The Propeller Group is a cross-disciplinary structure for creating art projects. The collective is headquartered in

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

and works in conjunction with creative individuals in

Los Angeles, California, United States Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

."The Propeller Group."
''SFMOMA on the Go''. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. Swan, Ethan
"The Propeller Group, Founded 2006, Ho Chi Minh City."
In ''The Ungovernables, 2012 New Museum Triennial'', eds. Eungie Joo et al. New York: Rizzoli, 2012. Print.

About

The Propeller Group was founded in late 2006 by visual artists Phunam Thuc Ha (born 1974,

) and Tuan Andrew Nguyen (born 1976,

), who were joined by Matt Lucero (born 1976,

Upland, California Upland is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States on the border with neighboring Los Angeles County. The municipality is located at an elevation of 1,242 feet (379 m). As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 79,040 ...

) in 2008. Phunam studied sculpture and conservation in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

and

Chiang Mai, Thailand Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...

and at the

Hanoi College of Fine Arts The Vietnam University of Fine Arts (formerly ''Hanoi College of Fine Arts'') is an art school in Hanoi, Vietnam originally established under French colonial rule in 1925. The university has trained many of Vietnam’s leading artists and each year ...

. Nguyen earned a BFA from the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...

. He met Lucero while they were completing their MFA from the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

. Lucero earned a BFA from the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

."The Propeller Group."
''Guggenheim: Collection Online''. Guggenheim Museum, n.d. Web. 25 March. 2014. As of late 2017, Phunam Thuc Ha and Matt Lucero are no longer active members of The Propeller Group having withdrawn to pursue more personal interests.Rose, Frank

''The New York Times''. Web. 23 Feb. 2018. Tuan Andrew Nguyen continues to work with the group. Whereas his own practice focuses on 'memory and its potential for political resistance', Nguyen's work with The Propeller Group explores 'the memory of the Cold War and its residual effects on how we perceive and how we relate to one another in the present day'. The collective is dedicated to developing original creative content, bridging between fine art and mainstream media. The group draws inspiration from television, film, video, and the Internet.
Singapore Biennale 2011 Open House.
' Singapore: Singapore Art Museum, 2011. Print.Garcia, Cesar
"The Propeller Group."
In ''Made in L.A. 2012'', eds. Anne Ellegood et al. Munich: Prestel, May 2012. Print. They make large-scale collaborative projects in

new media New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...

, from online viral campaigns, international film productions, television commercials, to

art installations Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called ...

, and everything in between, taking a special interest in

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

and

mass communication Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging information through mass media to large segments of the population. It is usually understood for relating to various forms of media, as its technologies are used for the dissemination o ...

. The collective employs strategies from advertising, marketing, and the

rarefied Rarefaction is the reduction of an item's density, the opposite of compression. Like compression, which can travel in waves (sound waves, for instance), rarefaction waves also exist in nature. A common rarefaction wave is the area of low relati ...

forms of commodity exchange and display that take place in galleries and museums. Their medium and Vietnam are frequently their subjects. They use mass media as a platform to combine seemingly contradictory phenomena: advertising and politics, history and future, and public and private. They often push their work back into the public sphere, using commodities as a form of public art. The collective cites

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

as a source of influence, as seen in their documentary ''Spray It Don't Say It (''2006), which follows the evolution of graffiti in Vietnam.Mehta, Diane
"The Propeller Group."
''BOMB Magazine''. BOMB, 21 February 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. The influence of graffiti is also present in ''Television Commercial for Communism ''(2011), drawing inspiration from the COST REVS tag, which mixes identity with advertising and branding and takes advantage of the public space.Brooks, Katherine
"The Propeller Group Is On Our Radar: Multimedia Art Trio Talks Communism, 'Argo' And Graffiti (PHOTOS)."
''The Huffington Post'','' ''18 Apr. 2013. Web 10 Jul. 2013.

TPG Films

The Propeller Group also functions as the full-service

video production Video production is the process of producing video content for video. It is the equivalent of filmmaking, but with video recorded either as analog signals on videotape, digitally in video tape or as computer files stored on optical discs, hard dri ...

company TPG Films. In addition to making music videos for Vietnamese pop singers

Thanh Bui North was an Australian boy band established in 2004. Popular primarily in Asia, the group had top ten singles in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and India. Their debut single was a cover of Peter Cetera's "Glory of Love" which ...

