Đền (temple) is a sacred place that signifies a rigid hierarchy between the giver and the taker. Similarly, churches, chapels, shrines, and altars represent the hierarchical power of faith, with a mortal human looking up and begging a divine entity. Den, on the other hand, is a private room for introspection that circulates around an individual. Striding “đền” and “den”, a temple is also a den, Việt Lê and Sàn Art is pleased to invite you in our obscured room where guests are not allowed to confidently walk into but must engage with the space to contemplate/question faith and holes inside our bodies.

By appropriating the typical spiritual place, the installation draws attention to the shapes, materials and placements of familiar symbols and invites visitors to question the relationship between statutes and human, fear and myths, as well as the potentials for symbol making. Along with the subtle presence of bodily movements, the artist’s terror and ecstasies, visitors are also encouraged to let their bodies interact with the space - a feverish body, a body in relentless search, or a peaceful one. ⁣

“đến đền den” is a movement toward an inner intersection - the point emerging from harmony and conflict, of vulnerability and reconciliation. Here is an invitation to move, interact with the space, initiate dialogues, rather than silently gaze upward to contemplate faith. ⁣

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