均值
Moderacy
文/李章旭
By LEE Janguk
艺术家顾小平，于1990年多以实验性前卫艺术活跃于艺术界。2010年来到北京，通过新的行为艺术以及绘画创作等，继续着属于艺术家一人的艺术实验。作品《病毒》（Virus 2005），在行为层面上通过形态的反复，在表达方面通过平面绘画装置为媒介，呈现给观众一种人为或是自然形成的图案样式的连续性。而以上特征，以《行走的墨线》（Ink Lines in Motion）为代表，可以说，与2013年以后的创作存在关联。艺术家将作品画面以极为简洁、纯粹、极端化的线条作为对象，无穷尽的在整个作品空间中铺张开来，构建其固有的形态。
GU Xiaoping(顾小平) is an artist who has been active in experimental avant-garde arts since the 1990s, and moved to Beijing around 2010 to continue experimenting with avant-garde arts such as new performances and painting. In particular, the virus series (病毒, 2005) which are works of art that display a series of artificial or naturally created patterns of the artist in repetitive forms and flat installations, later linked to his ‘Ink Lines in Motion (行走的墨线)’ from 2013. Through this work, he created his own unique shape by expanding the screen to extreme lines by simplifying the patterns.
均值 202214 亚麻布 丙烯 80x80cm 2022
Moderacy202214, Linen Acrylic, 80x80cm 2022
本次展览的作品是艺术家从2020年至2022年以来创作的《均值》系列。“均值”在英文通常被译为‘Average, Mean’。其中，‘Mean’在汉语环境下意味着“中庸”之意。中庸，即作为道德理论中不存在“过”与“不足”的行为准则，推动着艺术家找到自己的方向，明确自己的意图。作品题目以及艺术家所表达的“均值”，并非通过确定两个极端，以两个极端值中截取正中心作为中间值，即“均值”，而是站在“善性”最大化的角度考虑并选择该如何采取下一步行为，而融入在作品中的艺术家思想与中庸之道一脉相通。
This exhibition is a series of works named ‘均值 (Junzhi)’ from 2020 to 2022. ‘均值’ has the meaning of ‘Average, Mean’ in English. Amongst them, ‘Mean’ means ‘moderation (中庸)’ in Chinese. Moderation is a rule of conduct with neither excess (過) nor scarcity (不足) in moral theory, and the artist's term ‘均值’ signifies that the action lies between the two extremes, but is not a quantitative average value, but in the position of the best (最善性), which is consistent with moderation.
艺术家通过不断拉动墨绳的方式填充整个平面空间完成其系列作品——《均值》。艺术家选择采用中国传统木匠所使用的墨斗，细绳穿过墨仓，浸满墨汁，拉动墨绳在帆布上弹开留下一痕墨迹，反复再反复，直到完成整幅作品。可以说《均值》是艺术家从2013年到2019年创作的系列作品《行走的墨线（Ink Lines in Motion）》的延续作品。
‘均值’ is a continuation of the series ‘Ink Lines in Motion (走的墨线)’ from 2013 to 2019. The artist fills the screen with a way of pulling the rope with endless repetitive movements. This work uses ink ropes (中国墨斗) used by carpenters in China to pull strings full of paint (pigment) and leave lines on paper or canvas cloth to complete the work.
均值 202215 亚麻布 丙烯 80x80cm 2022
Moderacy202215, Linen Acrylic, 80x80cm 2022
艺术家采用中国传统宣纸或将帆布固定在木框上，通过拉动在墨仓中浸满墨汁的绳，打在画布表面上留下“线痕”。在整体画面上留下来的每一根细线，两两之间，间隔精确一致。艺术家重复打线的过程，永不停歇，直到满意为止。“重叠的线”是只属于顾小平一人的抽象实验的结果。由反复重叠的线构成的画面，其结构经历了艺术家缜密地规划。最终呈现在画面上的是艺术家精神功力的结果，与此同时在画面中所反映的是高度肉体劳动的结晶。宣纸与帆布表面不再呈现其原有的材料质地。原本材料的特征与反复纵横交错的线痕融为一体，将整个画面表现为多种不同的样貌形态。在这一系列过程中，画面上形成的龟裂，非墨斗的墨痕，而是纸与布的质地、墨绳的物性以及颜料的质感，自然坐落在画面上所形成龟裂。通过在施工现场作业中常见的工具、材料、行为，艺术家顾小平持续创作着属于自我本身的画面。作品中所呈现在观众眼中的独特物性、人为龟裂，为艺术家“不停拉扯与填充”的独特行为，增加了深度。
The fruit of GU Xiaoping's abstract experiment the structural screen of the 'overlapping line', is the result of meticulously planned mental labor and the determination of hard physical labor. First, traditional Chinese paper, Xuanzhi (宣紙, Xuan paper) or canvas cloth is fixed, and a thread of ink or paint is drawn from the ink bottle to create a line on the screen. It is repeated from left to right at regular intervals as measured by a ruler, and from right to left without end. That work carries on until the artist is satisfied. Countless vertical horizontal lines drawn by the artist appear in different forms related to the uniquely textured screen. In the process, cracksin the screen, that is to say not only well drawn lines, but also the textureof the paper and the fabric itself, and the physical properties of the ink oracrylic pigments from the ink line naturally settle down. GU Xiaoping’s displayis woven by means of tools, materials and actions visible on the construction site. The lines that are drawn as if tailored becomes the background and creates unique physical properties of the screen and cracks add depth through the unique act of the artist to "pull and fill permanently".
