Friday

Last night we attended an art show in a cozy little gallery across Hai Bà Trưng Street near the hospital. There were three works of art on the wall--or six images, were one were to explode the two- and three-part works for the sake of padding the population. It was a one-room gallery, small enough that provided refreshments--cans of Heineken and plastic bottles of water--were located in a large blue cooler on the sidewalk. This is where most of the people were, too. All gallery openings are the same the world over: after the few minutes necessary to gaze overlong at the walls, an intimately post-networked crowd pauses to socialize within its element.* This was my first gallery outing in Vietnam, and I was gratified how comfortably it fit within my experience. Artsy crowds of expat shakers and tony Việt Kiều movers aren't too culturally removed from the same old thing around the same small galleries back home. A word about the art: I liked one of the pieces a lot, one of two variations on a coral-like pattern of variegated tubes. The image featured playful, mostly separated colors--pinks and blacks--and reminded me of natural history illustrations. The third piece, a blue-green thing in twelve contiguous panels, was hand drawn on cells before being burned in color onto photographic paper. It was interesting, but I'd have been happier if it had been turned over. The ocean colors and the luminescence of the optical process seemed to indicate that the patterns were more akin to upside-down jellyfish than some weedy flowerpots. Outside on the sidewalk, I was impressed Sunshine knew so many people already. There was interesting conversation and the same old time I'm used to having at this sort of thing back home. [Cavin]