2010年1月17日
2009年12月31日
2009十大公辦好展覽 / 2009 Top Ten Excellent Exhibition in Taiwan
感謝大家的支持
經《藝術家雜誌》邀請美術相關專業人士票選2009年十大公辦好展覽
弱繪畫票選為第十名
與北美館、故宮、國美館等官方策辦展覽一同列為2009十大好展
感到非常意外
策展人與藝術家們再次感謝各界的關注與支持
(詳細內容請見《藝術家雜誌》2010年元月號)
2009 Top Ten Excellent Exhibition in Taiwan by Artist Magazine
"Weak Painting" was ranked number 10th.
Thanks for your support and encouragement!
經《藝術家雜誌》邀請美術相關專業人士票選2009年十大公辦好展覽
弱繪畫票選為第十名
與北美館、故宮、國美館等官方策辦展覽一同列為2009十大好展
感到非常意外
策展人與藝術家們再次感謝各界的關注與支持
(詳細內容請見《藝術家雜誌》2010年元月號)
2009 Top Ten Excellent Exhibition in Taiwan by Artist Magazine
"Weak Painting" was ranked number 10th.
Thanks for your support and encouragement!
2009年10月31日
弱繪畫
文/蘇俞安
近來影像與科技藝術在台灣當代藝術大量盛行，有著相對而言舊有的、傳統名稱的繪畫在當代藝術中該如何發展？
電子媒體與網路尚未興盛前，印刷術主導所有知識媒介，導致知識朝向強調專門化的分類學科發展，藝術相對應成為現代藝術中強調其媒材的固有特色、純粹性與獨特性。然而現今在資訊快速傳播、各類資訊同時性展現、馬賽克式透過電子媒體混凝我們的知覺與認知，藝術產生新的影響成為ㄧ種跨領域、語言訊息大於物質訊息的變化。在創作已開放範疇、媒材的情況下，繪畫該如何發展？我們該如何看一幅畫？
在畫與不畫之間
若回到創作者學習藝術創作的源頭，所有藝術學院的學生都經歷素描與繪畫訓練，然而是怎樣的情況下讓學生決定創作媒介？這裡不單只是個人的選擇問題，這中間經歷教育思潮的轉變。以筆者的個人經驗，筆者在1995-1999年就讀台藝美術系，學校正好經歷教育觀念重要的轉折階段，那時有數位從法國留學回來的教師帶來新藝術知識，例如裝置藝術或錄像藝術，為當時的教育帶來新的衝擊。讓在學的筆者思考一個廣大的、超乎過去日據時期一脈發展下來的美術教育的範圍，在當時來說它是一個嶄新的、跳脫繪畫框架的創作思維。然而這中間似乎出現一個迷思，當代藝術創作是否有如達爾文的物種進化論，一種線性的歷史進步觀？
然而觀看國外近二十年的藝術發展，並非所有人贊同這種單一線性的思維，例如80年代國際超前衛（Transavantgarde International）主張創作思維應不限定於杜象所發展下來的思維脈絡，[1]「超前衛代表藝術家們在一個無邊界的領域中不依賴趨勢和語言的結合關係，透過以本體為中心的藝術態度和哲學觀點，主張恢復內在理性。」他們並認為[2]「剛逝世的藝術經由拓展新的過程與新的材料尋求，參與社會的變遷，而捨去了繪畫和作品的靜態時間。當前的藝術（超前衛）則傾向捨棄其本身以外的幻覺，而回到屬於自己的道路。」強調一種透過內在理性，深思後反芻的內省式創作，不透過機器而是以更為接近自身的繪畫表現。
關於繪畫的正負面觀點
繪畫因攝影的發明與現代藝術等觀念的衝擊，在現代藝術發展歷經許多轉折與變化，其中較為明顯的負面觀點是繪畫象徵舊傳統、藝術體制而被現代藝術家抵抗，造成前衛藝術運動與傳統的斷裂。他們認為繪畫容易落於一種審美愉悅的視網膜藝術、臣服於資產階級藝術生活物化、商品化的目標，導致缺乏一種社會功能與責任。
由此相對的、對繪畫正面評價的看法是強調藝術的自主性，即藝術為藝術創作。另一種正面態度認為藝術為一種人的心靈活動或底意識行為的溝通與再現，強調藝術的無目的性，此無目的性與影響或介入社會的功能性訴求所相對。德國哲學家海德格（Martin Heidegger） 認為繪畫仍可深刻表現人的存在處境，藝術家透過創作，將真理(活生生表現出存在者，作品與存在者並無不同)[3]置入(setzen)於作品中，他用梵谷的作品農鞋舉例，並認為梵谷對農婦的鞋的描繪，活生生傳達了鞋子主人的存在樣態與處境，使一雙鞋並非只是一雙鞋子。
義大利策展人兼藝評家羅馬諾（Gianni Romano）認為繪畫在各種事物終結理論的思潮過後，許多繪畫作品仍出現於當代藝術展覽當中。他引用泰德美術館策展人聶斯比特(Judith Nesbitt)的話：「看似繪畫已經被攻擊與被顛覆掉，但事實上它從未遠離過。[4]」羅馬諾認為90年代選擇繪畫的藝術家對過去的傳統並不會帶有任何的偏見或擔心，繪畫在當代被視為一種全新的媒材（an all-new medium）。[5]
繪畫在當代的變化
正如羅馬諾所言繪畫被視為一種全新的媒材，因為它已與傳統繪畫的包袱無關，不論是具象或抽象，它可以成為任何事物：
電視、流行音樂、漫畫、低俗小說、肥皂劇、恐怖電影、情色圖片、美女圖片、服飾或室內陳設、社會新聞、廢物、電腦遊戲、郵購商品目錄。從幾世紀以來，許多藝術家已經為彼此解釋（詩畫同律，ut pictura poesis），如今媒體的加入，產生出一個劇烈的引用循環，並表現出所有等級制度的喪失。[6]
這裡出現兩個重要議題，一個是媒體的使用、等級制度的喪失造成失去評斷繪畫的標準。媒體的加入讓當代繪畫出現許多面向的變化，一個是媒體介入創作過程，另一是視覺語言交互使用，例如「繪畫－幅影像」或「媒體中出現繪畫」。
繪畫創作在當代並不全然像過去用眼睛親自觀看真實物件描繪，而是創作者觀看媒體中的影像，例如照相機、投影機、電子螢幕、網路、報章雜誌的影像等，使用的方式從觀察到構圖一透過鏡頭放大框取、將各式角度或各種人物動作與物件拍攝成照片，再觀看照片畫畫，有的甚至是直接觀看電子螢幕畫畫，如此可以隨意放大，觀看局部細節。有的創作者藉助電腦繪圖軟體與網路上圖片構思構圖等。一些創作者在描繪時藉助幻燈機或投影機定稿。媒體介入的過程使繪畫的成像帶有影像特質。
在視覺語言交互使用部分，日本藝術家田口和奈（Taguchi Kazuna）的作品是在創作過程中將繪畫與攝影做多次交替的跨界使用。首先她描繪參雜自己想像與雜誌中的女性肖像，並將完成的畫予以攝影，作品的成品便是攝影作品。另外英國藝術家朱利安．歐比（Julian Opie）將他知名簡單線條的人物肖像畫變成電子螢幕、動畫與廣告影像等。
有關「弱繪畫」
繪畫創作在台灣目前存在兩種對比的情況，首先在台灣重要官方展覽（例如台北雙年展等）以影像與裝置語法為主流，繪畫於台灣的藝術領域處於弱勢。台北雙年展從1992年開始，繪畫作品佔總作品數量40%，到1996年台北市立美術館以美術館團隊策畫模式進行的雙年展時，繪畫作品數量到達顛峰，佔60%。然而雙年展到1998年開始以邀請國際策展人策畫模式後，從1998年至2008年，六次雙年展的繪畫佔總數量平均為6.5%。[7]雙年展是國家舉辦大型國際藝術展覽活動，因此能在雙年展展出的作品便具有代表性與指標性意義，而展覽多少帶有國家向國人展現與教育當代藝術的意味。
從1992年雙年展到2008年雙年展，若仔細觀看展出藝術家的資歷，可以觀察這十七年相對應的官辦競賽模式的變遷。獲獎項目由全國、全省美展到近期台北美術獎，其中可以看出有趣的背景結構，例如從全省美展的分類競賽到台北美術獎的不分類競賽；從全省美展獲獎者以成立時間較資深的師範與藝專體系為主，到台北美術獎獲獎者以後期成立的北藝與南藝學生為主。這其中顯示從現代藝術的強調固有媒材特性的藝術分類過渡到當代藝術的開放性範疇、藝術教育觀念的演變等。
此外，我們觀看台北美術獎的評審結構，通常評審的專長與研究領域影響了評判作品的標準。從下表2001至2008年台北美術獎的評審名單中可以看到評審名單的結構主要為藝術家、藝術大學教授與藝評家，而三種身分亦多所重疊，例如姚瑞中身兼藝術家與藝評家，然而每個人的專長不同，若要評開放性範疇的當代藝術作品，必須顧及各領域的專家，因為關係到客觀地解讀與評判作品。我們仔細看這份名單將會發現近兩年(2007與2008年)的評審名單以影像、裝置、觀念領域為居多，較少為繪畫創作者或專研繪畫的評論者。由此相對呈現繪畫作品在總作品數量中的比例比往年大為減少，因此繪畫在具有重要指標性意義的藝術領域處於弱勢。 [8]
近來影像與科技藝術在台灣當代藝術大量盛行，有著相對而言舊有的、傳統名稱的繪畫在當代藝術中該如何發展？
電子媒體與網路尚未興盛前，印刷術主導所有知識媒介，導致知識朝向強調專門化的分類學科發展，藝術相對應成為現代藝術中強調其媒材的固有特色、純粹性與獨特性。然而現今在資訊快速傳播、各類資訊同時性展現、馬賽克式透過電子媒體混凝我們的知覺與認知，藝術產生新的影響成為ㄧ種跨領域、語言訊息大於物質訊息的變化。在創作已開放範疇、媒材的情況下，繪畫該如何發展？我們該如何看一幅畫？
在畫與不畫之間
若回到創作者學習藝術創作的源頭，所有藝術學院的學生都經歷素描與繪畫訓練，然而是怎樣的情況下讓學生決定創作媒介？這裡不單只是個人的選擇問題，這中間經歷教育思潮的轉變。以筆者的個人經驗，筆者在1995-1999年就讀台藝美術系，學校正好經歷教育觀念重要的轉折階段，那時有數位從法國留學回來的教師帶來新藝術知識，例如裝置藝術或錄像藝術，為當時的教育帶來新的衝擊。讓在學的筆者思考一個廣大的、超乎過去日據時期一脈發展下來的美術教育的範圍，在當時來說它是一個嶄新的、跳脫繪畫框架的創作思維。然而這中間似乎出現一個迷思，當代藝術創作是否有如達爾文的物種進化論，一種線性的歷史進步觀？
然而觀看國外近二十年的藝術發展，並非所有人贊同這種單一線性的思維，例如80年代國際超前衛（Transavantgarde International）主張創作思維應不限定於杜象所發展下來的思維脈絡，[1]「超前衛代表藝術家們在一個無邊界的領域中不依賴趨勢和語言的結合關係，透過以本體為中心的藝術態度和哲學觀點，主張恢復內在理性。」他們並認為[2]「剛逝世的藝術經由拓展新的過程與新的材料尋求，參與社會的變遷，而捨去了繪畫和作品的靜態時間。當前的藝術（超前衛）則傾向捨棄其本身以外的幻覺，而回到屬於自己的道路。」強調一種透過內在理性，深思後反芻的內省式創作，不透過機器而是以更為接近自身的繪畫表現。
關於繪畫的正負面觀點
繪畫因攝影的發明與現代藝術等觀念的衝擊，在現代藝術發展歷經許多轉折與變化，其中較為明顯的負面觀點是繪畫象徵舊傳統、藝術體制而被現代藝術家抵抗，造成前衛藝術運動與傳統的斷裂。他們認為繪畫容易落於一種審美愉悅的視網膜藝術、臣服於資產階級藝術生活物化、商品化的目標，導致缺乏一種社會功能與責任。
由此相對的、對繪畫正面評價的看法是強調藝術的自主性，即藝術為藝術創作。另一種正面態度認為藝術為一種人的心靈活動或底意識行為的溝通與再現，強調藝術的無目的性，此無目的性與影響或介入社會的功能性訴求所相對。德國哲學家海德格（Martin Heidegger） 認為繪畫仍可深刻表現人的存在處境，藝術家透過創作，將真理(活生生表現出存在者，作品與存在者並無不同)[3]置入(setzen)於作品中，他用梵谷的作品農鞋舉例，並認為梵谷對農婦的鞋的描繪，活生生傳達了鞋子主人的存在樣態與處境，使一雙鞋並非只是一雙鞋子。
義大利策展人兼藝評家羅馬諾（Gianni Romano）認為繪畫在各種事物終結理論的思潮過後，許多繪畫作品仍出現於當代藝術展覽當中。他引用泰德美術館策展人聶斯比特(Judith Nesbitt)的話：「看似繪畫已經被攻擊與被顛覆掉，但事實上它從未遠離過。[4]」羅馬諾認為90年代選擇繪畫的藝術家對過去的傳統並不會帶有任何的偏見或擔心，繪畫在當代被視為一種全新的媒材（an all-new medium）。[5]
繪畫在當代的變化
正如羅馬諾所言繪畫被視為一種全新的媒材，因為它已與傳統繪畫的包袱無關，不論是具象或抽象，它可以成為任何事物：
電視、流行音樂、漫畫、低俗小說、肥皂劇、恐怖電影、情色圖片、美女圖片、服飾或室內陳設、社會新聞、廢物、電腦遊戲、郵購商品目錄。從幾世紀以來，許多藝術家已經為彼此解釋（詩畫同律，ut pictura poesis），如今媒體的加入，產生出一個劇烈的引用循環，並表現出所有等級制度的喪失。[6]
這裡出現兩個重要議題，一個是媒體的使用、等級制度的喪失造成失去評斷繪畫的標準。媒體的加入讓當代繪畫出現許多面向的變化，一個是媒體介入創作過程，另一是視覺語言交互使用，例如「繪畫－幅影像」或「媒體中出現繪畫」。
繪畫創作在當代並不全然像過去用眼睛親自觀看真實物件描繪，而是創作者觀看媒體中的影像，例如照相機、投影機、電子螢幕、網路、報章雜誌的影像等，使用的方式從觀察到構圖一透過鏡頭放大框取、將各式角度或各種人物動作與物件拍攝成照片，再觀看照片畫畫，有的甚至是直接觀看電子螢幕畫畫，如此可以隨意放大，觀看局部細節。有的創作者藉助電腦繪圖軟體與網路上圖片構思構圖等。一些創作者在描繪時藉助幻燈機或投影機定稿。媒體介入的過程使繪畫的成像帶有影像特質。
在視覺語言交互使用部分，日本藝術家田口和奈（Taguchi Kazuna）的作品是在創作過程中將繪畫與攝影做多次交替的跨界使用。首先她描繪參雜自己想像與雜誌中的女性肖像，並將完成的畫予以攝影，作品的成品便是攝影作品。另外英國藝術家朱利安．歐比（Julian Opie）將他知名簡單線條的人物肖像畫變成電子螢幕、動畫與廣告影像等。
有關「弱繪畫」
繪畫創作在台灣目前存在兩種對比的情況，首先在台灣重要官方展覽（例如台北雙年展等）以影像與裝置語法為主流，繪畫於台灣的藝術領域處於弱勢。台北雙年展從1992年開始，繪畫作品佔總作品數量40%，到1996年台北市立美術館以美術館團隊策畫模式進行的雙年展時，繪畫作品數量到達顛峰，佔60%。然而雙年展到1998年開始以邀請國際策展人策畫模式後，從1998年至2008年，六次雙年展的繪畫佔總數量平均為6.5%。[7]雙年展是國家舉辦大型國際藝術展覽活動，因此能在雙年展展出的作品便具有代表性與指標性意義，而展覽多少帶有國家向國人展現與教育當代藝術的意味。
從1992年雙年展到2008年雙年展，若仔細觀看展出藝術家的資歷，可以觀察這十七年相對應的官辦競賽模式的變遷。獲獎項目由全國、全省美展到近期台北美術獎，其中可以看出有趣的背景結構，例如從全省美展的分類競賽到台北美術獎的不分類競賽；從全省美展獲獎者以成立時間較資深的師範與藝專體系為主，到台北美術獎獲獎者以後期成立的北藝與南藝學生為主。這其中顯示從現代藝術的強調固有媒材特性的藝術分類過渡到當代藝術的開放性範疇、藝術教育觀念的演變等。
此外，我們觀看台北美術獎的評審結構，通常評審的專長與研究領域影響了評判作品的標準。從下表2001至2008年台北美術獎的評審名單中可以看到評審名單的結構主要為藝術家、藝術大學教授與藝評家，而三種身分亦多所重疊，例如姚瑞中身兼藝術家與藝評家，然而每個人的專長不同，若要評開放性範疇的當代藝術作品，必須顧及各領域的專家，因為關係到客觀地解讀與評判作品。我們仔細看這份名單將會發現近兩年(2007與2008年)的評審名單以影像、裝置、觀念領域為居多，較少為繪畫創作者或專研繪畫的評論者。由此相對呈現繪畫作品在總作品數量中的比例比往年大為減少，因此繪畫在具有重要指標性意義的藝術領域處於弱勢。 [8]
2001-2008 台北美術獎評審委員名單
年分／委員名稱／人數
2001
黃海鳴、曲德義、郭力昕、莊普、廖仁義、薛保瑕、黃才郎(7人）
2002
石瑞仁、陸蓉之、梅丁衍、袁廣鳴、顏貽成、顧世勇、張芳薇(7人）
2003
王嘉驥、王俊傑、李錫奇、莊普、洪根深、陳界仁、郭英聲、姚瑞中、張芳薇(9人）
2004
王嘉驥、曲德義、陳泰松、董振平、顏貽成、薛保瑕、郭英聲、袁廣鳴、張芳薇(9人）
2005
王嘉驥、曲德義、梅丁衍、莊普、顏貽成、薛保瑕、郭英聲、高重黎、陳愷璜(9人）
2006
王嘉驥、王俊傑、梅丁衍、蔡根、李茂成、陸先銘、郭英聲、楊茂林、盧怡仲(9人）
2007
林平、林宏璋、吳瑪悧、高重黎、梅丁衍、莊普、陳愷璜、楊茂林、鄭慧華(9人）
2008
林平、林宏璋、陳泰松、莊普、陳愷璜、姚瑞中(6人）
