馮博一

 

藝術(shù)表現(xiàn)的豐富性和可能性本源于生活與人性的復(fù)雜和混濁，而這種復(fù)雜的混濁往往與特定歷史階段的文化語(yǔ)境有著直接乃至必然的關(guān)聯(lián)。那么，對(duì)歷史與現(xiàn)實(shí)文化的敏感則導(dǎo)致藝術(shù)家在藝術(shù)觀念和方法論，以及題材、媒介、語(yǔ)言等方式上的改變。鄧箭今作為上世紀(jì)六十年代出生的中國(guó)藝術(shù)家來(lái)說(shuō)，好像沒(méi)有什么比正逢歷史動(dòng)蕩和社會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)型所造成的扭曲更能觸動(dòng)內(nèi)心了；在扭曲的外化表現(xiàn)之中，又好像沒(méi)有比“欲望”的不間斷流動(dòng)，更能一言以敝之地概括出我們這個(gè)時(shí)代的社會(huì)特征。因此，我們看鄧箭今油畫藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作的履歷，可以較為明確地發(fā)現(xiàn)他的藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作的針對(duì)性，始終圍繞著“欲望”的關(guān)鍵詞，以及有關(guān)欲望的人際語(yǔ)境。只不過(guò)這個(gè)欲望的呈現(xiàn)，更多地是以男女之間相勾連，或者說(shuō)通過(guò)這種人性中最直接的欲望，來(lái)抵達(dá)其中的矛盾、尷尬與荒誕。拿情色的意象潤(rùn)飾性描繪的修辭手段，好比遮蓋亞當(dāng)夏娃下體的無(wú)花果葉子，這一紋飾正是身體和情欲典型的泛文化表述方式。從中既可以看出鄧箭今筆下的他／她們對(duì)日常生活細(xì)枝末節(jié)懷有的本能，以及他運(yùn)用斑斕色彩夸張生動(dòng)地渲染其間的躁動(dòng)、頹廢，又有些荒誕與悅色的偏執(zhí)——將夢(mèng)魘般的身體扭曲在詭異的情色之中。作品里有著“亂花漸欲迷人眼”的眩目，以及在現(xiàn)實(shí)喧囂的混世里濃縮了他／她們無(wú)所謂的妄想囈語(yǔ)和獨(dú)領(lǐng)的風(fēng)騷。

 

談到欲望，似乎主角永遠(yuǎn)是女人。這在西方敘事傳統(tǒng)中幾乎是天經(jīng)地義的，就像在中國(guó)敘事傳統(tǒng)中女人必定是禍水一樣，女人總是被描述為欲望的追逐者，甚至是“邪惡的誘惑物”。這樣認(rèn)定，女權(quán)主義者或女性主義者們是會(huì)憤然地提出質(zhì)疑。她們不能接受女性在藝術(shù)表現(xiàn)的敘事中被物質(zhì)化，或被描繪成消費(fèi)動(dòng)物、禍水的根源。從這點(diǎn)來(lái)看，鄧箭今也未能免俗，他不僅要把欲望的主角鎖定為女人，而且，還要讓他畫面的女性承擔(dān)起中國(guó)社會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)型期城市化進(jìn)程中欲望的主題和標(biāo)示符號(hào)。盡管，在鄧箭今的作品圖式中不乏男性形象，但那也只是為凸顯罪惡欲望的配角而已。鄧箭今的作品色調(diào)艷麗、形態(tài)怪誕，甚至還有些血腥氣；充盈的畫面似乎在強(qiáng)調(diào)視覺圖像中的形式主義趣味，即把女性變成純粹的形式感，并將這種形式感發(fā)輝到露骨，甚至令人驚怵的程度。但我以為他并不在意于社會(huì)傳統(tǒng)的道德評(píng)判，而是忽視或弱化其衛(wèi)道士的男權(quán)主義。他是以帶有夸張的虛擬化的典型形象處理，凸顯出她們生動(dòng)和荒誕的生存處境，折射出中國(guó)目前社會(huì)現(xiàn)實(shí)的消費(fèi)文化中，潛隱于其中的一種罪惡狀態(tài)。在她們艷俗而光滑的五官與變形肢體的對(duì)比中，似乎錯(cuò)愕而困惑地在尋覓著什么。既流淌出根植于人內(nèi)心的欲望與宣泄這一矛盾的心理情結(jié)，又演繹了她們?cè)谏孢^(guò)程中不斷被異化的人生夢(mèng)想。這些作品可以看出鄧箭今的用意是把畫面中的一個(gè)關(guān)鍵性的行為形象同時(shí)賦予了內(nèi)容和形式方面的最大效果。這種效果具有復(fù)雜的象征意義，即把我們現(xiàn)今社會(huì)日益膨脹的物質(zhì)消費(fèi)的情景，通過(guò)這些男情女愛的怪異形象符號(hào)化和現(xiàn)實(shí)化了，甚至殘酷地、毫不留情地畫出了這些生命卑賤的結(jié)局。于是視覺的圖像從非現(xiàn)實(shí)的層面進(jìn)入到一個(gè)現(xiàn)實(shí)的層面，以此來(lái)表達(dá)他對(duì)當(dāng)下現(xiàn)實(shí)社會(huì)的深刻關(guān)注。在社會(huì)激烈變動(dòng)的轉(zhuǎn)型時(shí)期，生存的壓力和前途的渺茫，使得人們的物質(zhì)生活和精神生活都陷入了巨大無(wú)邊的困頓之中，他們的精神世界籠罩著苦悶、彷徨、無(wú)聊、寂寞的情緒。特別是生活在社會(huì)底層的他們的處境就更加糟糕，現(xiàn)實(shí)也顯得更加嚴(yán)峻。在這里，人性的復(fù)雜以及生活的促狹糾纏在一起，顯示出命運(yùn)的無(wú)常和難以捉摸。

