New Beginnings 新開始

“A grain of sand is a moment of creation, and the universe has taken millions of years to create it.”

— Paulo Coelho, “The Alchemist”

New Beginnings is a group exhibition of four artists based in different cities working in the expanded field of painting and abstraction, including works by Paul Barlow, Harminder Judge, Osamu Kobayashi, and Andrew Luk. Painting in the manner of sculptor, builder, archeologist, and designer, these artists inhabit the precarious balance between stability and entropy, ideation and abstraction, optimism and nihilism. In their works, two key themes emerge: the uncertainty of being, and the primacy of action despite.

The works exhibit subtle and intentional marks left behind by the artist’s hands and body, manifested through dynamic gestures of control and laissez-faire. The material ground (canvas, plaster, metal) becomes personal sites for taking action – the act of making becomes metaphors for the exigency of genesis, the power of change, the possibility of being touched by the transformation of being, and the promise of new beginnings.

In the time of Covid, artists share our collective experience of lockdown and social distancing.

Repeated postponement and cancellation of exhibitions and the reduction and removal of fundings have rendered artistic careers and livelihoods utterly precarious. To Barlow, Judge, Kobayashi and Luk, art-making serves as a viable strategy to cope with the current state of existence in their artist studios with minimal restrictions, whilst holding a mental space to expand and wander when their physical freedom is restrained. Channeling Expressionism’s rebellion against modern bourgeois life and Abstract Expressionists’ championing of action and agency in the act of painting, these artists chart a pathway against the acedia and hopelessness in a time of oppression and upheaval. What is the worst case? The worst is succumbing to fear and not trying.

《新開始》呈現 Paul Barlow、Harminder Judge、Osamu Kobayashi及陸浩明四位藝術家的創作。這 四位生活於不同地區的藝術家以雕塑、建築、考古學及設計的手法介入繪畫與抽象的延伸場域，在恆定與 混沌、理念與抽象、樂觀與虛無之間，他們的創作試圖製造險峻的平衡。在這些作品中，兩個核心主題貫 穿始終：對存在的未知，對行動的決心。

在展覽所呈現的作品中，藝術家們以雙手與身體有意識地創造出微妙的痕跡，呈現「控制」與「釋放」之 間的張力。繪製圖像的平面（畫布、石膏、金屬）成為他們實踐個人行動的場域，在此，創作的行動亦是 創世的衝動、改變的力量、觸動與轉變的可能，以及新生的許諾。

新冠疫情期間，藝術家們與我們一樣經歷著城市封鎖與社交距離。無論是展覽的接連推遲與取消，還是贊 助資金的縮減與撤除，都使得藝術家的事業與生存愈發脆弱。在 Barlow、Judge、Kobayashi及陸氏看 來，藝術創作亦是應對當下生存現狀的有效策略。即便物理自由受限，四位藝術家仍舊在他們能夠自主的 工作室裡透過精神空間的延展而持續漫遊。他們傳承表現主義繪畫傳統對現代布爾喬亞生活的反叛，以及 抽象表現主義繪畫對行動及自主性的實踐，在這個充滿壓迫與動蕩的時代裡逆著倦怠與絕望、開闢著新的 道路。

「一粒沙即是一個創造的瞬間。它是宇宙經歷百萬年的產物。」 —Paulo Coelho，《煉金術師》

PAUL BARLOW

“I subtract and remove. I aim to paint with nothing, like air and ether, clear invisible things.”

- Paul Barlow

Paul Barlow creates geometrical paintings that are

Paul Barlow 深具心理學意涵的的幾

psychological. His imagery sometimes bares traces of

何繪畫時常描繪錫菲的後工業景觀。

the post-industrial landscape of Sheffield in Northern

不同於傳統油畫厚重的顏料疊加技

England, the place where he grew up and attended art

巧， Barlow的繪畫意在製造減法，

school. Unlike traditional oil painters who work with

並描畫透明、無形之物，例如空氣與

the logic of addition by laying on viscous pigments

乙醚。

atop each other, Barlow subtracts and removes. He aims to paint with nothing, like air and ether, clear

Barlow對材料的處理始終遵循物理

invisible things.

與化學的法則。他以水為稀釋劑，透 過一套重複的手法移除畫布上多餘

Barlow’s material process follows the laws of physics

的顏料。於是，水在畫布上滲透、蔓

and chemistry. Using water as a solvent, he strips

延，形成紋理與線條，好像浪潮沖刷

away residues of colour pigments using a sequence of

出的砂紋、海水腐蝕出的海岸線、河

repetitive motions. Like currents forming sand ripples,

水流淌出的蜿蜒河道。在一夜的等待

seawater eroding coastlines, and the flow of a river

過程中，顏料發生反應，它們沉澱、

shaping a meander; seeping and spreading, water

凝結出漸變的色彩，形成既像是微觀

configures the patterns and silhouettes on Barlow’s

的地質岩層，又像是植物葉片捲鬚般

canvas. Leaving them overnight, the pigments react,

的圖紋——如海洋般迷幻，亦如幻像

sediment and congeal into gradients of hues, forming

般令人迷醉。

micro-geological strata of vegetative tendrils, oceanic trances, and psychedelic hallucinations.