另一種對比的情況是在歷經裝置與錄像藝術的潮流後，一群六、七年級年輕創作者選擇用繪畫創作，許多新的畫廊也一間間成立，[9]藝術市場快速地吸納許多年輕藝術家作品。[10] 這其中顯現裝置與錄像藝術的潮流在台灣二十年後，「新」或「前衛」的個性不再這麼濃厚。一群六、七年級年輕藝術家面對各種創作語法，看見同儕面臨畫與不畫的抉擇，並在資訊發達的時代可以在網路了解並自由搜尋與購買相關藝術資訊的情況下，他們具有自主意識地選擇所喜愛的繪畫為主要創作媒介。
本書集結了十位台灣年輕創作者，期望近期以影像與裝置語法為主流之台灣藝術界正視繪畫與現今在台灣的發展，為了呈現當今繪畫多種面向性與新視野，另邀請美國、日本與韓國共五位具有突破性繪畫表現之藝術家參與此書。
這些年輕創作者經由具體實踐與各自摸索，呈現許多不同面向的繪畫作品。
黃嘉寧與王亮尹對日常生活中的食物消費進行的繪畫實驗，他們嘗試把視覺轉換成觸覺與味覺的體驗，黃嘉寧的作品中油膩的台灣便當讓人想起台灣夏季溼熱的天氣與稠黏氣味。王亮尹的挫冰裡透過色彩混合與滴流，表現出融化冰水與水果的酸甜滋味。黃嘉寧在新的系列創作中，對使用照片進行繪畫創作做了省思，她大膽地畫出照片的背面，讓觀者也感受到她的省思：眼前的景象可能是一張相片。
素描的線條是比繪畫更為直接顯現作者的情緒與所思，它展現一種直接性與時間性，王姿婷與田葆昌的作品強烈且直接表現個人內心的感受與想法，例如王姿婷的《秘密》微妙地表現一位不開放且閉鎖在自己世界的人，彷彿時時刻刻頭上套著盒子行走與思考。田葆昌將日常所思與素描繪在筆記本中，表現出一種隨筆的自由與趣味性。
美國藝術家羅伯‧柯洛米斯基（Rob James Kolomyski）、日本藝術家長谷川雄飛（Yuhi Hasegawa）、蔡依庭、黃華真、邱建仁不約而同觀察周遭的人物，他們皆展現繪畫的自由性、流動性、想像性與表現的多元性。
美國藝術家班哲明（Benjamin Swallow Duke）、許尹齡、范揚宗與韓國藝術家崔娜利（Choi Nari）、美國藝術家山謬‧亞當斯（Samuel T. Adams）、黃海欣的作品呈現他們對社會的觀察，透過自身經驗與想像轉換於繪畫中。班哲明的《覺醒系列》作品思考人對世界萬物的認知或概念是否為世界或現象的真實樣貌，例如我們是用既有的意識形態或觀念瞭解對象還是真正如實地觀察對象？許尹齡的作品呈現一種匱乏與焦慮感，乾澀的畫面、空洞的房間，屋內的人物似乎被環境所壓迫與吞噬，她巧妙地用繪畫表現一種不安的感受：一種個人對生活與未來，還有社會中不穩定所帶來的不安全感。
范揚宗關注都市中特有的過渡性的空間，它聚集大量的人群但他們又不會長久留下。例如加油站、機場等。他與崔娜利一樣採用具有都會性格的平塗方式表現，崔娜利將生活中對兩性的觀察與體驗以幽默的方式呈現於畫作中。山謬‧亞當斯喜愛表現介於具象與抽象的圖像，游移於意義與想像的界線之間，他說：「不相信繪畫有一個固定不變的意涵，它應該反映這世間存在的變動。喜好探討不安的、無條理與荒誕事物，它們正能描繪出普遍的繪畫經驗」。[11]黃海欣敏感地感受到官方照片中政治人物僵硬或矯情的一致性表情，她用輕鬆與隨興的圖繪方式表達制式且儀式化的攝影文化。
這本書除了展現這十五位藝術家的作品外，另外規畫三個單元，「接力創作」、「藝術家談藝術家」作品與「訪談」。「接力創作」是藝術家們接續在一本素描筆記本上創作，由於藝術家們分居美國與台灣等地，筆記本乘坐飛機遊歷台灣、密西根、紐約，最後回到台灣。「藝術家談藝術家」作品是除了藝評者談論作品外，也讓觀眾看到藝術家如何看待別人的作品，我們以抽籤選定談論者與被評者，談論的方式非常多元，包含文字與圖像等。
重新思考繪畫特質
若攝影影像好比是借由拓版、模具所再製的事物（拓版或模具如同底片或CCD感光元件），繪畫是人存在世間的痕跡，如同「雪中的腳印、靠在窗邊呼息的痕跡、一台飛機在空中留下一條白色的線、手指在沙中畫出的線條」[12]，繪畫是一種心靈的直接活動，當代藝術家杜瑪思（Marlene Dumas）思考繪畫與影像的差異：
繪畫不會凍結時間，它的時間像是輪子般的循環與再循環，一開始繪畫的地方或許成為最後繪畫的地方。繪畫是一種非常緩慢的藝術，它不會隨著光移動，這也是為何死去的畫家可以像光一般的閃耀。…繪畫是關於人所觸摸的痕跡。它是關於介面中的一層肌膚。一張繪畫不是一張明信片。一幅畫的內容，無法與它表面所帶來的感受分離。[13]
當我們觀看一張畫的時候，總是無法拒絕突如其來的感動，不論它是某種感傷或驚喜，有時它在腦海裡留下深刻的印象，不同於一張攝影影像的作品。然而除了這種立即的感受之外，該如何評斷繪畫或是任何作品，美國藝評家史華伯斯基自省地說，西方的教育訓練也許不利他們（西方藝評家）體會或真正認識當代繪畫的多樣性(不管是地域性或人類心理層面)，他說即使是第一眼看到一張畫時，覺得它與其他作品相像，但它有可能來自不同的源頭與一個更寬廣的領域，而這個領域是無法由一個人所想像的。[14]因此，我們在觀看一件作品，熟練地下判斷前，是否應用更開放的態度與感知來面對眼前不論是繪畫或任何媒介、形式的作品，因為既有觀念或知識很可能讓我們錯失體會眼前作品的機會。
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[1]陳國強 等譯(1996)。Achille Bonito Oliva 著(1982)。《國際超前衛》。台北：遠流，頁4。
[2]同上，頁5。
[3] 海德格用與存在者的符合一致來說明真理的本質。孫周興（2004）。海德格 著。《林中路》。上海：上海譯文出版社，頁21。
[4] Gianni Romano(2000）. Painting in the Internet Era, Europe: Different Perspective in Painting Italy: Giancarlo Politi Editore, p.246.
[5]有關各種事物的終結，他舉了布希亞的藝術的終結、真實的終結、李歐塔的意識形態(ideologies)的終結、巴特的作者權威觀念的終結(concept of authoritativeness)。同註4，頁247。
[6] Barbara Casavecchia (2000）. Even Better Than the Real Thing, Perspective in Painting Italy: Giancarlo Politi Editore, p.266.
[7]歷年台北雙年展繪畫佔展出作品總數量的比例：1992年40%，1994年30%，1996年60%，1998年5%，2000年3%，2002年6%，2004年6%，2006年17%，2008年2%。
[8]由於每年台北美術獎專刊並沒有都納進入選作品名單，為便於統計，以下繪畫佔得獎作品總數量的比例是以得主與優選為主。2001年7%，2002年33%，2003年25%，2004年27%，2005年20%，2006年20%，2007年33%，2008年0%。
[9]例如大趨勢畫廊(2000)、布查國際當代藝術空間(2001)、也趣藝廊(2002)、一票人票畫空間(2004)、寒舍空間(2007)、就在藝術空間(2007)、印象當代(2008)、畫庫(2009)等。
[10]參見《藝術觀點，38期》：新前衛 學院繪畫新浪潮(上篇)當代價值，台南：台南藝術大學，2009年4月1日。
[11] Samuel創作自述。
[12] Emma Dexter (2005). To Draw is to be Human, Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing, London: Phaidon, p6.
[13] Marlene Dumas (2000). Women and Painting, Perspective in Painting, Italy: Giancarlo Politi Editore, p.250.
[14]他舉美國藝評家丹托(Arthur C. Danto)提及的事件，某位英國藝評家初次看Jackson Pollock的作品，便否決作品，認為他是對藝術家Wols與Raoul Ubac的作品粗糙的改寫。Barry Schwabsky (2002). Paiting in the Interrogative Mode, Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting. London: Phadon, p.10
另一種對比的情況是在歷經裝置與錄像藝術的潮流後，一群六、七年級年輕創作者選擇用繪畫創作，許多新的畫廊也一間間成立，[9]藝術市場快速地吸納許多年輕藝術家作品。[10] 這其中顯現裝置與錄像藝術的潮流在台灣二十年後，「新」或「前衛」的個性不再這麼濃厚。一群六、七年級年輕藝術家面對各種創作語法，看見同儕面臨畫與不畫的抉擇，並在資訊發達的時代可以在網路了解並自由搜尋與購買相關藝術資訊的情況下，他們具有自主意識地選擇所喜愛的繪畫為主要創作媒介。
本書集結了十位台灣年輕創作者，期望近期以影像與裝置語法為主流之台灣藝術界正視繪畫與現今在台灣的發展，為了呈現當今繪畫多種面向性與新視野，另邀請美國、日本與韓國共五位具有突破性繪畫表現之藝術家參與此書。
這些年輕創作者經由具體實踐與各自摸索，呈現許多不同面向的繪畫作品。
黃嘉寧與王亮尹對日常生活中的食物消費進行的繪畫實驗，他們嘗試把視覺轉換成觸覺與味覺的體驗，黃嘉寧的作品中油膩的台灣便當讓人想起台灣夏季溼熱的天氣與稠黏氣味。王亮尹的挫冰裡透過色彩混合與滴流，表現出融化冰水與水果的酸甜滋味。黃嘉寧在新的系列創作中，對使用照片進行繪畫創作做了省思，她大膽地畫出照片的背面，讓觀者也感受到她的省思：眼前的景象可能是一張相片。
素描的線條是比繪畫更為直接顯現作者的情緒與所思，它展現一種直接性與時間性，王姿婷與田葆昌的作品強烈且直接表現個人內心的感受與想法，例如王姿婷的《秘密》微妙地表現一位不開放且閉鎖在自己世界的人，彷彿時時刻刻頭上套著盒子行走與思考。田葆昌將日常所思與素描繪在筆記本中，表現出一種隨筆的自由與趣味性。
美國藝術家羅伯‧柯洛米斯基（Rob James Kolomyski）、日本藝術家長谷川雄飛（Yuhi Hasegawa）、蔡依庭、黃華真、邱建仁不約而同觀察周遭的人物，他們皆展現繪畫的自由性、流動性、想像性與表現的多元性。
美國藝術家班哲明（Benjamin Swallow Duke）、許尹齡、范揚宗與韓國藝術家崔娜利（Choi Nari）、美國藝術家山謬‧亞當斯（Samuel T. Adams）、黃海欣的作品呈現他們對社會的觀察，透過自身經驗與想像轉換於繪畫中。班哲明的《覺醒系列》作品思考人對世界萬物的認知或概念是否為世界或現象的真實樣貌，例如我們是用既有的意識形態或觀念瞭解對象還是真正如實地觀察對象？許尹齡的作品呈現一種匱乏與焦慮感，乾澀的畫面、空洞的房間，屋內的人物似乎被環境所壓迫與吞噬，她巧妙地用繪畫表現一種不安的感受：一種個人對生活與未來，還有社會中不穩定所帶來的不安全感。
范揚宗關注都市中特有的過渡性的空間，它聚集大量的人群但他們又不會長久留下。例如加油站、機場等。他與崔娜利一樣採用具有都會性格的平塗方式表現，崔娜利將生活中對兩性的觀察與體驗以幽默的方式呈現於畫作中。山謬‧亞當斯喜愛表現介於具象與抽象的圖像，游移於意義與想像的界線之間，他說：「不相信繪畫有一個固定不變的意涵，它應該反映這世間存在的變動。喜好探討不安的、無條理與荒誕事物，它們正能描繪出普遍的繪畫經驗」。[11]黃海欣敏感地感受到官方照片中政治人物僵硬或矯情的一致性表情，她用輕鬆與隨興的圖繪方式表達制式且儀式化的攝影文化。
這本書除了展現這十五位藝術家的作品外，另外規畫三個單元，「接力創作」、「藝術家談藝術家」作品與「訪談」。「接力創作」是藝術家們接續在一本素描筆記本上創作，由於藝術家們分居美國與台灣等地，筆記本乘坐飛機遊歷台灣、密西根、紐約，最後回到台灣。「藝術家談藝術家」作品是除了藝評者談論作品外，也讓觀眾看到藝術家如何看待別人的作品，我們以抽籤選定談論者與被評者，談論的方式非常多元，包含文字與圖像等。
重新思考繪畫特質
若攝影影像好比是借由拓版、模具所再製的事物（拓版或模具如同底片或CCD感光元件），繪畫是人存在世間的痕跡，如同「雪中的腳印、靠在窗邊呼息的痕跡、一台飛機在空中留下一條白色的線、手指在沙中畫出的線條」[12]，繪畫是一種心靈的直接活動，當代藝術家杜瑪思（Marlene Dumas）思考繪畫與影像的差異：
繪畫不會凍結時間，它的時間像是輪子般的循環與再循環，一開始繪畫的地方或許成為最後繪畫的地方。繪畫是一種非常緩慢的藝術，它不會隨著光移動，這也是為何死去的畫家可以像光一般的閃耀。…繪畫是關於人所觸摸的痕跡。它是關於介面中的一層肌膚。一張繪畫不是一張明信片。一幅畫的內容，無法與它表面所帶來的感受分離。[13]
當我們觀看一張畫的時候，總是無法拒絕突如其來的感動，不論它是某種感傷或驚喜，有時它在腦海裡留下深刻的印象，不同於一張攝影影像的作品。然而除了這種立即的感受之外，該如何評斷繪畫或是任何作品，美國藝評家史華伯斯基自省地說，西方的教育訓練也許不利他們（西方藝評家）體會或真正認識當代繪畫的多樣性(不管是地域性或人類心理層面)，他說即使是第一眼看到一張畫時，覺得它與其他作品相像，但它有可能來自不同的源頭與一個更寬廣的領域，而這個領域是無法由一個人所想像的。[14]因此，我們在觀看一件作品，熟練地下判斷前，是否應用更開放的態度與感知來面對眼前不論是繪畫或任何媒介、形式的作品，因為既有觀念或知識很可能讓我們錯失體會眼前作品的機會。
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[1]陳國強 等譯(1996)。Achille Bonito Oliva 著(1982)。《國際超前衛》。台北：遠流，頁4。
[2]同上，頁5。
[3] 海德格用與存在者的符合一致來說明真理的本質。孫周興（2004）。海德格 著。《林中路》。上海：上海譯文出版社，頁21。
[4] Gianni Romano(2000）. Painting in the Internet Era, Europe: Different Perspective in Painting Italy: Giancarlo Politi Editore, p.246.
[5]有關各種事物的終結，他舉了布希亞的藝術的終結、真實的終結、李歐塔的意識形態(ideologies)的終結、巴特的作者權威觀念的終結(concept of authoritativeness)。同註4，頁247。
[6] Barbara Casavecchia (2000）. Even Better Than the Real Thing, Perspective in Painting Italy: Giancarlo Politi Editore, p.266.
[7]歷年台北雙年展繪畫佔展出作品總數量的比例：1992年40%，1994年30%，1996年60%，1998年5%，2000年3%，2002年6%，2004年6%，2006年17%，2008年2%。
[8]由於每年台北美術獎專刊並沒有都納進入選作品名單，為便於統計，以下繪畫佔得獎作品總數量的比例是以得主與優選為主。2001年7%，2002年33%，2003年25%，2004年27%，2005年20%，2006年20%，2007年33%，2008年0%。
[9]例如大趨勢畫廊(2000)、布查國際當代藝術空間(2001)、也趣藝廊(2002)、一票人票畫空間(2004)、寒舍空間(2007)、就在藝術空間(2007)、印象當代(2008)、畫庫(2009)等。
[10]參見《藝術觀點，38期》：新前衛 學院繪畫新浪潮(上篇)當代價值，台南：台南藝術大學，2009年4月1日。
[11] Samuel創作自述。
[12] Emma Dexter (2005). To Draw is to be Human, Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing, London: Phaidon, p6.
[13] Marlene Dumas (2000). Women and Painting, Perspective in Painting, Italy: Giancarlo Politi Editore, p.250.
