農(nóng)轉(zhuǎn)非特寫：趙曉東筆下的農(nóng)民工
王小箭
“農(nóng)村包圍城市”的成功決定了“表現(xiàn)工農(nóng)兵英雄形象”的“政治正確性”，于是，工農(nóng)兵形象成了“意氣風(fēng)發(fā)，斗志昂揚”的“紅光亮”和“高大全”。由于屬于同等政治概念的圖解，因此工農(nóng)兵之間的差異只在于裝束不同，甚至連男女的面相也都是雙胞胎。這種統(tǒng)一臉譜的現(xiàn)象在傳統(tǒng)藝術(shù)中是常見的事情，法國的羅可可藝術(shù)和中國京劇藝術(shù)都把“美男”女性化到與女人成為統(tǒng)一臉譜的程度。“紅光亮”之后的“鄉(xiāng)土寫實繪畫”把農(nóng)民還原到“鋤禾日當(dāng)午”的狀態(tài)，但恰恰在這一時期，首先實行所有制改革的農(nóng)村卻成為中國先富起來的人群，盡管當(dāng)時富的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)無法與今天相比，但農(nóng)民的生活的確得到了極大的改善，一些鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)企業(yè)辦的好的地方，農(nóng)民的日子甚至比城里人還好。“菜籃子工程”這個概念可以作為彼時都市生活水平的縮寫。
隨著農(nóng)村體制改革經(jīng)驗在城市的推廣，農(nóng)村逐漸失去了政策優(yōu)勢與先發(fā)優(yōu)勢，城市對農(nóng)村的優(yōu)勢日益明顯，越來越多的農(nóng)民離開世代耕耘的土地，到大城市謀生，乃至成為“春運”的最大麻煩。“農(nóng)轉(zhuǎn)非”成了中國社會的時代特征真切寫照，“農(nóng)民工”成為政府和媒體的常用詞，“農(nóng)民工”問題和“三農(nóng)”問題成了“農(nóng)轉(zhuǎn)非”過程中的中國社會的突出的問題。一旦進(jìn)入城市，成為農(nóng)民工，“鋤禾日當(dāng)午”的價值就沒有了，同樣辛勤的汗水換來的是“底層人文”的勞動條件與社會地位以及比農(nóng)村還差的居住環(huán)境。同時，“農(nóng)轉(zhuǎn)非”必然帶來的觀念變化最終把“農(nóng)民”變成了愚昧無知、固執(zhí)保守的代名詞。因此，早在政治波普和艷俗藝術(shù)中，農(nóng)民就已經(jīng)成為滑稽可笑的角色。正是在這種歷史背景下，趙曉東選擇了農(nóng)民工作為自己藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作的源泉。
重慶的農(nóng)民工可以統(tǒng)稱為棒棒，這并不是他們其他事情都不做，而是因為手中的棒棒是他們最突出的標(biāo)志。棒棒和其他城市的農(nóng)民工的最大不同是他們并不集中于加工廠或建筑工地，而是散落在城市的大街小巷，居住在城市的各個角落。從趙曉東工作室出來往坡下走，一路上都是簡陋的棒棒住房，趙曉東說他每天都能看見上來下去的棒棒，這也是他在這里租工作室的原因。但是環(huán)境并不僅僅是一個取材方便問題，它同時也在逐漸拉近藝術(shù)家與表現(xiàn)對象的距離，影響著藝術(shù)家對表現(xiàn)對象的態(tài)度。趙曉東近年的作品有一個明顯的過度，那就是從略帶譏笑的獵奇變?yōu)橥樵僮優(yōu)槿诵越庾x，表現(xiàn)在他的作品中，就是從突出場景、情節(jié)、裝束、表情之類的外在特征，變?yōu)榻咕勖娌康臒o助憂郁的表情，再到近乎于身份證照片的肖像畫。譏笑和同情都是居高臨下的態(tài)度，區(qū)別只在于惡意與善意，人性的解讀就不存在居高臨下的問題了，而是認(rèn)真的觀察與揭示。當(dāng)然這并不意味著作品排除了藝術(shù)家的主觀性，因為畢竟是趙曉東的觀察與趙曉東的揭示。下面是我摘錄的幾段趙曉東的藝術(shù)筆記，從中可以大致看出這種變化。
關(guān)注他們的生存狀態(tài)，記錄下這群建設(shè)者的生活，希望傳達(dá)出經(jīng)得起推敲的情感，刻意從殘破中發(fā)掘出美和愛。用淋漓、酣暢的筆觸來表現(xiàn)他們靈魂的印記。我想最重要的是描畫出“真實”的景象…使作品營造出異樣的氛圍，顯現(xiàn)出盎然生氣，象征性地展現(xiàn)了農(nóng)民工對未來生活的追求，同時又顯得有些迷惘。
2005年3月
也許都會覺得這群人活得好累，可我發(fā)現(xiàn)他們活得很輕松、很灑脫，光著榜子干活，相互開著“葷”玩笑。和他們站在一起明顯使我們不自然，不協(xié)調(diào)。當(dāng)今許多作品都在表現(xiàn)民工勞動的場景，反映他們的辛酸生活，突顯人道主義的光芒，而似乎少了一些真正、完整記錄這群人的作品，他們同樣快樂生活、同樣喝酒高歌。
2007年8月
畫了《挑磚》系列作品后發(fā)現(xiàn)沒有背景很好，很干凈，畫面的注意點全在民工本身了，肌肉的色彩，衣褲的表現(xiàn)比較自由了，人物表情隱退了。但還需要在邊緣線處理上的突破，緊張與松動的關(guān)系，不能僅體現(xiàn)在筆觸和肌理中。
2007年11月
我之所以強(qiáng)調(diào)趙曉東從記錄到同情再到揭示的演變過程，并不是說這個過程的前兩步?jīng)]有價值，而是想說明關(guān)注人性本身的肖像畫在中國藝術(shù)中相對于情節(jié)性、思想性、觀念性人物畫來說是一個弱項，之所以成為弱項是因為中國的藝術(shù)思想體系得不到價值確認(rèn)，在這種情況下藝術(shù)家的近期作品很容易被認(rèn)為是一種退步。
西方寫實藝術(shù)對中國的影響主要是人物題材作品的創(chuàng)作，但肖像畫的影響遠(yuǎn)不如主題性、情節(jié)性繪畫。“大臉”不屬于嚴(yán)格意義上的肖像畫，而是主題性繪畫的局部特寫版。嚴(yán)格意義上的肖像畫是體現(xiàn)人物面部一般性特征，也就是說不是他的某一時刻的某一種狀態(tài)或表情，而是體現(xiàn)此人之為此人的相貌特征。最接近這種理念的是證件照片，在這種照片中，人物不與任何場景、情節(jié)、感情發(fā)生聯(lián)系，雖然也是一張“大臉”，但不負(fù)載任何觀念，天安門的城樓和廣場上的領(lǐng)袖像就是他們照片的放大，偉人感是由于位置和他們在觀眾（群眾）心中的地位，而不是由于形象本身。正因如此，攝影的產(chǎn)生才能導(dǎo)致肖像畫的衰落，但只有好的人像攝影能達(dá)到肖像畫的水平，這是因為攝影經(jīng)常正好錯過的最能代表次人最一般的特征的那一瞬間，所以我們經(jīng)?？吹?ldquo;不像”或“不太像”的照片，而肖像畫則由于藝術(shù)家可以避開所有不代表此人的瞬間而表現(xiàn)出此人的一般特征。趙曉東的近作和他過去的作品的最大不同就在于從情節(jié)化、觀念化變?yōu)樾は癞?，從捕捉人的偶然性變?yōu)樗茉烊说谋厝恍浴?/p>
