By Matthew Yang
6/23/2023
It might be a surprise to you that the bell in the film “Unburied Sounds” is made out of a bombshell. In fact, the bell is a piece of art crafted by Tuan Andrew Nguyen, an artist from Vietnam who is trying to bring back memories of trauma caused by war.
The film “Unburied Sounds” was shot in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Tri, an area that was bombed heavily during the Vietnam War. Even now, numerous unexploded bombs are still present and can be accidentally set off to hurt people or claim their lives. Nguyen works with Project Renew, a non-governmental organization that aims to find and disarm unexploded bombs, to turn the bombshells into art.
The bombshell used to make a bell for his piece “Unexploded Resonance” came from a B-52. Nguyen tuned the bell to ring at 432 Hz, which is considered a healing frequency by some theorists and musicians.
In the film “Unburied Sounds,” a young woman who collects the unexploded bombshells for living strikes the bell to ease her traumatized mother, whose husband lost his life while scavenging ammunition. Similarly, Nguyen hopes to use this piece of art to heal people.
“My starting point is Vietnam. But my ambition is to extend it beyond just the narratives of Vietnam,” he says.[1]
Hi Matthew,
Great work on this revision. The piece is ready for publication.
—Eva