Art Labor in collaboration with Joan Jonas
Excerpt from “the guide” ,publication accompanied the 57th Carnegie International 2018
We wanted to work with people, not just the art world, says Arlette Quynh-Anh Tran of Art Labor. The people Art Labor worked with on this installation – which is modeled on a Vietnamese “hammock cafe” – include coffee growers in Vietnam’s Central Highlands (the second-biggest global producer after Brazil), members of that country’s indigenous community, family, friends, and the American artist Joan Jonas. A Hammock cafe is basically a truck stop. You are a long-distance driver. Immerse yourself in robusta, the look, the lore, the smell, and even the taste. Then get back on the road.
Introduced by French colonists, coffee was industrialized by the Vietnamese, who take theirs with condensed milk. "Our coffee is sweet, but the history is bitter." And so is the bean. Art Labor compares robusta to a tireless beast and haunting ghost in colonial and scientific chronicles. While high-quality arabica dominates popular imagination and taste, high-octane robusta is the commodity of instant coffee and the filler that gives expresso its froth. When Art labor visited Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s herbarium, little robusta was to be found.
Botanical drawings float overhead in the form of kites painted by Joan Jonas. The kites here were made by Tung’s father, among others, from bamboo and Dó paper (used in traditional woodblock printing), in the shape of animals and fairies from Jrai and Viet folklore. Jonas, a pioneering video and performance artist, turns drawing into a conjuring act – here bringing figments of jungle life and myth to light.
Botanical drawings float overhead in the form of kites painted by Joan Jonas. The kites here were made by Tung’s father, among others, from bamboo and Dó paper (used in traditional woodblock printing), in the shape of animals and fairies from Jrai and Viet folklore. Jonas, a pioneering video and performance artist, turns drawing into a conjuring act – here bringing figments of jungle life and myth to light.
DATE
Oct 13, 2018–Mar 25, 2019
LOCATION
Carnegie Museum of Art
4400 Forbes Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Joan Jonas
Draw on the wind, 2018
Hand painted kites
Dimension variable
Art Labor
Art Labor Hammock Café
Coffee service during Carnegie International 57th edition
11am-1pm everyday (except Tuesday) at Heinz Galleries, Carnegie Museum of Art
Vietnamese Robusta coffee service
Dimension variable
Ground , 2018
Coffee powder, found iron roofings, coffee tree trunks, glue, Various dimensions
Even the ear is cracked, 2018
Sound piece
