The Carnegie Museum of Art will host The Propeller Group Reception and Artist Talk on Thursday, October 22, the day before the collective's exhibition at the museum begins.
Join Matt Lucero, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, and Phunam Tuc of The Propeller Group for a theatrical screening of their entrancing video The Living Need Light, the Dead Need Music (2014; 21 min.) in the CMOA theater. Following the screening, the artists will discuss their work-and connections between the Vietnamese brass band processionals portrayed in the video and New Orleans jazz funerals-with special guest Dr. Matt Sakakeeny of Tulane University.The museum's website summarizes The Living Need Light, The Dead Need Music, which runs from October 23 through March 21, 2016.
The Living Need Light, The Dead Need Music is a spectacular visual and musical journey through the fantastical funerary traditions of South Vietnam.The Carnegie Museum of Art is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map).
Created by artist collective The Propeller Group, the video follows brass band musicians, spiritual mediums, professional criers, and street performers through the mournful and euphoric public ceremonies of a multi-day wake: a set of colorful rituals that resonate with funeral traditions in New Orleans and other parts of the “global south.”
Part documentary and part visionary reenactment, the video is a poetic rumination on life, death, and the stages in between. Ultimately, the work speaks across languages and cultures, amplifying a sense of cultural interconnection, and appealing to universal foundations of myth, storytelling, and mourning. Shot in ultra-high definition video, and produced with the technical sophistication of a Hollywood film, it immerses viewers in a lush and captivating dreamlike atmosphere.