I met my grandfather on my father’s side, who turns 96 this year, for the third time. In 1996, I went ‘back’ to Vietnam for the first time to attend my grandmother’s funeral. My mother’s parents passed away when she was still little. Simone and me visited ‘Gong’ (grandfather in Teo Chew, our Chinese Dialect from Shantou, 汕头 in Guangdong) in Ho-Chi Minh City for 5 days. I consider myself as an ‘Overseas Chinese’, because Chinese Culture/Tradition was passed on to us. However ‘Home’ for my parents has always been Vietnam, because they were born and grew up as ‘Overseas Chinese’ in Bac Lieu, South-Vietnam. We stayed with my uncle’s family who look after ‘Gong’ and everybody in ‘our’ neighborhood knew that the two of us were the relatives abroad from Switzerland. We went every day down to his room and were talking to him in Teo Chew. I was happy to see ‘Gong’, but in some ways he was a stranger to me, but I did notice similarities to my father. ‘Gong’ knew all the facts (school, profession, salary…) about his grandchildren and kept on asking us if it’s true that Binh, my second oldest sister, has become a lawyer. He also kept on asking if we really got the grant from Pro Helvetia and if we are really working on our project in Beijing. He said proudly that he is amazed how many languages his grandchildren speak. Somehow he thought Linh, my oldest sister, speaks Italian, what is NOT true…Pictures of us grandchildren and my parents were hanging on the wall. I recognize our old apartment in Solothurn, my Swiss hometown. I see family picture of us when we were little. All those pictures are part of my memories from Switzerland and are hanging on the wall in my grandfather’s room on the second floor at Binh Toi No133/5/3 in the 11th district of Ho-Chi Minh City – Saigon, how my parents still call the city! In the morning on our last day before we left for the airport we went down to ‘Gong’ to say goodbye. Both us took a picture with him to capture this moment. He wished us a save journey to Beijing and asked me: Is Beijing nice? I think he has never been to Beijing and has never returned to China since he moved to Vietnam.

winnie and pillar and and and

Posted by 丫 | reply »

la commune, the mexican train

The kind of guttural yelp that cannot find the words, at twilight, a half twisted smile of utter beauty and ghostly pain. I wish I could describe it to you better. Don’t read the about page; read what brought you here in the first place; read what makes you stay or go away; read and write and read and write and read and right. “Finding a balance between reflection and action”, these words don’t make much sense here, but it somehow lies that these words are precursors to something else, perhaps a coming together or a realisation that we are not at all. He says that ‘.networks’ are preferable to ‘.organisations’, and I suppose it goes along with one’s thinking about maneuverability, the possibilities for participation, connectivity. And ideals? I tear up.

So one acts alone, feverishly, perhaps to meet much dismay from the others. They come and they go. A guttural yelp. Let us restore that expression, something precursory to sensibility, an affect but all alone and thinking of you — fuck, it’s selfish. A conversation or just fantastic screaming. The ridiculous. He asks, “能说 ‘rational’ 来代表人吗?” Yes, perhaps.

So what could we do, too much expressionistically, moreso rationally? If I am not allowed to use the word “we” anymore, dare i say another?

Let me restore meaning to participation. Or I would like to. I would like to consider the empty spaces of respect, the distances necessary in love, in friendship and even intimacy. I would like to love you again. I would like to restore meaning to collectivity, to citizenship, to being all alone in the world. I would like to rethink my ways of relating to another, to rethink work and life and work in life. To make time to rethink, period.

The fool says too much again. Anarchically, anachronistically. Words that topple on top of words of words of words. iwishicoulddescribeittoyoubetter is now a network. Ha. Whatever that means…

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what makes my vacation vacation

Posted by lucio | reply »

re:

Barthes references the “obtuse meaning” as beyond signification, where it is neither informational nor symbolic. There is no proper structure; it is a signifier without a signified, hence the difficulty in naming or identifying. “If the obtuse meaning cannot be described, that is because, in contrast to the obvious meaning, it does not copy anything—-how do you describe something that doesn’t represent anything?” (from notes, seminar of Hubertus von Amelunxen, Saas-Fee June 2008)

Posted by 丫 | reply »

a sofa, a table, a lamp, a bookshelf, a plant, a TV

a body, a living room, a vessel. “…maybe I would say all the kulturelle komponente that i have inherited…” oversea is a work-in-progress from simone, mon and e. [link to project blog] First showing at the Premio finale, May 2008 at Theatre Tuchlaube in Aarau, Switzerland. many thanks to all those who allowed us to interview you, Peter, Thom, Karin, Benji, Rahel, Nomsa, Flurin, Meret, Catja, Binh, Rudy, Lidy, Thi-Xiem and Chieu.

Posted by 丫 | reply »

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