Japanese-American-Vietnamese artist, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, is well known on the international art circuit for his striking video installations. This exhibition presents new work, and examines his abiding interest in globalization and the balance between tradition and change as we forge our future. Co-organized with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, each venue will host the on-going piece, Breathing is Free, in which the artist is running the diameter of the earth (12,756.3) in cities of the world at different times. Breathing is Free is a virtual earth drawing, exhibited as an installation, illustrating the movement of populations around the world. The ASU Art Museum exhibition is the U.S. premiere of the Breathing is Free performance and installation.
Jun will be arriving in Phoenix the week of January 19 to install the exhibition and scout locations for the run, which will take place Spring 2009. The artist\'s physical runs, when mapped out, create a pattern that fits with his feeling and thinking about the physical location. The run is therefore very strategically planned and requires much forethought. The exhibition inside the Museum will include footage of both his films and previous runs as well as photography, maps and other projects.
Breathing is Free: New Work by Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba is an ASU Art Museum Moving Targets initiative.
As part of our mission as a university museum, the ASU Art Museum is committed to showing artists' work first and is proud to offer artists the opportunity to grow creatively and experiment with new forms. Breathing is Free: 12,756.3, a new work by Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba is co-curated by Heather Sealy Lineberry, Senior Curator and Interim Director at the ASU Art Museum and Dr. Nora Taylor, Alsdorf Professor of South and Southeast Asian Art, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The project will travel to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Betty Rymer Gallery, in summer 2009. The ASU Art Museum presentation is generously supported by the Evelyn Smith Exhibition Fund, Howard and Donna Stone, the ASU Art Museum Advisory Board, Diane Harrison and Sherman Axel, MD, and Friends of the ASU Art Museum. In-kind support provided by TownePlace Suites by Marriott in Tempe, LaBocca Urban Pizzeria and Wine Bar in downtown Tempe and PS Studios, Phoenix.
