艺术手记Note Excerpts about Art

　　俸正杰Feng Zhengjie

　　当代生活与艺术策略

　　当代生活就象一颗廉价的彩色玻璃球令着迷，它流光溢彩，折射出今日我们所生活的周遭世界的种种情状。人们生活在这个如万花筒般浮华艳丽的世界里似乎如鱼得水，在霓虹灯闪烁的节奏中理直气壮地扮演着这个时代“物质人”光鲜的角色，呈现出红男绿女、轻歌曼舞状的典型的世俗的小市民文化趋向和审美情趣。近几年如雨后春笋般涌现的世界公园、中华民族园、仿制古董、婚纱摄影等，在明目张胆的做作、造假背后正是满足了大众的消费心态。

　　九十年代中期的艺术家面对着不同于九十年代初期的社会文化背景，一方面由社会事件带来的普遍的政治情绪随着国家经济政策的转换而日益淡化，一方面因为经济的发展人们忙碌于物质化的制造和大众化的消费之中。从某种程度而言人们由“政治人”转换成了“物质人”，但对艺术家来说，艺术所关注的始终是人的真实的生存状态，所追寻的始终是健康、完整的人格独立和人性尊严。正是在这点上“玩世现实主义”以其对当时现实中人的生存状态的强烈关注而结束了“八五”新潮后期日益膨胀的大而无当的艺术追求，从而确立其艺术价值。事实上，调侃、玩世、泼皮等正是当时“政治人”状态下寻求人格独立的必须方式。离开其具体的情境而抽象地对其进行批判显然是不得要领的。当然，中国当代艺术必须向前推进，面对今天的社会文化背景，“玩世现实主义”已不合适宜(其作为一种艺术潮流早在九四年已基本结束――栗宪庭先生语)，但批判解决不了问题，要推进艺术的发展必须面对今天的情景并采取有效的艺术方式，也既面对普遍的“物质人”状态思考当代艺术问题，这应是一个当代艺术家的基本态度。

　　我不赞同艺术创作和批评中简单的逆反心理，似乎一个阶段一个阶段非得反着干不可。当然前一艺术阶段的某些因素可能随着社会文化的转换和艺术的推进没有意义了，但每一阶段也都必然开创、积淀了一些优秀的东西，所以我们应面对现实、关照自我，做到真正的扬弃，这一方面我非常赞同张晓刚先生的艺术态度。也正是因为如此我们能看到新时期以来的艺术发展成果和价值，能看到其缺憾，能看到中国当代艺术继续向前推进的可能性。

　　艳俗艺术是一种艺术策略和话语方式。“艳俗”是艳俗艺术的表象而非其本质，其本质在于反讽，而模仿是其手段。反讽正因为具有模仿艳俗的表象而更具强度和穿透力、感染力，所以艳俗艺术不应当成为单向性情绪化的简单道德批判的对象，而恰恰是当代生活的社会文化情境中艺术反省的必然方式。

　　当代大众生活是大众消费模仿流行时尚呈现出的种种状态，在其模仿过程中显现了浮华艳丽、世俗虚荣的大众审美情趣趋向。艳俗艺术是对当代生活的模仿，也既是对模仿的模仿在其模仿过程中体现了艺术家的个人感觉和基本态度，模仿成为生活向艺术转换的方式，而反讽是其本质，并以此达成艺术家在当代社会中追寻完善人格和个性尊严的愿望。

　　从一九九四年起直到九六年初，因着敏感于物质化社会中大众消费的享乐主义倾向的极度蔓延，我创作了《皮肤的叙述》系列作品，并于九六年四月在北京做了《皮肤的叙述》个人专题作品展。作品以沟通人体内部世界与外面世界的中介――皮肤为切入点，以皮肤的病变通过生理呈现隐喻心理的变化及精神的侵蚀，以喜庆、艳丽的语符并置溃烂、不安的人体，以“艳若桃李”反讽“溃烂之处”，从而实现对社会的艺术批判。

　　九六年开始创作的《浪漫旅程》系列是《皮肤的叙述》系列的推进和深化。作品继续关注当代社会中的大众消费文化和审美情趣，以广为流行的婚纱摄影和世界公园为切入点，并将具有光鲜、艳丽而又夸张、脆弱品质的气球等元素引入画面。婚纱摄影大都按照既有的模式在摄影师、化装师的摆弄下搔手弄姿，全然没有了爱人之间自然的真情流露，而只有千偏一律的姿势和概念化的表情，在这里，表面效果成为最重要的因素，而效果中具体的人已无所谓了。世界公园中的景点都是以简就繁模仿的家世界名胜，而气球更是廉价橡胶皮冲气而已。所以《浪漫旅程》可谓集“假大空”于一体，并以几分群众所喜闻乐见的通俗年画的画面效果在反讽模仿中追寻当代社会“人”的真正价值和尊严。

　　我总是习惯于将既存的图象较为直接的纳入我的创作之中，在看似不经意的图象组合和处理转换过程中实现画面效果的把握和艺术观念的传达。事实上，以为我不可能将所有的图象都纳入我的画面，所以在对图象进行选取、组合，并加以适当处理以统一于画面的过程中已深深的打上了“我”的烙印，因此我丝毫也不担心作品中我是否在场的问题。相反的，当人们面对画面里鲜明直接的形象时我也正站在它们的背后欣赏它们的表演呢!

