Photomontage.

Description

Saigon Apartment was photographed at an old apartment building from the French colonial period, located next to the city hall, where French offices were located before it was used as Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Committee Office. The very location is described in Graham Greene’s novel The Quiet American. After 1975, it was converted into a residential building, but because it lacked amenities, authorities added shared toilets in the corridor, which completely transformed the architecture – and created unpleasant smells. The building was demolished in order to be replaced by a high-end shopping mall, but the project is still pending and the space is currently empty. As in all the works of this series, the artist inconspicuously added himself to the photograph.

Description from "Vietnam in Transition, 1976–Present" Exhibition Catalog, 2023, p.25.