我曾在上世紀(jì)90年代初的一篇文章中斷言：走向抽象，是水墨畫(huà)發(fā)展的一個(gè)必然趨勢(shì)。理由是，從形態(tài)演進(jìn)的角度看，水墨畫(huà)的產(chǎn)生即標(biāo)志了傳統(tǒng)繪畫(huà)從具象向意象、從寫(xiě)實(shí)向?qū)懸獾囊淮物w躍。水墨畫(huà)在其發(fā)展的早期，就已帶有濃重的抽象意味?！短瞥?huà)錄》曾記載王洽作畫(huà)常在“醺酣之后，即以墨潑，或笑或吟，腳蹙手抹，或揮或掃，或淡或濃，隨其形狀，為山為石，為云為水，應(yīng)手隨意，倏若造化，圖出云霞，染成風(fēng)雨，宛若神巧，俯觀不見(jiàn)其墨污之跡”。王洽對(duì)潑墨“隨其形狀”的偶然性把握，其實(shí)就是以抽象手法為先導(dǎo)的一種意象創(chuàng)造活動(dòng)。但由于這種畫(huà)法過(guò)分地超前，不為當(dāng)時(shí)的史家所重，認(rèn)為其“非畫(huà)之本法”（《唐朝名畫(huà)錄》），張彥遠(yuǎn)甚至認(rèn)為“山水家有潑墨，亦不謂之畫(huà)”，因而“不堪仿效”。但這種近于抽象的畫(huà)法所具有的誘惑力卻隨著水墨性能的愈益發(fā)揮而有增無(wú)減。進(jìn)入近現(xiàn)代，隨著西方抽象主義的勃興，這一潛在因素更得到進(jìn)一步張揚(yáng)，由潑墨而進(jìn)于潑彩，如張大干、劉海粟所作的那樣。不過(guò)，在他們的畫(huà)中，“抽象”僅止于一種手法的借用，還構(gòu)不成真正的抽象主義。抽象主義在水墨領(lǐng)域中的興起，首見(jiàn)于臺(tái)灣六十年代初出現(xiàn)的現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)運(yùn)動(dòng)。以劉國(guó)松為代表的一批畫(huà)家率先開(kāi)啟了抽象水墨的新畫(huà)風(fēng)。進(jìn)入八、九十年代，抽象水墨又繼起于大陸，雖然尚未釀成大的氣候，但作為水墨畫(huà)演進(jìn)中的一個(gè)新形態(tài)，已是無(wú)可質(zhì)疑地出現(xiàn)了。
從語(yǔ)言層面看，抽象水墨大體緣自三個(gè)方面：一是從筆法中演展，如黃賓虹所提示的那樣，以筆法消解形象，以筆韻自身的價(jià)值取代形象的價(jià)值；二是從墨法中演展，從破墨、潑墨、潑彩到各種肌理、肌質(zhì)的創(chuàng)造。使水性、墨性、紙性得以淋漓盡致地發(fā)揮，從水與墨的自然滲化中把握一種抽象神韻，如劉國(guó)松所提示的那樣；三是從水墨的點(diǎn)、線、面的綜合構(gòu)成中演展，在這里“水墨”只是作為材料被借用，即使強(qiáng)調(diào)筆墨，筆墨本身也不能成為視覺(jué)中心，而只有這些元素和它們的構(gòu)成關(guān)系才是畫(huà)面的主宰，“構(gòu)成”以其自身的張力展示一定的精神內(nèi)涵，如吳冠中90年代的抽象作品中所展示的那樣。到90年代中期以后，在“實(shí)驗(yàn)水墨”的旗號(hào)下結(jié)集的一批水墨畫(huà)家始構(gòu)成了一個(gè)向抽象領(lǐng)域邁進(jìn)的陣勢(shì)。此外，書(shū)法界的前衛(wèi)派也正在以揚(yáng)棄“字音”、“字義”及解構(gòu)“字型”的方式向抽象水墨靠攏，從而在筆墨運(yùn)行中建立起一種新的空間秩序，從“書(shū)畫(huà)同源”走向“書(shū)畫(huà)同歸”。
進(jìn)入21世紀(jì)，抽象水墨的最新進(jìn)展應(yīng)以純粹的語(yǔ)言狀態(tài)為標(biāo)志，李華生、梁銓、張羽等，都在純粹的語(yǔ)言層面展開(kāi)了他們的探索，他們徹底放棄外在世界的誘惑，在藝術(shù)本體語(yǔ)言的建構(gòu)中獲得一種訴求內(nèi)心的方式。
作為后起之秀，田衛(wèi)在近年中所作的探索卓有成效。他的突飛猛進(jìn)，使他的藝術(shù)在短短幾年中修煉到一種很難得、很純粹的狀態(tài)。這種“純粹狀態(tài)”既體現(xiàn)在作為藝術(shù)作品的語(yǔ)言層面，也體現(xiàn)在作為藝術(shù)家的精神層面。當(dāng)畫(huà)家將心跡內(nèi)斂，專注于語(yǔ)言本身的意趣時(shí)，墨淡水清中依然痕跡斑斑，心心相印。
記得前些年，在田衛(wèi)試圖走出傳統(tǒng)的山水格局時(shí)，他還只是停留在一種符號(hào)和圖式的創(chuàng)造上，雖然在圖式上超越了有形的山水，但由于畫(huà)面缺少一種真實(shí)的內(nèi)心體驗(yàn)的支持，作品還是難有突破性的進(jìn)展。之后他把自己的探索定格在單純的、如建筑墻體的幾何化的形式結(jié)構(gòu)中，在那些大小不等的長(zhǎng)方形中品味水跡墨痕的豐沛意蘊(yùn)，并逐漸意識(shí)到語(yǔ)言的細(xì)微識(shí)別和精神建構(gòu)之間的內(nèi)在聯(lián)系。在此期間，他從長(zhǎng)期修佛的身心體驗(yàn)中悟出兩個(gè)可以挪用到作品中的關(guān)鍵性的視覺(jué)因素：“佛塔”和“鏡像”。正是這兩個(gè)因素，決定了他藝術(shù)演變的基本格局。
在佛教建筑中，塔是經(jīng)典性的建筑形式，它象征佛法的核心，是最精神化的表征。在這一精神客體面前，田衛(wèi)意識(shí)到，他的抽象水墨不也是在建造一座純粹的“精神之塔”嗎？于是，他將那些幾何化的墻體形式結(jié)構(gòu)演化成塔型結(jié)構(gòu)。又把這種塔型結(jié)構(gòu)延展成一種“鏡像”結(jié)構(gòu)。