[14]他舉美國藝評家丹托(Arthur C. Danto)提及的事件，某位英國藝評家初次看Jackson Pollock的作品，便否決作品，認為他是對藝術家Wols與Raoul Ubac的作品粗糙的改寫。Barry Schwabsky (2002). Paiting in the Interrogative Mode, Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting. London: Phadon, p.10
2009年10月30日
時間打在感覺上的印記---弱繪畫
文/張晴文
弱：有感
「弱繪畫」這個名詞不是我提出來的。蘇俞安、邱建仁等人向我談起這個想法，並且計畫在關渡美術館舉辦展覽，邀我加入。對我而言，「弱繪畫」的說法正好與近幾年觀察台灣1975年代以後出生的畫家們（幾乎都是學院出身）作品的心得頗為相合──這樣一種難以言喻的模糊共相，存在他們的作品之間。這樣的印象也和他們的生活及形象息息相關。無論如何，這是一個針對繪畫內部特質而來的想像，而非來自繪畫身在當代所面臨的困窘。我甚至認為在目前的藝術世界裡，繪畫儘管不再容易引起話題，卻會一直生存下去。至少就藝術社會裡消費的那個端點來看，繪畫仍然保有傳統以來的優勢。年輕的畫家們從未停下他們的畫筆，觀眾也未曾遠離，然而在眾多媒體競豔的時代裡，總要向觀者需索片刻關注的繪畫，還能不能透過這個平面真切地溝通畫者和觀眾，或者，彼此之間能夠有多大程度的相知，似乎很難說出個答案。
這一輩1975年代以後出生的畫家，在繪畫的題材、風格上各有所好，每個人關注的問題也不盡相同。我們確實難以用世代之說來統括這一時空下某一群畫家的作為，將他們囊括在一個名號或者宣言之下。但是相較於他們之前幾輩畫家們面對繪畫的態度與作法，確有不同。美術史上的那些畫種，在他們的手中繼續翻演下去，他們從學院裡學到了美術史的傳統，承接同樣做為畫家的師長們所給予的影響，在一己的創作上思辨、探索，做出每一個屬於自己的抉擇，也一方面實實在在地生存、生活在這個獨特的時空之下。他們和世世代代的畫家們一樣，選擇以油彩及各式顏料畫下那些「有感」的人事物，因此有了屬於他們（這個時代）的肖像，屬於他們的靜物，以及風景。在他們操作畫布、畫紙、顏料、鉛筆的姿態背後，隱藏了不一而足的趨力，成為支持他們一畫再畫的原因。
做為一個觀眾，我只能，也忠於以讀者的角度接近他們及他們的繪畫。試圖捕捉他們作品裡微弱且零散的一舉一動，每一個呼吸，在不斷地打量之餘，特別感到興趣的是做為一幅畫，它們呈現給觀者什麼樣的刺激與啟示。當我們從這群藝術家的作品理出一點可堪指認的特質，就能夠發現，他們雖然散布在一個廣闊的音域之內，卻不出一種調子。這樣的傾向不僅限於這次展覽及專輯中出現的畫家們，他們只是一個部分；而來自國外的同時代藝術家們，則在此做為一個跨越地理的對照嘗試。
弱：存在與想像力
日本文學家大江健三郎在1978年《小說的方法》一書裡，分享他的文學觀與寫作理路。這位深受存在主義思想影響的小說家，從畢生的寫作與閱讀經驗分析理想的寫作技法。從構思到下筆完成一部作品，他認為整個小說結構表達的是作者對現實世界的認識、推動同時代的態度以及認識同時代的方法[1] 。而其中，一部成功的作品在結構的過程中，包含了想像力的作用，作者的目標是盡可能地使被描繪對象的各種要素整體化，並使其充滿生機。當一部作品夾在創作者與閱讀者之間，閱讀作品這一解讀行為對每個讀者來說都是新的創造。而對於創作者而言，一部實際完成的作品也該清楚地表現創作活動中的想像力。大江健三郎引用加斯東．巴舍拉（Gaston Bachelard）關於想像力的說法：「至今還有很多人認為想像力指的是形成意象的能力。但是，想像力應該是把依靠知覺產生的意象扭曲變形的能力。它使我們從基本的意象中解放出來，獲得了改變意象的能力。……某一意象的價值是靠想像力所發揮的程度來界定的。想像力的本質是開放的，容易消失的。……和其他性能相比，想像力更能賦予人的心理現象一個特徵。正像布雷克（William Blake）明確指出的那樣『想像力不是狀態而是人類的生存本身』。」 [2]
小說家用語言表達人類的生存與意識，對於當代畫家而言，他們的作品透過顏料以一種非日常而陌生化的語言，描述屬於這個時空的各種現象。縱使他們所選用的媒材背負著深厚的傳統，在00年代的今日仍有獨特的繪畫語言及面貌，在畫面上的各種創造，無不與個人生活的種種切身觀感密切相關，藉由繪畫的架構，提出他們存在的回應。
弱：邊緣感，人物
有一次和黃海欣談起她的一系列小畫。這些作品尺寸不大，成畫很快，內容是從報章雜誌、網路新聞、電視畫面取材的人物和場景。在那些油油灰灰筆觸構成的畫面裡，很容易可以抓到一種看起來體面可是不知道哪裡歪陷了的失敗荒涼之感。穿著西裝的男人們在會客室握手，一個人正懸掛著總統肖像，大師示範如何用一片葉子吹出樂曲，吸毒被逮張惶遮臉的藝人，檢調人士的身影，政治人物集體鞠躬道歉……，這些新聞照片在網路頁面或電視框格裡只是眾多訊息的冰山一角，暫時的停格，它們吸引了觀眾幾秒鐘，旋即在點閱或瀏覽後關閉、轉台。她所選取的畫面無足輕重，卻傳達了當下台灣一種微妙的氣氛。這個微妙來自它的形式，也來自內容。我們可以從新聞獲知一個時空下人們如何看待這個世界──從他們看待事件的眼光，以及新聞本身所傳達的訊息。而黃海欣的另一個醫療系列，描繪急救、復健的檔案照片，也以非常細微的挫折意象，展現了邊緣的悲哀。
大江健三郎在論小說方法時也提到了荒誕現實主義的藝術家們，每每在作品中表現殘障、畸形這些肉體上的降格，而非於位居中心的高級事物。他們有機地表現出邊緣的、低級的事物，以部分邊緣的描繪探視整個時代的衰亂，回應末世、亂世的景況。他以十九世紀末墨西哥庶民版畫家荷西．伽達爾派．波沙達（Jose Guadalupe Posada）描繪災禍場面的作品，和十六世紀蒙田（Michel Eyquem de Montaigne）記述畸形兒形貌的作品為例，說明藝術家有意識地記述事物的狀態，表現出時代的實體，把視角放在社會的邊緣階層而非中心，與當時大眾的視線投往同一方向，因為只有如此描繪，才能掌握社會的整體。而這樣的描繪來自於同樣身居市井的藝術家們，透過敏銳的感知與技術，表現出他們的時代和社會。
弱繪畫的藝術家們並不是荒誕現實主義者，但他們同樣藉由當代人事景物的描繪，抓住了一個普遍環境的氛圍。他們無意回應家國、歷史、神話等題材，最多只是在那一個平面上留下個人身處現實的痕跡。他們描繪周遭的人物，例如蔡依庭畫的是自己的家庭生活，包括原生家庭及結婚之後的新家庭。與大量花白背景相對的是顯得花了很多時間琢磨的人物神態，臉部和身體的肌肉血脈都快要招架不住似地滿溢、變形，而吃飯的場面其實是平常不過的生活。黃華真在作品中以濃厚的油彩筆觸形成飽滿的輪廓線，畫的也是身邊的朋友和親人。人與人之間黏膩的情感和賭氣似的莫名疏離，在人物的表情與肢體之間展露。王姿婷筆下的人物，則以大量的線條勾勒出不安躁動的感性情緒。
弱：敘事，景與物
模糊的影像色點，是繪畫挑釁影像粒子的方式之一。黃嘉寧的作品大多以生活周邊的環境為描繪的對象，近看灰糊成一片的顏料筆觸，包藏了既朦朧又寫實的衝突景致。這些超不起眼的物件，包括她在進入這一階段創作早期所畫的便當、兔子糞便，到最近所畫的廚房一角、碾碎的螺、月光、相紙背面、蟑螂卵鞘，以及工作室一角，她在大量的生活照片裡仔細挑選入作的題材，同時警覺地不希望這一動作干預創作太甚。她對於題材與繪畫方式的選擇，構成了獨特的創作風格。相較於傑哈．利希特（Gerhard Richter）保留攝影面向的繪畫思維，黃嘉寧同樣以清晰與掩蓋並存的手法構成畫面，卻少了再現哲學與歷史的意圖。對她而言，繪畫是令人著迷之物，但卻無意針對繪畫的再現傳統給予一記逆襲。
邱建仁的繪畫同樣來自攝影素材，卻放大了景象予人的疏離感。於己而言帶有特殊情感或意義的畫面，被以轉化過的語言再敘述一遍，大量白色層層塗繪，回應畫裡不必須被考慮的某些存在，例如空氣的厚度，也例如主觀的情感。相對於邱建仁作品裡的時間感，許尹齡的畫作雖然同樣帶有濃厚的敘事性，但並不以顏料殘留的速度與厚度來丈量現實的存在，她以刻意擦拭乾淨的面貌，投射對於社會的觀察。戲劇化的場景對應著現實世界，卻更接近一則寓言。在空間感的演繹上，田葆昌的作品以素描的方式記錄相當個人的生活片段，文字與圖像並置，累加與塗改的動作同時進行，將意識流顯像於筆記本或畫紙上，現實於意志的磨難，在紙上留下印記。
范揚宗所挑選的場景多半是城市裡暫時性的過渡空間，包括洗車場、夜店、機場等，俐落的輪廓線和平塗而消去量感的物件，把生活的現實改裝為輕盈的理想狀態。而王亮尹的甜點描繪，更將焦點對準物體，以顏料刷塗、滴流的效果來模擬並突顯物質的特性，表面上仍維持美好光潔。同樣將焦點放在物質，韓國藝術家崔娜利將現實生活角色化，在帶點諷刺或諧擬的畫面裡，重建一個和平的假想世界。班哲明的作品則將自身置入變造的城市，科幻片式的災難，透露了他對於身處環境的各種想像。長谷川雄飛與山謬‧亞當斯的作品，也各自在迷亂的畫面之中，以混濁的造形傳遞敏感知覺所遭遇的刺激。
弱：時代精神
要為「弱繪畫」找到一個明白的定義並不容易。但可以確定的是，當下這個年代，許多畫家的作品都沾染了相似的氣質。一種朦朧且難以言喻的軟弱。他們將眼光放在相對邊緣的題材上，在乍看相當個人、無力，甚至無關緊要的描繪之中，呈現帶點悲哀、拙劣的意象。透過這一群藝術家，可以看到生活和繪畫被如何地想像與實踐，而由此召喚出來的，則是這個年代事物百態的實存，那個籠罩著所有藝術家與觀者的時代精神。而這樣的「弱」也儼然成了一個姿態，隱含了這一代畫家們對於時代的感觸與判斷，並且支持著他們，頑固且自信地畫下去。
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[1]大江健三郎，《小說的方法》，王成 譯。台北：麥田出版，2008，頁43。
[2]同前註，頁74-75。
繪畫，弱乎？
文/潘娉玉
當代作為藝術工作者/創作者，有一個很大的幸福，就是媒介幾乎是以毫無限制的方式為我們所駕馭。現代、後現代種種藝術思潮的爭辯、衝突、取代或融合的歷程，為藝術不斷挑戰既有疆域的前衛精神立下典範，也為當代藝術開啟全新的發展空間。但這全新的發展空間在當代科技網絡、全球化的影響下，形成一個與過去完全不同的發展模式，當代強調網絡、多元、分享與跨領域。
回到本次展覽的主題「弱繪畫」上，或許觀眾不禁要問，難道我們還要再一次的回應「繪畫已死」的斷言？當然不是。經過了一百七十年，我們不只知道這句話，不過是來自於學院派寫實畫家Paul Delaroche（1797-1856），在1839年時看到銀版照相發明的感嘆；也理解這語不驚人死不休的斷言，其實是觀念藝術家及藝評家，為了徹底地探討媒介在藝術上的角色，所提出的策略性議題。不論如何，這感嘆或斷言，在當時的時空背景下，皆有其合理性與必要性。而最為重要的理解卻是，從現代到當代，繪畫已經用它自身辯證的表現表明這是一項「假議題」。而在強調網絡、多元、分享與跨領域的當代，仍以主流、爭辯、衝突或取代的思維，思考繪畫何去何從是過時的；「繪畫已死」的議題，注定要被其他新議題所取代。繪畫必須不斷地面臨新時代的挑戰。
二十世紀末到新世紀初，我們對新科技數位媒介的興趣，與十九世紀末二十世紀初，工業革命、機械製造及科學為世界所帶來影響一般，雖然它們所帶來的新世界完全不相同，但似乎有某種平行性的對應現象可提供觀察。人們對新事物的好奇與探索是本性，對於科技數位媒介的美好的期待，也是很正常的現象。但對於藝術領域而言，需注意的是，媒介的本身並非訊息；但媒介確實從物質性/非物質性的載體上，藉由技術及媒介語言傳達訊息。媒介本身並不具自主性，它是被操控的。藝術家透過媒介/載體傳達訊息，觀眾透過媒介/載體接收訊息。科技數位媒介在藝術領域上的發展，也終必須回到其作為藝術的位置上被檢驗，而不能只停留在新媒介/媒體的位置上。繪畫作為歷史悠久的藝術媒介而言，它的階段性議題與科技數位媒介也完全不同。
此次展覽主題所提出的「弱繪畫」之現象，或許是一個過渡期。但這種過渡，並非以主流/非主流的模式進行。從當代創作者許多創作的實例，已經驗證網絡、多元、分享與跨領域這些的新趨勢，如何在我們當代的生活中被深化，並且深深影響藝術家們的創作。不同媒介之間的關係，不是對立的，各式各樣的媒介在技術或媒介語言上的差異，反而讓創作者有更大的自由發揮空間。
這次「弱繪畫」的展出，一方面我們看到這些創作者，如何從繪畫的脈絡，面對繪畫本身的時代議題；另外一方面，由於各式各樣影像充斥著我們當代的生活，我們也看到他們的繪畫作品，如何消化這些巨量的時代圖像。藝評家Barry Schwabsky在英國沙奇畫廊繪畫作品合集《繪畫勝利的凱歌》（The triumph of Painting）中以專文〈吞噬自我的藝術－繪畫在圖像的年代〉（“An Art that Eats Its Own Head- Painting in the Age of the Image”）提到：「儘管是攝影教導我們有關圖像的現代觀念，但我們卻是藉由繪畫來完成圖像的內化……繪畫是一個同時消化著差異性與異質性的場域。」（Schwabsky, 2005:009）。這樣的分析，更確立了繪畫媒介在主觀性表達位置上的優越性，而這是許多藝術家所強烈需求的自主空間。在本展覽中，我們強烈的感受到，這些創作者都有這樣的特質。另外一方面，我們當然也不會看見這些藝術家，一副要和攝影或科技數位媒介宣戰的樣子；相反的，他們不論在創作或是工作休閒餘暇，攝影或科技數位媒介和畫畫一樣，都是這些藝術家們生活不可或缺的一部分。
從22歲到39歲來自台灣、日本、韓國與美國的十五位參展者，包括王亮尹（台灣, 1979-）、王姿婷（台灣, 1987-）、邱建仁（台灣, 1981-）、許尹齡（台灣, 1987-）、黃海欣（台灣, 1984-）、黃華真（台灣, 1986-）、黃嘉寧（台灣, 1979-）、范揚宗（台灣, 1982-）、田葆昌（台灣, 1982-）、蔡依庭（台灣, 1981-）、山謬‧亞當斯（美國, 1980-）、崔娜利（韓國,1983）、班哲明‧史瓦羅‧杜克（美國, 1977）、長谷川雄飛（日本, 1980-）、羅伯‧柯洛米斯基（美國, 1970），呈現了這次多元化的繪畫展出。
現實/非現實的旅程
與其說王亮尹畫作裡的甜點是主題，又不如說是圖像性的媒介來得恰當。畫作裡甜點的圖像，總是挑動起我們的慾望。在她畫面裡，所有的造形色彩，看起來都象徵著美好事物。但在某一刻，美好的顛峰瓦解，速度快得讓人措手不及；在色彩滴流的交融中，這些所有的造形色彩又向美好事物流動而去；彷彿混合著無盡的追尋，無盡的挫敗加上無盡的勇氣。她畫作上暢快淋漓流動的顏料，似乎承襲自抽象表現主義，而她甜點的圖像，卻在具象與抽象之間不斷的遊戲著、不斷地流動著……。
邱建仁的畫面則是以影像敘事的詩意空間。生活對他而言，就像是由一連串平凡影像所構成的流動故事，他嘗試將這一幕幕的影像，以重疊的方式在畫布的二度空間裡述說。時間的序列在影像的重疊，以及繪畫性的塗寫之間構成；一幕幕的影像，像是一個個片刻。生活的敘事永遠迂迴的行進著，包括可見與不可見的、包括完成或未完成的，包括詩意與慾望的，也包括瑣碎與平凡的。
對於王姿婷而言，生活所有的圖像，所有的訊息，是碩大而虛擬的串流。繪畫的行動使微弱的訊息浮上檯面；繪畫的行動使氣游若絲的圖像，被賦予肉身。她畫了自己，她畫了所有的人，是誰，也都不是誰。繪畫是一連串行動的歷程，而這行動只是為了繪畫自身。
美國藝術家山謬‧亞當斯從事件、文學、行旅以及文化現象當中，觀察、演繹所有他所感興趣事物的「陰影」，以及它們流動的狀態。「陰影」是隱喻，陰影一方面給予我們事物的輪廓，但它缺乏細節，又隱藏著許多的秘密。他的畫面由有機的抽象與具象或半具象的圖像所構成。他更加關切的是如何在他的畫布上，表達某種當代的普遍性氛圍－探討不安的、無條理的以及荒誕的現象，以及這些事物為他在畫布上所再現、詮釋的姿態與繪畫性流動的意義。
乍看黃嘉寧的作品，似乎銜接著德國藝術家傑哈．利希特（Gerhard Richter）對攝影-繪畫（photo-painting）辯證的意圖─攝影的圖像作為現成物、視覺經驗被放在客觀位置上的可能，以及具象圖像與抽象圖像之間的曖昧性等等的議題上。但攝影與繪畫之間辯證的問題，幾乎已經在Richter作品裡完成。藝術家黃嘉寧更感興趣的是攝影圖像訊息的內容，她似乎想要透過繪畫的歷程，發掘攝影圖像重新被閱讀的可能性，並且在繪製的過程中，探索並植入主觀性的感受。
翱翔不僅僅是許多人童年的夢想，它也是人類集體的夢想。儘管透過飛行器飛翔，對於人類而言已經是美夢成真了，但並不是每個人都可以常常飛行。范揚宗的作品將觀眾帶入飛翔的視野裡。面對他的作品時，觀眾往往覺得他們像是坐在駕駛艙裡一般。但這即將展開的旅程，卻不是現實的旅程，好像電動玩具一樣的儀表板、窗外的景色，都暗示著這想像旅程的獨特性。范揚宗的繪畫語言，也極為有趣，抽象與裝飾性的圖案，以混搭的方式構成畫面，帶來饒富趣味的想像旅程。
美國藝術家羅伯‧柯洛米斯基更純粹的將畫布視為一個特殊的表現空間，畫布是任何旅程的開始與歷程；一個抽象/具象的、感性思維探索的空間。他的作品似乎混合抽象表現主義與德國表現主義，在他〈肖像〉以及《頭》的系列作品中，隱約可見的頭或肖像從有力的顏料表情浮現出來，使畫布成為藝術家感知遭遇現實與視覺探險的場域。
以畫布為劇場
田葆昌他不畫漂亮的人，也不畫快樂的人。在咖啡館裡的角落坐著，他總能冷眼看出，那一個個背著各種無形包袱的人。他安靜地畫著這人生現實的劇場，他不用巨大的畫布，只用小小的速寫簿，就像我們所存在的現實那麼渺小。但是他的作品還有一種對於渺小的自在，好像在他人生劇場裡的人們，都會這麼說著：「好吧！我們就這樣好好的活著。」他的素描總會讓筆者想起張楚《孤獨的人是可恥的》（1994），那種渺小與驕傲混合在一起的情操。
蔡依婷的作品描繪著家庭劇場。平凡的家庭成員，在她的筆下成了戲劇張力十足的演員。家庭往往是我們最容易卸下心理防備和武裝的地方，演員們甚至不知道鏡頭和導演的存在，自顧自地逼近畫面或跑出鏡頭外。每一個眼神、姿態與互動，都牽引著一觸即發的情緒/情感；情緒/情感從尋常/不尋常的肢體動作中洩露，並在蔡依婷細心經營的、留白劇場裡演出。
黃華真繪畫關注的焦點也是以人為核心。從家人朋友開始，擴及她對個體差異性、共同性，以及關係性的探討。從個體與個體之間，不斷比對探索的過程當中，黃華真試圖認識自己、尋找個體所在的位置，以及個體在時代的面貌。她以厚塗的壓克力彩肌理，描寫臉孔或是肌膚，好像要將差異性一步步的減低，終而形成某種具有共同性質的「像」。在此同時，個體的差異也吊詭地在這樣的過程中同時被突顯。
許尹齡的「莊園」，使我們想起社會學所談的烏托邦－那不可能實現的完美理想國，如何成為檢測人性的模型？在她的莊園裡，家具是細緻清楚的，人的面貌卻是模糊的。好像無論怎樣周延的理想設計，都不能將複雜的人性表達於萬一。她的目的不在於談論「莊園」或烏托邦可能/不可能的實踐，而是將娃娃屋一樣的「莊園」，變成折射人性的鏡子，探討我們存在的狀態、社會以及虛幻的價值模式等等之間的關係。
班哲明‧史瓦羅‧杜克畫布裡的「世界」，則是回應於真實世界的超現實綺想。他對他所描繪的世界，提出一些問題：「在我的繪畫中這世界是如此嗎？」、「在作品中這世界是這樣的嗎？」或者是「我在這世界裡？還是世界存在於我之中？」這使人想起莊周夢蝶的況味，現實/超現實和自我之間處在相對性認知的位置上。Duke以幽默的姿態，投入自我認知探險的旅程。
黃海欣試圖從生活或媒體公共性的圖像裡，挖掘「身體語言學」所洩漏的秘密。所有精心設計的攝影圖像裡，人們的肢體語言都傳達著不同層次的訊息。她試圖突顯這些不同層次訊息，彼此相互矛盾或空乏的荒謬感，那是一個徒勞的身體劇場。
韓國藝術家崔娜利從美乃滋與番茄醬標籤上，獲得了分別代表不同性別的人物圖像的靈感。他思考著，我們的裝扮與行動，似乎取決於某個相對應夥伴角色，以及兩者之間的互動與關係。於是他創造兩個彷彿是代表兩性的角色在他的畫面中，以趣味輕鬆的方式呈現兩者充滿想像力的表演關係與互動關係。
日本藝術家長谷川雄飛的作品所關注的，是人性在極端的野性（未經教養的本性）以及其儀式性（經過文化教養）的兩端之間流動的狀態。明艷而大膽的用色，揉合著暗色系色彩對比的使用，粗獷不假修飾的筆意，充滿自然狂野的力量，好像這兩端的力量正在畫面中，處於交戰不歇的進行式狀態。
Weak Painting by Su Yu-An
In recent years, works of image and techno art have boomed in Taiwanese contemporary art. How will the genre of painting which seems relatively old and conventional, further evolve against this trend?