 

我一直詫異于鄧箭今油畫藝術(shù)中對(duì)女性裸體和男女情事的露骨性表現(xiàn)。實(shí)際上，在當(dāng)下的藝術(shù)敘事中，已較少采取特別露骨的方式，或并不直接地將女性描述為“邪惡的誘惑物”。那么，鄧箭今的這種表現(xiàn)與時(shí)代文化特征之間存有怎樣的關(guān)系？這也是我在考察他藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作時(shí)的疑慮。因?yàn)檫@種女性形象的處理，代表了男性社會(huì)對(duì)女性的想象和要求，仍然沒(méi)有擺脫固有的依附性角色。隨著時(shí)代的發(fā)展，看上去女性獲得了自主的、獨(dú)立的、自由的性別身份，但是她們的完整人格仍然是模糊不清的。我們業(yè)已進(jìn)入到網(wǎng)絡(luò)時(shí)代，網(wǎng)絡(luò)科技為自由、開放、隨意等特性提供了足夠的技術(shù)支撐，也提供了一個(gè)新的選擇性表達(dá)空間，人們可以更加無(wú)所顧忌地選擇表達(dá)的方式，并需要在這種選擇中進(jìn)行一次新的社會(huì)形象的認(rèn)知與重組。這是以往從沒(méi)有過(guò)或嘗試過(guò)的傳播和展示的視覺方式，也是一種新的更為自主的表達(dá)機(jī)制。其意義不僅在于用一種新的視覺觀念表現(xiàn)所處的生存環(huán)境，而且還在于觸碰了我們慣常的接受圖像的觀看模式和經(jīng)驗(yàn)，更為我們自身的存在記錄了自主意識(shí)的歷史。其中的一個(gè)細(xì)節(jié)是我們?cè)絹?lái)越多地與從未見過(guò)面的陌生人在虛擬世界中頻繁地交往，不斷敞開自己的個(gè)人生活，披露自己私生活的細(xì)節(jié)，以便維持與不可見的陌生人的情感聯(lián)系，一種要同陌生人達(dá)成親密關(guān)系的幻覺。親密關(guān)系是隱私的另一面，或者說(shuō)，它至少只有當(dāng)實(shí)質(zhì)性的隱私存在時(shí)才成為可能或可欲的。為了向陌生人投射一種能夠留住記憶的形象，必須顯示自我的無(wú)可隱匿。我們不僅做著和其他人一樣的事情，還試圖通過(guò)盡可能全面地暴露給他人來(lái)證明自己是值得信任的。但那種情感的親密性只有在隱私的情境下才可以實(shí)現(xiàn)，倘若人們的焦慮和困惑不透露給陌生人，好像我們不可能建立起實(shí)現(xiàn)親密關(guān)系所必需的信任，以及獲取隱私所帶來(lái)的牢靠的注意力。所以，暴露的隨意性實(shí)際上表明了人們對(duì)認(rèn)同普遍存在著焦慮，以及越來(lái)越想取悅他人的欲求。如果公共的親密關(guān)系是一種錯(cuò)覺，希望通過(guò)滿足人們永無(wú)止盡的裸露要求來(lái)使自我不同于他人，也注定了這是虛幻的一種表現(xiàn)形式。因?yàn)槲覀兗仁怯^眾，又是演員，心甘情愿地暴露形體以換取虛無(wú)縹緲的情感聯(lián)系和安全感，已成為帶有普遍性的心理情結(jié)。這或許恰恰是我們時(shí)代征候之一種吧。那么，作為我的個(gè)人闡釋，是否也可以從中找尋到鄧箭今在圖像來(lái)源和赤裸裸地暴露身體之間的某種邏輯上的關(guān)系呢。

