[University of Auckland Library, Benni's account]

A lot better than I expected! I'm not sure if I would call this illuminating, but it certainly gave me newfound angles and depths from which to see and take for myself Vo's work (which has been an inspiration ever since I first discovered them). The writing style can be hit-or-miss, but when it hits it really hits. The way it skirts around and across histories, ideas and poetry can be mesmeric and deeply poignant, almost revelatory, at times.

"I wonder what bones and bodies, vacancies and lacunae, you hide. What secret relics heavy with meaning have you buried beneath the floorboards, away from confrontations and questions, kept but kept in a dark place, hidden carefully from the exorcism of a clean, clear light?"

In Relics, Andrew Berardini explores the work of Danh Võ (born 1975) to show how art gives utterance to history’s shadows upon our lives. Inspired by an exhibition in Mexico City, Berardini’s deeply personal investigation of Võ’s work discusses a sexy Statue of Liberty, John Keats’ tombstone and the holy trinity in a license plate