Based in Switzerland, Van Hai is originally from Vietnam and is an artist in the true sense of the word. Not only does he take us on a voyage into the heart of emotion through music, but also through other diverse art forms such as video, plastic and graphic art, writing and photography.
By binding various media, his work becomes indefinable, boundaries and categories are words that mean nothing to him. By taking the essence of his writing and transforming it into an acoustic snapshot, he manages to paint portraits of an instance. By making his own clips, photographic cuts and films, he creates atmospheres and installs emotion, just as all the Grand Masters have strived to do. He uses sound as an artist would use aquarelle, letting just a hint of Asian kitsch wash with the colors of Latin tragedy while using brush strokes of Swiss precision, trying to make sense of all the crucial events and people that illustrate his life.
Recently Van Hai has indulged in musical creation and more specifically electronic music, seeking to achieve more intimate emotions and feelings through sound. Resolutely turned towards the inner soul, he strives to attain each individual listener in particular rather than please the crowds. With this in mind, he ingeniously combines his electronic sounds with acoustic instruments samples, making his tracks the soundtrack of the movie of our lives, a unique and recognizable style, which he has developed into his personal touch.
As the register of Hai Van is diverse, his live performances lend themselves easily to different locations and are adaptable to various environments. When the opportunity arises he uses images to illustrate his music, revealing the full palette of his art and has created or collaborated with several artists and video artists to expand the content of his music. By also creating skin sounds and moods for films, sometimes his work is guided towards a more commercial aim, for example, he produced the sound landscaping for a series of films for the International Olympic Committee in late 2008.
Leaving the strict dance floor format, his compositions are aimed at the attentive listener and enlarge the electronic spectrum by suggesting an alternative to clubbing. |