所謂“鏡像”，源自佛典中的“水月鏡像” ：“三界六道，唯有心觀，水月鏡像，豈有生滅？”（宋•釋道原《景德傳燈錄》第14卷）。水中月，鏡中像，一虛一實(shí)，虛實(shí)對(duì)應(yīng)，“是一個(gè)我們不可澈見(jiàn)的世界，有著普通而又神奇的視覺(jué)結(jié)構(gòu)”。當(dāng)畫(huà)家將這樣一種對(duì)稱的“視覺(jué)結(jié)構(gòu)”引入他的作品后，他終于為自己的作品找到了一種基本圖式。而宣紙異常敏感的的性質(zhì)又非常適宜于這種“透疊繪制”的方式，連水痕的不規(guī)則紋理都可以重復(fù)呈現(xiàn)出來(lái)，甚至可以更有趣的記錄很多重復(fù)的軌跡。如他所說(shuō)，“毛筆的軌跡在宣紙上可以得到最精致的承載，一個(gè)最微小的顫動(dòng)瞬間都可以被準(zhǔn)確而又含蓄的記錄下來(lái)。不經(jīng)意的如呼吸一般的潛意識(shí)動(dòng)作也會(huì)在宣紙上留下痕跡，幾乎很少有一種視覺(jué)媒介能替代宣紙那似能觸及靈魂的敏銳。人是無(wú)數(shù)念頭的集合體，彈指間妄念如千帆而過(guò)。它們無(wú)一例外的在人的潛意識(shí)里留下了難以磨滅的痕跡，這些紛亂的思緒飄零在宣紙上，依稀渺茫卻無(wú)一遺漏。宣紙調(diào)皮也乖巧，將思想化為墨痕。”而畫(huà)家在這種看似簡(jiǎn)單的重復(fù)勞作中，又可以“有大量時(shí)間用以不斷修復(fù)調(diào)整內(nèi)心的悸動(dòng)”。
正是這種不斷重復(fù)性的勞作（畫(huà)家曾記錄有些局部畫(huà)的次數(shù)竟達(dá)七十多遍?。┎艠?gòu)成了墨跡與心跡的相互印證。才在語(yǔ)詞的最原初、最局部、最單一的組合中建構(gòu)起他的“精神之塔”。所以他說(shuō)，“我的墨更像年輪，沒(méi)有揮灑的磅礴筆法，只有舒緩的吟唱，反復(fù)的累積。這些墨雖歷經(jīng)累劫，卻默默的與水融合，溫柔而順從，安逸而閑適。我常覺(jué)自己的繪畫(huà)狀態(tài)像一個(gè)持咒的老居士，嗡嗡吽吽地，目標(biāo)單一明確，意慮潔凈執(zhí)著。在這中間偶爾心靈雪月空湛，當(dāng)下澄平，時(shí)空頓止。這樣的境界，我心甚戀之”。這些話和他的畫(huà)一樣，足以顯示田衛(wèi)在最純粹的本體語(yǔ)言的建構(gòu)和體悟中，不知不覺(jué)步入一種至高至純的心靈境界。無(wú)意于表露的、內(nèi)斂的心跡，卻不期然彌留在點(diǎn)點(diǎn)滴滴、斑斑駁駁的水跡墨痕之中。所謂“盡精微，致廣大”為藝名言，也可在此獲得明證。
Traces of Ink • Marks of Heart ---- On the spiritual pursuit of Tian Wei's abstract ink-painting
Jia Fangzhou
In the early 1990s I asserted in an article. And " Approaching to abstract is an inevitable trend in the development of ink and wash painting." The reason is，from the point of morphological evolution, the emergence of ink and wash painting marked a leap of the traditional painting，which is from the concrete to the image, from writing realistically to writing impressionistically. Ink and wash painting had got a strong flavor of abstract in its early days. In "The Record of Great Paintings of Tang Dynasty " , Wang Qia, as recorded, often " paints after heavy drinking, being intoxicated, laughing or chanting, with feet or with hands, waving or sweeping, And the picture looks light or dark, adapting to the shapes, like mountains or stones, like cloud or water. Every thing comes out at his will, as natural as from the creator. He paints clouds and dyes wind and rain as skillful as God, and any trace of ink can not be seen when you look down at the picture. " In fact, what Wang Qia holded, about the contingency of ink and wash painting, is a creative activity of images, which is guided by a abstract technique. However, this technique seems excessively advanced, so critics did not attach much importance to it and regarded that it does not meet " the Law of painting" ("The Record of Notable paintings in Tang Dynasty"), and Zhang Yanyuan even said, "landscape paintings by splashing the ink cannot be called paintings ", therefore “it doesn’t deserve to be followed " But, the charm of this skill approaching