Urban Recollection
Concept art
Scope: Concept Art / Art Direction / Design
A recollection infused with fantasy. A memoir of dream and adolescence, of a place that is both grungy and poetic, a place which, no matter how far I was apart from it both in time and space, I couldn't stop dreaming of. The biggest shelter of my childhood, the Hanoi that built me.
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Preface
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In the midst of my most stressful and burnt out days, I turn back to the only haven I could think of: Ha Noi, or more specifically my grandfather's home. Not because I keep having dreams bout returning there or reliving my preteen years, but because of a certain relieved exhale that occurs whenever I think about the place.
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Located in the old collective quarter which riddled with alleys and crisscross staircases , my grandfather's small apartment had been sheltering me through years of my adolescence. The home did not only house the magic of a child's imagination but also the ups and downs of a family.
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Final concept
* I left the content of each picture in Vietnamese since it's more appropriate for me to talk about Ha Noi in the language of a Hanoian. However, the english translation is still available in a smaller note below
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[Từ dạo vào Nam, tôi thường mơ về những món quà Hà Nội. Cụ thể là ly nhân trần mát lạnh với cái hậu vị thanh thuần của bà trà đá dưới gầm cầu thang B1]
Tuy thông ra sân sinh hoạt lớn nhưng bản thân chúng lại thành một không gian riêng, hoàn toàn kín khỏi mưa gió. Sáng sớm sau khi đánh cầu lông ở sân chung có thể ghé vào đây làm một ly nhân trần tránh nóng, ngắm nắng đổ qua tường gạch bông gió thành những vệt lỗ chỗ trên mặt ông tổ trưởng dân phố đang vừa rít điếu cày vừa kể chuyện thời lính.
[ Ever since I left, I used to dream about the treats of Ha Noi, particularly, the plain yet light and crisp taste of the cold refreshing Adenosma tea sold by the ice tea lady under the staircase of block B1]
Despite leading to the main shared space, the under stair spandrel is a distinct space of its own, completely sheltered from the affects of outdoor weather. In the mornign after a good match of badminton in the shared yard, we can drop by for a cup of Adenosma tea to rid ourselves off the blazing heat whilst watching the sun light crashed through the holes of the air bricks and made radiant spots on Mr. Resident Leader 's face as he puff out large clouds of smokes. From the smoke comes the story of the epic war the man used to fought, and the story of how people became monuments.
< Set 1 >>>>
[Trưa hè oi ả nọ, tôi lại bắt gặp đứa trẻ không bao giờ lớn, nó dắt tay tôi đi về khoảng sân quen thuộc của khu tập thể ngày ấy]
Bọn trẻ con thường tụ tập ở khoảng sân chung trước bãi giữ xe. Ở đó, chúng là những nhà thám hiểm gan góc, những con quái thú kiêu hãnh, những hoàng tử công chúa với bữa yến tiệc linh đình. Ở đó, chúng là gia đình.
[ One sweltering summer noon, I met the child that never grew, they led me back to the familiar yard of those times in the old living quarter]
The children used to gather around at the shared yard in front of the parking lot, in there they are the gutsy explorers, the prideful beasts, the princes and the princesses with lavish banquets. In that magical place, they are a family.
< Set 2 >>>>
< Set 3 >>>>
[Trong những đêm chập chờn của dạo mới chân ướt chân ráo vào Sài Gòn, mờ mờ ảo trước đôi mắt nửa tỉnh nửa mơ của tôi là bóng lưng ông]
Ông hay cắt từ báo ra những mẩu tin lạ trong ngày rồi lưu chúng lại trong hồi ký, mỗi ngày đơn giản trôi qua đều trở thành một ngày đặc biệt với ông. Ánh đèn dầu leo lét, tiếng sột soạt của giấy, của ngòi bút, tiếng rì rào của gió lay tán cây bàng trước cửa, thi thoảng có tiếng ve sầu, đêm hè oi ả cứ vậy mà trôi qua...
[In the restless nights of my early days in Saigon, in front of my half asleep blurry eyes are the shape of my grandfather's back]
Gramps usually cut out pieces of odd news to put them in his memoir, every plain passing day is a special day to him. The fluttering dim light of oil lamp, the rustling sound of the pen tip scribbling on paper, the crinkling sound of wind breezing through branches of tropical almond tree, the resonating hums of cicadas, all combined into a sonata of a peaceful summer night.
