S P A C E | Sài Gòn, 'Ngay Bây Giờ

Cover image is a show of new works that is a collaboration to make new kinds of zines and art books. This project is led by team members of Atelier S P A C E / HCMC, who are, so far, Văn Trần and Dipika Kohli.

A curious phrase inspired the title of this issue (below). 

As did a follow-up question, 'How do you feel, DK, about that?'

This was the phrase...

Hạnh phúc không phải là một lúc nào mà là ngày bây giờ / Happiness does not exist at some point in the future, but right now.

A glimpse at some of the pages inside this issue.

How did we feel?

Had to think about that.

So we asked someone to write something for it. Someone who would give us the lead story for this issue. That lead story for this issue is called 'Bờ Biển 1999,' or 'Seaside 1999'. It's by Quân Nguyễn. This story is in Vietnamese and in English. Special thanks to DS Phong for editing. Two images made by Boss are included in this issue, too. Here's more about each of the team members whose works are part of this issue.

Quân Nguyễn

Quân Nguyễn writes about his reflections on visiting his home country while returning to his life abroad, in Denmark. On his way to Aarhus, in this quiet moment, he looks back on childhood, and recalls a friend. A dear friend, whom he has not quite lost touch with as they maintain a digital connexion. Yet, somehow, he feels far. A short flash fiction work, in both English and Vietnamese.

Văn Trần

‘Some people say my photos are sad, but I don’t think they get it,’ says Văn Trần, defiantly. ‘These are my photos. I love them. They tell my stories.’ DK bumped into him while on the road in one of our usual quiet moments, reflecting quietly and apart from the hubbub of noise and people, in Đà Lạt, Việt Nam. He told us he enjoys cooking and traveling, and, we soon found, also investigates philosophical questions. This is where we found rapport. Instagram @huyvan.ne

Boss

Two inside photos are by Boss, who wields the camera when collaborating with DK on S P C, wherever we go. A gamer by profession, Boss is a great team member when it comes to tossing around ideas about, 'What about?', related to time, and beauty, art, and 'nothing.' designkompany.com

Dipika Kohli

Dipika Kohli's written and visual work, as well as curations, juxtapose people, place, and found imagery in 'minitheaters'. She engages with media at hand, wherever she is, to build something out of what's available in that moment, with that feeling. A bricolage artist at heart, she thus invites the new to enter any frame: when mixed, there is invitation for those who are participant to connect, reconnect, and revisit their idea of such fixed thinking as 'this is where this is taking us' and 'here is what we know.' Do we know anything, for sure? Ask the quantum physicists. Ask N. Bohr: 'How wonderful that we have met with a paradox; now we have some hope of making progress.' dipikakohli.com