在中國當代藝術看見傳統水墨美學 ——大都會美術館策展人何慕文談特展「水墨」

大都會美術館亞洲藝術部部長及策展人何慕文

紐約大都會美術館近日推出特展「水墨」，呈現這項古老的媒材及類別在當代藝術中的表現。精通中國古代藝術的亞洲藝術部部長及策展人何慕文（Maxwell K. Hearn） ，曾於台北故宮做過幾年研究，說著一口流利的中文。這次的「水墨」為當代藝術展，對他來說是一項新的嘗試及挑戰，卻也是「等不及要做」的展覽。在《藝術家》雜誌的專訪中，何慕文暢談對於本次特展的想法及期待。言談之間充滿了熱情，也提供了另一種觀看中國當代藝術的角度。

問：請談談策畫「水墨」的最初想法。

何慕文：數年前，我開始感覺到中國當代藝術之中，水墨這項類別在市場上並不突出。西方收藏家、甚至美術館可能了解政治波普，因為這類藝術在表現上非常西方。至於捲軸或掛畫等單純是水墨與紙的作品，則多多少少較難被理解。

雖然當時我認為美術館有收藏亞洲當代藝術的義務，但又覺得那是當代藝術部門的責任，而這樣的想法在這幾年間漸漸改變。我意識到，若沒有受過對於中國傳統藝術的訓練，就沒辦法察覺中國當代藝術隱含的細微意義或指涉。不了解中國傳統藝術的西方學者或評論家，時常在西方藝術中找尋對照，這沒有不對。然而，我希望這個展覽強調出這些當代作品是中國傳統藝術的自然延續。同時，我也希望吸引新的觀眾，讓他們知道當代藝術不只存在當代展廳。因此，本次展覽在亞洲展廳呈現，是我十分特意的決定。

2006年，我看到展望的不鏽鋼作品〈假山石〉，它簡直就是傳統文人畫中石頭的自然延續。我感到非常興奮，心想這件作品能夠帶來驚奇，或許會讓人們多看看傳統石頭，也或許多看看現代雕塑。當時收藏了這件作品，可謂本次展覽想法的開端。同年，我在藝術拍賣中看到邱世華的作品〈無題〉。這件作品乍看之下像是全白的畫布，仔細一看，淡淡的水墨就像濃霧瀰漫的地景，前方的河面反射著陽光，並有一排樹木。看著這件作品，我想到北宋畫家郭熙。我驚訝地想，這就是傳統的現代延續。於是，我開始看到愈來愈多連結，意識到傳統水墨、書法的精神一直傳承下來，也領悟到自己不能再忽略現當代藝術了。

問：這次的展出作品包含各類藝術媒材，請問「水墨」這項展覽名稱是如何決定的？

何慕文：最初，我選了「Ink Art」這項展名，因為我認為這個名詞代表了幾千年來整個文人畫及書法的傳統，也是我們的美術館處理的類別，我想這是個好記、響亮的展名。一直到很後來，我們決定要取個中文展名，於是我想到「水墨」。但是，「水墨畫」在中文裡面指向很特定的類別，例如張洹的作品雖然使用墨水，卻不能稱為「水墨畫」，所以當時遇到了這個問題。不過，我在作品的選擇範圍上也同時在擴大。許多作品雖未用到水墨，卻在構圖及概念上延續傳統的水墨畫，因此，展名「水墨」指的不只是媒材，也是整個概念的傳承。

問：可以多做解釋嗎？

何慕文：這個展覽分為四個子題——書寫的文字、新山水、抽象，以及筆墨之外。第一個部分展出了谷文達、徐冰、吳山專、王天德等等一群藝術家，他們在做的是什麼？他們將文字的語義功能和美學功能分開。或許因為簡體中文的使用，或許因為政治因素，使得文字的意義改變了。我意識到有些藝術家正在進行對於文字意義的反抗，他們或許不想創作任何表達符合或反對政黨傾向的藝術品，因此創作了無法閱讀的文字。你無法讀懂，所以你也無法查禁，這帶有強大的力量，也點出書寫文字的問題。

在「新山水」部分，楊泳梁的〈蜃市山水〉雖然是數位輸出作品，以都市攝影為素材，卻在構圖上緊緊仿效南宋趙黻的〈長江萬里圖〉。他重複使用相同的建築，就好像北宋范寬使用的皴法「雨點皴」，而他同時去掉所有的人物，讓畫面變得有點嚇人。這件作品讓我想到宋朝理想化的山水，真美，也把我對於山水畫的思考引向一個全新的方向——都市山水。都市山水就是現代山水。至於史國瑞的〈上海〉使用針孔攝影的方式，拍下上海的全景。有趣的是這裡一個人影也沒有，因為史國瑞讓底片曝光將近八小時，所以任何移動的人、車、船都消失了，幾乎成為一個超現實的地景。我初次看到這件作品就很喜歡，這是理想化的山水，右邊有高山，中間有河流流過。我又突然領悟到這是一件單色調作品，這是水墨畫嗎？這是另一種水墨畫。

