*~ bLog IIX ~*

Vietnam the Ally

As most would know, the US and Vietnam were at war in 1975. This is the period when no Viet can be trusted. However, the trauma is slowly fading as time passes by. Many US enemies during the war are not working together with the Americans. One former Viet Cong Nguyen Thanh Trung, for example, is now the head chief of the Vietnam Airline and is proudly announcing his first entrance to the US airport. Another former enemy Ton-Nu-Thi-Ninh is now a member of the National Assembly and vice-chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee; "For a country [like Vietnam] that wants to escape from poverty... to build its place in the sun, in peace, this is the opportunity of centuries, of millennia and we've got to grab it" she said. Henry Nguyen is a former US enemy's son, who was raised in the US, is now investing in Vietnam. He said,"Vietnam... doesn't want too much influence from China and, at the same time, tries to balance out with the US and vice-versa." With Vietnam and the United States letting go of the past and start over is economically beneficial for both countries. Vietnam is economically advancing quickly, such as the the rapid growing American food industry like Mcdonald's, Taco Bell, Popeyes, and etc. that have been spreading. Other US influences are fashion, broadcasting, etc. Likewise, the US is also improving economically by Vietnam is advancing by a different thinking.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/5169638.stm

*~ bLoG VII ~*

Art Response

The art piece called "Hector and Andromache" was painted in oil on a canvas in 1918 by Giorgio de Chirico. This painting caught my eyes because of the the bright neutral multi-colors and shapes that the artist used. Not to mention, the two figures in such graceful gesture also something that interested me. The picture shown above was actually painted in 1917, which is not the finished one. The one that I witnessed had more bright but not gloomy colors like that one and had more details. When I first viewed the art piece, I saw the two figures first. Their gesture seemed to be gracefully and romantically leaning against one another as if they were in love. As I looked more, I noticed that there were two buildings that were on either side of them. These buildings were quite different in stucture,designs, and colors. Therefore, I concluded that Chirico must intended to capture a love scene of two different people from two different worlds like the story of "Romeo and Juliet." After a short research, I found out that "Hector and Andromache" were actually characters from the story The Iliad by Homer. Mainly, the story about those two were about Hector had to leave for war, leaving his wife Andromache and his son back. This artwork is defined as a surreal piece, which means to "disrupt our normal way of seeing things by accessing images that lurk in our subconsciouness" (handout). I also found out that a famous artist, who appreciated Chirico's artwork, is Picasso. He is known for his "cubism" artwork, which is "An art style developed in 1908 by Picasso and Braque whereby the artist breaks down the natural forms of the subjects into geometric shapes and creates a new kind of pictorial space. In contrast to traditional painting styles where the perspective of subjects is fixed and complete, cubist work can portray the subject from multiple perspectives" (www.lithokrome.com/s-47-glossary.aspx). This would explain the reasons for Chirico's choice of art; he wanted to capture the love scene of "Hector and Andromache" but also wanted for his viewers to see deeper into the scene than the general idea that everyone has at first instinct; that is why he used the cubism method for his surreal piece.