the sky, the sand, the lashing waves

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August 24, 2025

August 1, 2025

Phan Quang

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒌𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔

𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗯𝘆 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗻𝗴

️ Opening: 06:30 PM Friday night, 1 August 2025
On display: 11.00 AM - 07.00 PM (Tue - Sun) from 02 Aug until 24 Aug 2025

Manzi Exhibition Space, 2 ngõ Hàng Bún, Hà Nội
Free Entrance

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Unlike his earlier photography practices that established his artistic reputation, the open studio at Manzi this August marks a pivotal shift in Phan Quang’s creative trajectory, foregrounding video installation as the primary medium. Departing from meticulously composed still images characterized by a “𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑-𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡-𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚-𝑡ℎ𝑒-𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡” approach—saturated with layered conceptual frameworks and incisive critical observations that dissect reality like a surgical blade, revealing obscured narratives and repressed traumas or persisting sociocultural prejudices—his latest body of work pivots the gaze inward. The artist employs his own body as both a performative medium and a site for phenomenological exploration and embodied confrontation.

In the two video works comprising “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒌𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔,” the artist’s body appears as a solitary figure immersed in nature: exposed, unguarded, and defenseless. He confronts the vast, unpredictable, and fundamental forces of nature, such as waves, wind, sunlight along with the compressive force of sand as well as the detrimental potency of water. The bodily gestures, whether passively inert or actively engaged, avoid any sense of theatricality or an exhilarating performance. Rather, they suggest a silent, ritualistic submission, a complete letting go. By stripping away compelled narratives and rejecting metaphor, we are left with a pure, unmediated experience, or corporeal phenomenology.

Phan Quang pushes his physical limits not to conquer or assert the will of survival, but to surrender quietly, completely. In the stillness of solitude, he does not resist but yields to be carried, to be undone and dismantled. The body is no longer a vessel of control but a site of openness / a threshold for profound meditative states. And suddenly, something returns: frail, bare, but true. A self remade, one attuned to the tiniest pulses of being—the ‘in and out’ of breath, the hush between heartbeats, the weight of silence, the ebb and flow—as steady and unending as waves against the shore or sand drifting in the wind.

This embodied experience is not solely documented and displayed in the two video installations, but it is also diffused and reflected throughout the exhibition space via photographic pieces and an installation portrait made of crushed sand and cracked mirror shards. Here, the dialectic between seeing and being seen, the portrait of the ‘Other’ and one’s own reflected image, as well as the phenomenological tension between observer and observed produce an ambiguous liminal space. This seemingly infinite silence unexpectedly invites the audience to immerse themselves, confront, and engage. Like waves striking the shore and receding, is this accretion or erosion? Fullness or emptiness? These ontological inquiries resonate as reverberations inviting individual contemplation and interpretation. For Phan Quang, he has arrived at a personal epiphany: “Within the depths of suffering lies the seed of happiness.”

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𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗞𝗬, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗡𝗗, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗦
𝗔𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗯𝘆 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗻𝗴
𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗯𝘆: 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗮𝗻
𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆: 𝗡𝗴𝘂𝘆𝗲̂̃𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲̂́ 𝗦𝗼̛𝗻

ARTWORKS

GALLERY

The sky, the sand, the lashing waves—Phan Quang's Silent Journey

Waves Kissing the Sky—Phan Quang’s Silent Journey

Nothing ahead

Nothing left behind

I whistle a stray, discordant tune on a thorny scrubland

And walk away

Without a word.

(Singing to Myself. Lê Thánh Thư, 2011)

Across a vast desert, a lone man on horseback, carrying his son behind him—this is the pervasive image from the 1970 film "El Topo" by the renowned Mexican-Chilean director, Alejandro Jodorowsky. It's an unceasing journey of self-discovery and salvation, traversing brutal yet sacred transformations, both tragedy and transcendence, ultimately culminating in a highly symbolic rebirth. "El Topo" gained notoriety through underground screenings, attracting a large audience of students, artists, and intellectuals, and became an underground cultural phenomenon, breaking away from prevailing trends and creating a counterpoint to the values and norms of mainstream culture and established media of its time.

If "El Topo" is a journey filled with gunshots, then "The sky, the sand, the lashing waves" is Phan Quang’s silent journey. Throughout his life, from youth to adulthood, establishment, and renown, Phan Quang has persevered like a hermit, calmly, almost dispassionately, confronting life's trials and tribulations. Accompanying him is his own quiet, silent shadow; almost all his energy and activities are ultimately dedicated to a single love: his love for his children. Much like in Binh Nguyen Loc's "Rừng Mắm" (The Mangrove Forest, 1968), the eventual prosperity is the result of countless silent efforts from preceding generations and nurturing parents.

To truly experience "The sky, the sand, the lashing waves," viewers need to prepare themselves with patience, an open and compassionate heart. Because, in every frame, like a still lake—if you pay attention, you will see yourself. Phan Quang merely suggests; you must be the one to fully perceive in the stillness of your inner self. "The sky, the sand, the lashing waves" is a fusion of Eastern and Western philosophies, demanding viewers to contemplate and decipher: from the first rays of dawn to vibrant twilight, the turbulent waves and silent tides, abundant nurturing and empty—handed departures, the snares of life that also serve as steps for support.

Manzi—an independent and versatile art space in Hanoi—is where Phan Quang is screening two new films. This is no longer the traditional photography medium that made his name, but a new experience, a challenging one for both the artist and the audience. What will the outcome be? According to him, in the end, it’s still just the sky, the sand, the lashing waves.

Brian Doan

Hanoi - Summer 2025