作為同代人，60年代出生的人已經(jīng)承受了這一份不獨(dú)個(gè)人的困惑，我們?cè)谧杂X地終結(jié)某種東西，通過(guò)所謂的藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作，我們?cè)谧穯?wèn)。也許潛在于我們內(nèi)心的心理隱秘只是開始，總有一個(gè)向著的世外，也許未必是桃源，卻有一個(gè)極為開放的空間。在現(xiàn)實(shí)的內(nèi)外仍有理想可存放的地方，那就是承擔(dān)社會(huì)責(zé)任的義務(wù)和作為一名藝術(shù)家的敏感銳與獨(dú)特的表現(xiàn)。或許我們也可從鄧箭今的油畫藝術(shù)中，觀察到知其不可為或者知其可為而不為的那一種只有60年代人才有的準(zhǔn)則與追求。

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

鄧箭今文章（08、11）

亂花漸欲迷人眼

——關(guān)于鄧箭今的油畫藝術(shù)

馮博一

 

 

Flying Flowers Thrusting into the Eyes

--- on Deng Jianjin’s Oil Painting

 

By Feng Boyi

 

    

    The richness and possibility root in the complexity and turbidity of life and human nature, but this complex turbidity always has direct even necessary association with the cultural context of certain historical phase. In that case, the sensitivity on history and culture of reality leads to the artist’s changes on art concept and methodology, as well as subject, media, and language. For Deng Jianjin, a Chinese artist born in the 1960s, nothing seems more touching than the distortion caused by historical unrest and social transition. In the distorted appearance, it seems that no more than the continuous flow of “desire” can summarize the social characteristic of our era. Therefore, when we see Deng Jianjin’s resume of his oil painting creation, it’s clear that his art creation always aims at the key word “desire”, as well as the context of interpersonal relation about desire. However, the presentation of the desire mostly relates to the intersexual relationship. In other words, through this direct desire of human being, he addresses the internal conflict, embarrassment and absurdity. The rhetoric retouching the pornographic images is like the fig leaf that used by Adam and Eve to cover their lower bodies. This ornamentation is right the typical pan-cultural expression of body and Eros. Through it, we can see the instinct “he”/ “she” in Deng Jianjin’s works has for the trivial details in daily life, and his use of gorgeous colors exaggeratedly and vividly rendering the restlessness, decadence, and paranoid somewhat absurd—distorting the nightmare-like bodies in the bizarre eroticism. There’s the dazzle of “flying flowers thrusting into eyes”, and it condenses their indifferent paranoiac raving and coquettishness in the chaotic world of the noisy reality.

