Memorial Project Nha Trang, 2001. Images Courtesy of Mizuma Art Tokyo
A refugee is like a distance runner. Both need the stamina to carry on and the will to endure the strife.
No one knows this metaphor better than artist Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, who is simulating the flight of the displaced by running a total distance of 12,756.3 kilometers, the diameter of the Earth.
“It symbolizes the most direct path to the other side of the world,” he explains. “The reverse circumstance [of] the refugees’ situation.”
Production Still from Breathing is Free, 2007
Breathing is Free: 12,756.3 is the culmination of a body of work on the global refugee crisis. Since 2001, the artist has produced mesmerizing video exhibitions that explore the history of struggle.
“The core of all my memorial projects always returns to a personal question: Why must many in the world be forced to leave the place they call home for safety, happiness, security, and freedom?”
He began this exploration on the ocean floor in Memorial Project Nha Trang, Vietnam: Toward the Complex – For the Courageous, the Curious, and the Cowards (2001), featuring fishermen pulling bicycle taxis underwater. He broke surface with The Ground, the Root and the Air: The Passing of the Bodhi Tree (2004-2007), a dream-like film down the Mekong River. Running the face of the Earth is a logical progression.
from The Ground, the Root and the Air, 2004-2007
Tracking his runs with GPS, Nguyen-Hatsushiba treats the Earth as a canvas. He traced prehistoric ferns over Manchester, birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. In Taipei, young children learning about refugees drew the route for him. For his hometown, Ho Chi Minh City, he outlined a water hyacinth, a beautiful but suffocating weed.
“The traffic and the exhaust fumes [in Ho Chi Minh City] add new dimension to Breathing is Free, beyond the issue of refugee crisis,” he jokes.
The Arizona State University Art Museum will host Breathing is Free from January 24 – April 26, 2009. More details can be found on http://www.breathingisfree.net. There will be plenty of future installations, as running the diameter of the Earth is no quick stroll in the park.
“It will take eight to ten years to complete [at] my current pace,” he says. “I have about 12,000 kilometers more to go!”
Issue 23 The Collectors
Comments
i love the picture of the underwater cart racing! hows the business going? i hope things are going well for you guys and im proud of how much you guys have accomplished!
plz give me theme
the return of the refugees
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