Kai-Duc Luong: Circumplex October 2009

Circumplex, an audiovisual installation by independent director/editor Kai-Duc Luong marked The Vilcek Foundation’s inaugural venture into the realm of video art in 2009. Intended to fully engulf the viewer in a world of emotional extremes, Luong peeled back the nuanced layers of a relationship between a man and a woman, who were seen speaking to and interacting with each other from opposing screens, reaching for but unable to touch. Drawn in part from the artist’s own interpersonal struggles and successes, and loosely constructed around the eight bipolar emotions charted by psychologist Robert Plutchik, Luong took viewers through a series of emotional diptychs–anger and fear, joy and sadness, trust and disgust, anticipation and surprise. To more completely envelop viewers in this intimate and theatrical exchange of feelings, Luong digitally imposed footage of the exhibit space as background for the film.