With her contribution to REALITY, Sung Tieu takes up the idea that the open-air pool is a place where many people can spend their free hours together – and also play with or against each other. She has designed a virtual chess game. On the TROPEZ website, those who wish to play can arrange to meet for a chess match. Several games can be played simultaneously. Chess is a recurring motif in Tieu’s work. For example, when the artist combines application forms with delicate drawings of iconic chess games between grandmasters and amateurs. These works of art depict the unequal struggle between helpless applicants and experienced administrators, as when someone’s existence is at stake in the case of an asylum application.

The flag designed by Tieu for TROPEZ shows a form requesting medical information. This year, the online purchase of tickets to excludes many pool guests. Such subtle references are typical of the work of the German-Vietnamese artist, who creates precise visualizations for diffuse feelings with her elegant, reduced works.

In her work, London and Berlin-based artist Sung Tieu (*1987 in Vietnam) deals with notions of history. She is currently analyzing transnational movements of objects reproduced by global capitalism. Her artistic practice encompasses a variety of media, including sound installations, video, sculpture, photography, performance and public interventions. She refers to her Vietnamese origin as a starting point for socio-political observations, which she presents in the form of associative-complex tableaux. This year, her works can be seen in solo exhibitions at Haus der Kunst in Munich and at Nottingham Contemporary.