The process of making art and putting on an exhibition is often at its most engaging when it is a little bit confusing, allows more than one perspective and brings joy and frustration in equal measure. Our collaboration with Zerbst has been all those things already and we look forward to showing you the result. Motorbike carcasses, the transportation of a giant red ball and some miscommunication have all featured in the making of this exhibition – ample reason to be intrigued. Zerbst is picking apart expectations of how things work and are understood how by whom. Some of the questions he is setting out to ask are: Who is supposed to do what where? Does money speak louder than logic? What is left to say when all is laid bare? And… what did you expect? There will be tinkering with space and function. Familiar objects and situations are being taken out of context. Some things are not where or what you expect them to be. This is an invitation to have fun – try to figure out how this or that works or whether a film clip was scripted or not and enjoy work that underlines its more serious contemplations with a sense of humour.
Lukas Zerbst is a German artist, with a background in video work, site-specific installations and theatre production who has relocated his practice to Hanoi for a few months in 2016 as an exchange student at Vietnam’s University of Fine Arts. During his time here he has engaged with the impact of his visitor status on his right to create art that critically assesses the local art education system and cultural sector.