Before the electronic media and the Internet gained popularity, printing had been the dominant means facilitating the spread of knowledge, which resulted in the classification and specialization of academic disciplines, and influenced modern art in terms of the emphasis on the essential feature of the medium, purity and uniqueness. In contrast, nowadays, as the electronic media enables information to communicate at a high speed, and the data of all sorts to juxtapose, creating an information mosaic which integrates our perception and cognition, art undergoes a new transformation that conveys more interdisciplinary linguistic messages than material messages. How will the genre of painting evolve with the openness of art forms and media? And how should we see a painting?
To Paint or Not to Paint
In retrospect, all of the students of arts colleges receive training in sketching and painting when they learn to make art. But how do the students choose their creative medium? It is not only a matter of personal choice, but also a matter of the changing trends in art education. Take myself for example, I studied in the Department of Fine Arts in National Taiwan University of Arts from 1995 to 1999. The university was then at the critical juncture of change in art educational concepts. A few teachers who just came back from their studies in France introduced some brand-new ideas of art, such as the installation and video art, had exercised new influence on our art education in those days. This made me, a student back then, to contemplate on the scope of fine arts education beyond the convention of art education since the Japanese colonial era. At that time, these new ideas provided a cutting-edge perspective on art creation that defies the convention of painting. However, a myth seemed to emerge in the midst of this trend, which may lead us to question if the contemporary art creation can be reduced to such a linear, progressive history, like Darwin’s theory of evolution?
However, observing the development of art abroad for nearly past twenty years, not everyone agreed with this unitary linear thinking. For example, the advocates of “Transavantgarde International” in the 1980’s argued that the art should not be limited by the ideas introduced by Marcel Duchamp. They stated that “transavantgarde means artists stop relying on the combination of trends and languages in a boundless realm, and insist on restoring internal reason through the formation of ontologically-centered artistic attitudes and philosophical viewpoints.”[1] They also believed that “the art form that has just faded away took part in social changes by exploring new processes and seeking new materials, hence parting with the static time of painting and work. Contemporary art (transavantgarde) tends to forsake illusions that exist outside themselves and return to its own path.”[2] In brief, the concept of transavantgarde emphasizes a kind of introspective art creation that comes through pondering and rumination with internal reason. Rather than using machines, this kind of art is expressed through painting which is closer to our true selves.
Positive and Negative Views on Painting
Impacted by the invention of photography and notions of modern art, painting had undergone a lot of twists and turns in the development of modern art. One of the more obvious negative viewpoints is that painting represents old traditions and systems of art, which resulted in modern artists’ resistance and thus caused the disjunction between the avant-garde art movement and the tradition of art. They believed that painting may easily degenerate into a kind of “retinal art” concerning aesthetic judgment and visual pleasure, and submit to the reification and commodification of the bourgeois art form, failing to fulfill its social functions and responsibilities.
By contrast, the positive view focuses on the autonomy of art, namely, "art for art's sake". Another positive view suggests that art is a communication and representation of human mental activities or subconscious behavior. It emphasizes the purposelessness of art, standing in contrast to the functions of social intervention and influence. Martin Heidegger, a German philosopher, believed that paintings could still deeply portray the Being of mankind. He considered that through artistic creation, artists embed (setzen) the truth in their artwork (since the artwork is able to vividly express the Being of things, thus it corresponds with the Being of things[3]). He once took A Pair of Boots by Vincent van Gogh for example to further emphasize that van Gogh’s description of a pair of peasant women's boots lively expresses the being and existence of the peasant women, making a pair of boots more than a pair of boots.
The Italian curator and art critic Gianni Romano also pointed out that after the ideological trend of “end theories” faded away, many paintings are still on exhibit in contemporary art shows. He quoted Judith Nesbitt, a curator at the Tate Gallery of Modern Art, as saying, “Painting has been attacked and subverted but it has never gone away.”[4] Romano believed that the artists who chose painting as their principal medium in the 1990’s did not express prejudices or concerns about the past traditions. Instead, painting was then considered to be an all-new medium. [5]
The Contemporary Change of Painting
As Romano stated that the painting had been regarded as an all-new medium, since it has already broken away from the burden of conventional painting. Whether concrete or abstract, a painting can be anything:
TV, pop music, comics, pulp fiction, soap opera, horror flicks, porn, glamour, furnishings, gossip, graphics, trash, computer games, mail order catalogues. And this is nothing new: for centuries now, the various arts have been defining each other (ut picture poesis), and now the media have joined in, making for a vicious circle of citations and reflections bereft of any hierarchical distinction[6].
Two vital issues arise here. One is that the use of media and the loss of hierarchical system may lead to the lack of critical standards in painting. The involvement of media entails change of contemporary painting in many aspects, including the involvement of media in the process of art creation, and the interplay of different visual languages, like “photo painting” or “the involvement of painting in the media.”
The contemporary painters do not necessarily depict real objects in front of their eyes. Instead, they look at image in the media, such as the camera, overhead projector, electronic screen, the Internet, newspaper and magazine. They observe the image and then compose the picture: the artist uses the lens to enlarge and capture the scene, and shoot all kinds of human movement as well as objects from a variety of angles. Afterwards, they paint from the photos. Some artists even paint directly from the electronic screen because the image can be enlarged freely for inspection of specific details. Some artists use computer illustration software or images on the Internet to help them compose their painting, while others use the slide projector or the overhead projector to make drafts. With the involvement of media, these paintings are endowed with a sense of the photographic image.
With regard to the interplay of visual languages, the work of the Japanese artist Taguchi Kazuna is characteristic of multiple, alternate and trans-disciplinary use of painting and photography. She begins by depicting a lady’s portrait which is a mixture of her own imagination and images cropped from magazines, and then she takes a photo of the finished painting. The completed work is a work of photography. Another case is the English artist Julian Opie who turns his portraits, which are famous for simple lines, into electronic screens, animations and advertisement images.
About “Weak Painting”
The present situation of contemporary painting in Taiwan is polarized. First, at Taiwan’s important official exhibitions such as the Taipei Biennial, the mainstream is photographic images and installation art, while painting has become marginalized. The Taipei Biennial was first held in 1992, and exhibits of paintings accounted for 40% of all exhibits that year. In 1996, when the Taipei Fine Arts Museum formed a curatorial team to host the biennial, the number of paintings reached the apex with the percentage of 60%. However, since 1998, when the museum began to invite international curators to organize the Taipei Biennial, from 1998 to 2008, the paintings averaged only 6.5% of all the exhibits in the total of six Taipei Biennials.[7] The Taipei Biennial is a large-scale international art exhibition organized by the state. Therefore, the works exhibited in the biennial serves as a significant indicator, and is more or less representative of how the state shows and educates its citizens about contemporary art.
If we take a closer look of the experience of artists participated in the Taipei biennial from 1992 to 2008, we will see a changing model of the state-held painting competitions in the past 17 years. The trend showing that artists won awards from national and provincial art competitions to recent Taipei Arts Award presents an interesting changing structure of the art evaluation system, in which we see a transition from the category-based provincial art competitions to the non-category-based competition of the Taipei Arts Award. Moreover, in contrast to the fact that the majority of winners in the provincial competitions are students from the long-established normal universities and arts colleges, most winners of the Taipei Arts Award are students from the recently established Taipei and Tainan National University of the Arts. It not only signals a trend that modern art’s emphasis on the essential features of the medium has shifted to contemporary art’s openness towards art forms, but also reflects the evolution of art educational ideas in Taiwan.
On the other hand, as we look into the composition of jurors in the Taipei Arts Award, we will find that the jurors’ expertise and research fields influence their judging standards. From the following list of jury members of the Taipei Biennial 2001-2008, we can see the panel is mainly made up of artists, professors of arts colleges and universities, as well as art critics, and these three identities may overlap. For example, Yao Jui-chung is both an artist and a critic. Since, jury members have different specialties. In my view, the panel of jury members of the Taipei Biennial should involve experts of different fields, so as to objectively interpret and judge contemporary artworks in various forms. However, if we look at the list of jury members closely, we will find that juries recruited over the past two years (2007-2008) are mainly experts on images, installation and conceptual art, few are painters or critics on painting, which has resulted in the sharp decrease of the percentage of paintings selected in the total amount of works compared to previous years. Therefore, the painting is marginalized in the Taipei Biennial, which stands as an important and significant indicator of the mainstream contemporary art in Taiwan[8].
However, in another aspect, the situation is contrasted with the trend mentioned above. A group of young artists born in the 1970’s and 1980’s chose painting as their creative medium after they have experienced the trends of installation and video art. While many new galleries have sprung up one after another in Taiwan in recent years[9], and the art market has quickly absorbed artworks produced by many young artists[10].
After the trend of installation and video art has existed in Taiwan for 20 years, its innovative and avant-garde character has gradually faded away. Meanwhile, a group of young artists who are now in their 20s and 30s, after witnessing how their peers struggling between paint and not to paint, consciously chose painting as their major creative medium from among all kinds of art forms and expressions. In this Information Age, they also freely browse the Internet for artistic information, and purchase art materials online.
This portfolio is a collection of works by ten young Taiwanese artists. It is published with the hope that the art circle in Taiwan will pay more attention to painting and its current development against the mainstream of image and installation art in recent years. Furthermore, this portfolio also includes works by groundbreaking artists from the U.S., Japan and Korea, thus endeavor to present various dimensions and new perspectives on contemporary painting.
These young artists present paintings with different perspectives through their own practices and explorations. The paintings of Huang Chia-Ning (Taiwan) and Wang Liang-Yin (Taiwan) may be seen as a series of experiments on daily food consumption, as they tried to turn the visual experience into the tactile and taste experience. In Huang’s paintings, the greasy Taiwan lunch boxes remind people of the humid heat and the sticky smell of the summer days in Taiwan, while Wang’s work Shaved Ice with Kiwi depicts the sweet and sour taste of the melting ice with fruit through the mixture and dripping of colors. Besides, in her latest painting series, Huang shows her reflections on painting from photos. She boldly painted the reverse side of a photo to share her reflections with the viewer that what we see might just be a photograph.
The sketching lines speak more directly about the author’s emotions and thoughts. It represents a kind of directness and temporality. The works of Wang Tzu-Ting (Taiwan) and Tian Bao-Chang (Taiwan) both strongly and straightforwardly express their personal feelings and ideas. For example, Wang’s Secret subtly depicts a man who is reclusive and confined in his own world as always wears a box on his head whenever he walks or thinks. As for Tian, he sketches and jots down his daily thoughts in a notebook, showing the freewheeling and amusing nature of the sketch.
Some artists, including Tsai Yi-Ting (Taiwan), Huang Hwa-Jen (Taiwan), Chiou Chien-Ren (Taiwan), along with Rob James Kolomyski (U.S.A) and Yuhi Hasegawa (Japan), tend to observe people around them and reveal a sense of freedom, fluidity, imagination and diversity of expression of painting in their works.
Other artists, including Hsu Yin-Ling (Taiwan), Fan Yang-Tsung (Taiwan), Huang Hai-Hsin (Taiwan), Benjamin Swallow Duke (U.S.A), Samuel T. Adams (U.S.A), and Choi Nari (Korea), make observations about the society and transform them into painting through personal experiences and imaginations. For instance, Benjamin Swallow Duke’s Awakening series raises the issue about whether people’s cognition or understanding of the world is the reality? Do we truly make observations of the objects or do we see them with given ideologies and ideas? On the other hand, Hsu Yin-Ling’s work exudes a sense of deficiency and anxiety through the dreary composition and the portrayal of lonesome rooms on the picture plane. The figures in the house seem to be oppressed and engulfed by their surroundings. Hsu adeptly conveys s a sense of uneasiness in her painting, which reveals one’s sense of insecurity aroused by the instability of life, future and society.
Fan Yang-Tsung pays special attention to the transitional urban spaces. These spaces include gas stations, airports, etc., in which a large number of people come and go. He spreads the paint on the canvas to create an urban-style piece of artwork like Choi Nari. Choi’s painting presents her daily observations and experiences about relationships between men and women with a sense of humor, while Adams enjoys painting images vacillating between concrete and abstract and wavering between meaning and imagination. He said, “I do not believe paintings should have a fixed meaning; they should reflect the flux of being in this world. I am interested in the discomfort, incoherence, and, most of all, the absurdity that can characterize the painterly experience and experience in general[11].” Huang Hai-hsin sensitively observes the rigid, fake and monotonous facial expression of politicians in photos released by the government. She uses a relaxed and casual style of painting to perform this stereotypical and ritualized photographic culture.
In addition to artworks by fifteen artists in this exhibition, this portfolio also includes three special units titled “Art Relay”, “Artists on Artists” and “Interview with Artists”. “Art Relay” invites fifteen artists to work in relays on a sketchbook. Because these artists live in different parts of the world, including the U.S. and Taiwan, the notebook have traveled by plane from Taiwan to Michigan, New York and then back to Taiwan in the end. “Artists on Artists” allows the viewer to see how these artists see each other’s work besides the art critics’ comment. The artists decided their commentators by drawing lots, and the comments include a variety of formats including texts and images.
Reconsider the Features of Painting
If the photographic image is something reproduced from a mold (A mold parallels the film or charge couple device [CCD]), then painting is the trace of man’s being in the world, like “footprints in the snow, breath on the window, vapor trails of a plane across the sky, lines traced by a finger in the sand.[12]” Painting is a direct activity of the mind. Contemporary artist Marlene Dumas used to consider the differences between painting and photography:
Painting doesn’t freeze time. It circulates and recycles time like a wheel that turns. Those who were first might well be last. Painting is a very slow art. It doesn’t travel with the speed of light. That’s why dead painters shine so bright…Painting is about the trace of the human touch. It is about the skin of a surface. A painting is not a postcard. The content of a painting cannot be separated from the feel of its surface[13].