我曾經(jīng)在一篇文章中提到過中國畫追求的是“活性”（vitality, vivacity），無論是畫論中“以形寫神”、“氣韻生動”、還是通俗的“虎虎有生氣”、“生龍活虎”、“活靈活現(xiàn)”、“一氣呵成”，強(qiáng)調(diào)的都是“活性”。西方則強(qiáng)調(diào)事物的本質(zhì)，既然“現(xiàn)代性”是現(xiàn)代的本質(zhì)，“動物性”是動物的本質(zhì)，那么“人性”當(dāng)然就是人的本質(zhì)。本質(zhì)就是必然性、一般性，因此必然排斥一切偶然因素，具體到人像上，就是只記錄誰，不記錄在哪里，干什么，高興還是憂愁，因為這些對于一個人來說，都是偶然的。在中國美術(shù)教育，有頭像寫生訓(xùn)練，訓(xùn)練的目的不是畫肖像畫即人性或人的必然性，而是畫]情節(jié)性、思想性或觀念性，也就是人的偶然性。因此展出與出版的頭像要么屬于教學(xué)成果和學(xué)習(xí)樣板，要么屬于藝術(shù)家的圖象筆記，總之，不是正規(guī)作品。之所以形成這種狀況，顯然與中國追求“活性”傳統(tǒng)排斥追求本質(zhì)的西方傳統(tǒng)有關(guān)，當(dāng)然還有其他原因。
趙曉東的近作就是貼近農(nóng)民工的必然性，這是呈現(xiàn)出來的更多的是表現(xiàn)對象的人性本身。對于中國人和中國藝術(shù)來說，這是一個認(rèn)識的盲區(qū)，文學(xué)的情況也好不了多少，在這樣一片貧瘠的土地上耕耘顯然是困難的。至于本質(zhì)論受到西方現(xiàn)代哲學(xué)的挑戰(zhàn)，那是西方的事情，中國需要的是建立本質(zhì)論，具體到人物題材的作品來說，就是揭示人性，而不是只會講述人的奇遇故事或者特殊遭遇。
A Close-Up to the Agriculture-to-Non-agriculture Transfer
— Peasant Workers Created by Zhao Xiaodong
by Wang Xiaojian
The success of “Encircling the Cities from the Rural Areas” has determined the “political correctness” of “the presentation of the heroic images of workers, peasants and soldiers”, and the images of them have become “enthusiastic and glamorous perfections in high spirits”. Belonging to the same political concept, workers, peasants and soldiers are different only in their clothes and even the males and females of them look alike. This phenomenon of uniformity is not uncommon in traditional art; it can also be found in Rococo of France and Beijing Opera, both of which feminize the images of males to unify the images of both genders as a whole. Local realist paintings produced after the presentation of the “glamorous perfections” reduced the peasants to the original state of “farming under the sun”, while at that time, the peasants were among the first group of Chinese people who became better-off with the implementation of ownership reform. Although the standard of a well-off life could not be compared to that of the present days, the life of peasants had been improved greatly; in some rural areas where the township enterprises prospered, the peasants lived even better than the urban citizens. The concept of “Vegetable Basket Project”- a project aiming at promoting the supply of vegetables and fruits to the cities from the rural areas- could be the epitome of the living standard at that time.
With the extension of the system reform from rural areas to cities, rural areas gradually lost its first-mover advantage and the advantage in policy. Cities have exceeded rural areas in many ways,
