揭示被藏匿的存在——卢治平版画作品述评

龚云表

“瓶非瓶”，是卢治平近年来创作的一组丝网版画系列作品的总标题，而其题目背后所蕴藉的审美内核和当代艺术思辨，却可以涵盖他近年来几乎所有作品的艺术观念和创作诉求。诸如他的“水乡”系列、“考古”系列等等，其实也都可以用类似的题目冠之。这是因为他将一些历史或现实的物象，通过刻意的颠覆、解构、整合、重组，赋予作品以具有当代审美意味的物化呈现。“瓶非瓶，非常瓶”。卢治平作品中的瓶，并非是我们通常所见到的青花玉壶春、磁州窑梅瓶，或者明代永乐花果纹执壶、钧窑出戟尊，而是将它们仅仅作为一种传统构成元素和因子，融入到当代创作语境之中，寻找到与现代主义美学的结合点，创造出崭新的构成逻辑，呈现出富有当代情致的结合形制的艺术阐述范式。在这里，传统构成因子已被突破，并且得到不断的延伸与外拓，固有的审美内涵也被抽提和升华，在新的美学高度寻找到了依傍和归纳，从而“异化”为全新的、具有“形而上”哲思、包容了象征性隐喻的意象。

在卢治平的作品中，被有意识地植入了许多已然成为历史的传统艺术符号，诸如在“考古”和“水乡”系列中的青铜器饕餮纹、龙凤纹和曲折雷纹等，在“瓶非瓶”系列中的陶器的网纹、弦纹和垂幛纹等，瓷器的缠枝纹、折枝纹和莲花纹等。而当这些符号被引用时就已经纳入被颠覆并重新建构的语境，嬗变成为一种崭新的美学定位的现代主义符号。或许卢治平意识到，对于当下越来越倾向于物质的现代人，太需要为他们提供新的精神空间，于是，他用解构主义语言构建一种独特的“可能世界”，而让现实世界反而只是变成“可能世界”的一种物化形式。他就是用这种艺术方式来质疑现实，疏离物质，使人们置换到另一个空间，去寻觅别样的依托，重新确定自己的审美价值判断。

这不由让我们想起苏珊·朗格提出的“艺术是人类情感的符号形式的创造”这一揭示艺术本质的著名美学命题。艺术作为一种特殊的表象性符号，有着自己独特的意蕴，这种意蕴就是人类情感。艺术家创作的过程，是一种艺术抽象、创造符号的过程，是一种将物质非物质化、对现实世界重新构造而营建超现实场景的表现性方式。卢治平的作品作为“有意味的形式”，已超越物象本身而以感觉空间的能动体积的意象，造成一种充满玄妙机巧的艺术幻觉并因此获得诱发想象的虚幻空间。他的这些作品是唤起人们想象的符号，它们所具有的内在认知和空间逻辑，将与人们固有的审美定势和欣赏习惯产生冲突或者互动。对于我们观看者来说，观看的过程也便成为了一种充满张力、奇妙无穷的视觉体验。

细察卢治平作品中的空间逻辑，以及他对于空间的认识和处理，无疑具有一种强烈的超现实主义的特征，被赋予了现实生活中一种观察的距离，从而为我们提供了某种反思性的文化视野。在这些作品中，具象与抽象、现实与梦幻、局部真实与整体虚拟，总是被神奇而恰到好处地糅合在一起，使作品的内涵突破形象的束缚，让人们似乎能看到第三度空间的幻象，看到被他的主观意绪过滤后重新组合的非现实的意象。这种“非现实的意象”，尽管十分明显地疏离了人们的日常生活体验，但或许却与自己在苦苦寻找的某种情感正相吻合，因此这便成为一种实实在在的艺术存在，卢治平只是把这种被“藏匿”的存在揭示出来而已。正如海德格尔在《诗歌·语言·思想》一文中所说：“自我藏匿的存在被照亮，这类光把它的光芒融入作品。被融进作品的光芒就是美的事物。美是一种方式，在其中，真理作为揭示产生了。”卢治平为我们提供了一种新的美的方式，在他的作品中我们是能切切实实感到有一种能够照亮被藏匿的存在的光芒的。

索绪尔曾经说过：“在语言出现之前，一切都是混乱模糊的。”对艺术也应作如是观。没有完备的绘画语言，任何图式和形象都无法营造出美的意境。卢治平以他对于版画语言的从容驾驭，通过对于丝网版和铜版特殊制作的精到认识和深刻理解，在刻痕、蚀印和线条的交织中，运用形象的符号化构成、强烈和单纯的和谐对比、现实与虚幻的交互融合，以及对于物象的写意性表达和淋漓尽致的情感抒发，传达出他一种超越时空的文化审视和审美价值观。卢治平通过他的作品正在试图寻找和开拓更为宽阔的现代版画之路，在整体上深入探索版画艺术的内蕴，锲而不舍地致力于版画艺术的当代创作语境转换，努力建立中国版画的当代品格，并且令人信服地呈现出一个具有创新精神的个性化创作风貌。

值得一提的是，卢治平在大量创作版画作品的同时，还孜孜不倦地组织举办各种形式的版画活动，为繁荣版画艺术摇旗呐喊、推波助澜 。在当今呼啸而来的市场经济大潮和多元杂陈的艺术状态面前不为所动，能够固守“版画本位”，一以贯之的以建立版画艺术的独特个人话语的“不变”应对“万变”，试图重铸版画曾经有过的辉煌。在卢治平的肩头，自觉地承载起了已远远超过一位单一的版画家的重荷，却依然充满信心和激情地跋涉前行，且不论其间的成败利钝，这种精神的本身就足以令人肃然起敬。虽然这或许已是版画创作本体的“题外之议”，但决非多余。换言之，也许正是因为有了这种难能可贵的理想主义情怀和抱负，更激发了他的创作热情。由此，我们便有了充分的理由对他寄予更大更高的期望。在以后的日子里他又会给我们带来怎样的新作呢？我们且拭目以待。