When we look at a painting, we often cannot resist the sudden rush of emotions that came over us, whether it is some sort of sadness or surprise. At times, a painting leaves a deep impression on our minds, which is different from the effects of photographic images. However, aside from these immediate feelings, the American art critic Sobieski admitted introspectively that, Western art education may restrict them (Western art critics) from appreciating or truly understanding the (regional or psychological) diversity of contemporary painting. He said even when someone spots a painting for the first time and immediately recalls another piece of work, this painting could stem from different sources and diversified fields far beyond individual imagination[14].
Therefore, when we look at an artwork, whether it is a painting or any other art form or medium, shouldn’t we adopt a more open attitude and develop a more comprehensive perception rather than rushing to quick judgments? Since preconceived ideas or knowledge may preclude the opportunity to truly appreciate the artwork before us.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Achille Bonito Oliva, Transavantgarde International, trans. Chen Kuo-chiang et al. (Taipei: Yuan-liou Publishing Co., Ltd., 1982) 4.
[2] Ibid., 5..
[3] Heidegger interprets the essence of truth in terms of the correspondence with Being. See Martin Heidegger, Holzwege, trans. Sun Zhou-xing (Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 2004) 21.
[4] Gianni Romano, “Painting in the Internet Era,” Europe: Different Perspective in Painting (Italy: Giancarlo Politi Editore, 2000) 246.
[5] About theories on the end of various subjects, he cited Baudrillard’s “the end of art” and “the end of truth”, Lyotard’s “the end of ideology”, and Roland Barthes’s concept of authoritativeness. Ibid., 247.
[6] Barbara Casavecchia, “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” Perspective in Painting (Italy: Giancarlo Politi Editore, 2000) 266.
[7] Percentages of paintings in all the exhibits at the previous Taipei Biennials: 1992(40%), 1994(30%), 1996(60%), 1998(5%), 2000(3%), 2002(6%), 2004(6%), 2006(17%), 2008 (2%).
[8] Since the annually published special issue of the Taipei Arts Award does not include the list of the selected award-winning works, for the convenience of calculation, the below figures are calculated on the basis of Taipei arts award and honorable mention-winning works. The percentages of paintings in these award-winning works are as follows: 2001(7%), 2002(33%), 2003(25%), 2004(27%), 2005(20.%), 2006(20%), 2007(33%), 2008 (0%).
[9] Such as the Main Trend Gallery (2000), Butchart International Contemporary Art Space (2001), AKI Gallery (2002), Piao-piao Gallery (2004), My Humble House Art Gallery (2007), Project Fulfill Art Space (2007), Impressions Art Gallery (2008), and Painting Repository (2009), etc.
[10] See “Neo Avant-garde/New Wave in Academic Painting: Contemporary Value,” ArTop 38 (2009).
[11] See Samuel T. Adams’s self-description.
[12] Emma Dexter, “To Draw is to be Human,” Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing (London: Phaidon, 2005) 6.
[13] Marlene Dumas, “Women and Painting,” Perspective in Painting (Italy: Giancarlo Politi Editore, 2000) 250.
[14] He cited an incident once described by the American art critic Arthur C. Danto: On seeing his first Jackson Pollock painting, an English critic dismissed it as an immature rehash of Wols and Raoul Ubac. See Barry Schwabsky, “Paiting in the Interrogative Mode,” Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting (London: Phadon, 2002) 10.
Before the electronic media and the Internet gained popularity, printing had been the dominant means facilitating the spread of knowledge, which resulted in the classification and specialization of academic disciplines, and influenced modern art in terms of the emphasis on the essential feature of the medium, purity and uniqueness. In contrast, nowadays, as the electronic media enables information to communicate at a high speed, and the data of all sorts to juxtapose, creating an information mosaic which integrates our perception and cognition, art undergoes a new transformation that conveys more interdisciplinary linguistic messages than material messages. How will the genre of painting evolve with the openness of art forms and media? And how should we see a painting?
To Paint or Not to Paint
In retrospect, all of the students of arts colleges receive training in sketching and painting when they learn to make art. But how do the students choose their creative medium? It is not only a matter of personal choice, but also a matter of the changing trends in art education. Take myself for example, I studied in the Department of Fine Arts in National Taiwan University of Arts from 1995 to 1999. The university was then at the critical juncture of change in art educational concepts. A few teachers who just came back from their studies in France introduced some brand-new ideas of art, such as the installation and video art, had exercised new influence on our art education in those days. This made me, a student back then, to contemplate on the scope of fine arts education beyond the convention of art education since the Japanese colonial era. At that time, these new ideas provided a cutting-edge perspective on art creation that defies the convention of painting. However, a myth seemed to emerge in the midst of this trend, which may lead us to question if the contemporary art creation can be reduced to such a linear, progressive history, like Darwin’s theory of evolution?
However, observing the development of art abroad for nearly past twenty years, not everyone agreed with this unitary linear thinking. For example, the advocates of “Transavantgarde International” in the 1980’s argued that the art should not be limited by the ideas introduced by Marcel Duchamp. They stated that “transavantgarde means artists stop relying on the combination of trends and languages in a boundless realm, and insist on restoring internal reason through the formation of ontologically-centered artistic attitudes and philosophical viewpoints.”[1] They also believed that “the art form that has just faded away took part in social changes by exploring new processes and seeking new materials, hence parting with the static time of painting and work. Contemporary art (transavantgarde) tends to forsake illusions that exist outside themselves and return to its own path.”[2] In brief, the concept of transavantgarde emphasizes a kind of introspective art creation that comes through pondering and rumination with internal reason. Rather than using machines, this kind of art is expressed through painting which is closer to our true selves.
Positive and Negative Views on Painting
Impacted by the invention of photography and notions of modern art, painting had undergone a lot of twists and turns in the development of modern art. One of the more obvious negative viewpoints is that painting represents old traditions and systems of art, which resulted in modern artists’ resistance and thus caused the disjunction between the avant-garde art movement and the tradition of art. They believed that painting may easily degenerate into a kind of “retinal art” concerning aesthetic judgment and visual pleasure, and submit to the reification and commodification of the bourgeois art form, failing to fulfill its social functions and responsibilities.
By contrast, the positive view focuses on the autonomy of art, namely, "art for art's sake". Another positive view suggests that art is a communication and representation of human mental activities or subconscious behavior. It emphasizes the purposelessness of art, standing in contrast to the functions of social intervention and influence. Martin Heidegger, a German philosopher, believed that paintings could still deeply portray the Being of mankind. He considered that through artistic creation, artists embed (setzen) the truth in their artwork (since the artwork is able to vividly express the Being of things, thus it corresponds with the Being of things[3]). He once took A Pair of Boots by Vincent van Gogh for example to further emphasize that van Gogh’s description of a pair of peasant women's boots lively expresses the being and existence of the peasant women, making a pair of boots more than a pair of boots.
The Italian curator and art critic Gianni Romano also pointed out that after the ideological trend of “end theories” faded away, many paintings are still on exhibit in contemporary art shows. He quoted Judith Nesbitt, a curator at the Tate Gallery of Modern Art, as saying, “Painting has been attacked and subverted but it has never gone away.”[4] Romano believed that the artists who chose painting as their principal medium in the 1990’s did not express prejudices or concerns about the past traditions. Instead, painting was then considered to be an all-new medium. [5]
The Contemporary Change of Painting
As Romano stated that the painting had been regarded as an all-new medium, since it has already broken away from the burden of conventional painting. Whether concrete or abstract, a painting can be anything:
TV, pop music, comics, pulp fiction, soap opera, horror flicks, porn, glamour, furnishings, gossip, graphics, trash, computer games, mail order catalogues. And this is nothing new: for centuries now, the various arts have been defining each other (ut picture poesis), and now the media have joined in, making for a vicious circle of citations and reflections bereft of any hierarchical distinction[6].
Two vital issues arise here. One is that the use of media and the loss of hierarchical system may lead to the lack of critical standards in painting. The involvement of media entails change of contemporary painting in many aspects, including the involvement of media in the process of art creation, and the interplay of different visual languages, like “photo painting” or “the involvement of painting in the media.”
The contemporary painters do not necessarily depict real objects in front of their eyes. Instead, they look at image in the media, such as the camera, overhead projector, electronic screen, the Internet, newspaper and magazine. They observe the image and then compose the picture: the artist uses the lens to enlarge and capture the scene, and shoot all kinds of human movement as well as objects from a variety of angles. Afterwards, they paint from the photos. Some artists even paint directly from the electronic screen because the image can be enlarged freely for inspection of specific details. Some artists use computer illustration software or images on the Internet to help them compose their painting, while others use the slide projector or the overhead projector to make drafts. With the involvement of media, these paintings are endowed with a sense of the photographic image.
With regard to the interplay of visual languages, the work of the Japanese artist Taguchi Kazuna is characteristic of multiple, alternate and trans-disciplinary use of painting and photography. She begins by depicting a lady’s portrait which is a mixture of her own imagination and images cropped from magazines, and then she takes a photo of the finished painting. The completed work is a work of photography. Another case is the English artist Julian Opie who turns his portraits, which are famous for simple lines, into electronic screens, animations and advertisement images.
About “Weak Painting”
The present situation of contemporary painting in Taiwan is polarized. First, at Taiwan’s important official exhibitions such as the Taipei Biennial, the mainstream is photographic images and installation art, while painting has become marginalized. The Taipei Biennial was first held in 1992, and exhibits of paintings accounted for 40% of all exhibits that year. In 1996, when the Taipei Fine Arts Museum formed a curatorial team to host the biennial, the number of paintings reached the apex with the percentage of 60%. However, since 1998, when the museum began to invite international curators to organize the Taipei Biennial, from 1998 to 2008, the paintings averaged only 6.5% of all the exhibits in the total of six Taipei Biennials.[7] The Taipei Biennial is a large-scale international art exhibition organized by the state. Therefore, the works exhibited in the biennial serves as a significant indicator, and is more or less representative of how the state shows and educates its citizens about contemporary art.
If we take a closer look of the experience of artists participated in the Taipei biennial from 1992 to 2008, we will see a changing model of the state-held painting competitions in the past 17 years. The trend showing that artists won awards from national and provincial art competitions to recent Taipei Arts Award presents an interesting changing structure of the art evaluation system, in which we see a transition from the category-based provincial art competitions to the non-category-based competition of the Taipei Arts Award. Moreover, in contrast to the fact that the majority of winners in the provincial competitions are students from the long-established normal universities and arts colleges, most winners of the Taipei Arts Award are students from the recently established Taipei and Tainan National University of the Arts. It not only signals a trend that modern art’s emphasis on the essential features of the medium has shifted to contemporary art’s openness towards art forms, but also reflects the evolution of art educational ideas in Taiwan.
On the other hand, as we look into the composition of jurors in the Taipei Arts Award, we will find that the jurors’ expertise and research fields influence their judging standards. From the following list of jury members of the Taipei Biennial 2001-2008, we can see the panel is mainly made up of artists, professors of arts colleges and universities, as well as art critics, and these three identities may overlap. For example, Yao Jui-chung is both an artist and a critic. Since, jury members have different specialties. In my view, the panel of jury members of the Taipei Biennial should involve experts of different fields, so as to objectively interpret and judge contemporary artworks in various forms. However, if we look at the list of jury members closely, we will find that juries recruited over the past two years (2007-2008) are mainly experts on images, installation and conceptual art, few are painters or critics on painting, which has resulted in the sharp decrease of the percentage of paintings selected in the total amount of works compared to previous years. Therefore, the painting is marginalized in the Taipei Biennial, which stands as an important and significant indicator of the mainstream contemporary art in Taiwan[8].
However, in another aspect, the situation is contrasted with the trend mentioned above. A group of young artists born in the 1970’s and 1980’s chose painting as their creative medium after they have experienced the trends of installation and video art. While many new galleries have sprung up one after another in Taiwan in recent years[9], and the art market has quickly absorbed artworks produced by many young artists[10].
After the trend of installation and video art has existed in Taiwan for 20 years, its innovative and avant-garde character has gradually faded away. Meanwhile, a group of young artists who are now in their 20s and 30s, after witnessing how their peers struggling between paint and not to paint, consciously chose painting as their major creative medium from among all kinds of art forms and expressions. In this Information Age, they also freely browse the Internet for artistic information, and purchase art materials online.
This portfolio is a collection of works by ten young Taiwanese artists. It is published with the hope that the art circle in Taiwan will pay more attention to painting and its current development against the mainstream of image and installation art in recent years. Furthermore, this portfolio also includes works by groundbreaking artists from the U.S., Japan and Korea, thus endeavor to present various dimensions and new perspectives on contemporary painting.
These young artists present paintings with different perspectives through their own practices and explorations. The paintings of Huang Chia-Ning (Taiwan) and Wang Liang-Yin (Taiwan) may be seen as a series of experiments on daily food consumption, as they tried to turn the visual experience into the tactile and taste experience. In Huang’s paintings, the greasy Taiwan lunch boxes remind people of the humid heat and the sticky smell of the summer days in Taiwan, while Wang’s work Shaved Ice with Kiwi depicts the sweet and sour taste of the melting ice with fruit through the mixture and dripping of colors. Besides, in her latest painting series, Huang shows her reflections on painting from photos. She boldly painted the reverse side of a photo to share her reflections with the viewer that what we see might just be a photograph.
The sketching lines speak more directly about the author’s emotions and thoughts. It represents a kind of directness and temporality. The works of Wang Tzu-Ting (Taiwan) and Tian Bao-Chang (Taiwan) both strongly and straightforwardly express their personal feelings and ideas. For example, Wang’s Secret subtly depicts a man who is reclusive and confined in his own world as always wears a box on his head whenever he walks or thinks. As for Tian, he sketches and jots down his daily thoughts in a notebook, showing the freewheeling and amusing nature of the sketch.
Some artists, including Tsai Yi-Ting (Taiwan), Huang Hwa-Jen (Taiwan), Chiou Chien-Ren (Taiwan), along with Rob James Kolomyski (U.S.A) and Yuhi Hasegawa (Japan), tend to observe people around them and reveal a sense of freedom, fluidity, imagination and diversity of expression of painting in their works.
Other artists, including Hsu Yin-Ling (Taiwan), Fan Yang-Tsung (Taiwan), Huang Hai-Hsin (Taiwan), Benjamin Swallow Duke (U.S.A), Samuel T. Adams (U.S.A), and Choi Nari (Korea), make observations about the society and transform them into painting through personal experiences and imaginations. For instance, Benjamin Swallow Duke’s Awakening series raises the issue about whether people’s cognition or understanding of the world is the reality? Do we truly make observations of the objects or do we see them with given ideologies and ideas? On the other hand, Hsu Yin-Ling’s work exudes a sense of deficiency and anxiety through the dreary composition and the portrayal of lonesome rooms on the picture plane. The figures in the house seem to be oppressed and engulfed by their surroundings. Hsu adeptly conveys s a sense of uneasiness in her painting, which reveals one’s sense of insecurity aroused by the instability of life, future and society.
Fan Yang-Tsung pays special attention to the transitional urban spaces. These spaces include gas stations, airports, etc., in which a large number of people come and go. He spreads the paint on the canvas to create an urban-style piece of artwork like Choi Nari. Choi’s painting presents her daily observations and experiences about relationships between men and women with a sense of humor, while Adams enjoys painting images vacillating between concrete and abstract and wavering between meaning and imagination. He said, “I do not believe paintings should have a fixed meaning; they should reflect the flux of being in this world. I am interested in the discomfort, incoherence, and, most of all, the absurdity that can characterize the painterly experience and experience in general[11].” Huang Hai-hsin sensitively observes the rigid, fake and monotonous facial expression of politicians in photos released by the government. She uses a relaxed and casual style of painting to perform this stereotypical and ritualized photographic culture.
In addition to artworks by fifteen artists in this exhibition, this portfolio also includes three special units titled “Art Relay”, “Artists on Artists” and “Interview with Artists”. “Art Relay” invites fifteen artists to work in relays on a sketchbook. Because these artists live in different parts of the world, including the U.S. and Taiwan, the notebook have traveled by plane from Taiwan to Michigan, New York and then back to Taiwan in the end. “Artists on Artists” allows the viewer to see how these artists see each other’s work besides the art critics’ comment. The artists decided their commentators by drawing lots, and the comments include a variety of formats including texts and images.
Reconsider the Features of Painting
If the photographic image is something reproduced from a mold (A mold parallels the film or charge couple device [CCD]), then painting is the trace of man’s being in the world, like “footprints in the snow, breath on the window, vapor trails of a plane across the sky, lines traced by a finger in the sand.[12]” Painting is a direct activity of the mind. Contemporary artist Marlene Dumas used to consider the differences between painting and photography:
Painting doesn’t freeze time. It circulates and recycles time like a wheel that turns. Those who were first might well be last. Painting is a very slow art. It doesn’t travel with the speed of light. That’s why dead painters shine so bright…Painting is about the trace of the human touch. It is about the skin of a surface. A painting is not a postcard. The content of a painting cannot be separated from the feel of its surface[13].
When we look at a painting, we often cannot resist the sudden rush of emotions that came over us, whether it is some sort of sadness or surprise. At times, a painting leaves a deep impression on our minds, which is different from the effects of photographic images. However, aside from these immediate feelings, the American art critic Sobieski admitted introspectively that, Western art education may restrict them (Western art critics) from appreciating or truly understanding the (regional or psychological) diversity of contemporary painting. He said even when someone spots a painting for the first time and immediately recalls another piece of work, this painting could stem from different sources and diversified fields far beyond individual imagination[14].
Therefore, when we look at an artwork, whether it is a painting or any other art form or medium, shouldn’t we adopt a more open attitude and develop a more comprehensive perception rather than rushing to quick judgments? Since preconceived ideas or knowledge may preclude the opportunity to truly appreciate the artwork before us.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Achille Bonito Oliva, Transavantgarde International, trans. Chen Kuo-chiang et al. (Taipei: Yuan-liou Publishing Co., Ltd., 1982) 4.
[2] Ibid., 5..
[3] Heidegger interprets the essence of truth in terms of the correspondence with Being. See Martin Heidegger, Holzwege, trans. Sun Zhou-xing (Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 2004) 21.
[4] Gianni Romano, “Painting in the Internet Era,” Europe: Different Perspective in Painting (Italy: Giancarlo Politi Editore, 2000) 246.
[5] About theories on the end of various subjects, he cited Baudrillard’s “the end of art” and “the end of truth”, Lyotard’s “the end of ideology”, and Roland Barthes’s concept of authoritativeness. Ibid., 247.
