Today marks April 30th. For some, it's a day of revolution, overthrowing a government, winning, and the start of a new era in Vietnam. For others, it's a day that outlines losses beyond compare - money, personal objects, a lifetime's work, arts music, a sense of belief, loved ones, identity, a homeland, or a place to call home. In this piece by Binh Danh, "From the Immortality: The Remnants of the Vietnam and American War series," I look at my own reflection offered back to me and the image on the leaf. Where are my roots, and how do they relate to the ones that produced this leaf? What is the final transmutation of a country, a government, a people as the result of war, rooted in a bipolar belief that never came to agreement? #blackapril From the artist: "In this series, photosynthesis is used to record images onto leaves using only chlorophyll and light: the life source of plants, and consequently, the Earth. This work deals with the idea of elemental transmigration: the decomposition and composition of matter into other forms. The images of war are part of the leaves and contain the residue of the Vietnam War: bombs, blood, sweat, tears, and metals. The dead have been incorporated into the landscape of Vietnam in the cycles of birth, life, and death through the transformation and recreation of materials." (at Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum)