从小方块（如果不仔细观察屏幕，可能不会注意到）中清除痕迹（分离它？模糊它？），并无限次地用颜料填充它的位置，使得整个屏幕成为具有不同韵律的格子聚集的总和。单色作品由连续、重复即单调又辛苦的过程，获得了无限的时间性与普遍性。创作技法，是独特的，而艺术家为此承受的痛苦，也是唯一的。持续反复一个行为，而其反复一个行为的过程，即修炼，继承了古代文人化“修心”与“炼体”的传统。最后我想说，艺术家对作品的最终目的并不在于完成“作品”这一结果本身，而是呈现并传达其作品的创造过程。
Removing traces of small squares (which you don't know if you don't observe the screen closely) by repeating the act of constantly filling paint in place indefinitely, the screen becomes the sum of a different latticework with different rhymes (韻律). Through the process of monotonous and laborious repetition, his monochromatic screen succeeds in acquiring infinite timeliness and universality. This unique creative technique follows the tradition of literary painting in that it aims to train the mind through a painful, time-consuming repetition of refining and training the mind throughout the process of painting. I would say that the objective of his work is not to show the final outcome, but to show the process of how it is done.
均值 202109 亚麻布 丙烯 矿物质颜料 130x88cm 2021
Moderacy202109, Linen Acrylic Mineral pigment, 130x88cm 2021
他的作品强调了重复的重要性，利用媒介的质感，根据严格的规则重复相同的过程，从而形成了一个独特的空间，仿佛在画布和纸张的龟裂中穿透本质。艺术家通过龟裂特有的风格与深度的置换的同时，构建出作品中治愈空间，并期望像通过这样的方式创造龟裂，使一切都处于和谐的状态。在“人为”与“自然”中寻找平衡，追求人类与生俱来的本质价值所反映的便是道家的伦理。在该层面上，自然材料所制成的宣纸和帆布是表现自然朴素和纯粹造型美最为恰当的材料。与自然融为一体的精神为理论根据的“物我一体”，极为有效地向正在欣赏其作品的观众传达了艺术家的自我信念。
Using the physical properties of the medium, his work stresses the importance of repeating the same process under strict rules, and consequently, he formed a unique space which seemed to penetrate the essence along the cracks in the canvas and paper. The artist replaces this crack with his unique style and depth while achieving the space of healing within the artwork. By doing so, he tries to achieve harmony as if he were to form balance. It reflects the Taoist ethics according to which human beings should pursue their original values by balancing artificial things with the truth of nature, and in this regard, Xuanzhi and canvas, made of natural materials, are suitable mediums to express the simplicity of nature and the formative beauty of purity. It can be said that the artist's faith in 'unity of the ego and the outside world (物我一體)', which is founded on the conviction of becoming one with nature, is indeed passed on to those who appreciate the work.
主导了20世纪初期抽象画运动的卡西米尔·塞文洛维奇·马列维奇（Kazimir Severinovich Malevich, 1878-1935）与瓦西里·康定斯基（Wassily Kandinsky），他们都出身于苏联。彼埃·蒙德里安（Piet Mondrian）出身于荷兰。以在该时期作为核心的巴黎作为中心，他们都来自联邦国。然而对他们而言眼前的现实，是不尽人意的，是须要克服的对象。对更好的世界的渴望，从而对乌托邦的渴望归结为抹去现实的抽象画。随后有弗拉基米尔·塔特林（Vladimir Evgrafovich Tatlin）坚定地相信着俄罗斯建构主义者的社会主义革命能够在现实中带来乌托邦，却未能想到艺术为了建设现实中的乌托邦而抛弃了本我。最后以梦想完全破碎为终点，乌托邦将被世人认为是一个永远不可存在的事物。
Kazimir Severinovitch Malevitch and Wassily Kandinsky, who led the abstract movement at the beginning of the 20th century, were from the Soviet Union and Piet Mondrian was from the Netherlands. While the world placed Paris at the center, the great city of the world at the time, all the others were marginal countries. The reality that was presented to them was not satisfactory; it was an obstacle to overcome. The desire for a better world, the desire for utopia, have culminated in abstractions that have erased the face of reality. Russian constructivism artists, like Vladimir Evgrafovich Tatlin, who followed them, believed that the socialist revolution would be the embodiment of utopia on the ground. Art has forsaken itself in order to build a utopia of reality. However, the dream has been thwarted, and utopia has remained non-existent.