which impels peasants to leave their land and make a living in big cities, making “Spring Transportation” a big problem. The “agriculture-to-non-agriculture transfer” reflects the characteristics of Chinese society and the phrase “peasant worker” is frequently used by government and media. The issue of “peasant workers” and “three agricultures” has become a controversial problem of Chinese society in the process of the “agriculture-to-non-agriculture transfer”. Once entering the city and becoming one of the peasant workers, a peasant has lost his value as a traditional peasant. His labor can only buy him working conditions and social status at the bottom and a living condition which is even worse than that in the rural areas. At the same time, the change of ideas brought about by the “agriculture-to-non-agriculture transfer” will ultimately make the word “peasant” a pronoun for ignorance and obstinacy. That’s why peasants have been playing a ridiculous part in the political pop art and the gaudy art long before. Zhao Xiaodong chose peasant as his mine of artistic creation under this historical background.
Peasant workers of Chongqing are called “bangbang” – a nickname originally referred to porters. However, it doesn’t mean that they do nothing else; they are called “bangbang” because the carrying poles are the most significant signature of them. The biggest difference between “bangbangs” in Chongqing and peasant workers in other cities is that they do not gather around factories or construction fields like peasant workers in other cities do; instead, they scatter in every corner of the city. Go out of Zhao Xiaodong’s studio and go down the slope, one can see simple houses for “bangbangs” all the way. According to Zhao Xiaodong, he can see “bangbangs” going up and down everyday, and that’s why he rent his studio here. But the choice of environment is not only about convenience; it is also getting the artist closer and closer to his expressive objects, influencing the artist’s attitude toward his expressive objects. There is an apparent transition in Zhao Xiaodong’s recent works, from the sarcastic seek of novelty to sympathy, then to the interpretation of human nature, which is reflected in his works by the transition from the emphasis on the external features such as scenes, plots, clothes and expressions, to the concentration on the melancholy facial expressions, then to the ID-picture-like portraits. Both irony and sympathy are attitudes harbored from a higher place, the only difference of which is whether it is out of malice or goodwill; while the interpretation of human nature is a careful observation and exposure. Of course this does not mean that the works have excluded the artist’s subjectivity because, after all, the observation and exposure belong to Zhao Xiaodong. Several art notes written by Zhao Xiaodong are quoted here, from which we can roughly see this transition:
I’ve tried to pay close attention to their living state, recording their life to convey a convincing emotion and purposefully find love and beauty from dilapidation. Passionate and forceful strokes are used to represent their spirit. To me, the most important thing is to depict the “real” scenes…to create a fancy environment filled with vigor, symbolically representing the pursuit of the peasant workers’ future life with a sense of perplexity.