[6] Barbara Casavecchia, “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” Perspective in Painting (Italy: Giancarlo Politi Editore, 2000) 266.
[7] Percentages of paintings in all the exhibits at the previous Taipei Biennials: 1992(40%), 1994(30%), 1996(60%), 1998(5%), 2000(3%), 2002(6%), 2004(6%), 2006(17%), 2008 (2%).
[8] Since the annually published special issue of the Taipei Arts Award does not include the list of the selected award-winning works, for the convenience of calculation, the below figures are calculated on the basis of Taipei arts award and honorable mention-winning works. The percentages of paintings in these award-winning works are as follows: 2001(7%), 2002(33%), 2003(25%), 2004(27%), 2005(20.%), 2006(20%), 2007(33%), 2008 (0%).
[9] Such as the Main Trend Gallery (2000), Butchart International Contemporary Art Space (2001), AKI Gallery (2002), Piao-piao Gallery (2004), My Humble House Art Gallery (2007), Project Fulfill Art Space (2007), Impressions Art Gallery (2008), and Painting Repository (2009), etc.
[10] See “Neo Avant-garde/New Wave in Academic Painting: Contemporary Value,” ArTop 38 (2009).
[11] See Samuel T. Adams’s self-description.
[12] Emma Dexter, “To Draw is to be Human,” Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing (London: Phaidon, 2005) 6.
[13] Marlene Dumas, “Women and Painting,” Perspective in Painting (Italy: Giancarlo Politi Editore, 2000) 250.
[14] He cited an incident once described by the American art critic Arthur C. Danto: On seeing his first Jackson Pollock painting, an English critic dismissed it as an immature rehash of Wols and Raoul Ubac. See Barry Schwabsky, “Paiting in the Interrogative Mode,” Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting (London: Phadon, 2002) 10.
Weak Painting-Prints over Sensation in Time by Chang Ching-Wen
Weakness: Sensibility
“Weak Painting" is not my idea but when Su Yu-An and Chiu Chien-Jen told me about this idea and invited me to co-curate an exhibition at the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, I immediately realized that this title fits my own observation of Taiwanese artists born after 1975(most of them are trained in academic system). Their art shares a common vagueness that is not easy to describe, which I believe is related closely to the lifestyles and images they choose. Such a viewpoint is derived from the connotations contained in their paintings instead of exterior factors these artists are facing.
I believe that in today's world, painting hardly attracts discussions but will sustain since paintings have been the most tradable artworks. Young artists never cease painting and the audiences never lose their interest. Nevertheless, in an era with numerous competing media, is painting still able to communicate between the painter and the viewers through a two-dimensional plane? I have no answer.
This generation of artists concern different issues and are different in terms of the themes and styels of their art. They never manifest any statement or standing, they don't share any particular value, thus it is impossible to label them with any terminology. However, they do demonstrate a distinctive attitude and approaches compared to artists belonging to older generations. They have dramatically transformed art forms categorized by art history without breaking away from its legacy that they inherit in academia. Under contemporary conditions, they have been greatly influenced by their mentors but explore, debate before establishing their own path in the given time and space. Similar to their predecessors, they apply oil paints among other media to paint "sensible" figures or objects, they create portraits, still lifes and landscapes that reflect or even mark their era. They are driven by different forces to probe the possibilities of canvas, paints and pencil strokes. They never get tired.
As a viewer, I can only try to understand their art by catching every trivial movement in their paintings as subtle as breathing. I ponder on what in a painting stimulates or inspires the audience by looking at them repeatedly. As I identify some traits from their paintings, I realize that they disperse all over the gamut without composing a uniformed tone. This inclination can be observed in the art of the participating artists in this exhibition, and several foreign artists about the same ages are invited to test out if such a phenomenon exists across borders.
Weakness: Being and Imagination
Japanese novelist Kenzaburo Oe shares his literature viewpoints and writing discourses in his book The Method of a Novel(1978). Tremendously influenced by existentialism, Oe applies the framework of existentialism to analyze his lifetime reading experience and writing skills. He thinks that the structure of a novel represents the author's knowledge of the world, the author's attempt to introduce the mentality of his time and the paths toward knowing his time. A successful novel is structured with great imagination as the author integrates every element and gives them lives. A story is the interface between the author and his readers, and each reader creates the story again through her/his reading. A writer is obliged to express his imagination during his writing. Oe quoted Gaston Bachelard: "Up until now many people still mistake that imagination means the ability to produce images. Imagination should be the ability of transforming images deduced by our sensibility. Imagination emancipates us from basic ideas and further empowers us to change basic ideas...the value of an idea comes from how much imaginative it can be. Imagination has an open nature, it disappears easily...compared to other performance of human beings, imagination features the characteristics of our minds. Like what William Blake pointed out: 'Imagination is not the state of the existence of human beings, it's the existence itself.' "
A novelist represents the being and consciousness of humans with words, a painter describes various phenomena of our time with paints and vocabularies somewhat estranged from our everyday life. The media they apply are traditional, still they carry out art language uniquely belonging to our time with variant expressions. Though their tools are estranged, they bridge art and everyday life by responding to existentialist issues with their close and sharp observation of everyday life.
Weakness: Sense of Marginalization, Figures
I once talked with Huang Hai-Hsin about her series of small paintings. It's easy for the artist to accomplish each of painting with these sizes. The figures and venues she features are from newspapers, magazines, TV news and online news. The once very presentable characters or occasions under her brushes somehow are twisted by the murky oil paints, showing a sense of barrenness, deterioration. The scenes of her paintings include two men with suits shaking hands in a meeting room, a man trying to hang the portrait of the national leader, a master demonstrating how to blow a melody with a leaf, a dismayed super star covering his face while arrested for drug using, the profiles of law enforcement, a group of politicians bowing to apologize...These stop motions of news events are only the tip of the iceberg-- an iceberg of information. They attract the attention of the audience for several seconds before they click another link or turn to another channel. The frames Huang picks are insignificant but all together they frame the indescribable atmosphere in Taiwanese political arena. This indescribability comes from Huang's art form as well as the content. From these paintings, we learn how people perceive the world in given time and space, or at what angles the public apprehends the news events and the messages the events carry.
Huang's another series about the work of paramedics and physical therapists presents an almost undetectable frustration. In the paintings is the the sadness that is forgotten by the society.
In his book Oe mentions the artists of grotesque realism tended to focus on the physical regression of disable or deformed bodies rather than the noble souls in them. They strategically represented marginalized themes or vulgar things in order to reflect the decaying ages and the chaos before the doom. Oe takes the disastrous scenes by the Mexican engraver Jose Guadalupe Posada(1852~1913)and the malformed children portrayed by French artist Michel Eyquem de Montaigne(1533~1592) as examples. Oe explains that the artists recorded the states of things carefully by setting their eyes on the marginalized groups. At their times, the public also began noticing these people from low social class and the artists' work was to reflect the society as comprehensively as possible. Throughout the history, many artists have represented their times and their worlds by their sensitive perception and excellent painting skills.
The artists we include in the “Weak Painting” are not grotesque realist artists, but they also have grabbed a universal atmosphere of our time through the characters and occasions they depict. They are not interested in responding to the grand issues of nationalism, history or mythes, instead, they leave slight prints of personal experience in reality on canvas. They portray people around them, for example, Tsai Yi-Ting paints her own family life, both her birth family and her new family with her husband. The meticulously illustrated characters and their expressions are accentuated by the largely empty backdrops. Though their muscles and facial features are twisted, the scenes are not unusual occasions but on dinning table. Huang Hua-Chen draws out the contours of characters with saturated oil paints. These people are also her relatives or friends, and the intimation or alienation between them due to different reasons are showed by their facial expressions and gestures. Applying many simple lines, Wang Tzu-Ting outlines the emotions, sensibility or anxiety of her figures.
Weakness: Narration, Scenes and Objects
Blurred images constituted by dots, the artist Huang Chia-Ning challenges photography with her painting. Most of her works are from the scenes around her, but looking closely, the murky strokes contradict the realist landscapes. All Huang Chia-Ning's objects are insignificant, including the lunch boxes or rabbit excrement she painted earlier in the kitchen corner, studio corner, crashed snails, moonlight, the back of a photo and the egg shell of a cockroach she created in recent years. The artist chooses her themes from tons of living photos but discreetly avoids making her choice a major part of her creation. Thus the combination of themes and methods are unique in style. Similar to Gerhard Richter's effort in maintaining photography in painting, Huang also composes her works with both clarified and blemished drawing, but the latter has no intention to manage philosophical or historical issues. To Huang Chia-Ning, painting is a fascinating activity but not a tool to subvert the representation of convention.
Chiu Chien-Jen's paintings are also transformed from photos, but compared to Huang Chia-Ning, he zooms out to distance the audience while compiling images especially meaningful or emotional to him. He narrates the stories again with modified vocabularies and he covers up things not essential to the paintings with rough white strokes, such as the thickness of air or the emotions of the author. Hsu Yin-Ling's works also carry a sense of time thus they are narrative, but opposite to Chiu's measurement of the thickness of paints in order to decide the depth of existence, Hsu mirrors the society with deliberately purified scenes. These dramatic settings are rather like fables.Tien Bao-Chang masterly sketches his personal, fragmentary experience from daily life in three-dimensional spaces. On notepads he repeatedly adds texts or graphics that disclose one's frustration or determination through the stream of consciousness.
The scenes Fang Yang-Tsung selects are mostly transitional or temporal spaces in cities, such as the car wash place, night club or airport. The lucid contours of objects and flat coloring transform commonplaces into buoyant things at their ideal conditions. The desserts by Wang Liang-Yin are artfully brushed to create the vivid effects of dripping juice. While emphasizing the materials, the artist maintains the glossy appearance of the delicious food. The Korean artist Choi Nari characterizes objects by giving them roles, she attempts to restore world peace in a false domain through her ironic and parodying style. The American artist Benjamin Swallow Duke puts himself in urban scenes that obviously suffer from disasters described by sci-fictions, his work reveals his doubt about the relationship between himself and the world. The Japanese artist Yuhi Hasegawa and the American artist Samuel T. Adams also carry out their stimulated sensibility during chaos and confusion with a style of obscurity.
Weakness: Zeitgeist
It is not easy to clearly define Weak Painting, but surely it is easy to feel the weakness in the works of many artists. Such weakness is inexplicable since these artists deal with marginalized people and issues with a seemingly indifferent attitude, but the awkward style still shows slight sorrow, helplessness and frustration. Through their paintings, viewers see the bondage between common life and art, and an a typical zeitgeist is demonstrated by the representation of many insignificant things. The weakness has become a gesture implying the opinions of these young artists about their time. Furthermore, the weakness drives them to continue their work.
Weak Painting? by Pan Ping-Yu
With the advent of the practically unlimited use of media, being an art creator today is bliss, despite the existence of ongoing debates, conflicts, natural evolution, and mix of numerous modern and post-modern ideas reflecting the avant-garde, which continue to challenge boundaries and open up a new territory for contemporary art. Yes, despite all this it’s worth noting that this big new territory, influenced by globalization and contemporary technological networks, has generated a different type of artistic creation, featuring the use of the Internet and the value of sharing, diversity and disappearing discipline boundaries.
The subject of this exhibition, “Weak Painting?”, may lead viewers to question whether they are responding again to the age-old declaration “painting is dead”. Certainly not. It has been 170 years since the French Academic, realistic painter Paul Delaroche(1797-1856)made this exclamation upon witnessing the advent of the Daguerreotype in 1839. We have come to understand this seemingly astonishing declaration as a strategic issue brought up by conceptual artists and art critics to direct our attention towards the role of media in art. Although we can see that these expressions and declarations are reasonable and necessary in terms of their contexts, it is important to realize that, from early modern times to the present, the dialectical development of painting itself has proved this statement to be a “false issue”. In an age that celebrates the use of the Internet, the value of sharing, multiplicity, and interdisciplinary art, it’s outmoded to discuss the future of painting in terms of the idea of mainstream popularity, competitions and conflicts, not to mention the natural erosion and evolution of ideas. “Painting is dead” is destined to be replaced by new issues as painting continues to face new challenges and mutate with time.
At the turn of the 21st century, our interest in new technologies and digital media recalls the fascination with the industrial revolution, mechanical production and science at the turn of the 20th century. Although the influences are different, there seems to be some resemblance between the two: namely, the curiosity of human nature that leads us to discover the new explains our common anticipation of new technologies and digital media. However, contrary to ideas from the last century, we also need to note that in the field of art, media as such is not message; in fact, message is transmitted through the material and nonmaterial means of technology and media. Therefore, media itself is a manipulated means, lacking autonomy. Artists use the media to convey their messages while the viewer in turn receives the messages from the media. Finally, in addition to calling for an evaluation of the role of new technology and digital media as an art form rather than a new media, it is equally important to indicate that, painting, being a classical art genre, currently raises different issues from those raised by new technology and digital media.
The title of this exhibition, “Weak Painting?”, suggests a transition stage in the development of painting, which blurs the boundary between the mainstream and the alternative. We can tell from the works of these contemporary artists that the recent trend of Internet use, the value of sharing, multiplicity, and interdisciplinary art have profoundly influenced both our daily life and current art practices. Moreover, different types of media are not incommensurable or opposed to each other; rather, their diversity allows artists to enjoy more freedom in artistic expression.
The show “Weak Painting?” exhibits the way young artists respond to contemporary issues based on their reflections on the history of painting, and shows how today’s plethora of various images that permeate everyday life are reflected in their works. In an essay entitled “An Art that Eats Its Own Head- Painting in the Age of the Image” (published in The Triumph of Painting, which involves a selected collection of paintings from the Saatchi Gallery), the art critic Barry Schwabsky writes “For although it was photography that taught us the modern idea of the image, it is painting that allows us to internalize it..…. It is a place where both differences and similarities are consumed.” (Schwabsky, 2005:009). His analysis confirms the primacy of painting at the root of subjective expression, which coincides with the idea of autonomy to which many artists aspire; we feel strongly that the artists featured in this exhibition share this aspiration. On the other hand, these artists have no intention to fight against photography or digital media for the supremacy of painting; instead, photography or digital media, like painting, constitutes an inevitable part of their creativity, work and leisure life.
The fifteen artists represented in this exhibition are from Taiwan, Japan, Korea and the United States, ranging in age from 22 to 30. They include: Wang Liang-Yin (Taiwan, 1979-), Wang Tzu-Ting (Taiwan, 1987-), Chiou Jyian-ren (Taiwan, 1981-), Hsu Yin-Ling (Taiwan, 1987-), Huang Hai-Hsin (Taiwan, 1984-), Huang Hua-Chen (Taiwan, 1986-), Huang Chia-Ning (Taiwan, 1979-), Fan Yang-Tsung (Taiwan, 1982-), Tian Bao-Chang (Taiwan, 1982-), Tsai Yi-Ting (Taiwan, 1981-), Samuel T. Adams (U.S.A, 1980-), Nari Choi (Korea,1983), Benjamin Swallow Duke (U.S.A, 1977), Yuhi Hasegawa (Japan, 1980-), Rob James Kolomyski (U.S.A, 1970-). Their works contribute to the diversity of this painting exhibition.
Real/Unreal Journey
It may be more proper to say that the subject of Wang Liang-Yin’s work is images of desserts rather than desserts per se, since these images tend to trigger our appetite. All the forms and colors in her paintings remind us of pleasant things, and then, the next moment, fade away in the blink of an eye; suggesting a fusion of endless pursuit, frustration and courage. The free-floating drippings of paint on her canvas seem to follow the tradition of abstract expressionism, while the images of desserts playfully vacillate between the concrete and the abstract.
Chiou Jyian-ren’s painting presents a poetic space of image narratives. He considers life to be a story in progress, consisting of a series of ordinary images, and tries to juxtapose these quotidian scenes in the two-dimensional space of the canvas. The use of overlapping images and daubs of paint make manifest the passage of time, in which every moment of life is a tableau grasped and captured. His work epitomizes a life with two roads, including the seen and the unseen, the finished and the unfinished, the poetic and the desired, as well as the trivial and the banal.
Wang Tzu-Ting conceives all the images and messages of life as a giant virtual stream, and uses painting as a way to reveal the content/meaning of these enigmatic messages. The action of painting allows the once vague and blurred images to incarnate. Although she paints herself and paints everyone, the figures in these portraits seem like someone or no one at all. Painting is just action for its own sake.
The “shadow and flux of things” fascinates the American artist Samuel T. Adams. He observes it in people and events, travelers and cultural phenomena, the literary and the ordinary. The “shadow” is a metaphor for the silhouette of things, obscuring details and concealing secrets. His picture plane is constructed with abstract, concrete and semi-concrete images that represent his interest in the discomfort, incoherence, and absurdity that characterizes the contemporary ambience in general. He explores the flux of meaning in these things as they are represented and interpreted on his canvas, and the way this characterizes the painterly experience.
At first glance, Huang Chia-Ning’s work seems to resemble the photo-paintings of Gerhard Richter (1932-), sharing his intention in probing the issues concerning the dialectic between photography and painting that unearths issues—photographic image as “found object”, the objectification of visual experience, and the ambiguity between concrete and abstract images. However, far from mimicking Richter, who has left almost no room for further thinking on these issues, Huang Chia-Ning turns her attention to the exploration of the content of photographic messages and the myriad possibilities of rereading these images through the process of painting, paintings that enable her to discover and convey her subjective feelings.
Flying is a childhood dream and a collective dream of all human beings. Although the invention of mechanical flight has partially realized this dream, not everyone can fly whenever they want. Fan Yang-Tsung brings the viewer into the perspective of flying, sitting in the pilot’s seat in front of his work. But be advised, the journey about to begin is not a realistic one. The video-game-like aircraft instrument panel and the view outside the window all point to an imaginary journey. Fan Yang-Tsung’s painting language uses both abstract and decorative patterns to construct his world, taking us on a celestial journey of fantasy.
The American artist Rob James Kolomyski takes the canvas as a unique space for pure expression, regarding it not only as the beginning and procession of any possible journey, but also as an abstract/concrete space for sentimental exploration. His work is a mixture of abstract expressionism and German expressionism. In his Portrait and Head series, the head and facial expression hazily emerge from the dynamic brushstrokes, the canvas then transforming into a site of visual exploration where the artist’s perception intersects reality.
