Kiều-Anh Nguyễn
My manager will continue to update after his floating
ba-bau AIR
fine fragrance, bisque fired Bát Tràng ceramics pieces of tea pots and tea cups
Southeast Asian Art Forum, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore (August 2023)
an attempt to archive and recreate in an olfactory form the (es)sense of ba-bau AIR over the years of operation and in different actions.
presented firstly at Southeast Asian Art Forum, NAFA, Singapore for presentation “on the (non)physicality of space” by ba-bau AIR
dining room 1: vague scent of passing time, first impression of coming to an old room with people taking care of the space
time: early spring 2020
spring’s high humidity air, sticky water leaks, untouched bookshelf with old yellow pages from previous owners, kitchen, dashi stock & dried seasoning, wet table top, tight damp walls, dust cleaning, dried-then-burn pomelo peels, concrete sweat
dining room 2: when ba-bau is less people, everyone is hanging around somewhere else & the space get to breathe
time: June - September 2022
offering white flowers, Hanoian incenses, freshness of sunlight, monsoon soil, crumpled vines, quilted lilies, leftover citrus peels from Queer Lexicon 2’s premiere pomelo sweet soup
phòngbímật: floating around where we archive, store and hoard things:
storage, spiderwebs, under the stairs & footsteps, rusty metal, aged wood, falling damp walls, electronic cords, dry concrete, spring rain
after balcony: late night post-event gathering at 2nd floor balcony
time: spring - autumn
nights neighbors’ thiết mộc lan (dracaena fragrans) & osmanthus, age-old rusty balcony, energy drinks, ashtrays, filtered cigarettes, pipe tobacco water, packed human sweat in air-con’d room, machine heat
soft air: first fresh sniff before entering the alley
evaporated water, dried spring dew, green buds, northeast breeze, quilted plants, old paper books, carious wood door & resin