Ron Tran’s artistic practice is interdisciplinary ‒ expressed most often as unscripted performance and subtle intervention which may incorporate sculpture, drawing, video, photography and the work of other artists. Tran’s work tends towards the ephemeral as imagined artistic expression filtered through the viewer’s experience.
Using his particular method Tran wishes to break open socially sanctioned routines and rituals in order to build new chances and types of encounters between people. In his own words, the artist sees himself primarily as a “collector of experiences”.
In the context of his presentation at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Tran will use the exhibition space for a participatory project that offers his guests – various acquaintances he’s made on numerous occasions in Berlin – the opportunity and the physical space to practice their skills, some developed through hobbies and others professionally within the framework of a gallery. In Tran’s exhibition, his guests become entrepreneurs, introducing their talents and services to visitors in the form of specific offers. Things on offer vary widely from yoga classes and dancing lessons for children, to “repossession services”, experimental meals and musical recording techniques.
Ron Tran is a grantee of Canada Council for the Arts and the Embassy of Canada, Berlin.