Canvas as Theater
Tian Bao-Chang paints neither beautiful nor happy people. Sitting in the corner of a café, his cool gaze can always identify the people who’s hearts carry all sorts of burdens. He quietly paints the scenes from real life on small sketchbooks rather than large canvases, a process that echoes the small and insignificant existence of our reality. Nevertheless, his work also conveys a sense of the ease of being small; it seems that the figures portrayed in his life theater tend to say “Well, this is our way of living.” His sketch always reminds me of the pairing of humbleness and pride in the Chinese singer Zhang Chu’s song “Lonely People Are Shameful” (1994).
Tsai Yi-Ting’s work centers on her home. In her painting, family members perform the drama. Since home is usually where we easily let down our mental defenses and protective mechanism, these “performers” themselves are not aware of the gaze of camera and director; they approach the camera and run out of the frame at will. While every glance, gesture and interaction links to a particular sentiment or emotion, every body movement reveals a supporting configuration of the drama; these delicately depicted details contribute to the subtlety of Tsai Yi-Ting’s family theater.
Huang Hua-Chen also paints people. She begins by studying her friends and family and further extends her interest to investigate individual differences and similarities as well as mutual relations. She tries to know herself, identify individual position and reveal people today through endless exploration and comparison of one individual to another. She uses thick daubs of acrylic paint to render the face and skin, presenting a series of homogeneous portraits by gradually effacing individual aspects. However, paradoxically, the individual differences become highlighted in this manner.
Hsu Yin-Ling’s painting invents a “manor”, in which she borrows the idea of a utopia, and transforms it into a model for examining humanity. In her “manor”, all the furniture is clearly and minutely delineated, while faces remain vague and fuzzy. It seems that no matter how ideal the design or proper the description, the complexity of humanity cannot be represented. Nevertheless, the artist’s aim lies not in discussing the possibilities/impossibilities of carrying out the ideal of a utopia, but in establishing a doll-house “manor” as a mirror for reflecting manifold humanity, in order to explore the interrelations of our being, society and illusive value systems.
The world in Benjamin Swallow Duke’s painting is a surrealist expression of the real world. He asks himself “Is this the way the world is? “Is this the way the world is in this work?” or “Am I in the world or is the world in me?” These questions evoke the philosophy of Zhuangzi's Butterfly Dream and the relative understanding of real, surreal and self-identity. He has embarked on a journey of self-discovery with a sense of humor.
Huang Hai-Hsin’s painting tries to unveil the secrets of body language in everyday life and news media photographs. In these well-organized photographs, body language conveys different types of messages on public occasions. The artist attempts to disclose the emptiness, contradiction and absurdity underlying these messages, emphasizing the illusory aspects of human existence.
The creation of a male and a female figure in the Korean artist Nari Choi’s painting is inspired by images from mayonnaise and ketchup labels. The artist assumes that the way we dress and act are influenced by certain archetypal roles and their interactions; therefore, she invents two fictional characters representing both sexes in her painting, and demonstrates their ritualistic action and interaction in an imaginative and whimsical way.
The Japanese artist Yuhi Hasegawa’s work concerns humanity’s constant sway between the primitive and the civilized. The effect achieved by contrasting bright, bold colors with dark ones, when accompanied by rough and unconstrained brushstrokes, recalls the wild power of nature. The incessant struggle of two extreme forces animates the picture plane.
The subject of this exhibition, “Weak Painting?”, may lead viewers to question whether they are responding again to the age-old declaration “painting is dead”. Certainly not. It has been 170 years since the French Academic, realistic painter Paul Delaroche(1797-1856)made this exclamation upon witnessing the advent of the Daguerreotype in 1839. We have come to understand this seemingly astonishing declaration as a strategic issue brought up by conceptual artists and art critics to direct our attention towards the role of media in art. Although we can see that these expressions and declarations are reasonable and necessary in terms of their contexts, it is important to realize that, from early modern times to the present, the dialectical development of painting itself has proved this statement to be a “false issue”. In an age that celebrates the use of the Internet, the value of sharing, multiplicity, and interdisciplinary art, it’s outmoded to discuss the future of painting in terms of the idea of mainstream popularity, competitions and conflicts, not to mention the natural erosion and evolution of ideas. “Painting is dead” is destined to be replaced by new issues as painting continues to face new challenges and mutate with time.
At the turn of the 21st century, our interest in new technologies and digital media recalls the fascination with the industrial revolution, mechanical production and science at the turn of the 20th century. Although the influences are different, there seems to be some resemblance between the two: namely, the curiosity of human nature that leads us to discover the new explains our common anticipation of new technologies and digital media. However, contrary to ideas from the last century, we also need to note that in the field of art, media as such is not message; in fact, message is transmitted through the material and nonmaterial means of technology and media. Therefore, media itself is a manipulated means, lacking autonomy. Artists use the media to convey their messages while the viewer in turn receives the messages from the media. Finally, in addition to calling for an evaluation of the role of new technology and digital media as an art form rather than a new media, it is equally important to indicate that, painting, being a classical art genre, currently raises different issues from those raised by new technology and digital media.
The title of this exhibition, “Weak Painting?”, suggests a transition stage in the development of painting, which blurs the boundary between the mainstream and the alternative. We can tell from the works of these contemporary artists that the recent trend of Internet use, the value of sharing, multiplicity, and interdisciplinary art have profoundly influenced both our daily life and current art practices. Moreover, different types of media are not incommensurable or opposed to each other; rather, their diversity allows artists to enjoy more freedom in artistic expression.
The show “Weak Painting?” exhibits the way young artists respond to contemporary issues based on their reflections on the history of painting, and shows how today’s plethora of various images that permeate everyday life are reflected in their works. In an essay entitled “An Art that Eats Its Own Head- Painting in the Age of the Image” (published in The Triumph of Painting, which involves a selected collection of paintings from the Saatchi Gallery), the art critic Barry Schwabsky writes “For although it was photography that taught us the modern idea of the image, it is painting that allows us to internalize it..…. It is a place where both differences and similarities are consumed.” (Schwabsky, 2005:009). His analysis confirms the primacy of painting at the root of subjective expression, which coincides with the idea of autonomy to which many artists aspire; we feel strongly that the artists featured in this exhibition share this aspiration. On the other hand, these artists have no intention to fight against photography or digital media for the supremacy of painting; instead, photography or digital media, like painting, constitutes an inevitable part of their creativity, work and leisure life.
The fifteen artists represented in this exhibition are from Taiwan, Japan, Korea and the United States, ranging in age from 22 to 30. They include: Wang Liang-Yin (Taiwan, 1979-), Wang Tzu-Ting (Taiwan, 1987-), Chiou Jyian-ren (Taiwan, 1981-), Hsu Yin-Ling (Taiwan, 1987-), Huang Hai-Hsin (Taiwan, 1984-), Huang Hua-Chen (Taiwan, 1986-), Huang Chia-Ning (Taiwan, 1979-), Fan Yang-Tsung (Taiwan, 1982-), Tian Bao-Chang (Taiwan, 1982-), Tsai Yi-Ting (Taiwan, 1981-), Samuel T. Adams (U.S.A, 1980-), Nari Choi (Korea,1983), Benjamin Swallow Duke (U.S.A, 1977), Yuhi Hasegawa (Japan, 1980-), Rob James Kolomyski (U.S.A, 1970-). Their works contribute to the diversity of this painting exhibition.
Real/Unreal Journey
It may be more proper to say that the subject of Wang Liang-Yin’s work is images of desserts rather than desserts per se, since these images tend to trigger our appetite. All the forms and colors in her paintings remind us of pleasant things, and then, the next moment, fade away in the blink of an eye; suggesting a fusion of endless pursuit, frustration and courage. The free-floating drippings of paint on her canvas seem to follow the tradition of abstract expressionism, while the images of desserts playfully vacillate between the concrete and the abstract.
Chiou Jyian-ren’s painting presents a poetic space of image narratives. He considers life to be a story in progress, consisting of a series of ordinary images, and tries to juxtapose these quotidian scenes in the two-dimensional space of the canvas. The use of overlapping images and daubs of paint make manifest the passage of time, in which every moment of life is a tableau grasped and captured. His work epitomizes a life with two roads, including the seen and the unseen, the finished and the unfinished, the poetic and the desired, as well as the trivial and the banal.
Wang Tzu-Ting conceives all the images and messages of life as a giant virtual stream, and uses painting as a way to reveal the content/meaning of these enigmatic messages. The action of painting allows the once vague and blurred images to incarnate. Although she paints herself and paints everyone, the figures in these portraits seem like someone or no one at all. Painting is just action for its own sake.
The “shadow and flux of things” fascinates the American artist Samuel T. Adams. He observes it in people and events, travelers and cultural phenomena, the literary and the ordinary. The “shadow” is a metaphor for the silhouette of things, obscuring details and concealing secrets. His picture plane is constructed with abstract, concrete and semi-concrete images that represent his interest in the discomfort, incoherence, and absurdity that characterizes the contemporary ambience in general. He explores the flux of meaning in these things as they are represented and interpreted on his canvas, and the way this characterizes the painterly experience.
At first glance, Huang Chia-Ning’s work seems to resemble the photo-paintings of Gerhard Richter (1932-), sharing his intention in probing the issues concerning the dialectic between photography and painting that unearths issues—photographic image as “found object”, the objectification of visual experience, and the ambiguity between concrete and abstract images. However, far from mimicking Richter, who has left almost no room for further thinking on these issues, Huang Chia-Ning turns her attention to the exploration of the content of photographic messages and the myriad possibilities of rereading these images through the process of painting, paintings that enable her to discover and convey her subjective feelings.
Flying is a childhood dream and a collective dream of all human beings. Although the invention of mechanical flight has partially realized this dream, not everyone can fly whenever they want. Fan Yang-Tsung brings the viewer into the perspective of flying, sitting in the pilot’s seat in front of his work. But be advised, the journey about to begin is not a realistic one. The video-game-like aircraft instrument panel and the view outside the window all point to an imaginary journey. Fan Yang-Tsung’s painting language uses both abstract and decorative patterns to construct his world, taking us on a celestial journey of fantasy.
The American artist Rob James Kolomyski takes the canvas as a unique space for pure expression, regarding it not only as the beginning and procession of any possible journey, but also as an abstract/concrete space for sentimental exploration. His work is a mixture of abstract expressionism and German expressionism. In his Portrait and Head series, the head and facial expression hazily emerge from the dynamic brushstrokes, the canvas then transforming into a site of visual exploration where the artist’s perception intersects reality.
Canvas as Theater
Tian Bao-Chang paints neither beautiful nor happy people. Sitting in the corner of a café, his cool gaze can always identify the people who’s hearts carry all sorts of burdens. He quietly paints the scenes from real life on small sketchbooks rather than large canvases, a process that echoes the small and insignificant existence of our reality. Nevertheless, his work also conveys a sense of the ease of being small; it seems that the figures portrayed in his life theater tend to say “Well, this is our way of living.” His sketch always reminds me of the pairing of humbleness and pride in the Chinese singer Zhang Chu’s song “Lonely People Are Shameful” (1994).
Tsai Yi-Ting’s work centers on her home. In her painting, family members perform the drama. Since home is usually where we easily let down our mental defenses and protective mechanism, these “performers” themselves are not aware of the gaze of camera and director; they approach the camera and run out of the frame at will. While every glance, gesture and interaction links to a particular sentiment or emotion, every body movement reveals a supporting configuration of the drama; these delicately depicted details contribute to the subtlety of Tsai Yi-Ting’s family theater.
Huang Hua-Chen also paints people. She begins by studying her friends and family and further extends her interest to investigate individual differences and similarities as well as mutual relations. She tries to know herself, identify individual position and reveal people today through endless exploration and comparison of one individual to another. She uses thick daubs of acrylic paint to render the face and skin, presenting a series of homogeneous portraits by gradually effacing individual aspects. However, paradoxically, the individual differences become highlighted in this manner.
Hsu Yin-Ling’s painting invents a “manor”, in which she borrows the idea of a utopia, and transforms it into a model for examining humanity. In her “manor”, all the furniture is clearly and minutely delineated, while faces remain vague and fuzzy. It seems that no matter how ideal the design or proper the description, the complexity of humanity cannot be represented. Nevertheless, the artist’s aim lies not in discussing the possibilities/impossibilities of carrying out the ideal of a utopia, but in establishing a doll-house “manor” as a mirror for reflecting manifold humanity, in order to explore the interrelations of our being, society and illusive value systems.
The world in Benjamin Swallow Duke’s painting is a surrealist expression of the real world. He asks himself “Is this the way the world is? “Is this the way the world is in this work?” or “Am I in the world or is the world in me?” These questions evoke the philosophy of Zhuangzi's Butterfly Dream and the relative understanding of real, surreal and self-identity. He has embarked on a journey of self-discovery with a sense of humor.
Huang Hai-Hsin’s painting tries to unveil the secrets of body language in everyday life and news media photographs. In these well-organized photographs, body language conveys different types of messages on public occasions. The artist attempts to disclose the emptiness, contradiction and absurdity underlying these messages, emphasizing the illusory aspects of human existence.
The creation of a male and a female figure in the Korean artist Nari Choi’s painting is inspired by images from mayonnaise and ketchup labels. The artist assumes that the way we dress and act are influenced by certain archetypal roles and their interactions; therefore, she invents two fictional characters representing both sexes in her painting, and demonstrates their ritualistic action and interaction in an imaginative and whimsical way.
The Japanese artist Yuhi Hasegawa’s work concerns humanity’s constant sway between the primitive and the civilized. The effect achieved by contrasting bright, bold colors with dark ones, when accompanied by rough and unconstrained brushstrokes, recalls the wild power of nature. The incessant struggle of two extreme forces animates the picture plane.
Beyond the Weak Painting by Jian Tzu-Chieh
We are in an era that signified are gone away from signifiers. No matter how we categorize paintings we are in risk. That's why my heart throbbed a bit when I was told that fifteen artists are participating in a show titled Weak Painting. What makes painting weak? Is this a question in regard to art types? Or, is Weak Painting suggesting a particular style that inclines to the weak end of the spectrum of painting?
Before answering these questions we still need knowledge of formalism, the historical perspective of formalism will be able to help us approach our studied subjects. In my other essays, I analyzed how does the axis of formalism on one end and knowledge on the other connect itself to the academic tradition. Now my interest switches to the art outside academia, meaning art existing in the seams along this axis. I probe the process of painting being caught by art market as well as the more and more complete machination of various institutions. How art beyond academia is excluded from the scope of academic discourses? Outside the intellectual concern, what activities are left?
This article is not attempt to make a conclusion but simply to find clues for further research before the inauguration of this exhibition.
1: Physical Approach-- Neural System
We can easily find some popular theories in the purpose of relating Weak Painting to physical activities, for example, the operation of neural system beside brain. The cliche of traditional aesthetics, abstract or material, does not fill the seams of academic system, the axis of formalism-knowledge means nothing. Being a domain of art practice, the planes carrying out strokes of brushes accidentally interweave subjects and objects over the fantastic painting. As the paragraph follows:
Sensation. Sensational images are related to sensible forms, which is an immediate activity of the physical response of neural system. On the contrary, perception of abstract forms belongs to brain, it is an activity of the brain tissue near the skull.
2: Discourses of Inexplicable, Shadowed Places
In our era that art tends to fall out of its subjectivity, I'd like to identify the creators first. As a critic of contemporary art at age of thirties, I do believe that painting is a weak category in art. I once thought my own experience might be biased, but after I participated in many panels of different art schools, I found that conversations about paintings never lasted more than five minutes. It was not because of the paintings themselves (in fact, art with a common blind point in form provides perfect timing for interfering language), but because the painters I encountered in academic system tend to maintain silent. A huge gap exists between the flawless art forms they have created and the so called "critical discourses".
Perhaps it's because creating such art forms one relies on his/her sensibility, which is the activity most difficult to be explained by language. Thus these artists shy away from any performative actions in occasions acquiring oral expression. Nevertheless, by no means these artists would ever give up entering the "performative state that needs special motivation to turn around"(I define this domain with such an expedient terminology). In order to answer the question about the weakness of painting, we can't avoid looking into the personalities of this group of artists. Their weakness is most evident in speech which is not resulted from their inexperience in art but from the poverty of jargons to suitably interpret their art experience. In other words, painting lacks the apparatus to provoke theory development that can be interfaced by language only. If the necessary apparatus is a straight, perceivable line, painting only happens at the discontinuation of language where unspeakable sensibility fills in. The indescribable sensibility is shared among these artists, they inherited the tradition of silence in painting.
The discontinuation intrigues me most. Silence doesn't mean emptiness and the Weak Painting happens to refract the shadowed place in contemporary art that even the most critical theories fail to elucidate. How do we respond to the contemporary art that actually is so intimate to our everyday life? As conventional painting and sculpture are accepted by the public as what art is supposed to be, multimedia and installations are accidentally involved in real social domains. In the documentary exhibitions of contemporary art, we witness the contextual reference not unlike the presentation in museums or the orderly displays in shopping malls. What distinguishes art from commonplace is a weak, subtle experience of formalism. We must have the faculty to discern ready-made objects from the context of everyday life, or to decode the semiotic system as well as meanings beyond the system (in the case an anonymous subject manipulates it). Or, we should be able to recognize that the similarities are in fact simulacres deviated from our reality (real social domains don't represent reality). Contemporary art is an activity of intervention, artists are disturbing the existing social spheres and before they take actions, they must learn how to differentiate the obscure distinctness of art from the display of commodities. Thus Weaking Painting, providing the most precise understanding of formalism, has successfully taken over the position around the vague boundary between art and daily life.
3: Blessing from Tradition
Though passively passing on the tradition of silence in art, painting is benefited by the linear tradition. The weakness we talk about here implies the power of interpretation within the institution. Paintings are weak because they hardly provoke discussions and are too well accepted as a symbol of capitalism with their incredible market value. They are the most favored goods for high-end consumers, and they constitute the most convincing footnote for art production within the system.
I have no intention to belittle art trade but can't help wondering what this footnote would bring us. We must be careful for it might be a conspiracy. While everyone is knowingly benefited by tradtion without thinking more skeptically, we question that since contemporary art is in fact operated into the market, are we still able to distinguish painting from other types of art?