另外，邢丹文的〈都市演繹〉是拍攝建築模型，最後，她把自己放入作品之中，成為其中僅有的真人。艾未未的攝影作品〈暫時的風景〉呈現了古老建築轉變成現代建築的地景，同樣不見人影。中國到處都是人，人一直都是地景的一部分。但這些作品呈現無人的狀態，我認為這非常重要。而邱黯雄的幾件錄像作品中，有直接引用中國山水畫的畫面，所以他參照傳統繪畫的意圖非常明顯，即使他的實際媒材不是紙墨。我再度在其中看到宋元山水畫，也不斷地發現，當代藝術仍含有某種程度的水墨。

接下來是「抽象」。從中國傳統繪畫來看，到了元朝趙孟頫、李衎之時，繪畫不只是呈現外在世界，而是反映畫家的心態，這種自我表達是一種抽象。我也看到許多使用書法技法創作抽象作品的藝術家。我在一場拍賣看到王冬齡的作品， 當時我並不知道這位藝術家 ，但覺得這真是很美的構圖。西方觀者可能會聯想到 法蘭茲．克蘭（Franz Kline）或羅柏．馬特韋爾（Robert Motherwell），但與他們不同的，是王冬齡是了解書法的人。一位美國藝術家布萊斯．馬頓（Brice Marden）受到中文國字影響很大，他在以色塊創作一段時間後，想以線條創作不帶意義的圖象。對他來說，中國書法提供了解答。他可以創作像書法一樣的線條塗鴉，看起來像文字，卻不是文字。這些都是以書法技法創作抽象繪畫，但是西方藝術家無法做出跟中國藝術家一樣的創作，因為他們沒有受過傳統書法的訓練。所以，或許有人認為王冬齡受到克蘭的影響，其實不見得。

除了平面作品以外，展覽中也包含立體作品，例如引發本次展覽想法的展望的〈假山石〉，又如張健君的〈假山石（幻園）〉、王晉的〈中國之夢〉等。我稱這部分為「筆墨之外」，這些作品並非以水墨為媒材，卻帶有水墨畫的美學，是文人美學的一部分。

問：本次的展出作品散布在常設展廳的古代文物之間，請問這樣安排的用意為何？

何慕文：我認為這是建立傳統與現代連結及對話的方式。楊詰蒼曾學習元朝壁畫，所以他非常喜歡把自己的作品放在14世紀壁畫旁邊展出的想法。艾未未的〈桌〉和〈椅子〉以清朝寺廟的木頭為媒材，所以我將作品放在明朝家具旁邊展出。我希望觀眾被挑戰，並且驚奇地說：「啊，我懂了！」這是藝術穿越時空的力量，也是我們身為一座百科全書式的美術館可以做到的。美術館不只是述說一個線性的歷史，也把不同時期的物件並列，彼此呼應。對我來說，這是現在收藏當代藝術最重要的目標之一。

問：你以前就對當代藝術有興趣嗎？還是本次策展的想法把你帶進當代藝術？

何慕文：主要是後者。如我之前提道，我的專長在14世紀前後，所以之前並不覺得需要研究當代藝術，但是這些作品開始對我說話，我看到這些藝術家都在不同的方式及程度上反映傳統。

問：所以你是在策畫的過程中，逐漸發現新的藝術家嗎？

何慕文：大部分是的。我參觀了許多展覽及收藏，從中選擇對我說話的作品。事實上，我並未與很多藝術家見面，因為藝術家大多會拿出最新的作品，但我對於他們的出發點比較有興趣。以徐冰的英文方塊字而言，他可能會覺得後期的方塊字作品比較好，但我想展出的是早期尚帶生疏的作品，我不希望作品太過圓滑。對於許多其他藝術家作品，也是同樣的想法。我想，展覽之中許多藝術家在西方都不是家喻戶曉的名字，不過這正呈現了中國有多少藝術家都從傳統水墨畫中得到靈感。相對地，或許有人認為我們把艾未未的作品放在展覽中，因為他的名氣大，可以吸引觀眾。事實上，這裡的作品都是符合展覽主題的。

我原本想到一些台灣藝術家，不過，後來決定不將台灣藝術家含括在展覽之內，因為台灣藝術家如劉國松等人都比中國早一步開始，屬於不同的故事。因此，我將範圍縮小到中國出生的藝術家，其中大部分也仍居住在中國。

我以前總認為自己處理已去世藝術家的作品就好，因為他們不會回嘴，但是我這次真得很享受與這群藝術家見面。我原本擔心藝術家們會希望自己的作品被放在當代展廳中，事實上，他們覺得在中國展廳展出，是很美的觀看這批作品的方式。我想，他們對於呈現本身中國人的身分也很感興趣。如何在中國人的身分和世界公民的身分之間取得平衡？不容易。不過，我認為這樣的平衡點也正是他們的靈感來源。

