帳房先生 不銹鋼鍛造 80x60x60cm 2007
馮博一
在中國當(dāng)代藝術(shù)這個(gè)圈子混久了，或者說在策劃展覽的過程中與這么多藝術(shù)家打交道，他們作品觀念的基本脈絡(luò)和樣式大致有些了解。盡管現(xiàn)在各類展覽很多，藝術(shù)家及作品也很多。但已沒有了上世紀(jì)90年代的刺激、驚喜與興奮，抑或這些前赴后繼的藝術(shù)家原始沖動(dòng)與激情或多或少地被策略、被日益火爆的藝術(shù)市場所左右?面對這些太會(huì)做作品，太會(huì)做展覽的藝術(shù)現(xiàn)象，我不知如何回答這個(gè)問題，就是感覺有些不大對勁兒。也許是我老了，有些“九斤老太”式的感謂。但當(dāng)我看到福建漳州的藝術(shù)家陳志光的作品時(shí)，卻追憶出我在90年代的視覺經(jīng)驗(yàn)。似乎他的藝術(shù)現(xiàn)在無法歸類，起碼不在所謂都市時(shí)髦藝術(shù)的系統(tǒng)之內(nèi)。既有那時(shí)的破碎激情，又沒有太多被當(dāng)下這個(gè)藝術(shù)圈內(nèi)的所濡染的媚俗習(xí)氣，顯得樸素、直接、真摯。這使我想起當(dāng)年學(xué)習(xí)美術(shù)史時(shí)，對民間藝術(shù)、民俗風(fēng)尚價(jià)值和意義的看法。作為在大城市興起的藝術(shù)潮流、風(fēng)格樣式，是逐漸地滲透、蔓延、影響到其它各地域的城鎮(zhèn)。當(dāng)大城市的藝術(shù)風(fēng)尚瞬息萬變后，地域性的藝術(shù)可以作為追索、研究當(dāng)時(shí)城市文化的一個(gè)參照系。因?yàn)樗嗌俦Ａ袅四莻€(gè)時(shí)期的審美意識(shí)和趣味，又帶有地域性文化的融合及摻雜，充滿著民間的活力。因此，我在解讀陳志光的藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作，雖然缺乏現(xiàn)時(shí)流行的評價(jià)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，卻給我們以另類的審視眼光來看待。
似乎他的藝術(shù)現(xiàn)在無法歸類，起碼不在所謂都市時(shí)髦藝術(shù)的系統(tǒng)之內(nèi)。既有那時(shí)的破碎激情，又沒有太多被當(dāng)下這個(gè)藝術(shù)圈內(nèi)的所濡染的媚俗習(xí)氣，顯得樸素、直接、真摯。這使我想起當(dāng)年學(xué)習(xí)美術(shù)史時(shí)，對民間藝術(shù)、民俗風(fēng)尚價(jià)值和意義的看法。作為在大城市興起的藝術(shù)潮流、風(fēng)格樣式，是逐漸地滲透、蔓延、影響到其它各地域的城鎮(zhèn)。當(dāng)大城市的藝術(shù)風(fēng)尚瞬息萬變后，地域性的藝術(shù)可以作為追索、研究當(dāng)時(shí)城市文化的一個(gè)參照系。因?yàn)樗嗌俦Ａ袅四莻€(gè)時(shí)期的審美意識(shí)和趣味，又帶有地域性文化的融合及摻雜，充滿著民間的活力。因此，我在解讀陳志光的藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作，雖然缺乏現(xiàn)時(shí)流行的評價(jià)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，卻給我們以另類的審視眼光來看待。
陳志光的藝術(shù)有種神秘、詭異的感覺。螞蟻是陳志光作品里始終青睞的物象。在自然界，螞蟻的造化是群體的分工勞作，孜孜不倦地覓食、造窩和繁衍，顯示出超越個(gè)體的自然力量。之所以陳志光不斷地利用它們的形象，我揣度有著比附人類的蕓蕓眾生勞作的意味，或許也具有中國傳統(tǒng)的“愚公愚山”寓言的象征涵義。比如他將塑造的若干個(gè)不銹鋼螞蟻游走、蠕動(dòng)在曾經(jīng)輝煌過的工廠、車間的廢墟和銹跡斑斑的機(jī)器之中，趴伏在廢棄的載重卡車和鍋爐之上。廢墟與殘骸，黑暗與扭曲的支離破碎景象充盈在觀者的面前，這是他曾經(jīng)生活在這個(gè)環(huán)境中生存經(jīng)驗(yàn)的直接性展開，蘊(yùn)藏著沉重、留戀、痛惜、傷感的色彩，也是對中國時(shí)代變遷過程中產(chǎn)生的沖突、碰撞的一種真實(shí)與直接的記錄和寫照。中國正在失去一個(gè)舊秩序，是否能得到了一個(gè)新的世界?從這個(gè)意義來說，他的這些作品是對即將消失的過去在未來的絕唱與挽歌。再比如，他把螞蟻擬人化，身穿中國古代盔甲，像是秦始皇墓中的兵馬俑，頭戴烏紗帽，手拿刀槍劍戟，或端坐在中國古典的太師椅上，或張牙舞爪地在柱礎(chǔ)上橫空出世，魔幻般乖張的造型，不禁地使人想到我們古典文學(xué)經(jīng)典的《西游記》中的場景，凸現(xiàn)了視覺驚怵的張力。比較有趣的是在材料的選擇上，他使用的都是工業(yè)文明的“第二手物質(zhì)”——不銹鋼金屬鍛造或金屬噴漆裝置而成。這種人工化材料的冰冷屬性以及和螞蟻的自然屬性相互混搭覆蓋，誘發(fā)出歷史和虛擬、寫實(shí)和游戲之間的各種荒謬和困惑。可以看出陳志光的用意是把一群關(guān)鍵性的螞蟻行為形象，同時(shí)賦予了作品內(nèi)容和形式方面的最大效果，這種效果具有復(fù)雜的象征意義，把我們現(xiàn)今社會(huì)日益膨脹的物質(zhì)消費(fèi)的情景，通過系列螞蟻的怪異形象符號(hào)化和現(xiàn)實(shí)化了，甚至挪用和強(qiáng)行并置了兩個(gè)時(shí)代的落差景觀，于是視覺的圖像從非現(xiàn)實(shí)的層面進(jìn)入到一個(gè)現(xiàn)實(shí)的層面，以此來表達(dá)他對當(dāng)下現(xiàn)實(shí)社會(huì)的深刻關(guān)注?；蛟S他的這種藝術(shù)話語方式的不可思議之處還在于他回到了民間傳統(tǒng)和日常生活的趣味，卻以他的超現(xiàn)實(shí)的想象力，沖擊著在都市生活里已經(jīng)太“雅”的文化人們。恰似將我們這個(gè)時(shí)代在社會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)型過程中的文化處境，以及陳志光作為一位藝術(shù)家予以的審視與轉(zhuǎn)化，反映了他對這些社會(huì)現(xiàn)實(shí)問題的恣肆的想象力和質(zhì)疑的立場。
The Magic Strangeness
On Chen Zhiguang’s Sculpture
Feng Boyi
I have got some ideas about the basic concepts and patterns with the works of many artists since I have been engaged in the Chinese contemporary art circle and in contact with them when planning exhibitions. Despite the fact that there are so many types of exhibitions, artists and works, there are no longer incentive, surprises and excitement of those of 1990s. Have the basic impulse and passion of these artists been more or less subjected to the strategies or the increasingly heated art market? In the face of the phenomenon that these artists are too good at marketing their works and holding exhibitions, I do not know how to answer this question, but feel that it is not so right, or perhaps I am getting old, just a bit complaining about the present situation and missing the good old days. But when I saw the works of Chen Zhiguang, the artist from Zhangzhou Fujian, it brought me back to the visual experience of the 1990s.
