• 2008-07-30

    从女魔头到戴先生

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    我是《女魔头》的爱好者,笃信少女心和工作狂人的偏执刻薄。我也是戴先生的读者,一度以为伊是自己素未谋面的mentor,只是一直不晓得这位先生是否字字老实。周末在家抱着一只西瓜,读伊的旧书《空吉他》。在《Dealing》一篇里戴先生写道:

    “…I walked into the kitchen and said to my wife, “I think I'm going to quit this shit.” She stared at me for a minute, smiled, and said, “Great! ” That night, I called up all my artist pals and told them I was going to become an art dealer, and they all said, “Great! ” Within the next two weeks, I had borrowed ten grand from a local banker who hung out in rock-and-roll bars, rented a space downstairs from a lawyer who defended drug offenders, had some stationery printed up by an outlaw printer in South Austin, and got a tax number from the State Comptroller.

    …In truth, Mary Jane and I opened a Mom and Pop store.

    We repainted walls perpetually and burned our fingers on the lights. We typed labels, hung exhibitions, kept books, mailed invitations, and served cheap champagne in plastic glasses to the locals. We were twenty-six years old. We sold works of art by artists who were twenty-six years old (or maybe a little younger) to collectors who were twenty-six years old (and maybe a little older)…”

     

    读到这里,当天躲开村里冗长无趣的展览开幕式的我仿佛看到了《女魔头》里秃头先生说的“a shiny beacon of hope”,过去三年的日日夜夜又浮现眼前。就像电影里的笨姑娘一样,我幻想自己又一次进入了那个不存在的文化世界。

    戴先生在前言里写过他的文化世界,不免让我咬牙切齿地嫉妒起来:  

    “The whole cultural enterprise, when I was growing up, was at once intimate and a little mysterious. It took place at home, in other people's homes, and in little stores. Everywhere my family went to live, there were bookstores and record shops, art galleries and jazz clubs, where otherwise normal people did all these cool things. And nobody knew anything about it. My teachers didn't know about it. The newspapers, my scoutmasters, the television, my friends, nobody knew about it. I chose to dwell in that underground empire for the first forty-seven years of my life -- in record stores, honky tonks, art bars, hot-rod shops, recording studios, commercial art galleries, city rooms, jazz clubs, cocktail lounges, surf shops, bookstores, rock-and-roll bars, editorial offices, discos, and song factories. I lived the freelance life, in other words, until 1987 when, faced with the unavailability of health insurance, I began to take teaching gigs in universities. There I discovered that, according to the masters of my new universe, all the cruelties and inequities of this civilization derived from the greed and philistinism of shopkeepers, the people who ran these little stores, who bought things and sold them, as I had done.”

     

    可是眼前的这个村子贫瘠得只剩下了人民币和酒杯,不要说那个虚幻的文化世界和心灵美了,连美少年都是不存在的。贫穷的文艺打工仔只能搭车去城里的夜店,掏钱买醉,看另一个虚无世界里的美少年们提着翘臀前拥后抱。


    一年前,听过戴先生的讲座,谈他和他的文艺世界:

    “Did anyone get into the art world to make money? I got into it for sex and drugs but not for money. Why is everyone worrying about money? What are you going to do if you get a lot of money? Are you going to buy a boat? Are you going to buy an apartment in Paris? Jesus, stop it!”

     

    但最近好几次,当拿起酒杯、走进开幕式、开口寒暄拥抱时,我瞟了一眼墙上的作品,终于确信戴先生的世界是虚构的。

     

     

    http://blog.daytonc.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/airguitar.jpg

     

     

     

     

  • 2008-07-22

    “新媒体”

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    新媒体艺术展翻来覆去也跳不出电动玩具展销会或者少年宫科技展么?一个月来很想请某海归策展人解答一下个人心中的这个疑惑。

    网络媒体明明是有很多东西可讲,亚文化和美学一样不缺,随手翻到两页(看这里这里),图和文字的运用显然不仅仅充满了web1.0时代的怀旧,而且非常有启发性。想来,一些只知在线游戏、IM和使用网络现成图像的艺术家不单没有想象力,而且非常不懂“媒体”。

     

     