問：籌備展覽的過程中，有沒有什麼特別困難之處？

何慕文：尺寸。我們的展廳原本都是為傳統中國繪畫設計的，但是當代藝術有許多大尺寸的畫作，因此為了這個展覽，我們拆下了一些展示櫃。另外，如張健君的〈假山石（幻園）〉有220公分高、700磅重，同時它的媒材又是矽膠，因此十分脆弱。為了把這件作品放在中庭的半涼亭中，我們費了好大的勁，不僅搭起一座平台把作品移過去，還拆掉了半涼亭的頂，簡直是一項大工程。所以可以說，困難大部分都是技術問題。

不過，大都會美術館最棒的地方，在於從來沒有人對我說：「你瘋了！難道不能把它放在別的地方嗎？這裡真得沒辦法放。」對於策展人來說，當美術館願意嘗試你從沒做過的事，實在是一項肯定，真了不起！因此，我在整個過程中收穫良多，有太多學習了。我感到自己真是有幸，能夠在這裡工作，並認識這些藝術家。

問：對於這個展覽，你有什麼期待？

何慕文：曾經在一次展覽中，有位中國記者訪問道：「西方觀眾無法閱讀中文，怎麼能夠欣賞書法？」於是，我把他帶到擺放在黃庭堅書法旁的王冬齡抽象作品前，問道：「你怎麼想？」西方觀眾了解行動繪畫、了解空間，我當時把抽象繪畫放入書法展覽當中，希望提供他們閱讀書法美學的管道。這次也一樣，當西方觀眾看到中國當代藝術，會習慣性地與西方藝術做比較，但我希望把觀眾的聯想帶到另一個層面。現當代藝術有許多觀看方式，既然我們有亞州藝術收藏，為何不換一個角度來看？

我也希望藉此機會吸引更多觀眾到亞洲展廳，讓他們在這裡遊走探索，思考傳統中國的有趣之處，並看到當代中國的複雜性與豐富性。特展「水墨」中的藝術家不只是模仿傳統水墨畫，而是在具有傳統知識之下，挑戰、延展、轉化、甚至顛覆傳統。中國傳統山水畫並非一成不變，它必須改變，這些藝術家就是極佳的表現。


(原刊載於《藝術家》雜誌466期2014年3月號)

All Art Is Local—An Interview with Luis Pérez-Oramas, the Chief Curator of the 30th São Paulo Biennial

Luis Pérez-Oramas (Photographed by Denise Adams)

Venezuelan-born Luis Pérez-Oramas is an art historian, a writer, and a poet. Graduated with a PhD in Art History from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, he has published six books on art and political criticism as well as curated art exhibitions extensively on the international platform. He currently lives in New York and holds the position of the Estrellita Brodsky Curator of Latin American Art at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) since 2006. Most recently, Pérez-Oramas has been assigned the chief curator of the 30th São Paulo Biennial, which runs from September 8th to December 9th, 2012. He is also responsible for selecting the Brazilian representation for the 2013 Venice Biennial. In this interview, Pérez-Oramas talks about his viewpoints on Latin American art and the 30th São Paulo Biennial.

Q: Interests towards Latin American art outside Latin American countries have had a significant growth over the past decade or so. How do you see this coming? Are there decisive causes for the growing interests?

Pérez-Oramas: I would stress different aspects regarding your question: A) There is a fact that since the early 1990s various mainstream art institutions in the North Atlantic region (US and Western Europe) have fostered their interests in both Latin American Modernism and Latin American Contemporary Art. Does this mean that there is a general tendency in the world to pay more attention to Latin American Art? I doubt it. What I want to emphasize is the fact that general opinion in art still remains highly dependent upon very few opinion builders and certainly dependent upon the “dominance” of some North Atlantic cultural institutions. B) There is a fact that Latin American studies has grown exponentially in the American academy, bringing and amplifying interests for Latin American culture generally. C) There is a fact that the “main players” in Latin America—Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia—have seen political transitions from struggling historical circumstances to more or less open and democratic societies while enjoying economic growth allowing both transparency and international resonance for their cultural and artistic scenes. D) Finally, and not the least, it seems to be a general tendency amongst Latin American artists to conceive and think of their works vis-à-vis their own local traditions of modernity, reenforcing the strength of the insertion of their works within their own scenes as well as fostering a dialogue with international modern art. One thing is for sure that contributes to the richness of Latin American art today: our artists are extremely knowledgeable about European, American and international art, whereas American and European artists tend to ignore all traditions but theirs.

Q: What do you think are the distinguished features of Latin American art that most attract museums and collectors? What makes it different from art from other parts of the world?

Pérez-Oramas: Beyond the arguments that I have developed before, I think that Latin America arguably embodied one of the most rich and complex modern scenes in the world—one that has remained relatively overlooked until now. This strong and, for most European and American audiences, unknown modernity contributes to their interest as well as to the richness and complexity of Latin American contemporary art.

