時(shí)間：2009年6月 5日
地點(diǎn)：武明中工作室
黃 篤（以下簡稱：黃）：你先談?wù)勛约豪L畫的動(dòng)機(jī)。為什么這么畫？怎么發(fā)現(xiàn)了這樣的繪畫方式？
武明中（以下簡稱：武）：最早是源于我的情感危機(jī)。
黃：為什么？
武：愛情，掰了，使我切身感受到情感的脆弱。那時(shí)侯，開始懷疑愛的真實(shí)性，在咀嚼痛苦的經(jīng)歷中，發(fā)現(xiàn)脆弱這個(gè)東西是可以用藝術(shù)表達(dá)的，這也許就是靈感閃現(xiàn)吧。那么，用什么方式去表達(dá)呢？一開始我是用氣球充氣人，一扎就破。后來覺得不對，氣球充氣放大之后，人的形象就不清楚了，而我需要具體的形象。后來就想到了玻璃質(zhì)感，玻璃有硬度但易碎，這個(gè)感覺準(zhǔn)確了。然后就開始試著畫小畫，開始練啊，一開始畫不成樣兒，慢慢地摸到一些畫玻璃人的規(guī)律，就開始放大尺寸畫大畫。
黃：為什么要在繪畫中引入政治呢？
武：我畫玻璃人之前，有多種的繪畫實(shí)踐。其中，在“蛋”系列的作品中，基本上是政治題材，對政治持不信任的態(tài)度。畫面里人們的身體是真實(shí)的，而頭卻是個(gè)“蛋”。第一幅畫玻璃人的政治寓意作品，題目叫“拍吧！”，是兩個(gè)國家的談判代表正在談判。談判的時(shí)候可能會(huì)形成一個(gè)協(xié)議，之后，也可能很快就會(huì)發(fā)生變故，撕毀協(xié)議。我開始考慮人與人之間、國家和國家、團(tuán)體和團(tuán)體之間關(guān)系的脆弱性。美國的“911”， 大樓瞬間倒塌毀滅，實(shí)際上也是我畫玻璃人的原因。2002年畫了一幅大紙箱子里人們正在聊天兒的作品，就像我們今天在這兒聊天兒一樣，但你不知道外界可能有危險(xiǎn)，作品名稱叫“朋友，小心輕放！”，就是提醒人們要小心一些。
黃：那就是說，你的作品里有小心呵護(hù)的意思啊。
武：對，實(shí)際上脆弱易碎是客觀存在的，我只是提醒要小心一點(diǎn)兒，不要輕易地弄碎，比如說人與人關(guān)系。
黃：實(shí)際上，你的作品把透明與脆弱聯(lián)系在一起了，是這個(gè)意思吧？
武：對，純粹畫一個(gè)透明的玻璃人，視覺的力量感不夠，我就加顏色，比如橙汁、XO酒的色彩，到2005年換成葡萄酒的色彩，因?yàn)榧t酒的顏色意思多，視覺沖擊力強(qiáng)。
鄒 操（以下簡稱：鄒）：葡萄酒色彩的視覺沖擊力強(qiáng)，它還有其它含義吧？
武：開始是從視覺的角度想，這個(gè)顏色比那個(gè)更強(qiáng)一些，當(dāng)然，它的欲望、誘惑、物質(zhì)等含義是蘊(yùn)含其中的，葡萄酒的色彩太好看了。
黃：葡萄酒顏色是紅的，這個(gè)顏色包含了許多意義，在你的畫中也許暗示了當(dāng)今社會(huì)生活的奢華和欲望?；蛟S它并沒有某種特指，而會(huì)讓人產(chǎn)生浮想聯(lián)翩的東西。
武：畫葡萄酒包括畫XO有其現(xiàn)實(shí)意義，我們這個(gè)時(shí)代的物質(zhì)太美好了，奢華的美麗，人們都在追逐它。當(dāng)然，我們要對物質(zhì)、以及物質(zhì)與人的關(guān)系進(jìn)行反思，或者質(zhì)疑。
黃：顯然，武明中的繪畫強(qiáng)調(diào)一切都是透明的，透明性成為了當(dāng)代社會(huì)和文化發(fā)展的必要條件。除了描繪那種玻璃的物理表征，它的透明性具有直接或間接的指涉意義，也就是說，它與民主、自由、監(jiān)督、公開、公共性、交往性等有著內(nèi)在聯(lián)系，恰恰是透明性的合理存在，它才對社會(huì)起到一場外科手術(shù)的作用——輿論、監(jiān)督與強(qiáng)制性，也正是通過媒體中介和思想調(diào)節(jié)來揭示和清除由獨(dú)裁、操縱、陰謀、罪惡、隱蔽、腐敗構(gòu)成的邪惡根源。正是基于對這種矛盾的認(rèn)識，武明中把透明性延展到堅(jiān)強(qiáng)與脆弱、虛假與真實(shí)的對立關(guān)系中，他的繪畫傳遞出這種對立信息，以玻璃器物為例，它本身就是上流社會(huì)交際的象征物，你所處理的玻璃人，既有奢華的生活氛圍，又有某種暴露感。除了對日常奢侈生活分析之外，你更關(guān)注與之相關(guān)的糾纏不清的政治議題，比如你的作品“六方會(huì)談”就影射了嚴(yán)峻而脆弱的國際關(guān)系，也就是說，它似乎也印證了問題所在，即“六方會(huì)談”以朝鮮最終撤出而名存實(shí)亡?？梢哉f，“六方會(huì)談”的前期努力皆化為泡影。
