Look up look carefully (Water tower / Wasserturm)

"Water Tower" – Visitor's VR experience at SOMA Art Berlin, Germany – 2024

"Water Tower", Installation view at SOMA Art Berlin, Germany - 2024

"Water Tower", Installation view at SOMA Art Berlin, Germany - 2024

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Mixed media (Photography Book, Sculpture, Video Installation, VR)

2018 – present

Water towers – “châteaux d’eau” in French – form an imposing feature in many towns and cities acros Vietnam with an alien architectural presence attracting attention with size and shape. Each tower tells its own story: about their builders and about the rise, fall and change in societies and régimes of the country.

The water tower is an analogue of the hero, serving only the régime which constructs it and failing to transpose its function and strength to new rulers, despite its structure remaining sound. However, unlike clear symbols of political power, the water tower remains relatively immune from the explicit atempts of rulers to exert their influence.

Initiated in 2018 through numerous documentation photos, fragmented videos, and installations, the project interrogates its extended question: “How can foreign structures become part of collective history and heritage?” The “Water Tower VR” project uses 3D scanning, photogrammetry, and VR technology to create immersive, interactive experiences. It encourages visitors to explore these unofficial industrial/cultural heritage sites as digital traces, stimulating discussion about their alien presence.

© Cẩm-Anh Lương. Courtesy the artist

Water Tower VR
2023-2024 (ongoing)

Music: Souls - Đạt Maniac
Drone Photogrammetry (Sài Gòn): Hồ Tuấn Huy, Nhiên Lê
Photogrammetry (Hà Nội): Kim Hiếu Hoàng
3D Model Re-mesh (Hàng Đậu, Bình Thạnh): Jeff Dause

VR Design: Cẩm-Anh Lương
Early technical support: Maksym Pidluzhnyi

Interviews:
Architect Nguyên Phạm, Artist Phương Giò, Nhiên Lê & Friends, my father Lương Văn Lục

Part of Solo show

After me the déluge
Sau ta là hồng thuỷ

18th November – 7th December 2024
SOMA Art Berlin
Eylauerstrasse 9
Kreuzberg, 10965
Berlin. Germany

Report by Lưu Bích Ngọc