Q: As a curator, what do you try to present to people about Latin American art? Is there a goal that you are trying to reach as the curator of Latin American art at the MoMA?

Pérez-Oramas: I am not trying to present anything about Latin America in general. I avoid generalizations when it is possible to do so. I am interested in great art and great artists as well as in their meaningful presentation. At the MoMA, I am only one of the players among hundred of colleagues, and for sure I am not solely—not even by far— responsible for the Museum policies. I do my job at the MoMA by trying to advocate for the visibility of one of the most comprehensive Latin American Art collections in the world, which the MoMA began to gather since its very foundation in the early 1930s. I also play a role, alongside all curators at the MoMA, in the process of enriching and continuing that collection today.

Q: Can you explain the title of the 30th São Paulo Biennial “The Imminence of Poetics?” Does the title have special connection or significance to São Paulo?

Pérez-Oramas: I thought, alongside my co-curators for the São Paulo Biennial (Andre Severo, Tobi Maier, Isabela Villanueva), that the articulation of these two ideas—Imminence and Poetics—could offer us a strong motif rather than a theme, an axis for many questions rather than a manifesto-like slogan, and a frame of mind that could be rigorous rather than dogmatic for our selection process. It seems that art becomes more and more of a discoursive nature today—contemporary artists reject the modern idea of exceptional artistic languages and rather proclaim their art as a common, ordinary language; they comment in their works objective dimensions of our world. The question of Poetics is therefore key today: How does an expressive, discoursive strategy set up? Who “speaks” in contemporary art? To whom? What is the value of silence and discoursive disruptiveness? Etc. On the other hand, we all agree that our world is more and more unpredictable, and that our tools to understand future are useless, etc. Maybe art function today consists in accompanying us going through the experience of imminence: giving a formal shelter to what is about to happen and we don’t know...I think these are meaningful questions today, and they are certainly not restricted to São Paulo.

Q: Going through the list of artists presenting in the biennial, nearly half of the artists are of Latin American origin. Does it mean that the works of Latin American artists are generally more aligned to the theme? Are there any artists that you would like to mention in particular?

Pérez-Oramas: There has always, always been a significant representation of Latin American artists in the São Paulo Biennial. We are not going out of that standard. Our biennial is the most relevant artistic gathering in the Latin American continent and São Paulo has become a pole for contemporary art in the region. Beyond that fact, we do not expect Biennial artists to be “aligned” with a theme: there is no theme here; there is a motif, and a set of questions, and we do not expect the artists to answer them or to represent them or to do work after them, etc.

Q: You mentioned that the notions of “constellation” and “globalization” are also discussed in the biennial. In your opinion, is art from different parts of the world becoming more and more similar because of globalization? How do you see the place of Latin American artists in a globalized world?

Pérez-Oramas: I profoundly believe that all art is local. I also find extremely disturbing that art aligns itself with the idea that contemporary art is an international style. Contemporary art is not an international style since it only responds to a given experience of time from a given place in the world. Communication and exchange systems are becoming more and more global, meaning that they are more and more dependent of a limited set of apparatuses, which are, in contrast, more and more powerful in their reaching and information capabilities. Does this affect art? For sure it does. Does that mean that art should depend of the same limited set of apparatuses for its circulation and resonance? I doubt it. Art, in my opinion, has to resist against all trends that pretend to simplify our world.


（Originally published in《ART TAIPEI FORUM media》Vol.17, July 2012）

所有的藝術都是在地的——專訪第三十屆聖保羅雙年展總策展人路易斯．貝雷茲—歐拉馬斯

路易斯．貝雷茲—歐拉馬斯（攝影：Denise Adams）

出生於委內瑞拉的路易斯．貝雷茲—歐拉馬斯是一位藝術史學家、作家及詩人，於巴黎社會科學高等學院取得藝術史博士學位。他出版了六本藝術及政治批評的相關書籍，並在國際舞台上策劃過大量的藝術展覽。他目前居住於紐約，並於2006年至今擔任紐約現代美術館的拉丁美洲藝術策展人。近期，貝雷茲—歐拉馬斯受託為第三十屆聖保羅雙年展（2012年9月8日至12月9日）的總策展人，他也接下2013年威尼斯雙年展巴西館策展人的職位。本次專訪中，貝雷茲—歐拉馬斯談到對於拉丁美洲藝術及第三十屆聖保羅雙年展的想法。

