First presented in January 2026 at Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York, the multi-channel and mixed media installation "Perforation, Ellipse" explores collective memory, censorship, and diaspora through once suppressed melodies. In the center of the exhibition, the sound of a projected 16mm performance of the artist shooting an arrow across the dark city line initiates cuts in the constellation of video footage throughout the installation.

The screens in "Perforation, Ellipse" drift in sensorial abstractions, between Nguyen’s film "Aisle 9" (2025) and online archival footage of Vietnamese bolero music. Set in a speculative future, "Aisle 9" centers on a group of hosiery warehouse workers in the future-present. As they pass time with archery, cards and conspiracy theories, a stray arrow leads them to discover a trove of government-banned media. Through ad hoc arrangements, the warehouse becomes a viewing room. They take in censored material, and memories pass through the screen.

"Ellipse", a series of wall works made of gold leaf gilded on metal, introduces the concept of nhạc vàng, or “yellow music”. As a result of North Vietnam winning the war, in 1975 Vietnamese bolero was banned for its sentimentality and romantic lyricism. Yet it continued to survive underground, circulating through diasporic cassette tapes and transnational cabarets. Nguyen transposed elements of sheet music and handwritten lyrics of songs that have been taken out of circulation onto solid aluminum plates, creating a counter-archive for memories that nearly disappeared.