Processed history of Sweetend Condensed milk 2015 Construction bricks, Ông Thọ sweetened condensed milk cans 181 x 111 x 58cm
Sữa đặc có đường Ông Thọ (Ông Thọ sweetened condensed milk) is a famous condensed milk brand in Vietnam.
Before 1975, the multinational company Friesland Foods owned the brand in South Vietnam with the name Longevity and an elderly man who holds the fairy peach (deity Shou). The company unofficially translated the name Ông Thọ milk to make it easier for Vietnamese customers. After 1975, the brand was collectivized under management of Vinamilk. Since 1975 till 1990, Vinamilk keeps producing the product with the brand name Ông Thọ. When Friesland Foods company started their business back in Vietnam, in 2002 they had sued Vinamilk for taking the product identity along with the brand name. Foremost finally won the trial and reproduced the product under name of Longevity, which made Ông Thọ brand even more popular among Vietnamese customers when they think that Friesland Foods' Shou deity is just an imitation of Vinamilk's Ông Thọ.
With Duc, the Ông Thọ sweetened condensed milk is part of his childhood and its sweetness and textures really made his dreams during the subsidized period under pressure of American's economic embargo in Vietnam. Along with red bricks with the very familiar shape to every Vietnamese, his installation with Ộng Thọ milk cans forms the memorial to Jeffrey Miller of 1970 Kent State Shootings. The installation reminds himself and memories of kids' play among piles of bricks beside house under construction. The bitter of solid past plus the sweet of uncertain future make the decision of presence matter political and social changes.