Skip to main content
Washington University in St. Louis
Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts

Create an account to add artworks to your personal collections.

Enter your email address below to recieve an email to reset your password.

An email has been sent to your inbox to reset your password.

image alt

Tuan Andrew Nguyen

Dragon Scales

2022

image alt
1 / 1

In this mobile the contemporary Vietnamese American artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen etched a geometric pattern of dragon scales across the surface of a 57 mm, Russian-manufactured artillery shell. The limbs of the mobile, consisting of thin brass rods that end in flattened, polished circles, hang from the artillery shell. All of the materials that make up this sculpture derive from fragments of Vietnam War­ era bombs, which are still being found decades after the end of the war in 1975. This kinetic sculpture evokes a bomb drop or air raid while also bearing a resemblance to the work of the American artist Alexander Calder, an example of whose sculpture can be found outside the Museum in the Florence Steinberg Weil Sculpture Garden. Nguyen's mobile also includes a sonic element, with the artillery shell doubling as a bell that, when struck, emits a low chime. The artist worked with a sound healer to tune the sculpture to a vibration of 432 Hz, creating a sound that is therapeutic for those struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and thereby transforming an object of war into one of healing. [Permanent collection label, 2023]

  • Artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen (Vietnamese American, b. 1976)
  • Title Dragon Scales
  • Date 2022
  • Medium 57 mm brass artillery shell, tuned to 432 Hz; brass ordnance and stainless steel; and wire; and with wood mallet
  • Dimensions overall | 68 x 37 x 44 in.
  • Credit line University purchase, Yeatman Fund and William McMillan Fund, 2022
  • Object number WU 2022.0008 a-x

New Acquisitions in Contemporary Art
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 07/19/2023 - 07/29/2024 James M. Kemper Gallery, Room 3

Received 11/16-17 & returned, approved by ACC 12/12/2022; final version received 1/19/2023
James Cohan Gallery (New York)

This artwork record may be incomplete or need refinement. Our staff actively researches the collection and revises records when new information is available. If you have questions or comments about this record, please contact us.

Related Content

go to Health, Illness, and Medicine page
1992_18.tif
Theme

Health, Illness, and Medicine

go to War and Conflict page
2016_0012.tif
Theme

War and Conflict

go to New Acquisitions in Contemporary Art page
2022_0004a-d.tif
Exhibitions

New Acquisitions in Contemporary Art

July 19, 2023–July 29, 2024

Image Reproduction Request Form

To request image materials and/or permission to reproduce a work of art from the Museum's collection, please complete and submit the form below. The information you provide here will enable us to process your request and assess the appropriate images, permissions, and any applicable fees. 

Typically, image requests that do not require new photography can be completed within three weeks. Whenever possible, rush orders may be accommodated, although additional fees may apply.

If you have questions, please contact Kristin Good, associate registrar, at kristin.good@wustl.edu.

Checking this box constitutes a legal signature. By checking this box, the applicant agrees to abide by all terms and conditions under which permission is granted to reproduce works of art in the collection of the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, and that permission is contingent upon payment of any applicable fees.

* Required fields

test View details