Sung Tieu: One Thousand Times

Form in the service of content

The installations by Berlin-based artist Sung Tieu (*1987 Hai Duong, Vietnam) deal with the reciprocal (coercive) relationship between bureaucracy and identity. The starting point for her works is her research into the recruitment agreement for Vietnamese contract labourers in the former GDR. Against the background of her own biography, she began to examine the complex socio-political background of this specific migration context. Aspects of the labour regime, the regulation of living space and the control of the private sphere overlap. Sung Tieu systematically traces these migration-political and economic contexts in her archive work and condenses her research findings into atmospherically impressive audiovisual narratives in spatial installations that combine objects, architectural interventions, documents, drawings, videos and sound recordings. In terms of formal aesthetics, her works are based on minimal art and conceptual art. What initially appears to contradict the artist's political-narrative approach, however, represents a form of critical engagement that puts the conventional belief in the autonomy of art and its interpretation to the test. For Tieu, form is at the service of content. This is also evident in the design of this publication, which reproduces some of Tieu's research material and archival materials as well as her entire series of bureaucratic documents in a strict grid structure. Art historical essays and an interview with the artist provide additional information about other important influences and references in her artistic work.

Exhibitions:
Kunst Museum Winterthur, 16/9 - 19/11/2023
Kunsthalle Nuremberg, 9/3 - 9/6/2024