The Propeller Group
- Publisher
- MCA Chicago
- Binding
- Softcover
- Pages
- 120
- Dimensions
- 203×254
About
The Propeller Group—an artist team made up of Phunam, Matt Lucero, and Tuan Andrew Nguyen, and based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam—blurs the boundaries between fine art and media production, in much the same way that this publication blurs the boundaries between a traditional exhibition catalogue and an artist book. The catalogue features expository essays by curators Naomi Beckwith and Cesar Garcia, as well as contributions by each of the members of The Propeller Group: Tuan pens an obituary for the group that pays homage to Vietnamese funereal celebrations, Phunam shares an astrological reading that similarly honors the cultural legacy of Vietnam, and Lucero creates a travelogue that records the group’s recent exploration of the natural beauty of Papua New Guinea.
This is the first scholarly treatment on The Propeller Group, published on the occasion of the group’s exhibition at the MCA. The exhibition presents a number of multipart projects, comprised of videos and related objects, from the past five years for the first time since the group was formed in 2006.
Table of Contents
| PAGE | CONTENT |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Mythology of Dying by Tuan Andrew Nguyen |
| 11 | Foreword |
| 13 | Directors’ Acknowledgments |
| 14 | Acknowledgments |
| 16 | If All Goes as Planned by Naomi Beckwith |
| 30 | Project: The Guerrillas of Cu Chi |
| 38 | Project: AK-47 vs. M16 |
| 46 | Project: The Dream |
| 54 | Project: Fade In: Ext. Storage – Cu Chi – Day . . . |
| 62 | The Year of Our Rebirth by Phunam |
| 70 | Project: Television Commercial for Communism |
| 78 | Project: AK-47 vs. M16, The Film |
| 86 | Project: The Living Need Light, The Dead Need Music |
| 94 | I Can’t Imagine Ever Wanting to Be by Cesar Garcia |
| 104 | Biographies and Exhibition History |
| 107 | Contributors |
| 108 | Exhibition Lenders |
| 109 | Captions and Credits |
| 112 | The Three Californias by Matt Lucero |