問：過去的十年內，拉丁美洲以外的國家對於拉丁美洲藝術的興趣日漸提高，你如何看待這樣的現象？是否有任何關鍵性的因素造成這股興趣？

貝雷茲—歐拉馬斯：我要針對不同的面向來回答你的問題。一、自從1990年代初期，北大西洋地區（美國及西歐）的主流藝術機構確實培養了對於拉丁美洲現當代藝術的興趣。而這是否表示整個世界有著關注拉丁美洲藝術的傾向？我抱持懷疑的態度。我要強調的，是目前大眾對於藝術的普遍想法仍然取決於極少數的發言者，尤其受支配於一些北大西洋的文化機構。二、在美國的學術界，拉丁美洲研究確實以指數現象上升，普遍帶起並擴大對於拉丁美洲文化的興趣。三、拉丁美洲的「主要玩家」——巴西、墨西哥、阿根廷、智利、秘魯、哥倫比亞——陸續經歷了政治變遷，從掙扎的歷史情勢轉變為比較民主開放的社會，同時也享受經濟成長，使其文化藝術景象透明化、引起國際共鳴。四、最後，很重要的是拉丁美洲藝術家似乎普遍都將他們的作品想做自身所處當地現代化的對應，增加作品深入自身背景的強度，同時促進與國際現代藝術的對話。增加今日拉丁美洲藝術豐富度的因素，有一點可以確定的，是我們的藝術家對於歐美及國際的藝術都有十足的認識，相對於歐美藝術家僅在乎自身的傳統而忽略其他的傳統。

問：你認為拉丁美洲藝術最能吸引美術館與藏家的特色何在？有什麼讓它與世界其他地方的藝術不同？

貝雷茲—歐拉馬斯：在先前提道的因素之外，我認為拉丁美洲可被視為全球最豐富且複雜的現代景象的具體表現之一，並且在過去一直被忽略。這股強大且歐美觀眾未曾見過的現代化，帶起了他們的興趣，也增加了拉丁美洲當代藝術的豐富及複雜性。

問：身為策展人，你試著展現出拉丁美洲藝術的什麼面向？身為紐約現代美術館的拉丁美洲藝術策展人，你是否期望達到什麼目標？

貝雷茲—歐拉馬斯：我並不試著表現任何拉丁美洲的普遍特色，我盡可能地避免概括化。我有興趣的是好的作品及藝術家，以及他們呈現的意義。在紐約現代美術館，我只是眾多同事的其中之一，想當然也不是美術館的唯一決策者。紐約現代美術館在1930年代創館以來，便開始收集拉丁美洲藝術，成為全球最全面的拉丁美洲藝術收藏之一，我在此試著增加它的可見度，同時也與館內其他的策展人一起豐富這項收藏。

問：可以解釋第三十屆聖保羅雙年展的主題「詩學的迫切」嗎？這項主題是否對於聖保羅有特別的關聯與意義？

貝雷茲—歐拉馬斯：我與聖保羅雙年展的共同策展人（安得列．塞維羅、托比．麥耶、依莎貝拉．維拉努維娃）認為，「迫切」與「詩學」兩個概念的連結，可以提供一項有力的中心思想，而非一項題目；是許多問題的主軸，而非一句如宣言般的口號；是一個嚴密的思考架構，而非教條式的選擇過程。現今的藝術似乎愈來愈具有講述性——當代藝術家摒棄現代藝術為特殊語言的想法，反而聲稱自己的作品是普遍、平凡的語言，他們在作品中評論世界的客觀面。因此，「詩學」是今日的一個關鍵：如何設立起表達式的、講述性的策略？誰在當代藝術中「說話」？對誰說？安靜與講述分裂的價值在何處？等等。另一方面，我們都同意這個世界愈來愈不可預測，而我們用來了解未來的工具是無用的。也許今日的藝術功用是陪伴我們走過迫切的經歷：在我們未知的即將發生的事件，給予一個正式的避難處。我認為這些是現今重要的問題，它們當然也不只局限於聖保羅。

問：瀏覽雙年展中呈現的藝術家名單，其中大約半數都是拉丁美洲籍。這是否代表拉丁美洲藝術家普遍較與主題相合？是否有任何想特別提出的藝術家？

貝雷茲—歐拉馬斯：一直以來，聖保羅雙年展都有相當數量的拉丁美洲藝術家，而我們並不想改變這項原則。我們的雙年展是拉丁美洲最重大的藝術聚集，而聖保羅也已經成為這個區域的當代藝術指標。於此之外，我們並不期望參與雙年展的藝術家「符合」某個主題——這裡沒有主題，而是一個中心思想及一組問題，而我們並不期待藝術家來回答這些問題、來代表它們，或跟著它們創作……等等。

問：你提到雙年展中也討論「聚集」與「全球化」的概念。你認為世界各地的藝術是否因為全球化而愈來愈相似？在全球化的世界中，你如何定位拉丁美洲藝術家？

貝雷茲—歐拉馬斯：我深深相信所有的藝術都是在地的。對於藝術將自己與「當代藝術都是國際形式」的想法連結，我也感到十分不喜歡。當代藝術並不是國際形式，因為它只回應了世界某一地點與某一時刻的經驗。通訊與交流系統愈來愈全球化，代表它們愈來愈倚賴一組有限的設備，而這些設備則是在聯繫及資訊能力上愈來愈強大。這影響藝術了嗎？當然。這表示藝術必須倚賴同樣有限的設備來流通並引起共鳴嗎？我不認為。我認為藝術應該要抗拒所有看似要使我們的世界簡單化的潮流。