to be abstract growed more and more along with the ink's performence was generally bringed into play. Entering into modern period, with the vigorously growing of the western abstract art, this potential factor is further publicized, from splashing ink to splashing color, just like what Zhang Daqian and Liu Haisu had done in their paintings. However, in their paintings, the "abstract" was merely used as a specific modern technique which didn't form a true abstractionism. The rise of abstractionism in ink and wash painting was first seen in the modern art movement which emerged in the early 60’s in Taiwan. A group of artists, represented by Liu Guosong, opened up the new style of abstract ink and wash painting. From the 80’s to 90’s, abstract ink and wash painting rose on the mainland. Its influence was not large enough though, as a new form of ink and wash painting in its evolution, the fact is that it has already appeared undoubtedly.
From the level of language, abstract ink and wash painting is roughly originated from three aspects: First, evolving from the writing technique, as suggested by Huang Binhong, digests images with writing technique, and replace the value of images with the technique's. Second, evolving from method of the use of ink and water, from the broke ink, splash-ink, splash-color to the creating of a variety of texture and myoplasm. It can bring into full play the features of the water, the ink and the rice paper, and grasp an abstract verve from the natural Infiltration of water and ink, as suggested by Liu Guosong. Third, evolving from the synthetic construction of point, line and plane. “The water ink” is only borrowed in here as the material, even if it is an emphasis, it cannot become the visual center. Only these elements and their constitution relations are the rulers of the picture. "Constitution", with its own tension, demonstrates certain spiritual connotation, as suggested in Wu Guanzhong's abstract works in 1990's. After the mid-90’s, a group of Chinese ink and wash painter assembled under the banner of a "experimental ink and wash painting" constituted a battle formation striding forward to the abstractionism. In addition, the avant-garde of Chinese calligraphy circles is coming closer to the abstract ink and wash painting, with its abandonment of "pronunciation" and "meaning" and deconstruction of "shape", thus establishes one kind of new spatial order in the development of Chinese calligraphy and ink and wash painting, from "calligraphy and ink and wash painting coming from the same root " to "calligraphy and ink and wash painting going to the same destination".
