COMPLEMENTARY AESTHETICS: TRUONG AND SELVAGE EXPLORE LIGHT AT BOSTON SCULPTORS

At Boston Sculptors Gallery, audiences have the opportunity to see “Bespoke” by Kenson Truong by simply parting a curtain and walking into a pitch-black gallery. The idea is to stand in that space shining a flashlight at any one of the four walls to see text printed in red and blue, which is visible only when using the high intensity black light provided. Viewers in the dark connect with the text as they search for narrative revealed with the radial glow cast by their flashlights. In this way, not too much of the narrative is shown at any given moment. There is mystery. Audiences enveloped in darkness can absorb at their pace. In this seemingly liquid environment Truong hones a metaphor of the unconscious creating a story of innocence, treachery, mortality, angst and the will to survive.

I talked with Kenson Truong by phone. He described his technique for screen-printing text onto the walls in grid formation. The artist also explained that his text fields consisted of “found poetry” employed to extract meaning from philosophy books and scientific papers with which he identified. His process is like music sampling, but with citations. He re-works information in layers until a new narrative emerges. Complex as this may seem, the effect fast tracks broader association for audiences to explore the sensory toll camouflage creation involves as a defense mechanism.

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