A.C.I.D. by Bui Anh Phong – Some notes on a debut Phong has regarded himself as “Teu”, a hick character from Vietnamese folklore. He feels like an idiot in the city life. In his eyes, everything is new, interesting, but also frightening. He feels himself a “navel of the universe” where everybody constantly looks at. Every move of his seems to be watched and judged by others. The gaze of others becomes his obsession. “Others”, however, are not personalities, but attitudes and, sometimes, challenges and threats. He wants to conform to others, but others are always strangers. His integration into the new life, therefore, is a constant process of self-definition — re- defining himself and others. His mindset is swinging between the complexes of a “person of attention” and an “outsider”, and he has to balance himself all the time, by his strong will, by his self-deception, by his desire to be respected and sympathized, and by his readiness to pay respect and offer sympathy to others Phong is not Teu, of course, but he has lived and felt like Teu. It was an experience. Perhaps his looking back upon such an experience is the reason that urges him towards working as an artist. It is an inspiration, an object of his work, a resource for ideas and topical materials by which he explores and expresses himself. This way of creation, for him, is a process of discovering symbols and metaphors, of projecting abstract concepts, and of experimenting with his inner world — experiments imbued with poetical and philosophical nuances. . “person of attention” and an “outsider”, and he has to balance himself all the time, by his strong will, by his self-deception, by his desire to be respected and sympathized, and by his readiness. “Marked portrait of a kid” clearly shows a perceivable face — seemingly with a peculiar sense of compassion — while all the rest display simple figures intermingling with and cutting into each. reason that urges him towards working as an artist. It is an inspiration, an object of his work, a resource for ideas and topical materials by which he explores and expresses himself. This way