Tuan Andrew Nguyen My Ailing Beliefs Can Cure Your Wretched Desires, 2017
Two-channel video installation, color, 5.1 surround sound
Dimensions variable
Duration: 18:51 min
Duration: 18:51 min
Edition of 5 plus 2 artist's proofs
Part of an ongoing body of work that includes Empty Forest, My Ailing Beliefs Can Cure Your Wretched Desires is a two-channel video that dissects the relationships between Vietnamese mythology, the country’s political complexities and the nation’s very special animal ecosystem. The complex systems of Vietnamese beliefs in the magical healing power of certain animals have led to the current global predicament that threatens the extinction of rhinos and other species, simultaneously fueling the extensive illegal trade in endangered animals.
Through the perspective of science, Vietnam’s ecology, despite decades of warfare and bombings, continues to be one of the most complex natural ecosystems currently. Two new species have been discovered every week for the last 10 years. Simultaneously, Vietnam is also the country with the most species of endangered animals.
Told through the point-of-view of the wandering spirit of the last Javan rhino that was poached in the jungles of Vietnam in 2010, the film takes us through a complex structure of narratives and visuals, both gruesome and beautiful, real and mythological, that have built and upheld certain Vietnamese traditions. From Chinese colonialism and its assertion through the practice of medicine, to French colonialism and their obsession with trophy kills, and throughout the Vietnam war, the animals tell a different side to the story.
Through the perspective of science, Vietnam’s ecology, despite decades of warfare and bombings, continues to be one of the most complex natural ecosystems currently. Two new species have been discovered every week for the last 10 years. Simultaneously, Vietnam is also the country with the most species of endangered animals.
Told through the point-of-view of the wandering spirit of the last Javan rhino that was poached in the jungles of Vietnam in 2010, the film takes us through a complex structure of narratives and visuals, both gruesome and beautiful, real and mythological, that have built and upheld certain Vietnamese traditions. From Chinese colonialism and its assertion through the practice of medicine, to French colonialism and their obsession with trophy kills, and throughout the Vietnam war, the animals tell a different side to the story.
Credits
Huỳnh Ngô Vân Anh, Andrew Yuyi Truong [cinematography], Khim Đặng [art fabrication], Trung Lê [flycam & follow focus], Thọ Phan [production manager], Nguyễn Thị Mai Hương [consultant], Wowy Nguyễn [voice of Rhino], Nguyễn Ngọc Nam Phương [voice of Turtle], NVN [music], Trần Mạnh Hoàng [sound design and color grading].
Special thanks to: Yến Võ; Cat Tien National Park, Save Vietnam’s Wildlife, Vietnam Forest Museum, Vietnam National Museum of Nature, Museum of Biology (Hanoi University of Science); and all the volunteers, interns and workers who helped realize the creation of Empty Forest.