From One Essence to Another, I Came to Fetch You
2021
Installation, earth, burnt Buddhas, steel, fabric.
Variable dimensions
If museums have systematically transformed the status of cult objects into works of art in the West, the historical process of exhibition also involves colonial stakes for many other cultures. Thus, in France, Buddhas have become synonymous with exoticism. Working with the concept of ready-made, but especially with the gestures of sculpture and contemporary art, Lê Hoang Nguyên addresses these biases and begins with "From One Essence to Another, I Came to Fetch You" a collection of Buddhas imported from Asia and sold as decorative objects. He then follows the same protocol, which some might liken to a ritual, by engaging with these "seller-importers" and burning the figure in an act of purification that elevates it to a work of art. By reusing metal legs from furniture and playing with the height of a low table or a console on which the Buddhas are placed, he enhances the contrasts through this minimalist association of materials between a history of modernism and various animist traditions. By working up to the afterlife of objects, through the reuse of elements, the artist demonstrates a circular concern and develops an ecology of sculpture. Through his attention to the narratives that objects carry and to their materials, the artist sets up a surface for repair.
Henri Guette