武：所以說，小心呵護(hù)多么重要啊！ “六方會(huì)談”的題材我畫了兩張，一幅是會(huì)議桌上的六方會(huì)談，題目叫 “談?wù)劙桑?rdquo;。第二幅是握手的場面，題目是“兄弟，把手握緊吧！”。就是害怕出現(xiàn)你今天說的朝鮮退出了和談，關(guān)系破裂了。實(shí)際上這是一個(gè)心理的訴求，但往往是防止不了的，因?yàn)?，這是由玻璃本身的質(zhì)地和屬性所決定的。
黃：在當(dāng)代繪畫中，題材并不是一個(gè)根本性問題。被描繪的任何對象都是題材，關(guān)鍵還是繪畫的方法論問題。
武：我認(rèn)為，創(chuàng)作或者創(chuàng)造，必須從表達(dá)開始，如果這個(gè)表達(dá)是你自己的，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)沒有現(xiàn)成的語言或者方法論供你使用，這時(shí)，創(chuàng)造才可能出現(xiàn)。易碎和脆弱是我想要表達(dá)的東西，用玻璃去表達(dá)人的脆弱性，在藝術(shù)史上沒有范例，只有自己去摸索。
黃：盡管藝術(shù)史提供了各種各樣的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，但我們不能把它機(jī)械地套用在每一個(gè)藝術(shù)家的經(jīng)驗(yàn)之中。倘若翻一翻藝術(shù)史，不難發(fā)現(xiàn)一些藝術(shù)家的作品在方法和觀念上改變了藝術(shù)發(fā)展的進(jìn)程。如藝術(shù)家豐塔納（1899年出生于阿根廷，1905年移居意大利米蘭），他不是按照現(xiàn)實(shí)主義的方法去創(chuàng)作的，而是把材料看作經(jīng)驗(yàn)的直接傳播物，在運(yùn)動(dòng)和變化中探討繪畫的空間性。豐塔納手拿刀子偶然性地在畫布上一劃，改變了繪畫空間，這種“偶發(fā)性”動(dòng)作的結(jié)果突破了西方傳統(tǒng)的繪畫空間觀念，因?yàn)槲鞣絺鹘y(tǒng)繪畫以平面上的透視和色彩的空間透視變化塑造了一個(gè)虛幻的具有深度的空間立體效果。在某種意義上，豐塔納超越了藝術(shù)史的邏輯和經(jīng)驗(yàn)。所以，我想，對于藝術(shù)經(jīng)驗(yàn)，不一定要以某種經(jīng)驗(yàn)來判定這個(gè)是對的或那個(gè)是錯(cuò)的，就像你剛才講的，因?yàn)閻矍榈淖児?，你突然有了一種情感脆弱的體驗(yàn)，使你把這種情感體驗(yàn)轉(zhuǎn)移到藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作中，進(jìn)而發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種藝術(shù)變化的方式。
鄒：豐塔納的用刀一劃最初可能是一個(gè)偶發(fā)的事件或是某種偶然的沖動(dòng)，但是他能夠持續(xù)的劃下去，這證明他對那個(gè)偶然的沖動(dòng)是有認(rèn)識的，而這種認(rèn)識或理解又是不斷深化的，因此他能夠持續(xù)的劃下去。
