AI BUHLEEV EN YU/I BELIEVE IN YOU is an attempt to dissolve the objects, the idea, and the language of culture. By dissolving these things, we can gain a solution to questions of culture. Through an installation based on my experience with Cambodian-American dance spaces, the work questions the possibility of authenticity in hybrid cultures. In the installation, I am making a culture based on two existing ideas of culture—Cambodian and American—but I argue that when these two cultures meld together, the result isn’t Cambodian-American culture, because it is neither authentically Cambodian nor authentically American. The result is a hybrid culture. Hybrids cannot be authentic to any one thing.
The culture of the installation is a simulation of my culture (a hybrid culture.) I want the viewer to believe that they are experiencing “authentic Cambodian-American culture,” but then to realize that because all the objects are counterfeits, that idea of culture doesn’t exist. The audience is actually experiencing my culture in the installation, but it is not “Cambodian-American culture.” My culture is real and authentic to myself and others, but it is not authentic to “Cambodian-American culture.” However, the culture the installation creates is a real culture, even if it not authentic. A culture is real because we experience it as real.
Believe Me, 2011, pine wood, screen-print on Plexiglas, and fluorescent light fixture, 2 ft x 2 ft x 4 ft.
Believe Me, 2011, pine wood, screen-print on Plexiglas, and fluorescent light fixture, 2 ft x 2 ft x 4 ft.
Believe Me, detail
Everyday is a New Year, 2011, digital print on matte paper, 36 in. x 40 in.
Favorite Girl Coconut Milk, 2011, screen-print on cardboard, dimensions variable.
Favorite Girl Coconut Milk, 2011, screen-print on cardboard, dimensions variable.
Hybrid Flag, 2011, digital print on cotton sateen, metal flag pole and adjustable bracket, 3 ft. x 5 ft.
Hybrid Flag, 2011, digital print on cotton sateen, metal flag pole and adjustable bracket, 3 ft. x 5 ft.
I BELIEVE IN YOU Floor Panel, 2011, glossy laminated digital print on heavyweight matte paper, 4 ft. x 14 ft.
A Fake of a Fake of a Real (Flowers), 2011, artificial flowers, unlimited edition of stickers, 2 in. x 4 in.
Ai Bu Leev En You Sokhun Keo (Thesis Title), 2011, vinyl decal, 8 in. x 4 ft.
Ai Buh Leev En Yu/I BELIEVE IN YOU (General View), 2011, installation, approx. 350 sq. ft.
Ai Buh Leev En Yu/I BELIEVE IN YOU (General View), 2011, installation, approx. 350 sq. ft.
Ai Buh Leev En Yu/I BELIEVE IN YOU (General View), 2011, installation, approx. 350 sq. ft.
Ai Buh Leev En Yu/I BELIEVE IN YOU (General View), 2011, installation, approx. 350 sq. ft.
Ai Buh Leev En Yu/I BELIEVE IN YOU (General View), 2011, installation, approx. 350 sq. ft.
How to Dance the Saravan Authentically, 2011, digital print on matte paper, 17 in. x 22 in.
Impossible Karaoke, 2011, digital print on matte paper, animation, 17 in. x 22 in., 10 sec. loop
Impossible Karaoke (Detail), 2011, digital print on matte paper, animation, 17 in. x 22 in., 10 sec. loop
Impossible Karaoke (Detail), 2011, digital print on matte paper, animation, 17 in. x 22 in., 10 sec. loop
Impossible Karaoke (Detail), 2011, digital print on matte paper, animation, 17 in. x 22 in., 10 sec. loop
Fake of a Fake of a Real (Palm Tree), 2011, digital print in vinyl decal paper, artificial palm tree, dimensions variable
Fake of a Fake of a Real (Palm Tree) (Detail), 2011, digital print in vinyl decal paper, artificial palm tree, dimensions variable
The Illusion of Completion, 2011, wood table, metal table stand, leather chair, mirror, digital print on vinyl decal paper, dimensions variable
The Illusion of Completion (Detail), 2011, wood table, metal table stand, leather chair, mirror, digital print on vinyl decal paper, dimensions variable
The Illusion of Completion (Detail), 2011, wood table, metal table stand, leather chair, mirror, digital print on vinyl decal paper, dimensions variable
Live Performance at Hak Heang Restaurant, 2011, video projection, 3 min 14 sec. loop
Counterfeit Vinyl Records, 2011, record player, digital print on Bristol paper, polyurethane sleeves, Jay-Z vinyl record, The 5th Dimension vinyl record, Jeff Buckley vinyl record, Joni Mitchell Vinyl record, Ricky Nelson vinyl record, dimensions variable
Counterfeit Vinyl Records, 2011, record player, digital print on Bristol paper, polyurethane sleeves, Jay-Z vinyl record, The 5th Dimension vinyl record, Jeff Buckley vinyl record, Joni Mitchell Vinyl record, Ricky Nelson vinyl record, dimensions variable
