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Sung Tieu translates from Vietnamese to English as ‘pistol’ It’s an apt name for an artist whose practice explores the psychological dimension of warfare, surveillance and incarceration Born in Vietnam, and raised in Berlin, Tieu’s early projects were inspired by the US army’s weaponisation of the dead during the Vietnam War; in the 1960s, US intelligence recorded an actor feigning a Vietnamese soldier crying for his loved ones from beyond the grave Soldiers broadcasted ‘Ghost Tape 10’ from helicopters circling Saigon with fluorescent beams steeped in navy blue twilight The aim was to induce disquiet, tapping into the Vietnamese belief that dark souls should be buried close to their ancestors to avoid becoming trapped in purgatory, like a phantom army relentlessly gliding the Earth In Song For Unattended Items (2018) at London’s Royal Academy, Tieu played similar, sinister sounds from speakers inside discarded backpacks, revivifying the acoustic ammunition’s horripilating chill   Her concurrent solo exhibitions In Cold Print (2020) at Nottingham Contemporary and Zugzwang (2020) at Haus der Kunst in Munich synthesise terror through sadistic, minimalist installations Both environments are demarcated sparsely by chain-like, gun-metal grey fences, mirrored surfaces and prison furniture sliced from stainless steel In Nottingham, visitors enter a metallic vault (gesturing to minimalism’s spatial ideal, the void) lined with platinum panels bolted to the wall A muffled, droning noise plays on continuous loop, interspersed with distorted cricket-like chirps   This sound piece, entitled In Cold Print (all works 2020 unless otherwise stated), is a recording of another sonic weapon In collaboration with neuroscientists at Nottingham Trent University, Tieu has exposed herself to a reconstruction of the so-called ‘Havana Syndrome’ In 2016, US embassy staff posted in Cuba reported an outbreak of unexplained neurological injuries, believed to have been caused by an aural frequency attack These were strange incidents: victims heard inexplicable noises and had difficulty explaining their physical symptoms, described as ‘standing in an invisible beam of energy’[1] Rumours emerged – supported by that dystopian harlequin