黃：在中國，我們大多數(shù)人只會(huì)盯著西方現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)的線性邏輯及其表征。其實(shí)，西方現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)的發(fā)展夾雜著一些非常復(fù)雜的因素，除了藝術(shù)家個(gè)人化的單純實(shí)驗(yàn)，它還包含了經(jīng)濟(jì)和商業(yè)因素，當(dāng)然最主要有文化運(yùn)動(dòng)、政治因素、哲學(xué)因素、思潮等。但是，所謂的流行都是許多因素?fù)胶驮谝黄鸬?，比如一些畫廊或一些大展，推?dòng)了某個(gè)藝術(shù)家的自信心，或推出了某種流行的藝術(shù)。這些現(xiàn)象背后都與資本主義的文化邏輯有著必然聯(lián)系。尤其是美國藝術(shù)基本上都是商業(yè)在背后起的作用。
武：我從2002年開始畫這些，2003年參加了兩個(gè)展覽，很受鼓勵(lì)。2005年底，才開始有人買了。
黃：在這種情況下，你的繪畫也就扎下根兒了，更具穩(wěn)定性了。我個(gè)人認(rèn)為，今天的藝術(shù)已難以回避商業(yè)影響的問題了。
武：商業(yè)也給自己帶來很大的自信，那么多人喜歡你的作品，他愿意買就有他的理由。
黃：你的這個(gè)系列繪畫是從描繪器物開始的，本來器物只是日常消費(fèi)品，也只能停留在靜物畫的范疇，然而，你并沒有局限于此，而是以微觀學(xué)方法發(fā)現(xiàn)了與被描繪物體相關(guān)的日常政治的問題，也就是說，從某個(gè)器物延伸到消費(fèi)、娛樂和情感，乃至政治和宗教的焦點(diǎn)議題，這就使得繪畫語言更具機(jī)巧和富有張力。
武：實(shí)際上它是一種隱喻，一個(gè)玻璃器物對人的隱喻。
鄒：我覺得武明中首先創(chuàng)造出了一個(gè)跟別人不一樣的獨(dú)特語言，但是，他不是為了創(chuàng)造語言而創(chuàng)造語言，而是用語言去說話。
黃：武明中的繪畫提供了一種新的風(fēng)格。那么，這是什么樣的新風(fēng)格呢？很顯然，他的繪畫既不是現(xiàn)實(shí)主義方法，也不是波普語言，更不是“玩世現(xiàn)實(shí)主義”和“艷俗”的風(fēng)格。但是，我們可以發(fā)現(xiàn)，他的繪畫明顯具有綜合性或混雜性的特質(zhì)。值得注意的是，他的繪畫語言透露出非常強(qiáng)的直觀性，繪畫的筆觸都是很大的，不是那么精細(xì)描摹，但從遠(yuǎn)處看，畫面既有整體性又有細(xì)節(jié)，簡潔而豐富。甚至把日常生活游戲化，政治成為游戲的片段，這些片段又不是以往那種宏大敘述性的東西。的確難以用語言來表述它到底是一種什么樣的風(fēng)格，這也許正是武明中繪畫的一個(gè)重要特征，也是其繪畫的一個(gè)本質(zhì)吧！
武：我一直也有這樣的困惑，我清楚我的作品不是什么，但它是什么呢？說不出來，它就是這樣一個(gè)東西。
黃：實(shí)際上，武明中的繪畫在語言和觀念上代表了這個(gè)時(shí)期轉(zhuǎn)變的特征，也就是說，是“政治波普”、“玩世現(xiàn)實(shí)主義”之后新世紀(jì)繪畫的一種情緒。如果進(jìn)一步深究，它與以往繪畫的顯著不同就在于，它不是那么聲張和張揚(yáng)，而是比較內(nèi)斂和輕松，它沒有一味追求那種宏大敘述，而是強(qiáng)調(diào)那種直觀性的設(shè)計(jì)感和日常經(jīng)驗(yàn)。換言之，如果說“政治波普”、“玩世現(xiàn)實(shí)主義”和“艷俗藝術(shù)”表達(dá)的是中國精英意識的政治批判和道德諷刺，而武明中的繪畫則以更具觀念性的語言，表現(xiàn)的是對人心理的脆弱性的解析，且從虛假與真實(shí)的對立關(guān)系中表達(dá)了對社會(huì)事件和歷史價(jià)值的懷疑。這一點(diǎn)在你繪畫中并沒有直接明確表述，而是你的繪畫蘊(yùn)涵了繪畫之外更多的東西。
武：嗯。
黃：你繪畫中的這個(gè)玻璃使人聯(lián)想到它之外的東西。在目前中國繪畫的格局中，具有這樣特征和傾向的藝術(shù)家也不少，這應(yīng)是一個(gè)很有意思的藝術(shù)現(xiàn)象。
