8/9/2019 Sugars Tree Tsm

1/5

Migrant Media Arts is currently activein youth outreach and collaboration,enlisting high school and universitystudents in its various projects. But anadditional plan is in the works forSugar Street, a project space that willenable young people creatively viacollaboration processes and mediaempowerment.

MMAs objective is to transform an in-

dustrial space into an open public fo-rum for Vietnamese and international youth living in Vietnam, so that theymay interact and experiment togetherwith media, plastic and performancearts.

An open play space for all kinds of

young people to mingle and influenceone another, Sugar Street will coexistin physical, virtual (online) and socialspace to best fulfill its objectives.Participants will work with and be

influenced byestablished art-ists from Vietnamand elsewhere.

In conjunction

with their pro- jects, participantswill address the

digital divide by gaining a voice onthe web and learning about onlinecommunity building.

Sugar Street Duong Duong

1

Korean Students Practice Music Design by 17 Year-old Student

8/9/2019 Sugars Tree Tsm

2/5

Sugar Street Duong Duong

2

The Space

Sugar Street will be an open andmodular environment that will beadjusted to accommodate theconstantly changing needs of itsparticipants and their projects.

A space such as this one, with large movable surfaces

At its core, a caf will be centeredamong a screening, performance,andexhibition space.

Modular walls used to createand display graphic arts andmurals will surround an openspace that will double as cafseating and practice/demo spacefor dance, music and performance.

In an organic model of creating and exhibitingvisual arts, the modular walls will allow artists to

explore mural making and graffiti art on asanctioned, evolving surface while the progressionof the work is recorded throughout.

8/9/2019 Sugars Tree Tsm

3/5

Self-documentation, Trial and Error

A porous approach to creating art and media will introduce young people to postmodern Western culture through theexploration of process. The young people at Sugar Street willcontinually document their creative process for real-timefeedback and retrospective consideration.

In a safe space where success is not an objective and process is val-ued over results, trial and error will be encouraged as an essentialmode of self-discovery. Documenting their own process and releasingfear of mistakes will ultimately create in participants a sense of uniqueidentity and individual voice.

Sugar Street Duong Duong

3

The Media Archive Library willcoexist with the media/technology lab to archive andprovide free media to qualifiedparties.

An adjacent media and technol-ogy lab will contain equipmentfor capturing and editing digitalmedia such as video, photographyand sound. Internet technologiesfocused at peer-distribution willbe an integral component of thelab.

8/9/2019 Sugars Tree Tsm

4/5

Digital Convergence

sugarstreet.org

Sugar Streets online presence willmirror the physical space in itsintentions and structure. Just asthe physical space is a site forexperimentation, collaboration,real-time support and feedback,the website will provide a placefor participants that is their own

to play with.

Sugarstreet.org will introducelocal efforts into the interna-tional forum. It will facilitateblending new technology andcultural heritage into forms ofbricolage. It will help to buildan understanding of identity aslocal youth claim their ownspace and voice among amultitude of voices on theweb. They will convey the valueof their shared cultural heri-tage to the world each fromtheir own perspective.

While digital literacy is already prevalent among Vietnamese youth, theeffect is often isolating. Sugar Street will promote innovative uses ofcommunication technologies to cultivate the community within and tofacilitate convergence with the global community.

Sugar Street Duong Duong

4

The site will feature

optional weblogs for all ofSugar Streets participants

discussion forums on alltopics so that local youth can

interact with one another andmake contact with like-mindedpeople all over the world

media exhibition and distri-bution an opportunity for par-ticipants to display and broad-cast their work

8/9/2019 Sugars Tree Tsm

5/5

Why Sugar Street? Why Now?

As Vietnam rapidly integrates itself into the global economy, it

becomes more and more essential that its citizens understandglobal culture in order to succeed in that market. But economicsuccess aside, it is important that people in Vietnam are empow-ered to contribute to the global culture that they will inevitably bea part of.

The Western culture that Vietnam is courting is obsessed withinformation exchange, entertainment and documentation. If Vietnamdoes not have its own voice and a capacity to convey it, it willalways only be perceived voyeuristically. The world wants to know

about Vietnam, and Vietnam must have the human resource, a poolof creative thinkers, media-makers and artists who will comprise acollective voice that is distinctly Vietnams own.

Sugar Street Duong Duong

5

Social Space and Community

The collaboration at Sugar Street and

online will influence the formation of asocial space which will serve as a hubfor collaborative networking beyondlocation and digital networks.

As a collaborative intent emerges froma shared social identity as artists, me-dia makers and creatives, the socialmanifestation beyond the actual spacebecomes the real sustainability of the

Sugar Street project. The resulting de-centralized social sphere will ultimatelysupersede the real space.