[Tôi mơ thấy em vào một tối nọ, tròn 1 năm em mất, em nằm trong vòng tay tôi ấm áp dịu êm như thuở ấy, rồi em dụi cái đầu tròn nhỏ của em vào lòng bàn tay tôi và quay lưng bước đi]
Cậu Dím là một con mèo nhị thể đã ngụ trong khu tập thể từ 20 năm trước, lớn tuổi hơn hầu hết sấp trẻ bây giờ nên được cung kính gọi là cậu. Cùng với cái đuôi cụp và sự may mắn kì lạ cậu mang tới cho bất kì gia chủ nào có cơ may được tiếp đãi cậu, cậu mang luôn cái danh “Thần Tài” của khu. Ngày cậu mất, cả khu tới đưa cậu, sấp trẻ kính cẩn dựng cho cậu một cái am ngay chỗ chôn cậu, gọi là Am Thần Tài.
[I dreamt about you the other night, exactly 1 years after you passed away, you were lying in my embrace, warm and gentle like you always were, then you snuggled your fuzzy tiny head into my palm and turn away to leave me behind]
Uncle Dim is a patched tabby cat that had inhabited in the living quarters for 20 years, since he's older than most of the kids in the neighborhood, they respectfully called him uncle. With his bob tail and the extraordinary luck that he brought to the house hold that had enough pleasure to host him, he also earned the nick name "Prosperity God" of the neighborhood. The day he passed away, they all came to send him off, the children even crafted up a small shrine right where he was buried, they called it "Prosperity Shrine"
< Set 4 >>>>
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Creative process
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I reached out to Thuan Vo, a producer/art director who is coincidentally also looking for a non- commercial personal project to getaway from the usual advertisement box, she agreed to help me producing the project after I told her my story and discussed my idea.
The first layout tells a story of the typical Hanoi treat: street ice tea and Thuoc Lao. But instead of being on actual street, the ice tea I'm accustomed to was the one under the staircase of our living quarter.
Sketches
The second layout tells the story of our shared playground with only plain grungy structures and ordinary daily life objects, yet the children's imagination created a world of wonder
The third layout's story is more of a close and personal story of mine. Growing up, the closest people to me are my grand parents (from both my mother's and father's side). Since I was always so spoiled by them.
My grand father have a habit of taking notes, diaries and memoir, and he would usually cut off pieces of news from the news paper to stick it into his diaries and journals as a way of remembering how his life and the world around him changed through the years. Thanks to this habit, our house is now filled with stacks and shelves of his documents and newspaper. My grandmother, who is obviously triggered since her husband's reading corner technically invaded her kitchen, even threatened to sell all of his documents when he went out. The man just laughed off goofily at her threat and said "You can just use them to cremate me after I die" and it has became our inside jokes since then.
The last layout is a tribute to our family cat whose name is uncle Dim (since he was about 15 years old when I was born, he's technically my mother's youngest brother). It's a familiar custom to make small praying shrines for the lost ones or the ones that died young and sacred, I thought of making uncle Dim a shrine as he had always been a guardian to our household.
Uncle Dim died of old age when I turned 4, to honor his name, we adopted a cat with almost the same features as him and also named the little guy Dim. Dim. Jr, sadly, also passed away when he's 4 years old due to kidney failure. R.I.P Dim, our dearest family member, you will always be missed and loved.
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Mood & Tone
Experimental, high saturated color scheme, using plates and planes as composition materials combined with freakebana layout to create a dreamy surreal feeling.
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Materials
The projects was more or less a collage of pieces of memories and my own dreams and fantasy about Hanoi, particularly our living quarters, so I ended up combining torn down construction materials with some of the everyday life materials, hoping it would somehow convey and create the same familiar yet intriguing feeling towards the other Hanoi-born viewers. The construction materials are also there as a mean to reminisce about the old structures that are now broken down or removed for total city make-over.
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Behind the scenes
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It was not possible for the project to be formed without the helps from my dearest seniors Thuan Vo and Huynh Linh. Especially Thuan Vo for scouting the wasteland in the middle of noon, under the scorching sun, to find torn down construction materials. We cannot forget the help of our skillful photographer Phu Dao for the amazing lighting and studio, our great assistants Nam Do and Nam Vo for getting all of the materials we need. And lastly, Huynh Linh for arranging her time to come over at shooting day to document all the behind the scene process.
Set art/Sponsor: Thuan Vo
Photographer: Phu Dao
Assistants: Nam Do, Nam Vo
Behind the scenes: Huynh Linh
Amazing eye popping spraying colors from NC Store