Anyway, the judgment that paintings are more acceptable by the institutional power is also a very seductive paradigm of criticism. In addition to its tradable nature, paintings carry out the precisely calculated or deliberately blurred sensibility with a traditional approach that allures everyone. This judgment even suggests that there are people familiar with the operation of the institution but unable to talk about their subjects. We also should not omit that, under this paradigm of criticism, Weak Painting is actually side-by-side with the institutional power of interpretation. It replaces the particular absence of narrative structure by visibility. The absence presents itself as a smooth linear course of many traditions so it pushes paintings into systematic transactions. No matter it is deemed as artwork or commodity, this straight course is no longer parallel to the overly simplified, unequivocal art history. The signifiers used be for the employment of artists are long gone.
4: Divergence
In the news release, co-curator Chang Ching-Wen writes: "Weak Painting suggests the attitude of these young artists. The weakness comes from the flimsy senses and perception in daily life, it is not as grand as meta-narratives, but it provides captivating points of view." In the inner of these young artists are winding psychological paths, they hang about over the two-dimensional paintings and maintain the conventional relationship between hand manipulation and original art by representing private stories. They are enveloped by silence perhaps because of the crisis of meta-narratives. The signifying machination of Weak Painting has diverted from the domination of art history. Things might influence these weak paintings are more likely to be choruses repeatedly played, trivial ideas from commonplace, and emotions, desires or spontaneous convulsions caused by neural system that have been long repressed by the doctrines of the shackles of formalism-knowledge-academia. Through these young artists, Weak Painting develops new subjective context and their particularly private activities for painting break away from the zero distance between "us" the the meta-narratives enveloping the entire Taiwanese society.
5: Beyond
I imagine myself taking the standing of Weak Painting, then I am obliged to criticize the paradigm of criticism. Thus my task gets more and more complicated. For example, how can I clarify the difference between "private activities for painting" and the "self objectification in seductive games"? Breaking away from the zero distance to meta-narratives is similar to sheltering oneself in a cafe at the busiest hours, with the excuse of meditating and in fact escaping. One strategy in my mind is to establish the relationship between Weak Painting and the "strong" art categories. Undoubtedly we will have to proceed this job by making use the high penetrative ability of painting in the reality and kick off an exploration through this unusual exhibition compared to many art events in recent years. Though formalism still is an issue, Weak Painting can only play the critical turning point when painting is no longer trapped by certain forms and the weakness referes not only painting or any other popular art types. Perhaps these young artists already have achieved it.
Before answering these questions we still need knowledge of formalism, the historical perspective of formalism will be able to help us approach our studied subjects. In my other essays, I analyzed how does the axis of formalism on one end and knowledge on the other connect itself to the academic tradition. Now my interest switches to the art outside academia, meaning art existing in the seams along this axis. I probe the process of painting being caught by art market as well as the more and more complete machination of various institutions. How art beyond academia is excluded from the scope of academic discourses? Outside the intellectual concern, what activities are left?
This article is not attempt to make a conclusion but simply to find clues for further research before the inauguration of this exhibition.
1: Physical Approach-- Neural System
We can easily find some popular theories in the purpose of relating Weak Painting to physical activities, for example, the operation of neural system beside brain. The cliche of traditional aesthetics, abstract or material, does not fill the seams of academic system, the axis of formalism-knowledge means nothing. Being a domain of art practice, the planes carrying out strokes of brushes accidentally interweave subjects and objects over the fantastic painting. As the paragraph follows:
Sensation. Sensational images are related to sensible forms, which is an immediate activity of the physical response of neural system. On the contrary, perception of abstract forms belongs to brain, it is an activity of the brain tissue near the skull.
2: Discourses of Inexplicable, Shadowed Places
In our era that art tends to fall out of its subjectivity, I'd like to identify the creators first. As a critic of contemporary art at age of thirties, I do believe that painting is a weak category in art. I once thought my own experience might be biased, but after I participated in many panels of different art schools, I found that conversations about paintings never lasted more than five minutes. It was not because of the paintings themselves (in fact, art with a common blind point in form provides perfect timing for interfering language), but because the painters I encountered in academic system tend to maintain silent. A huge gap exists between the flawless art forms they have created and the so called "critical discourses".
Perhaps it's because creating such art forms one relies on his/her sensibility, which is the activity most difficult to be explained by language. Thus these artists shy away from any performative actions in occasions acquiring oral expression. Nevertheless, by no means these artists would ever give up entering the "performative state that needs special motivation to turn around"(I define this domain with such an expedient terminology). In order to answer the question about the weakness of painting, we can't avoid looking into the personalities of this group of artists. Their weakness is most evident in speech which is not resulted from their inexperience in art but from the poverty of jargons to suitably interpret their art experience. In other words, painting lacks the apparatus to provoke theory development that can be interfaced by language only. If the necessary apparatus is a straight, perceivable line, painting only happens at the discontinuation of language where unspeakable sensibility fills in. The indescribable sensibility is shared among these artists, they inherited the tradition of silence in painting.
The discontinuation intrigues me most. Silence doesn't mean emptiness and the Weak Painting happens to refract the shadowed place in contemporary art that even the most critical theories fail to elucidate. How do we respond to the contemporary art that actually is so intimate to our everyday life? As conventional painting and sculpture are accepted by the public as what art is supposed to be, multimedia and installations are accidentally involved in real social domains. In the documentary exhibitions of contemporary art, we witness the contextual reference not unlike the presentation in museums or the orderly displays in shopping malls. What distinguishes art from commonplace is a weak, subtle experience of formalism. We must have the faculty to discern ready-made objects from the context of everyday life, or to decode the semiotic system as well as meanings beyond the system (in the case an anonymous subject manipulates it). Or, we should be able to recognize that the similarities are in fact simulacres deviated from our reality (real social domains don't represent reality). Contemporary art is an activity of intervention, artists are disturbing the existing social spheres and before they take actions, they must learn how to differentiate the obscure distinctness of art from the display of commodities. Thus Weaking Painting, providing the most precise understanding of formalism, has successfully taken over the position around the vague boundary between art and daily life.
3: Blessing from Tradition
Though passively passing on the tradition of silence in art, painting is benefited by the linear tradition. The weakness we talk about here implies the power of interpretation within the institution. Paintings are weak because they hardly provoke discussions and are too well accepted as a symbol of capitalism with their incredible market value. They are the most favored goods for high-end consumers, and they constitute the most convincing footnote for art production within the system.
I have no intention to belittle art trade but can't help wondering what this footnote would bring us. We must be careful for it might be a conspiracy. While everyone is knowingly benefited by tradtion without thinking more skeptically, we question that since contemporary art is in fact operated into the market, are we still able to distinguish painting from other types of art?
Anyway, the judgment that paintings are more acceptable by the institutional power is also a very seductive paradigm of criticism. In addition to its tradable nature, paintings carry out the precisely calculated or deliberately blurred sensibility with a traditional approach that allures everyone. This judgment even suggests that there are people familiar with the operation of the institution but unable to talk about their subjects. We also should not omit that, under this paradigm of criticism, Weak Painting is actually side-by-side with the institutional power of interpretation. It replaces the particular absence of narrative structure by visibility. The absence presents itself as a smooth linear course of many traditions so it pushes paintings into systematic transactions. No matter it is deemed as artwork or commodity, this straight course is no longer parallel to the overly simplified, unequivocal art history. The signifiers used be for the employment of artists are long gone.
4: Divergence
In the news release, co-curator Chang Ching-Wen writes: "Weak Painting suggests the attitude of these young artists. The weakness comes from the flimsy senses and perception in daily life, it is not as grand as meta-narratives, but it provides captivating points of view." In the inner of these young artists are winding psychological paths, they hang about over the two-dimensional paintings and maintain the conventional relationship between hand manipulation and original art by representing private stories. They are enveloped by silence perhaps because of the crisis of meta-narratives. The signifying machination of Weak Painting has diverted from the domination of art history. Things might influence these weak paintings are more likely to be choruses repeatedly played, trivial ideas from commonplace, and emotions, desires or spontaneous convulsions caused by neural system that have been long repressed by the doctrines of the shackles of formalism-knowledge-academia. Through these young artists, Weak Painting develops new subjective context and their particularly private activities for painting break away from the zero distance between "us" the the meta-narratives enveloping the entire Taiwanese society.
5: Beyond
I imagine myself taking the standing of Weak Painting, then I am obliged to criticize the paradigm of criticism. Thus my task gets more and more complicated. For example, how can I clarify the difference between "private activities for painting" and the "self objectification in seductive games"? Breaking away from the zero distance to meta-narratives is similar to sheltering oneself in a cafe at the busiest hours, with the excuse of meditating and in fact escaping. One strategy in my mind is to establish the relationship between Weak Painting and the "strong" art categories. Undoubtedly we will have to proceed this job by making use the high penetrative ability of painting in the reality and kick off an exploration through this unusual exhibition compared to many art events in recent years. Though formalism still is an issue, Weak Painting can only play the critical turning point when painting is no longer trapped by certain forms and the weakness referes not only painting or any other popular art types. Perhaps these young artists already have achieved it.
2009年9月25日
2009年9月10日
「弱繪畫」，不只是
文∣簡子傑
555
在這個概念早已遠離所指的時代，我以為要將繪畫指認成什麼，都要冒一點風險。或也因此，當我首次聽聞這個由15位藝術家共同參與的展覽，名稱為「弱繪畫」時，心裡不免揪了一下：什麼情況下繪畫會被說成是弱的？這是否屬於藝術類型問題？還是這是在指一種特定的繪畫，在眾多可能的繪畫樣態中存在著強弱不一的程度問題，「弱繪畫」特指偏向「弱」的一種？
555
當然，在回答這個問題以前，我們仍需要大寫的形式主義知識，這些幾如藝術史的知識有助於逼近我們的對象。我曾經在另外幾篇文章提到形式主義—知識這條軸線如何聯繫上學院傳統，但我現在更感興趣的是學院傳統以外的部分，在這個由藝術實踐與形式主義—知識構造成的縫隙間，繪畫，之所以為畫廊市場與各種日趨完備的體制機器所捕獲的過程為何？再者，它們又如何自論述者的關注範圍被往外推？當它們已經遠離這些智性目光，關於那些不得不遺留下來的、關於那些在論述範圍以外持續在活動的，又是些什麼？
555
總之，這篇展前文章不是要給出定論，只是試著抓到一些展開它的線索。
1: 肉體—神經系統
一方面，我們可以輕易地在一些流行的理論中找到線索，「弱繪畫」關係著肉體，更特定的說，是那些不屬於腦部活動的神經系統，在這個原本即已遠離任何形式主義—知識乃至學院傳統的間隙中，並不存在著抽象與具象等老梗般的傳統美學議題，繪畫作為那些筆觸顫動著的實踐場域，更像一個意外交疊著主體與對象物的奇異場所，例如這段描述：
感官感覺（sensation）。感覺形象，這是和感官感覺有關的感覺形式（forme sensible）；它立即地在性質上屬於肉體的神經系統上作用。然而抽象形式（Forme）則訴諸於腦部，透過較接近骨骼的腦的中介進行活動。[註]
2: 論述難以解釋的闇影處
但在這個傾斜於主體之外的藝術年代，我想先做一點關於人、而非作品對象的指認。經驗地看（作為一個卅餘歲的藝評對台灣當代藝術社群的經驗），我們的確很容易產生「繪畫是弱的」的想法。當然之所以稱為經驗，是因為這些經驗有其片面性，但當我置身在各所藝術學院中和其他人討論所謂的作品表現，話頭很難圍繞在繪畫並持續超過五分鐘，然而問題往往不是源自作品（往往一件有著形式盲點的作品更適合介入話語）——我們在學院中遭遇的這些從事繪畫表現形式的這群人，他們多半有一種緘默傾向，他們所製作的這些無懈可擊的藝術形式，與那些可通泛地憑藉「批判性」予以連結的論述之間，其間存在著巨大鴻溝。
這或許是因為，創造這些形式所依賴的感性活動恰恰是最難以言詮的碎裂，也因此，在任何需要口語表達的場合，畫畫的這群人特別缺乏表演性，雖則他們的畫作又顯示這群人不可能放棄進入這種被我權宜地界定為「那些需要特別發動才能產生的彎折線」的表演狀態——重點是，若要回答「當前的繪畫何以顯得弱」這個問題，又設定要從這群人的性格特質來看待，「弱」特別顯現在貧乏的口語活動中，這不是說他們缺乏與其創作相應的藝術經驗，而是：缺乏一套能夠妥善描繪出這些藝術經驗的術語群，換言之，繪畫欠缺如何將藝術經驗發動成那種傾向理論思考的語言介面的東西，如果說這個東西更像一條可理解的直線，繪畫則總是發生在語言中止而感性即將湧現的彎折狀態中，於是這些難以說出的感覺內涵，彷彿便是這些人的共同空間，繪畫在此經受著沈默的傳統。
讓我感興趣的是這種彎折：沈默並不意味著一片空無，「弱繪畫」恰切地折射出當代藝術的批判性論述最難以解釋的闇影處——我們該如何回應緊鄰著日常生活的當代藝術？當繪畫、雕塑等傳統藝術類型易於被社會接受為藝術作品，大量啟用新媒體、裝置型態的當代藝術卻意外地捲入現實的社會場域，我們在多半為文件式的當代藝術展覽中經驗到博物館的脈絡參照性，同時也感受到大型賣場般的系統性陳列秩序，這時能夠為當代藝術與日常生活進行區辨的東西，往往是一種微弱的形式主義經驗，我們必須據有一種將現成物自其日常脈絡剝離的差異化能力，或者是將這當代藝術物件看成一套符號系統及其以外的東西（總是有匿名主體在其間進行操作），或者獲取一種將這些相似性看成對早已遠離我們的真實的擬像論（現實的社會場域本身並不意味著真實），當代藝術總是介入性事件（這群藝術家正在擾動既存的社會空間）——但在這麼做之前，我們必須學會辨認當代藝術與商場陳列規劃之間幾無可辨認的形式差異，為此，作為提供最精確的形式經驗的「弱繪畫」，已然奪取在模糊的藝術與生活之疆界間最後僥倖存活的藝術位置。
3: 傳統的祝福
然而，繪畫，作為這個沈默傳統的被動接受者，也享受著傳統的線性祝福——當我們說當前的繪畫是「弱」的，尤其是指體制內的論述權力，繪畫之所以「弱」是因為它們欠缺那得以被論述、或足以促使人們討論的能力，但這個傾向並不意味著繪畫不為體制所接受——剛好相反，繪畫作為深受資本主義體制歡迎的象徵系統，不僅依舊據有消費層頂端最動人的市場潛值，它也可為藝術體制最能接受的作品觀點定下深具說服力的註腳。
我毫無貶抑作品買賣這種事的念頭，令我猶豫的卻是這個註腳將帶來什麼？我們必須慎重地考慮，這或許是一齣共謀戲劇。當我們試圖解釋那傳統所致使的各種不經思索的利益時，那也只是在說一個我們早已知曉的共同事態，但是在當代藝術的高度市場化的實況中，我們如何能夠將繪畫與其他藝術類型進行區分？
555
無論如何，對繪畫易於為體制所接受這種論斷本身也是深具誘惑的一種批評範式：一方面，這是因為繪畫最易於被接受成藝術—商品，再者，當這些精確或有意模糊的感性形式在平面上施展，作為傳統，也深深誘惑著所有參與其中的人，這個論點甚且暗示著：是一些深諳體制運作法則卻不能談論對象的人。但我們不該遺漏，在這種批評範式下，「弱繪畫」也是一種緊鄰著體制論述權力、以可見性替換可述性的獨特空缺形式，這個空缺先是呈現為一種平坦的線條，存在著各種傳統以便將繪畫推向體制化的交換系統，商品於是可等同於作品，然而，這個線條現在卻不再預設著有一種清晰可辨（因而也過於簡化）的藝術歷史，創作者的指涉性資源早已轉向它處。
4: 岔開
確如張晴文在展前新聞稿中所表示，「弱繪畫」標示出年輕藝術的創作態度：「『弱繪畫』的『弱』，對應的是現實生活裡的細微知覺與情感，它們或許不具備大敘事的恢弘，卻有極為迷人的探查與見解」，這群人在內向的彎折中迂迴，在平面形式的繪畫經驗裡逗留，在手操作的指涉性傳統中維繫藝術家與媒材間的個體關係——由此私密性得以顯現，而緘默之所以籠罩，或許正是因為那將導致「大敘事的恢弘」危機。事實上，弱繪畫的指涉性資源早已遠離了藝術史或其他什麼的傳統支配，會對這些作品產生影響的東西更像是：重複播放的副歌、日常生活的瑣碎執念、被形式主義—知識—學院鍊條所禁止的情感、慾望、神經系統的非自主顫動，它們共同為這群年輕藝術家追索出不同的主體化脈絡，「弱繪畫」獨有的私密性繪畫行動更將岔開我們與台灣那籠罩性的大敘事焦慮之間的無距離。
5: 不只是
我想像，若我站在「弱繪畫」的立場，應該要對這種批評範式進行批評。但問題愈顯複雜，例如，「私密性的繪畫行動」如何差異於在誘惑遊戲中的自我客體化？岔開與大敘事焦慮的無距離，就像明明很忙卻刻意躲在咖啡館，美其名為思索但我們又如何能說這不是逃避？我想可能的策略在於「弱繪畫」必須開始編織與其他或屬「強」的當代藝術形式的各種關係，我們毫無疑問地將藉用繪畫在現實世界的高度穿透力來進行這項工作——無論如何，「弱繪畫」作為近來罕見的類型策展，或許可以視為展開此一過程的初始，雖則我們仍舊有個形式議題般的緣起，但現在應該很清楚，唯有在繪畫不只滿足於對某種特定形式的捕獲時，當它的「弱」恰恰意味著不只是繪畫、也不只是其他藝術類型大行其道的事態中，「弱繪畫」才有可能成為最關鍵的轉折，其實，這群人很可能早就這麼做了。
註釋：引文出自陳蕉的譯文，見德勒茲（Gilles Deleuze）著，陳蕉譯，《法蘭西斯‧培根：感官感覺的邏輯》，苗栗三灣鄉：桂冠，2009，初版，頁47。
文章轉自"frq"
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