（原文刊載於《台北藝術論壇電子報》第17期2012年7月號）

輝煌的瞬間，脆弱但美好 ——蔡國強談費城特展

圖：蔡國強於紡織工房美術館的作品〈時光畫卷〉

「蔡國強：花開花落」特展於12月11日在費城美術館及紡織工房美術館揭開序幕，呈現對於時光流逝、記憶與紀念行為的冥想。展覽開幕隔天，蔡國強接受《藝術家》雜誌的專訪，談及這次展覽的想法及過程。

問：本次的展覽是以安和凱皮的友誼為出發點而擴大。請說說這個想法的開端及發展。

蔡國強：每年暑假，凱皮都邀請上百位藝術界人士到她在緬因州海邊的別墅度假，其中包括館長、策展人、藝術家、記者等，大家都帶著自己的家庭，在海邊交流、互相觀摩及討論藝術。

2004年，我到那裡，凱皮就跟我提道她很希望做我的展覽，她也跟安討論，說好要一起做。當時凱皮問我何時可以展出，我說要等到2008年北京奧運之後，她就說：「那太晚了，我可能活不到那個時候。」我說：「不會的，你肯定活到那個時候。」後來，她總是隨著我的步伐到處跑，不管我在世界的哪個地方展覽，總是可以看到她出現在我的開幕式，所以就經常討論何時可以在費城展出，她也時常表示她一直在等著我。

奧運之後，本來應該開始進行她的部分，結果又插入了一個在台北的展出，而且還做得很大，這點對她是不太好意思。我跟她這麼漫長的友誼過來，因此想要很認真地將一個主題呈現得很好。奧運結束後，我開始啟動、構思在費城的展覽，結果安在這個時候去世了。每次凱皮跟我談話時，總感歎安已經不在了，「要是她在，我們可以一起跟你談展覽，多好。」談話之間，常在懷念安、說她的故事。因此，觸發了我的想法，把她對安的美好回憶錄起來，以此為主軸呈現一個與時光、生命、無常相關的主題，這是一個比較溫情也比較詩意的主題。由於兩位館長與我的關係太近，所以這樣的作品其實不是很好做，重點是不能鎖定在這個人身上，而是以她做為一個靈感，擴大到更廣義的層面，關於人性整體的表現，而不只是對安的悼念。昨天的開幕，很多美術館館長都來了，大家看了都很喜歡、很感動，這是一種力量、一種人性。

問：火藥似乎是一種十分無法預測的藝術形式，以這次的作品為例，所有的呈現都在你的預期之中嗎？你對於昨天的結果滿意嗎？

蔡國強：我們在計畫的時候，都是看電腦圖，那是沒有煙、沒有溫度、沒有聲音的，真正執行時，這些能量常會跟預期的不太一樣，但每次都很感動，因為那是真實的。這樣的創作也是有危險的，昨天進行〈花開花落：爆破計畫〉時，上面有些火藥掉下來，以致於底下燒起來，有人跑去滅火，其實本來不應該是這樣炸起來的。原本我建議在台階上舖木板並在木板上噴水，這樣就不容易燒起來，但由於美國的法令，他們堅持用防火布。其實防火布是耐火，並不表示它不燃，很激烈地燒，它還是著火。他們倒不是擔心火災，消防隊見過太多了，而是擔心燒的時候所產生的黑煙把建築物給燻黑了，那會很不好看。

昨天做完後，我感覺大家都感到很好，雖然風大，但仍做得很漂亮、很乾淨，這很不容易拿捏。爆破是短暫的，會讓觀眾看了以後感到不過癮、意猶未盡，但是只要有理念及作品的衝擊力，就能夠讓大家感動，而不要求保留很久。尤其費城美術館正面的廣場俯瞰前方的城市，這個地點有其不可取代性。一開始他們希望我在美術館背面進行爆破，因為那裡比較好管理，但我堅持要在正面。根據多年來的傳統，費城市政府在感恩節過後，就會在美術館前方放一棵很大的聖誕樹，不過後來市政府開會，決定延到我的爆破結束後再放上聖誕樹。

問：除了現場的爆破之外，在費城美術館展出的〈時光〉及〈99艘金船〉都是以前的作品。請問你為何選擇這幾件作品來搭配新的作品？

蔡國強：〈時光〉是2007年在日本做的，那是一個紀念資生堂贊助我十五年的展覽，從我以前在日本的時候，他們就開始贊助我，這十五年的歲月中，不論有沒有刊登他們的標誌，他們永遠悄悄地在全世界的活動內贊助我。我不是日本人，而且做的是爆炸，跟化妝品沒有關係，因此有人問過他們為什麼贊助我，他們的回答也讓我很感動，他們表示，創造性及挑戰「美」的可能性是他們的企業精神，而我的作品就是表現他們的精神。這件作品跟時間、歲月相關。