  • 2008-07-22

    梅先生的宝丽莱

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    朋克女歌手Patti Smith的成名要给艺术家梅普尔索普(Robert Mapplethorpe)记上头功。当年,梅先生为闺蜜Smith处女专辑《马》拍摄的雌雄难辨的封面照片为一个时代定义了“酷”这个词。而作为20世纪最重要的摄影家之一,梅普尔索普的作品却不是明信片、挂历照片的首选。相反,八九十年代他的展览总不缺警察光顾,甚至其90年在辛辛那提当代艺术中心的个展被警察叫停,还被法院扣上一顶“淫秽”的黑帽子——实属艺术史上又一桩冤案。对于熟悉了这些历史冤案里构图精准布光古典的黑白摄影的观众而言,梅普尔索普在70年代初拍摄的宝丽莱相片是随性、温情甚至充满靡靡之音的散文。这些肖像、静物沾染着世俗红尘的七情六欲,纪录着艺术家与情人Wagstaff一起的时光,其中艺人、名流浮光掠影穿梭于镜头之前。直到1975年Wagstaff为其购置了一台哈苏相机之后,梅普尔索普的宝丽莱创作才告一段落。


    今年年初,宝丽莱正式宣布停产,Chuck Close、Lucas Samaras等艺术大家无不扼腕叹息。大导演John Waters更始感慨:“有没有人想过可怜的家庭***爱好者们?难道他们只能揣着(数码相机)存储卡去冲洗店么?没了宝丽莱的世界会多可怕啊!”如果你怀念Patti Smith的那个年代或者阿莫多瓦电影《Kika》里的***爱好者们,不如再多看两眼梅先生的小照片吧。那个时代已经过去了。

     

     

    (MU, 2008.7)

     

     

  • 2008-07-22

    唐吉可德和建材市场

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    天气一热,知了一叫,就预示着本年的双年展季度来了。新面孔、老面孔似乎就都等着哨声一响,走进展场──把酒言欢、交换名片、合影留言,最后是在饭局议事,哪一步都不能少。办奥运要审批,素有“文艺奥运”之称的双年展显然就实惠很多。相传前年亚洲邻国某市的市长检阅完自家的双年展后赞不绝口,当下批示:明年再搞一届。估计笑倒在场记者一片。


    双年展好不好看,大概只有游人关心,文艺人大抵更在乎其间的派队是否体面有否美酒。当然,酒足饭饱以后,双年展还是文艺人的信仰支柱,否则怎么会连朴素的“白盒子”式的画廊展览都禁不住改头换面,以大工程、大装置的行头示人呢。 一不小心,跳蚤市场、建材市场式样的展览已经蔚然成风,不免让人置疑:双年展就是一个策展人命题作文、艺术家答题的“旅游节”么?


    为了讽刺双年展体制的僵化,意大利艺术家策展人卡特兰(Maurizio Cattelan)在其策划的第六届加勒比双年展上索性请参展艺术家到加勒比小岛上度假,享受阳光——作品、艺术?一件都没有!而车臣的“紧急双年展”则跳脱了窠臼。展览除了巴黎东京宫的分展场外,主要由一只装满作品的旅行箱组成。箱子从车臣的格罗兹尼开始周游世界,经由米兰、温哥华、伊斯坦布尔、旧金山,最终回到原地。箱子所经之处,展览便会邀请新的艺术家,组织研讨会。比起满纸谈兵、关怀国际政治的多少双年展,紧急双年展实在充满了游牧式的浪漫。


    而天生以“游牧”形式出现的泛欧双年展Manifesta也要在下半年里亮相。这个兴起于鹿特丹的双年展也浪漫得很,每届都选址在不同的欧洲城市。上一届Manifesta 幻想以艺术学校形态出现在塞浦路斯,最终却不受主办地欢迎,在开幕之前夭折。 对于这场唐吉可德式的失败,曾有评论建议Manifesta从欧陆的游牧转移到网络游戏世界Second Life。今年秋天在意大利Trentino举行的第七届Manifesta无疑是一个焦点,即便是唐吉可德,也是浪漫可爱的──毕竟我们有了太多建材市场。
    (MU, 2008.7)

     

  • 2008-02-07

    新媒体艺术在中国

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    RS在他的专栏里就他生平第二次上海行写道:“⋯⋯在这些索然无味、令人催眠的频道边上的是舞曲晚会、智力竞猜,这些节目急于讨巧。即便哪个观众不熟悉它 们高潮迭起、趣味横生的安排,却仍旧会被它们所折服。当我登门拜访一位精通媒体的录象艺术家的时候,发现他正在观看这些我出门时不得不关上的节目,这时我意 识到这些幽默节目对于中国大众是多么有趣味。在他换上他自己的作品DVD之前那短暂的片刻,我俩都最后瞧了一眼这进展中的派队肥皂剧。”