, Hoàng Thùy Linh,

Minh Hằng Lê Ngọc Minh Hằng (born June 22, 1987, in Ho Chi Minh City) better known as Minh Hằng, is a Vietnamese singer and actress. Lê Ngọc Minh Hằng stepped into her career at the age of 16 as a member of several girlgroup, and has been cast ...

Hồ Ngọc Hà Hồ Ngọc Hà (born 25 November 1984) is a Vietnamese model, singer, actress and entertainer. She started her singing career by releasing her first album titled 24/7 back in 2004. The album was a hit which helped her to make an appearance in ...

Phương Vy Nguyễn Ngọc Phương Vy (born August 27, 1987) is a Vietnamese singer who won the first season of ''Vietnam Idol'', in 2007. Vietnam Idol Phương Vy auditioned for ''Vietnam Idol'' in Ho Chi Minh City. She proceeded into the top 10 and was ...

, Anh Khang, Liêu Anh Tuấn, and the occasional commercials, TPG Films has collaborated with Vietnamese American artist Dinh Q. Lê on multimedia installation projects. They also regularly team up with Danish art collective

Superflex Superflex is a Danish artist group founded in 1993 by Jakob Fenger, Rasmus Nielsen and Bjørnstjerne Christiansen. Superflex describe their projects as ''Tools'', as proposals that invite people to participate in and communicate the development o ...

, co-producing short films and video installations.Butt, Zoe. ''“
The Pilgrimage of Inspiration – Artists as Engineers in Vietnam: The Propeller Group interview with Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Phu Nam Thuc Ha, and Matt Lucero.”
''Independent Curators International: Dispatch'', 13 May 2010. Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network, 9 Oct 2010.'' ''The distinction between The Propeller Group and TPG Films reflects the shifting relations between art and commerce. Phunam and Nguyen also co-founded the artist-run, non-profit, alternative space Sàn Art (Ho Chi Minh City) along with Dinh Q. Lê and Tiffany Chung in 2007.

Works

Their works have been described as a blend of aesthetics and culture, between fine arts and mainstream media, between art gallery and the media world, between high culture and low culture, with an interdisciplinary and border-crossing appeal, a fusion of two seemingly different concepts and ideologies, such as the blend of the tool of capitalism (advertising) and ideology of communism in their project ''Television Commercial for Communism''. According to the Guggenheim Museum, "To appreciate the Propeller Group’s work is to enter an extended network of aesthetic and cultural production." The Propeller Group has been the subject of solo exhibitions at galleries and museums worldwide. Their work has been included in ''No Country: Contemporary Art for South and Southeast Asia'' at the

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

, New York and ''The Ungovernables,''

New Museum The New Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is a museum in New York City at 235 Bowery, on Manhattan's Lower East Side. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-named New Sc ...

Triennial. The collective, under the identity TPG, has also exhibited at

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

, Lombard Freid Gallery, Guangzhou Triennial, and Singapore Art Museum.

Films

* ''Spray It Don't Say It'' (2006) – documentary film * ''She Sells'' ''Seashells'' (2007) – short film, in collaboration with The Seashores * ''Burning Car'' (2008) – short film, in collaboration with Superflex * ''Flooded McDonald’s'' (2008) – short film, in collaboration with Superflex * ''The Financial Crisis'' (2009) – video clips for television broadcast, in collaboration with Superflex * ''Porcelain / Mảnh Ghép Cuộc Đời'' (2009) – three-part television mini-series, in collaboration with Superflex * ''FADE IN: EXT. STORAGE – CU CHI – DAY'' (2010) – short film, in collaboration with Superflex * ''The Guerillas of Cu Chi'' (2012) – short film * ''Light and Belief'' (2012) – short documentary film, with Dinh Q. Lê * ''The Living Need Light, The Dead Need Music'' (2014) – short film"THE PROPELLER GROUP – Jun 4–Nov 13, 2016."
''MCA: Exhibitions''. Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Web. 1 May 2017."The Propeller Group’s Gorgeous New Show Captures Beauty in Death and Ballistics."
''Artsy.net: Magazine''. Artsy.net. Web. 1 May 2017.