His art now seems unable to be classified, at least not in the so-called urban fashion art system. It possesses both the broken passion of that period, but doesn’t have the phenomenon of flattering favor of the public that can be widely found in the present art circle. It is simple, direct and sincere. This reminds me of the time when I studied art history, my view on the value and significance of the folk arts and folk customs. As the emerging art trend and style pattern in metropolis, these art works are gradually penetrating and spreading out to affect other towns and cities. When the artistic fashion changes rapidly in metropolis, the local arts can serve as a reference system to be referred to when tracing and studying urban culture of that period, because they retained much aesthetic sense and tastes of that period with a regional cultural integration and mixture. They were also filled with folk vitality. Chen Zhiguang’s art can be interpreted and appreciated in an alternative vision, although it lacks present popular evaluation criteria.
Chen Zhiguang’s art would give viewers the feeling of mystery and strangeness. Ants are always the physical image favored in Chen Zhiguang’s art works. In nature, ants are featured with the division of labor, tireless foraging, creating anthills and endless flourishing, showing the natural forces beyond individuals. The reason why Chen Zhiguang constantly uses the image of ants is to compare the toilful mankind to ants’ endless working, or perhaps to the traditional symbolic meaning of the Foolish Old Man, who removed the mountains to show the determination to win victory and the courage to surmount every difficulty. For example, Chen Zhiguang created a number of stainless steel ants moving around, wiggling among the ruins of the workshop and the rusty machinery in the factory that used to be magnificent, or lying prone on the abandoned heavy trucks and boilers. The viewers are presented with a broken picture of ruins and debris, dark and distorted, which is the direct experience of the survival in the environment he once lived. It not only contains colors of heaviness, lingering, regret and sadness, but also reflects the conflicts and collisions during the process of era changing in China.
China is losing an old order. Can she gain a new world? In this sense, his works are the farewell and elegy in the future to those of the past that will soon disappear. For instance, he personalizes the ants, which wear ancient Chinese helmets, just like the terra cottas who wear dark gauze cap, holding knives and swords or sitting up straight in the chair of classical Chinese, or putting on a fierce look around the columns. Their magic and eccentric profiling reminds us of the scenes in our classical literature "Journey to the West", which highlights the visual shocking tension. What is more interesting lies in the choice of materials, which are all the “second hand material” of industrial civilization--stainless steel metal forging or metal painting installation. The coldness of such artificial materials and natural attributes of ants mutual mix and overlap, inducing all kinds of absurd and confusion between history and fiction, realism and games.
It can be seen that Chen Zhiguang’s intention is to adopt the image of a critical army of ants and at the same time endow the content and form of his works with maximum effect, which has complex symbolism, symbolizing the swelling material needs in the modern society through serial strange image of ants. He even shifts and forcefully combines the gap between the two eras, thus the visual image would shift from the unreal dimension into a realistic level to express his deep concern for the current social reality. Perhaps the incredible aspect of his type of artistic words also lies in his return to the folk tradition and interests of daily life. However, with his surrealistic imagination, his art blows at the too "elegant" cultural people in urban life. Just like the cultural situation we would face in the process of social transformation in this era, Chen Zhiguang, as an artist, examines and transfers his art to reflect his unlimited imagination and questioning position toward the social reality.
【編輯：小紅】
