are multimedia, with a focus on identity, self-inscription and memory. My current research and practice are aimed to investigate failures in the relationship between human and machine, specifically in the process of learning. I have participated in various exhibitions, workshops, screenings and art projects in Vietnam, Italy, Portugal and France. In 2013, I debuted as a photographer in the group show Autopsy of days, held in Goethe Institut Hanoi. In the very same year, I was chosen by NhàSàn Collective to be in the De-constructing memories art project, in which I received sponsorship from the Cultural Development and Exchange Fund of the Denmark Embassy to make my photography exhibition. In 2015, my video Disorder is beautiful was selected to be screened at Asian Cultural Complex in Gwangju, South Korea. In 2018, my work The Fall was performed at Museo 900’ in Milan, as part of Furla Series. Apart from personal projects, I have also contributed to community development. In 2016, I curated In_ur_scr!, the first online exhibition in Vietnam. In 2014, I founded The Black Hole – a community art project, in which I illustrated and published anonymous secrets from Internet users. I am currently pursuing a MFA in New Media Art at Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera – Italy, with the Italian Government Scholarship for foreigners.
"The Fall"
In The Fall, I took inspirations from a video by Boston Dynamics, in which a robot is pushed to fall down to test its ability to balance. I then commissioned a professional choreographer from fiverr.com to simulate the fall. The results were some videos of her falling down. As she gradually gets better at mimicking the robot, her movements become less human. This serie of videos somehow made me think about the progress from human to post- human or even cyborg. In between this transition, there is the fall, a symbolic act for mistakes in every revolution.