American artist Hap Tivey’s installation work to be displayed at San Art in Ho Chi Minh City from next week is a fascinating play on light and dark, involving walking into a darkened space where the light of a projected image is thrown from the rear on to a crafted rubber sculpture.

The viewer will see two different images from either side of the projection screen.

“When the video is running we may ‘see’ cars exploding, people in flames, bridges, buildings, water. When the video pauses, as it will periodically of its own accord, or if a viewer activates the pause function, we can only see the abstract light falling on convoluted surfaces,” Hap Tivey said.

“Every painting is a surface of light. We never see a ‘thing’ when we look at a painting. We see the light reflected from the surface and we imagine the ‘thing’ just as we imagine the illusion of a horse, a crucifixion or Cezanne’s wife.

“I began working with light in chambers in which one could only see light; one could not find any trace or suggestion of ‘things.’ This work is a logical evolution of that beginning,” he said.

The installation will occupy the entire gallery space at San Art.