Freedom is Motorbike Exhibition at LBCC

Press Release:

Long Beach City College Art Gallery is pleased to host the exhibition Freedom is the Motorbike from September 3 – October 12, 2013, with a reception on Tuesday, September 3, 7-8:30 pm. Included are works by Vietnamese artists living all year or part of the year in Vietnam, from Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Hue. The artists in the exhibit are Dinh Q. Le, Hoang Duong Cam, Linh Nguyen, Ngo Luc, Nguyen Thanh Truc, Pham Thu Hang, Phan Quang, The Le Brothers, Tiffany Chung, Tran Luong, Tuan Mami, UuDam Tran Nguyen.

In Vietnam motorbike is the primary means of transportation. Many begin riding the bike in early teens albeit eighteen is the legal age. Most continue until they’re too old to ride. During heavy traffic motorbikes use even the sidewalks, or ride on the wrong side of the street. The riders seem to abide by no absolute rules, except passage and modest safety. Given that Vietnam is governed by a communist system, one imagines restrictions beyond our own capitalism in the United States. It is also interesting to note that 35 percent of the population of Vietnam is under the age of fifteen, and 70 percent under the age of thirty-five. Seems inevitable that this should signal a youthful direction.

Internet has become as important as the motorbike, and even more powerful for permitting travel beyond borders. The riders maneuver the arteries of the city with their motorbikes similar to how Internet users get to negotiate the veins of cyberspace. Internet also permits the possibility of this exhibition, since many works in the exhibit are digital photo or video files that have been transmitted for translation into photos or videos for presentation. Thetravel through borders is also represented in three-dimensional forms. It denotes multiple meaning and amongst them is the reverberation of moving away from rigidity toward fluidity within each construct of time and space.

The exhibition aims to address the inevitability of growth and change in this age of post medium. The prevalent power of technology and communication signals the predictability of change and progress in Vietnam and is examined here within internationalism of its efficacy.

These are free events. Parking is available for a $1.00 fee in designated student lots, such as Lots C, D, E and F in unmarked slots.

Please contact HK Zamani at (562) 938-4815 for further information.