In thinking about how to project an image of Queer Vietnamese to increase visibility and further Vietnamese LGBTQ equality, I thought about ways that images are projected. I thought about holograms. Holograms have both optical presence and special quality as they mix reflections with the scene beyond. Holograms are a “window with memory." Holograms are visually complex and multidimensional and challenge our perceptions, and so are Vietnamese queers. Princess Leia and her hologram message inspired me, and to be honest, Princess Leia was one of my first crushes. Holograms illustrate the Queer space-time continuum in that they are a projection of how the past imagined the future, but in the present time. I choose to use the past’s version of the future’s technology, in the present and to imagine what a Vietnamese queer future for might be like. The holograms operate as a way to telegraph and transmit an image of LGBTQ Vietnamese and make these images accessible to those who may not see this community in a critical mass and highlight those who get to participate in a glittery ghostly presence.
More Than Love on the Horizon: Queer Projections first phase debuted in Hanoi in April 2016. The initial phase centered around the stories and lives of LGBTQ Vietnamese in Hanoi, Vietnam, while this second phase focuses on LGBTQ Vietnamese Americans in California.
This project was made possible with funding from ZERO1, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and the Ford Foundation.
More Than Love on the Horizon: Queer Projections first phase debuted in Hanoi in April 2016. The initial phase centered around the stories and lives of LGBTQ Vietnamese in Hanoi, Vietnam, while this second phase focuses on LGBTQ Vietnamese Americans in California.
This project was made possible with funding from ZERO1, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and the Ford Foundation.
