Over there were those planning troop dispositions, rushing themselves to occupy the king’s seals, making an extremely violent fight

Description

This artwork by To Bich Hai, titled “Over there were those planning troop dispositions, rushing themselves to occupy the king’s seals, making an extremely violent fight” (1993), is a profound piece created with pencil lead on silk paper. Measuring 65x100cm, it evokes a vivid and tumultuous scene filled with symbolic meaning and abstracted figures. The chaotic arrangement of forms within the piece, defined by intricate and dynamic strokes, hints at a battlefield — not just a physical one but perhaps a metaphorical conflict within society, history, or the human psyche.

The work’s title suggests a moment of intense power struggles, where individuals vie for control, symbolized by the king’s seals. The “extremely violent fight” resonates in the composition’s energetic and aggressive lines, conveying movement and tension. Figures seem intertwined, perhaps locked in battle, as abstract shapes and swirling patterns surround them, evoking the unpredictability and chaos of conflict.

Drawing parallels to the artist’s thematic exploration of “Travail sur l’empreinte”, this work can also be seen as a reflection on how power, struggle, and violence leave their marks—both on the individuals involved and on history itself. Just as stone carries the imprints of time and human interaction, this piece captures the moment of human conflict through traces, as though the paper itself bears the weight of those ancient struggles.

To Bich Hai’s use of silk paper adds another layer of fragility and depth to the piece. Much like the delicate silk, history is easily scarred by acts of violence, and the marks left behind, though seemingly temporary, linger as part of the collective memory. This interplay between the material and the subject matter evokes questions about what we inherit from these violent struggles and how they continue to shape our perception of power, identity, and humanity.

The repetitive, almost hypnotic patterns of figures and forms give the viewer a sense of being drawn into a labyrinth of actions and reactions, where every stroke on the paper tells a part of the unfolding story. The abstraction allows for personal interpretation, inviting the viewer to search for meaning in the overlapping layers, much like the stone described in Travail sur l’empreinte, where one must look beyond the surface to see the deeper imprints of time.

This work is a haunting reminder of the cyclical nature of conflict and power and the lasting imprints these moments leave on both personal and collective history.

“Work on the imprint (since 1989)

Look at the wall of a building, or the stones that support churches and cathedrals. If out of curiosity, one lingers there, and takes the time to observe, one notices, from this well-squared stone, the tool marks of a worker from a bygone era.

Conscientious of his work, from a raw stone, he offers us a flat surface, a mirror ready to receive.

Over time, centuries, other passersby leave their mark, their scratches. Some whisper their secret loves to the stone, Others shout their passion and despair or, slash the stone with knife strokes to express their anger. Some people wander through arabesques,, just to leave a moment of their life there.

But beyond these traces of soul, what lies behind this face full of scratches? What is the original imprint, since the dawn of time, since the creation of its matter? Who inhabited or still inhabits it?

To capture its imprint, and try to listen and see, one can apply a veil of tissue paper on this stone, and have it embraced through rubbings, as if it were skin.

And if one manages to forget oneself, to surrender, and become the stone, it reveals gradually itself, revealing a weave.

From this weaving of signs, of traces, elaborated over millions of years, it is up to each one to guess, to seek the key, to find the thread that will lead them to the end of the mirror, to the other side of the shore, in order to embroider their own hidden world there.“