　　九六年十二月于北京

　　Contemporary Life and Art Strategy

　　Feng Zhengjie

　　Modern life is enchanting like a cheap colorful glass ball, which gleams and reflects various scenes around our life. People living in the kaleidoscope really enjoy the atmosphere and their role of material oriented men and women. It has become the typical bourgeois culture and taste value. During recent years, a lot of world gardens, palaces of Chinese nationalities, fake antiques and wedding photography studios emerged throughout everywhere. Their brazenly affectations and counterfeits were to cater the consumptive psychological status of the masses.

　　Artists in the mid-90s is facing a different social and cultural background than those in the early 90s. One hand the political complexion triggered by political disturbances has been diminished due to the transform of national economic policies. On the other hand, with the economic development, people begin to be indulged in the material production and consumptions. People are, to some extent, changing from political characters to economic characters. As for the artists, however, people’s real status of existence, the spiritual integrity and esteem are always what the artists concern most. Right on this point, the cynical realism, due to its intensive concern to people’s existence status, replaced the grand but unconformable art pursuits after 1985. In fact, to amuse, deride or scoff the society was the inevitable way for political characters to pursue their selfhood independence. Criticism without specific situations often misses its main point. The Chinese contemporary art will certainly going forward, and the cynical realism is no more compatible to the current social and cultural background( it has almost finished in 1994, quoted with Li Xianting). To criticize is not a solution to the problems and to advance the development of Chinese contemporary art, we have to face the current reality and adopt effective art styles. It should be the basic attitude for artists to ponder the contemporary art issues with the universal background of material orientations.

　　I do not agree with simple counterreactional tendency in the art creation and critique. Some elements of the previously existed art might have made no sense with the transform of social and cultural background, while we have to admit that there are always pippins left to contribute to the followers. Therefore, we need to face the reality, develop the useful and discard the obsolete. On this aspect, I agree with Zhang Xiao Gang’s art attitude very much. With the extension of such attitude, we can see the fruit and value as well as minus of the previous arts and push forward the con.

　　Gaudy art is one kind of art strategy and language style. Gaudy is only the superficial element rather than the essence of the gaudy art whose essence is irony with the means of imitation. Irony with the feather of penetration and inspiration was strengthened by the superficial presentation of the gaudy art Therefore gaudy art should not be regarded as a unilateral emotional criticism to the moral objects, but as an necessary manner of art introspection in the situation of contemporary society and culture.

　　The current life of the masses shows diversities based on the imitations of fashion consumptions. During this process, the taste and value of the masses appears foppish and peacockish. The gaudy art is not only the sheer imitation of the reality but the imitation of the imitation itself which also shows the personal feelings and basic attitude of the artist himself. Imitation of such kind transforms life into art with the essence of irony which expresses the artist’s wish to pursue self independence and self esteem.

　　From 1994 to the early 1996, I created my series of “Recounting of skins” based on my sensitivity to the wide spread of epicurean trend in the mass consumption of the materialized society. In 1994, I made my solo exhibition of “Recounting of Skin” in Beijing. My art works took the skins, the media of internal world to the external, as the cut-in point and the pathological changes of the skins was presented as a metaphor to the psychological alterations and spiritual erosions. The flamboyant colors were used to reflect the cankers in order to realize the art criticism to the society.

　　The series of “Romantic Trip” made in 1996 is the development and deepening of the “Recounting of Skin”. My art works continued the mass consumption culture and taste value. The popular wedding photography and world park were taken as the cut-in point with the amorous and fragile balloons as the inserted element. The wedding photography was designed by the photographer with the same patterns and poses as well as similar conceptual facial expressions. The superficial effects rather than the outpouring of real emotions have become the rules. “ Romantic Trip” gathered all the fake constructions of the world renowned places of interests and combined with the visual effect of new year pictures as an irony to the current society with the hope of pursuing the real value and esteem of the human beings.

　　In my art works, I would like to bring the existed images into my creations as a way to convey my art conception with the transform and combinations of the casual images. In fact, I can never bring into all the images, therefore in the process of image selection, transaction and combination has been deeply marked with the feature and judgment of myself. I do not care if I am presented in my art works, on the contrary, when people are enjoying the brilliant images in my art works, I was enjoying their reactions and performance behind them.!

　　Beijing, December 1996