 

      On desire, it seems that woman is always the protagonist. This is the unalterable principle in the tradition of western narrative. It’s just like that woman is always the trouble for the tradition of Chinese narrative, woman is always described as the pursuer of desire, even “evil temptation”. Feminists always angrily question this judgment. They cannot accept the materialization of women in the narrative of art expression, as well as the description of women as consumer animal and the origin of troubles. From this point of view, Deng Jianjin cannot be the exception. He not only wants to lock women as the protagonists of desire, but also let the women in his screens to carry the symbols and themes of desire in the urbanization process in the transition of Chinese society. Although there’s no lack of male images in Deng Jianjin’s works, they are no more than the supporting roles highlighting the evil desire. Deng Jianjin’s works have gorgeous colors, weird shapes, and even some bloody air. The sufficient image seems to emphasize the interests of formalism in visual images, which is to convert female to be pure form and exhaust the form to a degree of thriller. But I think his intention is not of the moral judgment of the social tradition, but is to ignore or weaken the androcentrism of the rights police. By the treatment of the exhausted and virtualized typical images, he highlights their vivid and absurd living state, reflecting an evil state hidden in the consumer culture in the current Chinese society. The contrast of their meretricious and smooth facial features and deformed limbs seems they are shocked, perplexed and looking for something. The flow of the desire rooted in heart and the psychological complex of vent interpret their life dreams which are constantly alienated in the survival process. Through these works, we can see that Deng Jianjin’s intention is to give the greatest effect on content and form to the key image of action in the screen. This effect has the complicated symbolic significance. The situation of our current society, the growing material consumption, is symbolized and realized by these weird pornography, and even the lowly outcome of these lives are brutally and mercilessly painted. Then the visual image is entered into a realistic level from the non-realistic level to express his profound concerns for the current social reality. In the transition period with the intense social changes, the pressure of survival and the uncertainty of future make the people fall in the boundless hardship on material life and spiritual life. Their spiritual world is fogged by the emotions of depression, anxiety, boredom and loneliness. Especially for those living in the bottom of society, their situation is worse and the reality for them is more severe. Here, the complex of human nature is entangled with the tease from life, showing the impermanent and unpredictable fate.

 

   I am always surprised by the explicit performance of the naked women and eroticism in Deng Jianjin’s oil painting. In fact, in the current art narrative, it’s rare to see the particularly explicit ways or the direct description of female as “evil temptation”. Well, what’s the relation between Deng Jianjin’s expression and the cultural characters of this era? This is also my doubt when I study his creation, because this treatment of female image is on behalf of the imagination and requirement of a male society to women, yet it does not get rid of the inherent role of adherence. With the development of the times, women appear to gain the autonomous, independent and free gender identity, yet their integral personality is vague. We have entered into an era of internet, the internet technology provides adequate technical supports for the characters of freedom, openness and randomness, as well as provides a selective space of expression where one can freely choose the expression way and do a new recognition and reorganization of the social images in these choices. This is the new visual way of spread and display never been tried, it is also a new expression system more autonomous. Its significance is not only using a new visual concept to express the situation of survival, but also touching the usual watch model and experience through which we receive images, as well as recording the history of self-awareness for our existences. One detail is that we frequently communicate with the strangers in the virtual world, open our personal lives, disclose the details of our private lives to maintain the emotional ties with the invisible strangers, build up the illusion of intimacy with strangers. Intimacy is the other side of privacy, in other words, it’s possible only if the substantial privacy exists. To project a memorable image to strangers, the unhidden self has to be shown. We do the same things as others, moreover we try to prove our credibility by comprehensive exposal. But this intimacy only can be realized in private situation. If people don’t disclose their anxiety and confusion to the strangers, the trust necessary for intimacy cannot be built up, as well as the solid attention according to the gain of privacy. Therefore, the randomness of exposure in fact demonstrates people’s widespread anxiety of identity and the increasing desire to please others. If the public intimacy is an illusion hoping to be different with others by the endless demands of nude, it’s doomed to be a performance of illusion, because we are both audiences and performers. Willingly exposing body in exchange for vague emotional ties and security sense has become a universal psychological complex. It might be one of the symptoms of our age. In that case, in my personal interpretation, can we find the logic relationship between the origin of the images and the naked bodies?

 

    As the same generation, the people born in the 1960s have borne an impersonal confusion. Through the so-called art creation, we consciously end something and we are questioning. Perhaps the secret hidden in our heart is just a beginning. There’s some place outside the world, which may not be an ideal state, but is a largely open space. There’s still some place inside or outside of the reality to place ideal. That is the responsibility taking social obligation, as well as the unique performance and sensitivity of an artist. In Deng Jianjin’s oil paintings, perhaps we also can observe the criteria and pursuit only for the 60’s, namely, knowing something we cannot do, or knowing something we can do but don’t do.