鄒：我對武明中比較了解，我們經(jīng)常在一起聊天。我覺得，他用他的繪畫實(shí)踐把當(dāng)代藝術(shù)中的繪畫往前推了一步。就美學(xué)而言，它是一種柏拉圖式的一個(gè)反向思考，其意義就在于，他自己創(chuàng)造出來一個(gè)對象，然后用這個(gè)對象去理解、認(rèn)識和觀察世界。他的作品，雖然系列很多，思想龐雜，但我個(gè)人認(rèn)為這其中有兩個(gè)最重要的問題或突破——一個(gè)是對形式的突破，一個(gè)是對內(nèi)容的突破。形式的突破在于他創(chuàng)造和運(yùn)用了玻璃體的形式語言，這種形式語言的確指性是很強(qiáng)的。例如，我認(rèn)為最近他最經(jīng)典的新作是《耶穌基督》，他把信仰描繪成了一個(gè)裝滿紅酒的玻璃體式的消費(fèi)品，而對這種信仰的消費(fèi)既奢華又易碎，從而他把形式和內(nèi)容完美地結(jié)合在一起了；就內(nèi)容而言，他的作品并不在于呈現(xiàn)某種客觀事實(shí)，而在于他是描繪自我理性邏輯推理下所呈現(xiàn)出來的某種理性的心里寫實(shí)圖像。因此我認(rèn)為，我們給他定位是很難的。原因在于，我們用以往的藝術(shù)理論和經(jīng)驗(yàn)去理解或套用他的作品是很難或不生效的。因此對他作品的理解是一個(gè)新的課題，或者換句話說，我們應(yīng)該用新的藝術(shù)知識，新的東西給他定位，因?yàn)樗淖髌芬呀?jīng)突破了中國當(dāng)代藝術(shù)傳統(tǒng)的思維模式。從這一點(diǎn)來講，他的作品首先是后現(xiàn)代的，然后才是現(xiàn)代的。
黃：這正是利奧塔所表述的后現(xiàn)代的觀點(diǎn)。
鄒：對。在這一點(diǎn)上他比別人更有突破性和批判性。過早的定位，不一定準(zhǔn)確。
黃：武明中的繪畫很有綜合性，正是因?yàn)橛羞@樣獨(dú)特性，也就難以用某一種風(fēng)格或方式去界定、概括和表述。
武：在這個(gè)世紀(jì)，許多藝術(shù)家的作品都很綜合，作品里有很多元素，這是一個(gè)新形態(tài)，是一個(gè)發(fā)生發(fā)展著的東西。但這種新形態(tài)怎樣去用一個(gè)詞語準(zhǔn)確表述，挺費(fèi)勁的。
黃：藝術(shù)家里有一撥人，有一種共通的情緒，這種情緒映射了一個(gè)現(xiàn)象，跟風(fēng)格語言是沒有關(guān)系的。而且，不像原來那些繪畫都有一個(gè)明確的個(gè)人形象，或者是肖像式的。
鄒：嗯。
黃：武明中的繪畫的確是一個(gè)特例，其繪畫語言具有唯一性的特征，也就是說，我們幾乎難以找到與武明中相似的語言或風(fēng)格，因?yàn)樗睦L畫是從逆向性思考創(chuàng)作的，這也就是為什么他繪畫的語言、風(fēng)格、觀念難以被準(zhǔn)確表述。這是一個(gè)非常有意思的視點(diǎn)。如果看一下中國當(dāng)代繪畫的系譜，我們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)在“政治波普”，“玩世現(xiàn)實(shí)主義”之后到底什么是一種新的繪畫。倘若說存在繪畫的 “新”，那么它又是什么？“新”又是指什么？新和舊是什么關(guān)系？
鄒：即是一個(gè)決裂同時(shí)還是一個(gè)繼續(xù)。
黃：我覺得，武明中的繪畫是一種突變，因?yàn)闆]有與之可比性的東西。當(dāng)然，我們可以通過這一案例的現(xiàn)象去反思繪畫本體的問題。對于藝術(shù)批評來說，這可以讓我們通過個(gè)案去研究和理清許多問題。也許武明中這一個(gè)案恰恰是一個(gè)契機(jī)，是一個(gè)能打開新課題的途徑。
鄒：那我們只能期待理論家對其進(jìn)行深入研究了。
