HÀ NỘI — An experimental exhibition exploring art mixed with technology will open on August 25 in Hà Nội.

With the theme of "Art & Technology: Art as Insight", the exhibition explores intersections of knowledge and art — objects and designs that are beautiful but also represent amazing technological innovations, that inspire reflection and new discoveries for the viewer and that highlight the role of art as a powerful conduit of learning.

This unique debut exhibition, curated by San Francisco-based design-technologist Katherina Huong Nguyen, explores the potential harmony between art and technologies in the modern day.

“Art as a lens to view technologies, as a facilitator of technological understanding and innovation, art that leverages technology to amplify its vision and ability to lend insight, technology that scales the creative process, and/or art re-adapting technological artifacts as a new form of future communication,” she said.

The talented artists in the exhibition all intimately wield technology to express their vision, expanding the limits of what can be seen, sensed and experienced. Sometimes, they even entrust the creative process to the inner machine eye.

Their work guides the audience towards insight in three areas: creativity of the machine eye and scaled computational intelligence, sensory experiences and contemplation of the environment and the science of light and beauty of internal universes.

“The artworks and interactive installation experiences hope to introduce the potential of new and old technologies for future creators, inspire appreciation for the arts as a natural sandbox to encourage technology experimentation and encourage discussion around how we can build a future where arts and technology are more intertwined and equally cherished as fundamental to human progress,” said Nguyen.

The artists participating to the exhibition include Andrew Witt (projection video), Richard The (digital print), Reggie Raye (digital prints of computationally generated models for 3D printing), Nate Saucier (interactive mobile VR experience on Google Daydream), Juliann Ma (mixed media music performance), Celeste Oram (mixed sound and movement live radio wave composition), Maya Vanderschuit (projection media and sound), Daniel Oran (light sculpting and nanotechnology photography techniques), and Nikita Obidin (scientific camera apparatus).

Nguyen is a designer/engineer who is currently exploring the museum space with a keen interest in the potential of leveraging technologies to promote and better understand the world’s rich art heritage.

While she is a new curator, her passion for the potential of arts and technology is rooted in her childhood in the heart of Silicon Valley, where she grew up alongside the rise of the early tech industry, in her liberal arts education and in her years of experience running a software design consultancy immersed in the innovative startup ecosystem.

This exhibition is her debut curatorial production, both to celebrate the beautiful relationship between art and technology and to explore the potential of digital media technologies in facilitating distributed curation experiences across borders.

The exhibition will run until September 7 at the Heritage Space, 6 Nguyễn Hoàng Street, Nam Từ Liêm District, Hà Nội.

An opening exhibition tour on August 25 guided by the curator and artists requires online registration.— VNS