一次邂逅的際遇與青年才俊沈朝方其作其人相會，在觀賞了他創(chuàng)作的新媒體Video藝術(shù)《芒種》作品系列之后，大致上說，沈朝方的這些作品給我的直覺體味便是繁麗華彩之下的焦慮與幻滅，給人帶來的是一種視聽的美餐之后的感嘆與沉思。
古往今來，在具有強烈的主體意識及生命意識的文藝作品中，繁麗與幻滅的糾葛和矛盾，幾乎無不作為一切感人悲劇的永恒的情愫。春花、秋月、浮云、流水似乎總在闡釋著人的永恒的理想與終歸于消逝的矛盾和無奈。但也許正是這千古的生命之欲與自然之律的悖論，才得以讓人們?nèi)ジ玫卣暶總€生命在每時每刻的存在意義與價值。實際上，現(xiàn)當(dāng)代藝術(shù)所扮演的一個重要角色或使命，就是以其特殊的演繹或置換的手法去時時撞擊業(yè)已沉醉于物質(zhì)化和實利化社會中的靈魂，以期釋義、警示和撫慰眾生。沈朝方的《芒種》系列的靈感和內(nèi)涵，恰恰來自于有感同代青年人在工具理性盛行、生存競爭嚴(yán)酷以及青春狂想與現(xiàn)實境遇相悖的情境，有感于繁麗極致的夢境與惶惶無法安神的躁動和無奈。榮譽、財富、情愛及永恒的夢想?yún)s與現(xiàn)時的失落促就了沉重的迷茫。由此而在瑰麗的花叢、奇麗的飛鳥、靡麗的水煙、美麗的佳人的背后隱現(xiàn)出孤獨、冷漠、迷茫和寂滅。予理想和美好以幻滅，是一切悲劇的手法和歸宿，它固然殘酷，但卻可道出事物的定律并更加喚起人們對于理想和美好事物的追逐與珍惜。
自上世紀(jì)20年代西方“達達藝術(shù)”問世以及60年代“波普藝術(shù)”流行以來，藝術(shù)已經(jīng)大大超出和顛覆了它舊有的概念及涵義。藝術(shù)早已從訴諸以感官的審美及文學(xué)性情節(jié)的表述，邁向訴諸于哲性的觀念思維和關(guān)乎眾生的社會文化領(lǐng)域。尤其在上世紀(jì)后半葉現(xiàn)代科技飛速發(fā)展的后工業(yè)社會及網(wǎng)絡(luò)社會之中，被奉為經(jīng)典和高雅的古典藝術(shù)及學(xué)院派藝術(shù)被理解為只是藝術(shù)史過程的一種存在，傳統(tǒng)的藝術(shù)概念及其價值觀念和舊有的表現(xiàn)手法不再作為評判藝術(shù)問題的絕對標(biāo)準(zhǔn);架上藝術(shù)和傳統(tǒng)的影像藝術(shù)經(jīng)驗已匯入了新媒體實驗的寬廣之路，這無疑為新時代藝術(shù)的語言方式、交流方式和觀念形態(tài)提供了嶄新的舞臺，為當(dāng)代更多的人接觸藝術(shù)、享受和參與藝術(shù)品評提供了更大的可能。我們在觀賞沈朝芳的作品時便可親身體悟到攝影、數(shù)碼攝像、裝置、服飾、行為和觀念的交織與共謀所帶來的全新體驗。他對特定主題與情境的表現(xiàn)，在視聽和心理效應(yīng)上是傳統(tǒng)的繪畫、攝影或雕塑等形式所無法替代和企及的。可貴的是沈朝方的新媒體作品并非僅僅執(zhí)著于感官效果的追求，而在于貫穿作品之中的觀念意識，使得其作品具有內(nèi)在的精神性和思辨性。
我在對作品和作者的約略相會中感到，沈朝方是位認(rèn)真、熱情、敏感且細膩的青年，猶如他作品的認(rèn)真、敏感和細膩，他的個人氣質(zhì)、情感自然而真實的流露在其中。他在作品中對于形象、道具、場景及色調(diào)的選擇方面，也存在著藝術(shù)語匯與語義表達之間的某些差距和遺憾，但以有限的制作條件和經(jīng)驗去嘗試這樣一個重在綜合手法與心理表現(xiàn)的新媒體創(chuàng)作，已使他和觀眾有了許多收獲。他的創(chuàng)作意向和綜合表現(xiàn)能力的來源也與他從服裝設(shè)計到影像謀劃的專業(yè)經(jīng)歷有關(guān)，更重要的是他不想僅僅做一個藝術(shù)家，而同時也是一位關(guān)注精神生活和社會生活的思想者和真誠的探索者。我想，他多年的研讀、思考和創(chuàng)作活動定會在他的藝術(shù)歷程中持續(xù)發(fā)揮作用。我們有望沈朝方在今后為公眾奉獻更多的新作。
翁劍青 北京大學(xué)藝術(shù)學(xué)院教授，美術(shù)理論家
于2009年3月20日
Floweriness and Disillusion
--Impression of Shen Chaofang’s work “Grain in ear”
I encountered once the bright young artist Shen Chaofang and his works. After looking at his new media art-the video work“Grain in ear”, my general impression and intuition was that it lurked anxiety and disillusion behind the floweriness, which affected me deeply and made me lose myself in thought after such a veritable audio-visual feast.