黃：武明中的繪畫還有與以往那些畫家不同之處，就在于他以一種全球性的政治視野敏感地洞察世界的變化，不僅超越了中國自身的問題，而且把中國納入到與全球的關(guān)系中去認(rèn)識和分析。如他的繪畫“六方會(huì)談”就是針對國際注目的東北亞的朝鮮“核”問題展開，即中國、朝鮮、美國、日本、韓國、俄羅斯被藝術(shù)家納入一個(gè)區(qū)域政治關(guān)系中。他似乎用那種脆弱性來再現(xiàn)和證明國與國之間利益的博弈及其復(fù)雜性和不確定性。當(dāng)然，除此之外，武明中以一種全新視角分析日常生活的經(jīng)驗(yàn)、問題和變化，與以往的那些成功藝術(shù)家是不同的。像武明中的繪畫、陳文令的雕塑、邱志杰的裝置、繆曉春的錄像、邱黯雄的錄像、仇小飛的繪畫等藝術(shù)家的作品，他們在方法和敘事上跟以往的藝術(shù)家不一樣。這實(shí)際上是與以往的那些成功的藝術(shù)家的語言系統(tǒng)完全不同?，F(xiàn)在難以用某一種理論準(zhǔn)確描述，但我能深深感受到這種區(qū)別。
鄒：這可能是當(dāng)下中國當(dāng)代藝術(shù)的異質(zhì)美學(xué)現(xiàn)象！武明中最近畫的有關(guān)夫妻關(guān)系的作品，我覺得這是面向了日常生活或者是我們的生活本身。
黃：這正再現(xiàn)了當(dāng)今社會(huì)人與人之間的冷漠感。
鄒：和那種疏離感，1000年之前或1000年之后，人們都有。這是一個(gè)永恒的話題，是生活與自己本身的一種關(guān)系，一種生存經(jīng)歷產(chǎn)生的心理困惑。
武：在人與人的關(guān)系中，夫妻關(guān)系應(yīng)該是最親密、最合二為一的，但實(shí)際上不可能，為什么？
黃：日常生活的表征看似簡單，其實(shí)圖像背后隱含了很多難言的意義，繪畫恰恰能通過細(xì)微的主觀刻畫表現(xiàn)人內(nèi)心深處的孤獨(dú)、寂寞、矛盾、沖突、心理隔膜等問題。所以，武明中的新畫似乎傳遞的信息并沒有局限于圖像自身，而是讓人感受了一種繪畫之外的東西，讓人產(chǎn)生更多的聯(lián)想，這正是繪畫的魅力所在。藝術(shù)的魅力不只是指視覺愉悅，而是還包含了視覺愉悅之外沉思性的東西，這才是繪畫更高的境界。
武：要觸及人的心靈。
黃：我們可以在你現(xiàn)在的作品中發(fā)現(xiàn)你一直關(guān)注變化的問題。尤其是最近的作品，為什么關(guān)注夫妻關(guān)系的問題呢？為什么關(guān)注信仰的問題？為什么關(guān)注政治問題呢？這不僅僅是圖像的問題，更重要還包含對現(xiàn)實(shí)世界的分析和解剖。尤其是對“虛假的真實(shí)”分析，所以，看似虛假的玻璃人或事物，卻再現(xiàn)了真實(shí)世界的問題——沖突、矛盾、不確定性、易碎、脆弱性所構(gòu)成的社會(huì)關(guān)系和文化關(guān)系。
鄒：從某種程度上講，這是藝術(shù)背后透露出的那種文化力量，因?yàn)檫@種文化力量可以掌握和找到那些那你能夠解決實(shí)際問題的人。
武：這種文化力量已經(jīng)不是某一國家或某一民族的，而是全球的文化力量。藝術(shù)家須從個(gè)體出發(fā)，以全球的視野進(jìn)行藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作?，F(xiàn)在，當(dāng)代藝術(shù)對中國藝術(shù)家的要求更高了，以往那種對某一大師進(jìn)行模仿變異再加上中國題材的勾兌作品，已經(jīng)失效。
Fresh and New – Wu Mingzhong’s Painting
Interview with Huang Du, Zou Cao and Wu Mingzhong
Date: June 5, 2009
Location: Wu Mingzhong studio
Huang Du (hereinafter Huang as shortened form): Let’s talk about your motivations for painting. Why do you work like this? How did you come across way of painting?
Wu Mingzhong (hereinafter Wu as shortened form): It came from an early crisis of love.
Huang: Why?
