Trong Gia Nguyen – Executive Orders

Richard Koh Fine Art (RKFA) is pleased to announce Executive Orders, a 3 day pop up exhibition by Trong Gia Nguyen in conjunction with Art After Dark x Gillman Barrack’s 6th Anniversary from 21 – 23 September 2018 at 1 Lock Road, #01-01, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108932. The exhibition will feature a video installation by the Vietnamese-American artist. The Opening Reception will take place during Art After Dark on 21 September, 7 – 11pm.

Executive Orders is an immersive installation featuring a single channel video of a cardiograph mimicking Donald Trump’s comical signature. The title refers to the president’s ability to sign orders that implement the full force of law. Instead of a traditional beep, crests of the cardioautograph in the video installation is synced with audio mimicking gunshots, alluding to the swift action and magnitude in with which the President of the United States could inflict on his people with a single stroke of a pen. With an added twist, Nguyen commissioned musician Adam Aaronson to produce the accompanying sound of gunshots with the layering of traditional and non-studio instruments, using anything but firearm.

Orders executed by Trump that are considered controversial include the “Muslim travel ban” which halted Syrian refugees and barred visas to citizens from seven countries, the opening of Guantanamo military prison and the dismantling of the Clean Power Plan put in place to combat climate change. Trump, despite his party’s control of Congress and the House of Representatives, has issued over 75 such orders to date, on pace for the most orders signed off by any American president over the last 50 years.

All cardiographs eventually end in a “flat line”. Likewise, Nguyen’s video will continue to evolve, with the full tally of gunshots equaling the total count of executive orders Trump eventually signs. Until then, the “dead beat of America” pulses on.