Less than two weeks ago, I attended the opening of Sao La. While in the midst of the hustle and bustle typical of the opening of an art space, I found myself chatting away with artist Paul Frank Wagner and his wife, Angelica.
I say ‘found myself’ because I cannot recall how we started our conversation; I just know that I was drawn to them by their openness, joyfulness and passion. We talked about art, life and the education system in Saigon, future projects and about Wagner’s upcoming exhibition in Con Dao. We decided to meet for a coffee few days later at L’Uisine for a proper interview.
“Homeward Bound” is the new live installation that the French-American artist will present on Friday late afternoon at Six Senses in Con Dao. Born in France and raised in New York City, he studied art history at the University of Vermont, it was during those years that his artistic aesthetic was very influenced by the minimalist art movement and, in particular, by the works of Christo and Basquiat: “I decided then that I wanted to create artwork around a simple object, the rope.” His art has been compared to the Arte Povera movement due to his predilection for every day, rustic materials, “I guess I might have been influenced by it, but if so, it is on a more subconscious level. I think because my educational background has been very academic, I thought that something different could be done in art. For example, I think that paintings are dead. I do not understand why people still paint.”
His live installations utilize the rope to tell a story and, for the forthcoming ‘Homeward Bound,’ he will center his work on the story of sea turtles that come back to Con Dao Island to lay their eggs, “the project was born from the desire to raise awareness about these animals and the environment in which they live.”
Furthermore, the completed artwork will be auctioned and all the profits will be donated to the resort’s Turtle Club Fund to fund swimming classes for children, “there are many kids in Vietnam that drown every year because they do not know how to swim.” I have to honestly admit that I was not familiar with this situation and when looking at statistics online, it turns out that Vietnam is one of the countries in Asia with the highest deaths of children caused by drowning.
When I asked Wagner how he thinks the installation will take form, he explained that, although he tries to sketch it in his mind beforehand, for him, it is mainly a spiritual voyage, “I forget what I am doing and where I am, I get into a sort of trance where I work with the ropes and the surroundings, moreover because I still have not seen the space in which I will do the performance so I cannot predict what it will look like.” It is a multi-sensory performance, where the audience can see the artist at work, accompanied by sounds that he has recorded during his trip in Vietnam as well as by music played by Da Nang-based DJ, John Cove.
The inner journey of the artist is linked with the outer experience that the spectators have while seeing the installation unfolding before their eyes.
The material used will come from the island’s fishermen, “with the exception of some purple ropes that I brought with me from France.”
The performance will last a couple of hours and then the installation will be scaled down for auction. “I see my work divided in two stages, the first is the spiritual and creative one, in which I compose the installation. The second is the commercial part, where I transform it into a smaller piece of work that can be sold.”
“Homeward bound” will take place on this Friday at Six Sense Resort in Con Dao and the silent auction will run until September.
To get a glimpse of Wagner’s previous work, check out the video below.
Intersections, Paris from ARTIST PAUL FRANK WAGNER on Vimeo.
