Mosaic pavement depicting the head of Medusa,

late 2nd century CE

This mosaic was uncovered in Antioch within an elite villa named by archaeologists as the House of the Red Pavement. In the middle of the central medallion is the head of Medusa, writhing snakes encircling her head. She and her two sisters, collectively known as the Gorgons, are often depicted in Greek and Roman art as having wings, which here emerge from behind Medusa’s head. Ancient sources note that the hero Perseus was responsible for decapitating Medusa, after which he gave the head to Athena, who displayed it on her aegis, or breastplate. The violent soundscape of Medusa’s story, filled with hissing snakes, the swing of a dagger, and the tearing of flesh into stone, finds resonance in the modern history of Vietnam, powerfully evoked by the munitions and unexploded ordnance in Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn’s mobile, which hangs above, a quiet, though not completely silent, trace of past violence.