Wu: Love, for me, was shattered. I felt an emotional vulnerability and began to doubt the truths about love. At that time, I thought that art might express this vulnerability as I had experienced pain, and that might be an explosive source of inspiration. If that is the case, how can I deliver my idea? I was using an inflatable balloon at the very beginning but it was really so fragile. Since the figure was not legible after the balloon was enlarged, I needed to find a more concrete image. Later, I thought of the essence of glass: hard but fragile. With that on mind, I began to produce some small-size paintings. The works definitely surpassed my expectation, so I started enlarging the work until I had found the beginnings of a glass portrait.
Huang: Why do you introduce political issues into your paintings?
Wu: I had plenty of art practice before the glass portrait paintings. That included political themes as in the Egg series, showing an attitude of mistrust. People’s bodies are real in the painting but their head are shaped as "eggs". The first piece of glass portrait painting entitled Shoot! has political innuendos. It’s about the negotiation between two countries. They are supposed to reach an agreement, but the agreement might change, or they might break the agreement. Then I began to consider the vulnerable connections between people, nations and parties. Another reason for the glass portraits actually is the buildings that had collapsed in just seconds on "9-11" in the United States. In 2002, I produced a painting in which a group of people chat in a big cardboard box, just like we are now, but they have not noticed the danger outside. The painting entitled Handle with Care, Buddy! reminds people of that danger.
Huang: That is to say, your work implies “care”.
Wu: Yes, I just want to remind people that fragile matters actually exist. Do not crush it, like relationships between people.
Huang: In fact, in your work, you draw a connection between transparency and fragility, right?
Wu: Exactly. The visual impact would be weakened if I only drew a transparent glass portrait, so I added hues to it – like orange juice and XO. In 2005, I replaced the hues with wine, because the wine has a meaningful color and also makes a striking visual impact.
Zou Cao (hereinafter shortened as Zou): Does the wine have any implications besides its striking visual impact?
Wu: From a visual point of view, I thought the wine’s color was stronger than the previous materials, and it also implies desire, seduction. The material, the color of wine, also looks beautiful.
Huang: Red wine contains a lot of meaning: it might suggest the luxury and desire of today's social elites. Perhaps it does not have a specific meaning, but might create something in the imagination.
Wu: The wine and XO in my painting both have a realistic significance: we live in a wonderful material world; people are chasing after a luxurious vanity. We need to reconsider and question the material life, and its relationship to people.
Huang: Wu Mingzhong’s work seems to stress that everything is transparent, and transparency has in fact become a necessary condition in contemporary society and cultural development. The glass transparency has more implications beyond the physical character of the glass; in other words, it has associations with democracy, freedom, supervision, openness, commonality and affiliation, and the critical transparency that has become a form of “social surgery”: it discloses and eliminates the infectious roots of dictatorship, manipulation, conspiracy, crime, concealment and corruption. Based upon an awareness of this contradiction, Wu Mingzhong has expanded the meaning of transparency as a way of contrasting hardness and fragility, fakeness and authenticity. His paintings convey a controversial message. The glassware, for example, suggests the upper classes, just as the glass portraiture in your work lives in this atmosphere of extravagance and with a keen sense of exposure. You are very concerned with some rather entangling political issues. Besides analyzing the extravagance of daily life, your works such as “Six Party Talks” allude to the hardness and fragility of international ties. This fact seems to be confirmed since“Six-party Talks" results in the absence of North Korea. It can be said that the previous efforts to the “Six-party Talks" were all in vain.
Wu: Yes, the use of caution is extremely important! I produced two paintings on the theme of the "Six-party Talks." One is a six-party roundtable talks, entitled “Let’s discuss!”. The second depicts the scene of a handshake, entitled “Shake Tight, Buddy!”. I was worried about the absence of North Korea in the peace talks. In fact, this is just a psychological demand, but in actuality there’s nothing we can do, since it’s all determined by the texture and the nature of the glass.
Huang: The subject is not a crucial factor in contemporary art. Any depicted object can serve as the subject matter, while what’s really critical are the methodological issues currently employed in painting.
Wu: I think creating art should always begin with expression. If the expression is your own, you know there is no referential language or methodology in use. At the same time, an artistic creation is likely to emerge. What I want to express here is a certain brittleness and fragility, something no one has done before in art history.
