Erected in the gallery are four towering beams with megaphones and aged phonographs attached to their peaks. Referencing the outdated wartime speakerphones that are still used for propaganda across Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, the work The Thin Black Line speaks to the cultural, social, and political impact of the Vietnam War (also known as the American War) on art created before and after the conflict. Ambient music by the experimental musician Nhung Nguyen emanates from the speakers, reinventing––repurposing––its function from projecting political propaganda to playing sounds that imagines an alternate Vietnam.  

Included in the exhibition, Departures.

Acquired by the Singapore Art Museum in 2017.