The AK-47 vs The M16

The Propeller Group
Founded in Saigon, Vietnam, in 2006.
Based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The Propeller Group was established by Tuan Andrew Nguyen (born in Saigon, 1976) and Phunam Thuc Ha (born in Saigon, 1974) as a way to explore the complex borders between public and private, advertising and politics, history and the future, labor and capital, and so on. From their inherent desire to disrupt the status quo, the two men began to work under various guises, such as an advertising agency, a public relations firm, a film production company, an art collective, and a boy band. By “occupying” and “playing” the roles of cultural producers from different fields and various vantage points, The Propeller Group was able to appropriate strategies from these different methods of production and then apply them in the realms of contemporary art production. In the end, they undermined both the systems of production and the codes of brand identity. They were joined in 2008 by Matt Lucero (born in Upland, California, in 1976).
For the 56th Biennale di Venezia, The Propeller Group presents a version of their ongoing project, A Universe of Collisions, produced with the support of Grand Arts, a nonprofit gallery and sculpture studio in Kansas City, Missouri. The concept behind this work is unique: There have been only a few instances in the history of modern warfare in which bullets from opposing militaries have collided on the battlefield and merged into a single object. This object fuses two projectiles aimed with the intention of killing the enemy, but joined in mid-air under miraculous odds. In short, The Propeller Group seeks to isolate icons of destruction from both sides of the Cold War, an AK-47 and an M16 assault rifle, and thus force the two sworn enemies into a philosophical dialogue.
While the M16 was America’s pride and joy and the symbol of “freedom” throughout the wars fought during the second half of the twentieth century, the AK-47, also known as the Kalashnikov, was the weapon of choice for liberation, an icon of revolution, and of communism. Both assault rifles have been branded “weapons of peace” by their corresponding nations. Gun enthusiasts to this day still continue to compare the advantages and weaknesses of their preferred guns. Ironically, those same guns still meet on today’s battlefields.
The AK-47 vs. The M16 is a series of performances where the rifles were aimed at each other in order to collide and fuse their bullets. The results are captured on ultra-highspeed video and in ballistics gel blocks, allowing the human eye to see the projectiles’ flight path, the explosion, and the fusion.