Huang: Even though art history provides us with a wide range of experiences, we could not mechanically apply it to each artist's personal experience. Looking back at art history, it is not difficult to find that some artists’ methods and concepts have changed the evolutionary process of the arts. Take Fontana (born in Argentina in 1899, moved to Milan, Italy, 1905). He was not glued to realistic approaches in creating a work, but he preferred rather to explore the movement and changing conditions of the paint. Fontana had changed the painting space with his random knife-cuts on the canvas. That "sporadic" outcome had broken through painting’s spatial concept in the Western tradition. Since then, Western traditional painting has adopted perspective in the plane as well as color changes to shape a visual effect that includes three-dimensional space. In a sense, Fontana went beyond logic and practice in art history. Therefore, we may not judge art practice with experience, but rather, it’s just like you said. You had an erupting fragile emotional experience because of a crisis involving love. Transferring this experience to your art brought you a new artistic method.
Zou: Fontana’s knife cuts originally might have been a sporadic happening or an occasional impulse. But his persistent artistic cut proved that he had fully understood the impulse, and this cognition or understanding evolved into his artistic creation.
Huang: In China, most people can only focus on the linear logic in Western modern art. In fact, the development of Western modern art is mixed with some very complex factors. In addition to the individual experiments by the artists, it also includes economic and commercial factors, in addition to the most important factors such as cultural movements, politics, philosophy, and other ideologies. However, so-called “popularity” often gets combined with a number of other factors. For instance, a number of galleries or exhibitions promote the artist's self-confidence or some sort of Pop Art. The cultural logic of capitalism underlies this phenomenon. Commerce underlies art, especially in the US.
Wu: I started this series of works in 2002, and I was further inspired after participating in two exhibitions in 2003. Then by the end of 2005, a few people started collecting my works.
Huang: Your art creation has stabilized since then. I think art today is inevitably involved in the commercial.
Wu: The commercial achievement did bring me a kind self-confidence; people bought my works because they liked them.
Huang: This series of works depict daily consumer items, yet the painting belongs to the style of still life. But beyond that, you have also revealed contemporary political issues as they are related to the objects you depict. That is, an artifact has been charged with consumption, entertainment, emotion, and even political and religious topics. By doing so, the artistic language is more ingenious and full of tension.
Wu: Actually it is a metaphor, a metaphor – in glassware – for people.
Zou: I think Wu Mingzhong has created a unique language, and he was not intending to create a language by doing so but simply to express his language.
Huang: Wu Mingzhong has created a new painting style. Well, what is that style like? It is obvious that his painting is neither in a realistic style, nor the language of Pop Art. It’s not “Cynical Realism” or “Gaudy Art” either. However, we can see that his painting has a clear element of synthesis. It is worth noting his painterly language is deeply intuitive. The strokes are bold and not detailed, but from a distance, the paintings are both integrated and detailed – at once, they are simple and rich. Even the playful daily life, and the politics become segments of a new game, so unlike the former grand narrative. It’s really hard to tell exactly what the style is. This is perhaps an important feature and the essence of Wu Mingzhong’ painting!
Wu: Knowing that my work is not like others has sometimes been a source of confusion for me. I cannot tell what it is. Actually, it is something like this.
Huang: In fact, the concept and language in Wu Mingzhong's painting represents a changing character for this period – a mood of new [21st] century painting after "Political Pop" and "Cynical Realism". With further examination, the painting is significantly different from the other styles. It is both low profile and unassuming, relatively restrained and relaxed. It does not pursue a kind of grand narrative, but stresses the intuitive sense of design and daily experience. In other words, if we say that "Political Pop", "Cynical Realism" and "Gaudy Art" expressed the consciousness of political criticism and also served as a moral satire of China's elites, the conceptual language in Wu Mingzhong’s paintings illustrates people’s psychological vulnerability, conveying his suspicion of the historical value of social events by contrasting the fake and the authentic. Although not overtly stated, the paintings have further implications.
Wu: Yes.
Huang: The glass in your painting is reminiscent of something else. Many artists in China’s contemporary art scene are similarly oriented. It’s a very interesting artistic phenomenon.
Zou: I know Wu Mingzhong rather well since we often talk to each other. I think his art practice has pushed contemporary art a step forward. Aesthetically, the ideology is sort of like Plato in reverse. Its significance lies in the fact that he has created an object, then realizes, explores and observes the world by using this object. Although he had many series of works drawing on a complex ideology, I personally think that there are two more important issues or breakthroughs. One breakthrough is the form, the other is the content. In terms of form: Wu has created and employed a vitreous (or glass-like) form of language. In his recent painting “Jesus Christ”, he has depicted faith as a glass container filled with red wine. Since faith is both extravagant and fragile, Wu has perfectly united form with content. The content of his work does not present certain objective facts, but shows some sort of realistic images in combination with rational psychology. So I think it is hard to define him. The reason is that previous art theory and practice could not explain and verify his work. Therefore, comprehending his works is a new subject altogether. In other words, we should define him with a new knowledge of the arts, because his painting has already broken through the conventional ideologies of Chinese contemporary art. On that point, his work is postmodern first, then modern.