Video art

* ''The Farmers and the Helicopters'' (2006) (in collaboration with Dinh Q. Lê) * ''Uh'' (2007) * ''From Father to Son'' (2007) (in collaboration with Dinh Q. Lê) * ''South China Sea Pishkun'' (2009) (in collaboration with Dinh Q. Lê) * '' Modern Times Forever'' (2011) (in collaboration with Superflex) * ''Erasure'' (2011) (in collaboration with Dinh Q. Lê) * ''Television Commercial for Communism'' (2011)"The Propeller Group."
''Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative: Artists''. Guggenheim Museum, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. "The Propeller Group on the Production of TVCC."
''Guggenheim: Video''. Guggenheim Museum, 22 Jul. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. Pearlman, Ellen
"The Ungovernables Flips the Bird."
''Hyperallergic: Sensitive to Art & Its Discontents''. Hyperallergic, 17 Feb. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.Chapman, Amy Howden
"Amy's Column 06 - 'Made in LA' Review."
''Chartwell''. The Chartwell Collection, 18 Jul. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

Interdisciplinary projects

* ''Temporary Public Gallery'' (2010): Renting out advertising space to curate artworks in public, the group attempts to challenge notions of public space, advertising, and public art in Vietnam as there are limitations of the public art due to control through different censorship bodies. * ''Estranged Fruit'' (2011): A study in the application of political history and socio-political meaning through the introduction of one of America’s most famous protest song,

Strange Fruit "Strange Fruit" is a song written and composed by Abel Meeropol (under his pseudonym Lewis Allan) and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939. The lyrics were drawn from a poem by Meeropol published in 1937. The song protests the lynching of Black ...

, into China’s growing rock scene, via Chinese punk rock & industrial metal band, VooDooKungFu. Estranged Fruit was displayed in its first iteration in Hong Kong at 1A Space as an installation. * ''Vietnam the World Tour'' (2010–2012): A rogue anti-nation-rebranding campaign. It appropriates marketing language, graffiti strategies, and viral video platforms to re-associate a historically colonized and mediated national identity with an entirely new mediated history. * ''Static Friction: Burning Rubber'' (2012): An attempt to discuss the larger issues of globalism, economy, industry, individuality, rebellion, violence and aesthetics with one simple act: the burnout. Single channel video, modified

Honda Wave The Honda Wave – also marketed as the Honda NF series (codename), Honda Innova in Europe, and Honda Supra in Indonesia – are a series of motorcycles manufactured by Honda that debuted in 1995 with an underbone design, having separat ...

, photographs.Carruthers, Ashley
"Moto-mobile, Saigon/Motomobility."
Galerie Quynh, April 2012. * ''Static Friction'' (2012): A five-part work, including ''1967'', ''Collision'', ''The Dream'', ''Portraits of Mechanical Reproduction'', and ''Chasing Inertia''. * ''The History of the Future'' (2012): A two-part mold is shown in the gallery space along with an accompanying short film showing a series of

packshot A packshot (also pack shot) is a still or moving image of a product, usually including its packaging and labeling, used to portray the product's reputation in advertising on TV. or other media. Its goal is to trigger in-store, on-shelf product rec ...

s, inter-cut with a short documentary narrative of the artists’ journey to an unknown location to bury the sculpture. The GPS coordinates are kept in a steel safe rigged with a time-release mechanism, attached to a digital counter, counting down from 100 years, only to be unlocked when the counter reaches zero.

Selected exhibitions and screenings

References

Exhibition information
on AsiaArt Archive
The Propeller Group
on Lovely Stationery
The Propeller Group
on

Artsy (website) Artsy, formally known as Art.sy Inc is a New York City based online art brokerage. Its main business is developing and hosting website for numerous galleries as well as selling art for them. It utilizes a search engine and database to draw conn ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Propeller Group, The Multimedia artists Video artists Vietnamese artist groups and collectives