均值 2021010 亚麻布 丙烯 矿物质颜料 130x88cm 2021
Moderacy2021010, Linen Acrylic Mineral pigment, 130x88cm 2021
由乌托邦的缺席而被重新塑造的抽象艺术形式，可以将顾小平的图案样式(pattern)与1980年的‘Pattern & Decoration’、1980年的 ‘Neo-Geo’ 等为具体样例看作是“抽象艺术”。而该判断的依据为，上述所提及的艺术形式与最早的“抽象艺术”共享着“形式”、“形态”以及“构成方式”。图案形式与装饰类艺术家米里亚姆·夏皮罗(Miriam Shapiro)的作品中，花卉图案的均匀重复，成为构成整体画面的元素。彼得·哈雷(Peter Halley)的‘Neo-Geo’作品，遵循了几何学构造——抽象艺术中历史最为悠久的形式。但是他们与现代抽象艺术不同，他们以自我本身为存在依据，扎根于整个世界中。尽管如此，他们脱离了目标——“新样式的发明”，脱离了以‘Modernity’为中心的现代抽象艺术。他们并没有提出抽象形式，而是延续、回顾原有的形式。如果说，他们具有艺术史层面上的意义，那么其意义将不在于提出新的展望，而是更多在于激励人们构成对前人视野的反思。
The absence of utopia gives rise to forms which can be considered abstract art, and forms which may be regarded as similar to GU Xiaoping patterns include ‘Pattern & Decoration’ in the 1970s and ‘Neo-Geo’ in the 1980s. These can be regarded as abstract art as it shares the compositional form or method with the preceding abstract form. For example, in Miriam Shapiro’s pattern and decoration artwork, the floral motifs are repeated uniformly and become an element of planetary composition. Peter Halley's work Neo-Geo also follows a long-established form of abstraction known as geometric composition. Nevertheless, they are different from the preceding modern abstract art and uses this distinction as the foundation of existence. Above all, they are distant from the objective of 'inventing a new form' and hence beyond the axis of modern abstract art called 'modernity'. They do not propose a new abstract form, but follow the previous form and choose the direction in which to refer it. Their historical significance is not because they present a new vision, but because they encourage reflection on the previous vision.
均值 202210 亚麻布 丙烯 196x320cm 2022
Moderacy202210, Linen Acrylic, 196x320cm 2022
回到艺术家顾小平，采取西方非定形艺术形式，运用极具东方美学的技法，将以中国式的母国主义为基底，使用兼具历史性与现代性的工具，绘制人们所熟悉的民俗性、文人化符号——“线”。由最初的宣纸扩张到帆布布面，基于以上几点对艺术家作品的分析，可以说艺术家顾小平是始终如一地探究东方精神与传统的艺术家，同时也能够被评价为“定义中国式新造型主义抽象画”的艺术家。在“理想‘家’(House of Utopianism)”展览中，本人所认为的20世纪最具意义的发明品之一的“抽象艺术”，即对艺术领域中的抽象艺术概念化后形成的词，将抽象艺术与乌托邦紧紧相接在一起。而由此延伸，本人将“现中国抽象艺术家”命名为“中国-前卫乌托邦主义者(Chinese-Avantgarde Utopians)”。作为本次举办个人展的艺术家的同时，又作为中国-前卫乌托邦主义者(Chinese-Avantgarde Utopians)群体之一，艺术家顾小平更多是以通过自身技法来达到“追求属于自我境界为目的”的艺术家。
If this is the case, Gu Xiaoping adopted the western enformel style as an oriental aesthetics or technique by drawing familiar literary paintings and folk symbols (sign) on Xuanzhi with these tools that have as historicity and modernity based on the Chinese motherlandism, which later extended to canvas cloth. In this regard, he can be evaluated as an artist who consistently explored the spirit and tradition of the East and as an artist who aimed for (established) Chinese Neoplasticism abstract art. In the “House of Utopianism (理想“家”)” exhibition, I named the contemporary Chinese abstract artists as "China Avantgarde Utopians", as abstract art and utopia are one of the best inventions of the 20th century and are inextricably connected together. GU Xiaoping, the artist of this individual exhibition, is also one of the artists named "China Avantgarde Utopians" who constructed his world with his own technique.
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