Huang: It’s just like Lyotard's narrative sentence on the postmodern.
Zou: Yes. At this point, he has made more of a critical breakthrough than others. But defining the breakthrough too early would lead to inaccuracies.
Huang: Wu Mingzhong’s painting has certain hybrid characteristics, and such an uniqueness is difficult to define, generalize or express in any style or manner.
Wu: Many of the works in this century are synthesized – they are comprised of a lot of elements. This is a new tendency that is constantly evolving. But it would be quite a strain to actually capture this new tendency in a nutshell, to describe it in a single word.
Huang: A group of artists has a common mood, and the mood reflects a phenomenon that does not relate to stylistic language. Moreover, the painting is unlike the previous ones that had a specific image or a portrait-style.
Zou: Yes.
Huang: Wu Mingzhong’s painting is indeed a special case. His art language is unique, that is to say that we can hardly find an artistic language or style similar to his, since his painting was created with a reverse way of thinking - that is why his artistic language, style and concept cannot be clearly stated. This is a very interesting story. If you look at the genealogy of Chinese contemporary art, we want to know what new painting comes after "Political Pop" and "Cynical Realism". If a "New" painting does exist, what is it? What is the "New"? What is the connection between the new and the old?
Zou: It is both a rupture and a continuity.
Huang: I think Wu Mingzhong’s painting is a sort of mutation, because there are no works comparable to his. From the perspective of art criticism, this case might allow us to reconsider some core issues in painting. Wu Mingzhong’ s work might actually be a chance, that is, a path to a new topic.
Zou: We can only look forward to the in-depth research of critics.
Huang: What distinguishes Wu Mingzhong is that he subtly observes the changes in the world with a globally-informed political vision that not only goes beyond the issue of China, but also brings China into an analysis of international relations. His painting "The Six-party Talks", for example, probes North Korea's "nuclear" program – regional political relations that include China, North Korea, the United States, Japan, South Korea and Russia. He seems to use that vulnerability to reproduce and demonstrate the game of national interests in all its complexity and uncertainty. He also observes the experience, problems and changes in daily life from a new perspective, Wu Mingzhong’s paintings, Chen Wenling’s sculptures, Qiu Zhijie’s installations, video art by Miao Xiaochun and Qiu Anxiong, paintings by Qiu Xiaofei – their methods and narratives are different from other artists. They have a completely different language system from former successful artists. Now it’s hard to describe it accurately with theories, but I can feel this distinction deeply.
Zou: This phenomenon probably exemplifies heterogeneous aesthetics in Chinese contemporary art. Wu Mingzhong’s recent works are about the relationships between couples, intimate contact with daily life, or our lives per se.
Huang: These works actually represent a sense of apathy among people in current society.
Zou: And that sense of alienation, people had it 1000 years ago and 1000 years later. This is an eternal topic in our life, a kind of psychological confusion with the experience of living.
Wu: Couple’s relationships should be the most intimate, but they’re not. Why?
Huang: Matters in daily life appear to be simple, but in fact the images imply a lot of underlying meanings. The painting’s subtle subjective depictions convey loneliness, isolation, contradiction, conflict and an inner, psychological alienation. Therefore, Wu’s new paintings have delivered something more than just images, but the charm of paintings that provoke people’s ideas. The charm I’m speaking of not only refers to visual pleasure, but also to a form of meditation – this is painting’s higher state.
Wu: To strike a chord with people’s hearts.
Huang: We discovered that your recent works have been concerned with some changing issues. Why are you concerned about couple’s relationships? Why all the faith and politics? This is not just about the images. More important, it also includes the analysis and dissection of the real world. Especially the analysis of "Fake Authenticity" – so that seemingly fake glass figures have reproduced social and cultural relations in a real world of conflicts, contradictions, uncertainty, fragility and vulnerability.
Zou: From a certain perspective, there is a cultural force that underlies art, one that responds with people who can solve factual problems.
Wu: This culture force does not refer to a country or a nation, but it is a global cultural force. Artists need to make artistic works out of a global vision. At present, the demands placed on contemporary Chinese artists are even higher than before. The previous imitations and variations that mixed up the subject matter in Chinese contemporary art are already out of date.