Entering into the 21st century, the latest progress of abstract ink and wash painting should be marked by its pure languagustic state. Li Huasheng, Liang Quan, Zhang Yu and etc., have launched their exploration in the pure linguistic level. They completely give up the seduction of the external world, achieving a way of expressing their ideas in the process of constructing the noumenal language of art.
As a up-rising star, Tian Wei has made fruitful exploration in recent years. His huge progresses urge his art to get to a uncommon pure state in just a few years. This "pure state" reflected not only in the languistic level as a work of art, but also in the spiritual level from the aspect of an artist. When the painter is holding his emotion back to his mind and focusing on the sensual delight of the language itself, the clue to his heart can still be read from the ink and water.
I remember a few years ago, When Tian Wei attempted to step out of the traditional pattern of traditional landscape painting, he was still working on the creating of symbols and patterns. Even though he had exceeded the physical landscape in the pattern level, his work cannot have the unprecedented progress because of a lack of inner experience support in his painting. Afterward he turned his exploration to the geometrical structure such as the geometrized wall struction, and tried to appreciate the rich implication of ink and wash painting from the geometrical rectangles of different sizes, and then he gradually became aware of the internal relations between the slight recognition of language and the spiritual construction. During this period, he came up with two crucial visual elements which can be used in his works from his physical and psychological experience in studying the Buddism, "pagoda" and "mirror." It's these two factors that determines the basic structure of the evolution of his art.
In Buddhist architecture, the tower, as a kind of classical architecture, symbolizing the core of Buddhism, is the most spiritual characterization. In front of such a spiritual object, Tian Wei realizes his abstract ink and wash painting is also trying to construct a pure "spiritual tower". So, he turned the geometrized wall structure into tower structure, and extended this tower structure to a "mirror image" structure.
The so-called "mirror image" stems from the Buddhist Scripture "the Moon in the Water & the Image in the Mirror ": "In the Three Realms of Samsara and the Six Kinds of Transmigration, only the heart can view. Just like the moon we see from the water and the image in the mirror, is there any birth and death?". ( "The Transmission of the Lamp", Volume 14, by Shi Daoyuan, Song Dynasty). The moon from the water, the image in the mirror, the false and the true, correspond to each other, "making up a indistinct world with a common but magical visual structure". After the painter introduces such a symmetrical “visual structure” to his works, he had found a basic pattern finally for them. The Xuan paper, with its sensitive nature, is very suitable to draw on in layers of penetrating, and can even copy the irregular texture of the water mark and record the repeating tracks in a more interesting way. As he said, "Xuan paper carries the traces of the brush in the most delicate way. Even the slightest vibration of a moment can be recorded accurately and implicitly. A subconscious action such as breathing will leave a trace on it. There is hardly any other visual medium that could substitute the sharpness of Xuan paper which seems to touch soul. A human being is a collection of numerous thoughts, and even in a flash, thousands of ideas pass through our minds. Any of These, without exception, leave traces in humans' subconsciousness. When the involute thoughts wander in the Xuan paper, nothing will be omitted, though it looks indistinct and remote. The Xuan paper is naughty and tactful. It can turn thoughts into ink marks. " And in the seemingly simple and redundant practice, the artist can have a lot of time to restore his innermost thoughts and feelings. "
It is this constantly repeating practice(the artist recorded that some strokes of the painting have been practiced as much as seventy times !) that compose the mutual corroboration between ink marks and the painter's minds and build up his " Tower of Spirit" in the most original, partial, and single combination of narration. So, he said, "my painting is like the tree rings. It has no majestic strokes, but only accumulating slowly and repeatedly in time. I often feel myself more like an old Buddhist holding mantra when I am painting, with a simple clear goal and a clean impregnable mind. Once in a while, my heart is occasionally like the snow-white moon, so smooth and clear that it feels like that the time is frozen. Such a realm, I love it so much.” These words, like his paintings, show that Tian Wei has stepped unconsciously into a very high and pure spiritual realm during the process of constructing and experiencing the most pure menal language. The painter's innermost thoughts and feelings, which is not supposed to be revealed, scatter in the mottled ink marks unexpectedly. The so-called "To make subtle and addressed to the general", a famous saying of the art world, may also get a clear proof right here.
【編輯：霍春常】