March, 2005
People may assume that they are leading a hard life. I, on the other hand, find them living in comfort and ease — working bareback and making fun of each other. Standing with them, we will appear to be unnatural. Many works today concentrate on the presentation of the peasant workers’ hard work and bitter life with sympathy out of humanitarianism, while works genuinely and completely recording all the aspects of their life seem to be scarce. Actually they are also living happily, singing and drinking.
August, 2007
After completing the series “Tiao Zhuan (carrying bricks)”, I’ve found that paintings with no background look nice and clean, leaving the workers themselves the only focus. The color of the muscles and the clothes are executed with more freedom, while the facial expressions have receded. However, a breakthrough on the execution of border lines is expected, because the relationship between tensity and looseness shall not be only presented in strokes and textures.
November, 2007
By putting much emphasis on Zhao Xiaodong’s artistic transition from recording to sympathy, then to exposure, I’m not saying that the first two stages are worthless. What I’m trying to say is that, compared to the paintings concentrating on plot, thought and concept, portraits concentrating on human nature is a weak aspect in Chinese art, because the value of Chinese artistic ideological system is not widely acknowledged. Under this circumstance, the recent works of the artist may easily be deemed as a kind of regress.
Western Realism has influenced Chinese art mainly in the production of figure paintings; the influence on portraits is far less than that on theme or plot paintings. Paintings of “big faces” are not portraits in the strictest sense, but a partial close-up of the theme paintings. Strictly speaking, a portrait presents the general features of the figure painted, not a certain state or expression at a certain time. ID pictures are closest to this idea, in which figures are not connected to any scene, plot or emotion – “big faces” with no external burden. Leaders’ photos hung up in public places are amplified versions of their original photos, and their greatness lies in the position of the photos as well as their status in the audience’s (people’s) heart, not in the image itself. That’s why with the emergence of photography, portraits gradually declined. However, only a good photographer can take pictures up to the level of good portraits, because photographers may miss the very moment when the general features of a person is best reflected. That’s why we often see that a figure in the photo is not much like the person him or herself. Portrait painters, however, can present the general features of a person by evading all the untypical moments. The most significant difference between Zhao Xiaodong’s recent works and his earlier works is the transition of focus from plot and concept to portrait, from contingency to necessity.
I once mentioned in one of my articles that Chinese painting pursues “vitality and vivacity”, while Western painting emphasizes the nature of things. Since “modernity” is the nature of modern times, and “animality” is the nature of animals, “humanity” is of course the nature of human being. Nature is all about necessity and generality, excluding all the accidental factors. When it is applied to the production of portraits, painters only record who the object is instead of other accidental factors such as where he is, what he is doing, or whether he is happy or not. In Chinese art education, the purpose of the training of portraits concentrates on the plot, concept or idea – that is to say, the contingency – not human nature or its necessity. Hence, the portraits at exhibitions or published are either teaching achievements/ learning models, or sketches of the artists, not belonging to the category of formal works. This is mainly because of the Chinese pursuit of “vitality and vivacity” and its rejecting the Western tradition of the pursuit of nature, although other reasons cannot be precluded.
The recent works by Zhao Xiaodong is the inevitable result out of his involvement with peasant workers, which more reflect the humanity of the observed. To both the Chinese and Chinese art, it is a blind area of understanding, and the condition is no better in literature. To grow in such a barren field is apparently difficult. Although the essential theory is being challenged by modern Western philosophy, what China needs is to establish the essential theory, which can be applied to the production of figure paintings in order to reveal human nature other than telling adventurous or special experiences of others.
【編輯：霍春常】
