"OBJECTS FOR THE AUDIENCE"

MICHELLE BUI’S RESEARCH REVOLVES AROUND THE INSEPARABLE CONJUNCTURE BETWEEN MATERIAL CULTURE AND IDENTITY. IN THIS CURRENT STATE OF A SUSTAINED ILLUSION OF ABUNDANCE THROUGH AN ACCELERATION OF OVERCONSUMPTION, BUI IS INTERESTED IN WAYS IN WHICH ARTISTS AND VIEWERS ARE JOINTLY INTERTWINED AS CONSUMERS OF MATERIAL GOODS AND DIGITAL CONTENT. THIS VISUAL RESEARCH, FUELED BY THE LIMITS OF SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE, REACHES FOR A DESIRE TO ENGAGE IN IMMEDIATE SENSE- GRASPING MATERIALIZATION THROUGH A SINGLE IMAGE. IT IS PRECISELY THE IMMEDIACY OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY THAT MOTIVATES HER RESEARCH: ONE WHERE THE PRECISION, RIGOR AND SHARPNESS OF THE OBJECT AND THE IMAGE ALLOW TO GRASP COMPLEXITY AND CONTRADICTIONS AS A WHOLE, WITHOUT SEQUENTIAL READING. 

THE CONSUMPTION OF OBJECTS, THUS BECOMES A MODALITY OF CREATION. BANAL, MASS PRODUCED GOODS FROM DISCOUNT STORES, HARDWARE STORES OR GROCERIES ARE INTEGRATED WITH HAND-MADE ELEMENTS FROM RAW MATERIAL. THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY AND SCULPTURE, BUI SEARCHES FOR AN INTERACTION BETWEEN EASILY IDENTIFIABLE OBJECTS WITH SOME THAT ARE AMBIGUOUS (FAMILIAR, BUT WHOSE ORIGIN AND FUNCTION REMAIN ELUSIVE). THROUGH AN APPROACH OF ACQUISITION AND THE PRESENTATION OF VARIOUS OBJECTS, SHE SEES THE ARRANGEMENT OF THESE ELEMENTS AS WAYS TO PROVOKE TENSIONS AND SLIPS WHICH TRANSGRESS THE STATUS OF THE OBJECT. BY THE AESTHETIC, EXPRESSIVE AND SYMBOLIC QUALITIES AS WELL AS THE MATERIALITY OF THE SELECTED OBJECTS, MICHELLE BUI’S WORK OPENS UP TO A SHIFTED PLACE WHERE OUR SENSORY IDENTITY CAN UNFOLD.