2008年初秋于沪上系云居

Unveiling the Hidden Existence
Comment on Lu Zhiping’s Printmaking

Gong Yunbiao

 “Vase, rather than vase” is the main theme of a series of silk-screen printmaking Lu Zhiping has created in recent years. The internal essence of aesthetics and ideal of contemporary art behind the theme cover the artistic concept and pursuit of creation in all his artworks created in recent years. His printmaking series such as “Water Hometown”, “Archaeology” could be named with other similar titles, for he would like to present some historic and realistic images through the articles characterized by contemporary aesthetics by means of deliberate subversion, deconstruction, combination and restructuring. “Vase, rather than vase, uncommon vase”, the vases in Lu Zhiping’s artworks are not those ancient boutiques which we appreciate, however, they serve as traditional elements and factors integrated into the atmosphere of contemporary creation to seek the ideal convergence with the beauty of modernism, create brand-new constitutional logic and present artistic explicit mode featuring contemporary sentiment. Here traditional constitutional factors have been stimulated and obtained continual extension and expansion while inherent essence of beauty has been extracted and enhanced, thus finding companion in the new field of aesthetics to be transformed into brand-new inspiration featuring “image-oriented” philosophy as well as symbolic metaphor.

Many traditional historic art symbols have consciously been injected into Lu Zhiping’s artworks, for example, there are monster pattern, dragon & phoenix pattern and thunder pattern on bronze wares, net pattern, string pattern and falling curtain pattern on pottery in “Vase, rather than vase” series, tangled-branch pattern, bent-branch pattern and lotus pattern on porcelain. When these symbols are integrated into the atmosphere of subversion and reconstruction as cited, they turn into a series of modern symbols of beauty orientation. Perhaps Lu Zhiping realizes that for people in modern age who are keen on physical spirit, they call for new spiritual space. Therefore, he tries to construct an unique “possible world” by means of deconstruction language while the real world turns to object-concreting of the “possible world”, in which way he tries to doubt the real world, isolate substance, guide people to another space to seek unique companion and reaffirm the judgment of beauty value.

Then it reminds us of Susanne K.Langer’ famous aesthetic topic unveiling the essence of art “Art is the creation of the symbolic form of human emotion”. Art, as a special symbolic sign, has its unique connotation which is human emotion. The process of the creation of artist is the process of artistic abstract and symbol creation, an expressive way to present substance in non-substance way, reconstruct real world and build surrealistic scene. Lu Zhiping’s artworks, as “meaningful form”, has been transformed into an illusory space featuring artistic illusion full of magic and dexterity which could result in imagination. His artworks serve as the symbols that arouse the imagination of people, for the inner perception as well as space logic clash and interact with inherent habit of aesthetics and appreciation. For viewers of us, the process of appreciation has been a visual experience featuring power and fantasy.

Carefully observing the space logic as well as perception and disposal of space in Lu Zhiping’s artworks, we are fascinated by an intense characteristic of surrealism featuring the distance of observation in real life, thus providing us with a certain cultural vision of reflection. In these artworks, figural and abstract art, real as well as illusory expression, part reality together with whole virtual image, all of which are perfectly and fantastically integrated to break the image restriction of the connotation of artworks, thus people are access to the illusion of the third space featuring non-realistic image created by his thought. Such “non-realistic image”, though obviously isolated from daily life experience of people, perhaps conforms to some emotion which he has been pursuing for long time. Therefore, it has been an actual artistic existence which Lu Zhiping tries his best to unveil. As what Heidegger said in his work “Poem·Language·Thought”: The self-hidden existence has been illuminated and rays of light, on behalf of beautiful matters, has been integrated into the work. Beauty is a form in which truth comes into being as revealed.” Lu Zhiping offers us a new pattern of beauty, for we are truly access to the ray of light that could illuminate the hidden existence.

Saussure once said that everything was blur and obscure before the emergence of language, which was also applied to art. Any pattern or image is not able to create beautiful artistic conception without mature painting language. In terms of his sophisticated master of printmaking language, perception and comprehensive knowledge of the silkscreen and copperplate etching, utilization of symbolic constitution, intense, pure and harmonious comparison, interrelation of reality and illusion in the intertexture of notch, print and line, free-style expression of image and emotional expression to great extent, thus extending cultural vision and beauty value that are beyond space and time. Lu Zhiping has been devoted to seeking and exploring a broader path of modern printmaking through his artworks, further exploring the internal essence of printmaking art as a whole, persisting in the transformation of contemporary creative conception of printmaking art, striving to establish the contemporary style of Chinese printmaking and convincingly fostering an innovative and personalized atmosphere of creation.

What worth mentioning is that Lu Zhiping is also committed to persevering in organizing a variety of printmaking activities while focusing on his creation of printmaking artworks to promote the prosperous development of printmaking art. He firmly adheres to his main duty as printmaking creation though faced with booming economic trend and diversified art forms and the unique pattern of printmaking art to attempt to pursuing the glory of printmaking. Lu Zhiping voluntarily bears the pressure that was beyond the duty of a simple artist and has been confidently and enthusiastically trekking on the path, no matter succeed or fail in the end, the spirit itself deserves admiration. Although perhaps this is the extension of printmaking creation, however it isn’t superfluous. In other words, maybe it is the valuable idealism and ambition that stimulate his passion for creation. Therefore, we are confident to have higher expectation on him. We are looking forward to his new creation in the near future.