Danh Vo and the Cabinet Room Chairs

Topic: Danh Vo

Student name: Chan Yik Fei

Student number: 60169927

Danh Vo is an artist who was born in Vietnam, but escaped South Vietnam when he was four and became a resident in Denmark. Later, he studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He now works in Berlin and Mexico City. His works often explore how different objects interact with each other, the space and environment surrounding the piece, while exploring the ideas of identity and history.

For this week’s work, I’ll focus on Lot 20. Two Kennedy administration Cabinet Room Chairs (2013). 

Note: by David Heald, Guggenheimm New York ( https://www.guggenheim.org/teaching-materials/teaching-modern-and-contemporary-asian-art/danh-vo-2 )

Danh Vo acquired these two chairs and torn them apart into this art piece. The artwork consists of the leather once belonging on the chair, now hung up as an installation. 

I personally find the history of the material rather interesting. As the Kennedy administration played a ginormous role in the Vietnam war, aiding the South Vietnamese army against the Communist Vietnamese Congress. The two chairs were once sat on by U.S. cabinet members of the Kennedy administration, where they decided the United States’ involvement in the long war in Vietnam. (Source: Encyclopaedia Briannica)

The Vietnam War is one that impacted many civilian families to loose their loved ones and home, including Danh Vo's. The decision of a war which affected many was made on those leather chairs in America.

Danh Vo once said “History is important because it is about the present and shapes the future. Those who control history also control the present. I mistrust history because it is mostly the product of someone’s contemporary agenda.” [Danh Vo, “Make History: Danh Vo in Conversation with Nora Taylor,” Garage, no.8 (Spring-Summer 2015), p.82]

The quote reminds me that the decision of war now belongs in the past, yet the past decisions still influences the people of today and the future. Much like how despite the chairs being ripped apart, their leather are still reminds people of their previous purpose as chairs and the important decisions they had once witnessed, despite now being an art installation and no longer maintaining the shape of a chair.

Danh Vo’s work inspired me to make future art that addresses parts of history, culture, social and economic problems that ails the people. Problems such as inflation and the increasing struggle for the working class to afford a living, or the impact of war on the civilians. I hope that art can lead others to reflect on conventions or societal problems.

References:

1. Vietnam War - Diem regime, Viet Cong, conflict | Britannica (2025, September 9). Encyclopedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War/The-Diem-regime-and-the-Viet-Cong 

2. Danh VO. (n.d.). The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation. https://www.guggenheim.org/teaching-materials/teaching-modern-and-contemporary-asian-art/danh-vo-2 

3. Danh Vo, “Make History: Danh Vo in Conversation with Nora Taylor,” Garage, no.8 (Spring-Summer 2015), p.82