至於〈99艘金船〉，是在神戶地震之後，安藤忠雄設計的新的神戶美術館開館時展出的，它不僅跟外面的〈花開花落：爆破計畫〉對應，也跟紡織工房美術館的〈時光畫卷〉那條河流對應，表現歲月、時光及河流的關係。我平時的作品都是比較暫時性的，而黃金相對是比較永久性的媒材，是永恆的。

問：於紡織工房美術館展出的作品，是看到場地後所引發的靈感嗎？

蔡國強：由於這個美術館的名稱是「紡織工房美術館」，因此一開始我就想做跟紡織相關的作品。我不希望使用印花布，這個他們平常就在做了，我希望有真正的紡織，真正用傳統的手法來編織。我們在全中國找紡織者，這很不好找，現在很多地方都使用電腦，圖案輸入進去就編織出來了，也有一些地方雖然是手工編織，可是他們只會織圖案，不會織造形。最後找到了湖南的土家族，他們既是用傳統的手法紡織，又能織造形。我們並不是刻意要找少數民族來讓觀眾看，而是因為那裡太偏遠、太山區了，最沒有受到現代文化影響，仍保留著原始的方式，一梭一梭地編織故事，能夠把「日月如梭」的概念表現出來。

我們把安和凱皮之間的故事寄給這些紡織者，讓她們以自己的想像創造圖象，所以我到現在還不知道她們紡織什麼圖案，她們也不太想讓我看，這也不要緊，因為這樣我不怕受到她們的影響，也不讓她們受到我的影響，而用最傳統的角度來呈現這些故事。

費城以前是著名的紡織城市，而且這裡也跟花很有關係。這些我以前都不知道，不過在我提出這些創意之後，策展人說我很敏感地捕捉到費城的這些特性。

問：那〈時光畫卷〉這件作品的呈現呢？

蔡國強：紡織工房美術館跟一般恆溼、恆溫的美術館很不一樣，因此他們更可以接受我這樣臨時性、有變數的作品。昨天點燃火藥、燒過之後，在這三個月的展期之內，絲絹上留下來的燒焦的痕跡會被流水慢慢洗掉，最後只會剩下一點點較大的燒痕。一件作品，花了功夫去做，又再去破壞它、消滅它時，心裡特別有感覺。

紡織工房美術館二樓展出〈花開花落：爆破計畫〉的錄像，我特別將瞬間的爆炸編成好幾分鐘，讓花慢慢地開又慢慢地凋零，呈現「想把美好的事物留住」的心情。花的意義就在於那輝煌的瞬間，而之後就要凋零，這是它的詩意所在。人生也一樣，它是美好的，但也是脆弱的，然而，就因為它是脆弱、會消失的，它才是美好的。

（原文刊載於《藝術家》雜誌416期2010年1月號）


A Splendid Moment, Fragile but Beautiful

-- Cai Guo-Qiang talks about his exhibition in Philadelphia

The exhibition Cai Guo-Qiang: Fallen Blossoms, which meditates on the passage of time and memories, opened at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Fabric Workshop and Museum on December 11^th. The day after the opening, Artist Magazine did an interview with Cai, who talked about the concept of the exhibition and the preparing process.

Artist Magazine: This exhibition started off with the friendship between Anne and Kippy. Please talk about how the idea initiated and developed.

Cai: Kippy invites many art people, such as museum directors, curators, artists, and journalists, to her villa in Maine every summer to relax and meet one another.

When I went there in 2004, Kippy mentioned to me that she would like to do a show of me. She also discussed with Anne and they agreed to work on it together. When Kippy asked me when I could put up a show in Philadelphia, I told her I was not able to do it until I finished the project at 2008 Beijing Olympics. She said, "That is too late. I might not be able to live until then." I told her, "you will definitely live until then." Since then, she followed me all around the world. No matter where I was exhibiting, I could always see her in my exhibition openings. We, thus, could often discuss the time to put up a show in Philadelphia. She constantly emphasized that she had been waiting for me. I should have worked on the project for my Philadelphia show right after the Olympics, but an unexpected show in Taipei came up, and it was a really big one. I feel a little sorry to Kippy about it. I shared such a long-time friendship with her, so I wanted to work on the show seriously to present a theme as well as I could.

After the Olympics, I started to think about the show in Philadelphia. Anne, however, passed away. Whenever Kippy talked to me, she always mentioned sadly the passing of Anne. "How great it would be if she was here and we could talk about the exhibition together," she said. She was always telling stories of Anne, which then inspired me. I recorded her recollection of Anne and used it as a main source, which was developed into a theme related to time, life, and ephemerality. This is a poetic and intimate theme. Because of the close relationship between the two directors, this kind of exhibition is actually difficult to execute. I did not want the exhibition to be simply about these two people, but I wanted to take their friendship as an inspiration and extent it to a broader level. In other words, this is not only some mourning for Anne, but also the manifestation of human nature in general. A lot of museum directors came to the opening last evening. They were moved by the exhibition, which presented a certain kind of strength and human nature.