Throughout the ages, the entanglement and contradiction of floweriness and disillusion as the eternal moving and tragic emotions almost exist in all artistic works with strong subject and life consciousness. Spring flowers, the autumn moon, clouds and the running water seem always to interpret the hopeless contradiction between the eternal ideal and the fact that everything will finally die out. However, maybe it is just the paradox between the eternal desire of life and the rule of the nature that makes people face up to the significance and value of all beings better. In reality, one of the important roles or missions of the contemporary art must play or accomplish is to strike constantly the souls indulging in the materialization and materialism of the social to interpret for the people, warn and soothe the people. The inspiration and meaning of Shen Chaofang’s “Grain in ear”are just based on his feeling about the world, where means rational prevails, struggle for existence is harsh, the whim of youth collides with the reality and the gorgeous dream mingles with disquieted confusion and hopelessness. That the glory, fortune, love and the eternal ideal entangle the realistic disappointment results in the leaden disillusionment. So loneness, apathy, confusion and dead silence peer from behind the resplendent flowers, the fantastic birds, the flamboyant smoke on the surface of water and the beauties. To endow the ideal and nicety with disillusion is skill and end-result for all tragedies. It is indeed harsh. However, it tells the law of things and awakens the people to pursue and cherish the things of ideal and beauty.
Art has gone beyond and overturned much its old concept and meaning since the dada art has come out in the 1920s and the pop art has prevailed in the early 1960s. It turned long ago from the expression of sensual aesthetic activity and the literary plot into the show of philosophic thinking and the social culture concerning lives being. Especially in the second half of last century when modern technology developed by leaps and bounds in the post-industrial and network society the classical, highest classic art and academic art were just seen as an existence in the history of art. The traditional concept of art and its values were no longer the absolute standards to the judgment of art. The easel and traditional image art have flowed into the broad river of plentiful new media experimental art, which makes it much more possible that more people can touch, enjoy, and taste the art in the contemporary era. We will gain new experience in mixing and synthesizing the photography, digital image pick-up, device, costume, performance and idea, when we view and admire Shen Chaofang’s works. The audio-visual and mental effects of his expression of the particular subject and situation cannot be replaced or achieved by the traditional painting, photography or sculpture. It is valuable that there are not only sensual effects but also idea and sense running through Shen Chaofang’s works, which makes his works be spiritual and dialectical.
Through the rough meeting with Shen Chaofang and his works I feel that he is a youth of staidness, passion, subtle and refined sensibility, just like what are represented in his works. His personal quality and emotion fall naturally and truly from his works. Though it is a pity that there are some gaps between his artistic language and semantic expression in the choice of image, property, scene and hue, the creator as well as the viewers has had a lot to gain from the new media creation, that focuses on comprehensive skills and mental expression with the limited condition and experience. Shen Chaofang’s creation intention and ability in comprehensive expression have something to do with the majors from costume design to image art in which he has specialized. The more important is that Shen Chaofang is trying not only to be an artist but also a sincere seeker and a thinker who is concerned about mental and social life. In my opinion his learning, thinking and creation of many years will certainly continually play an important role in his artistic experience. It is believed that Shen Chaofang will contribute to the people more new works.
Weng Jianqing (Professor of the Art School of Beijing University, the famous art theorist, critic, the curator of Beijing International Art Biennale)
March 20th, 2009
【編輯：張瑜】