Artist Magazine: Gunpowder, as a medium for art, seems to be incontrollable in many ways. Take the projects you did yesterday for example. Did everything happen just as what you have expected? Are you satisfied with the outcome yesterday?

Cai: When planning for an explosion project, I look at computer-simulated graphics, which show the explosion without smoke, temperature, and sound. The actual execution is usually not totally the same as the graphics, but I am always strongly moved by the real thing. There is obviously a certain degree of danger with this kind of medium. While we were doing Fallen Blossoms: Explosion Project yesterday, some gunpowder dropped to the stairs, which caused some unexpected burning at the bottom. My original suggestion was to put wooden slabs on the stairs and spread water on the wood to prevent unexpected burning. They, on the other hand, insisted on using asbeston because it was the state rule. Asbeston, however, is inflammable regardless of its heat-resistance. In fact, the people from the Fire Department have seen a lot that they were not afraid of burning. They were just afraid that the smoke would blacken the façade of the museum.

I feel like everyone was happy with the project yesterday. Although it was windy, the outcome was clear and beautiful, which was something that was not easy to control. Explosion is temporary, but it leaves the audience with an impact that lasts for a long time. Also, the location of the Philadelphia Museum of Art is especially irreplaceable. It overlooks the whole city. At first, they asked me to do the project at the West Terrance because it would be easier to control, but I insisted on doing it on the East Terrance.

Artist Magazine: Besides the explosion project, the two pieces of work, Light Passage and 99 Golden Boats, on exhibit in the museum are both your earlier works. Why did you select these two works to be exhibited in this show?

Cai: Light Passage, a piece I did in Japan in 2007, was about the passing of time. It was done for an exhibition that commemorated the fifteen-year sponsorship of the cosmetics company, Shiseido, to me. They started to support me since I was in Japan. In the last fifteen years, they have always been supporting me around the world no matter whether they were credited or not. There were people asking them why they supported me since I was not a Japanese and explosion projects had absolutely nothing to do with cosmetics. Their response to such questions has been very encouraging to me. They said that my works "present creativity" and "challenge the possibilities of beauty," which is exactly the spirit of their business. 

99 Golden Boats was first exhibited with the newly opened Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art designed by Ando Tadao after the Kobe Earthquake occurred. It not only responds to Fallen Blossoms: Explosion Project, but also echoes with Time Scroll at the Fabric Workshop and Museum. They present a relationship between river and the passing of time. My works are usually temporary, but gold is a comparably lasting medium. It signifies eternity.

Artist Magazine: Did the gallery space of the Fabric Workshop and Museum inspire you by any means?

Cai: I have wanted to do something related to fabrics there from the very beginning because of the name of the museum. I wanted to do something other than printed fabrics, which was what they have always been doing. After contemplating, I decided to do a project of traditional weaving. We went all over China to look for the right group for this project. It was not easy. A lot of places are using modern technology now. You input the images into the computer system and the machines work them out accordingly. Some other places have people weaving by hand, but the patterns were not what I was looking for. We finally found this Tujia group from Hunan Province. They weave with traditional looms, and they also do some designs. It was not our intention to show the visitors a minority group, but it just happened that their village was located in such remote mountains that their tradition was not influenced by outside cultures. They kept their weaving tradition and wove the stories shuttle by shuttle, which perfectly delivered the message of "time flies like a weaving shuttle."

I gave the weavers the stories between Anne and Kippy and let them come up with the images themselves. As a result, I still have no idea what images they came up with. They do not feel like showing me the images, either, which is perfectly fine because we would not be influencing each other then. They could apply the most traditional weaving techniques in the project.

Philadelphia has been a well-known weaving city since the past. It has a close relationship with flowers as well. I did not know this before working on this show. After I presented my ideas, however, the curator said that I caught the spirit of this city in a sensitive way.

Artist Magazine: Can you talk a little about the piece Time Scroll?

Cai: The Fabric Workshop and Museum is very different from other art museums, which have strict temperature and humidity control. It is more flexible with works that contain uncertain factors. The gunpowder on the scroll has been ignited and burned yesterday. What is remained there will gradually be washed away by water in the following three months. It gives me an especially strong feeling after I spend time finishing a piece of art and then destroy it.

As for the video recording of Fallen Blossoms: Explosion Project, I edited it to prolong the one-minute explosion to several minutes so that people would see the flower bloom and wither slowly. What I want to deliver from this video is the feeling of longing to grasp the beautiful moment. The significance of a flower is right at the splendid moment of its blossom, but it withers soon after that. This is exactly where its poetic quality lies. Our life has the same quality. It is beautiful, but it is fragile as well. Nonetheless, it is just because of its fragility and disappearing quality that it is beautiful.

(The original article was published in Chinese in Artist Magazine, vol. 416, January 2010.)