PAUL BARLOW

> 2021 Acrylic on canvas 塑膠彩布本 106 x 140 x 2.5 cm

PAUL BARLOW

O 2021 Acrylic on canvas 塑膠彩布本 100 x 100 x 2.5 cm

PAUL BARLOW

Ping Pong Perils 2021 Acrylic on canvas 塑膠彩布本, Diptych 雙聯畫 100 x 200 x 2.5 cm

PAUL BARLOW

up down up down 2020 Acrylic on canvas 塑膠彩布本 100 x 100 cm

PAUL BARLOW

up down up down up down 2020 Acrylic on canvas 塑膠彩布本 100 x 100 cm

PAUL BARLOW

Barlow ruminates on and sketches images he encounters in his daily routine, like the rotating wheels when he cycles, the foamy pattern of a carwash, or the shimmering shadows on the curbside. He retrieves these images “based on a secret compartment in his mind”, materializing pictures that hold the in-between spaces of recognition and unconsciousness, awareness and vagueness, clarity and mystery. The artist often abstracts these states into universal patterns expressed in physics, resembling light/ sound waves of interference, fractals, and halos.

Bob Law, Red, White + Blue Castle CCLIX PZ 22.01.99, 1999.

Bob Law《Red, White + Blue Castle CCLIX PZ 22.01.99》1999。 Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London. © the artist’s estate. Photo credit: Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London

Citing Bob Law (1934-2004), founding father of British Minimalism, Barlow finds lineage in the systematicity of forms and fusing of colour fields. Similarly, Vija Celmins’s (b.1938) night sky and reverse night sky give the artist precedent to obsess with the repetition and reversion of light and shadow, form and ground, presence and absence.

Like the ceramicist’s application of glazes and oxides whose outcome is unknown until it comes out of the kiln, or the photographer who develops the image in the darkroom, Barlow’s pictures are reliant on the beauty of contingency, the intelligence of liquid, and the discipline of trial and error.

Paul Barlow, dot dot dot, Charcoal, acrylic and pencil on canvas, 55x110cm.

Paul Barlow《dot dot dot》炭筆、塑膠彩、鉛筆布本，55x110厘米。 Image courtesy of the artist. 圖片由藝術家提供。

PAUL BARLOW

Barlow的繪畫圍繞著他對日常生活場景的沉思，例如 踩單車時轉動的車輪、洗車時的泡沫紋路或是道路邊 閃爍的光影。 Barlow將這些景象收藏在他「內心深 處的秘密暗層」中，並在畫布上呈現出兼具意識與無 意識、認知與模糊、清晰與神秘的空間。他時常將不 同的精神狀態抽象化為現實世界的圖樣，形如光波、 殘形與光暈。 在英國極簡主義之父Bob Law（1934-2004）的 創作中，Barlow看到了一條連接著形態系統性與色 域融合的藝術傳統。此外，藝術家Vija Celmins（生 Vija Celmins, Night Sky #19, 1998, Charcoal on paper.

Vija Celmins 《Night Sky #19》1998, 炭筆紙本。 ARTIST ROOMS Tate and National Galleries of Scotland Collection. © Vija Celmins

於1938年）的作品《夜空》與《夜空翻轉》亦另 Barlow 光與影、形態與地面、在場與缺席的重複與 顛倒。 在陶器出窯的前一刻，它的樣貌無法被預測。 Barlow的創作如同陶藝，亦或是在暗房中工作的攝 影師，充滿未知。在他的繪畫背後，流淌著液體的智 慧、偶發的美感與試錯的準則。

Vija Celmins, Night Sky 2 Reversed, 2002, photoetching, aquatint and drypoint on paper.

Vija Celmins 《Night Sky 1 (Reversed)》2002, 光刻、凹版蝕刻畫、銅版

雕刻紙本。 ARTIST ROOMS Tate and National Galleries of Scotland Collection. © Vija Celmins

Double slit experiment. 雙縫實驗。

HARMINDER JUDGE

“…because they don’t act like paintings. They act more like portals, you look through them to think about your place within the cosmos, and your place within the universe.”

- Harminder Judge

Harminder Judge is an artist based in London, who

Harminder Judge 是一位居住在倫敦的藝

creates colourful plaster paintings that are portals

術家，他色彩斑斕的石膏板繪畫猶如神秘的

to an ineffable world. Judge fuses pools of pigment

通道，引人進入一個目眩神迷的世界。 創作

with wet plaster, agitating the mixture to create

中，Judge將不同的顏料混入濕石膏，攪拌

a gradient of merging colour and moving texture.

出一系列變幻的色彩與流動的質地。當混合

As the image is cured and the front of the painting

物被定型、打磨之後，它們的表面呈現出迷

is revealed and polished, with incredible depth, we

人深度，仿若一團寧靜的濃霧，又好像一汪

appear to be looking into a tranquilising harmony of

反射著光芒的液體。在不同液體的隨機層疊

thick fog and reflective liquid. A meandering colour

與未知舞蹈下，Judge的創作生成著優美且

field of graceful order is born out of the layering of

蜿蜒交錯的色彩場域。

aqueous chance and choreographed uncertainty.

HARMINDER JUDGE

Untitled (leg and flame and stick and cane) 2022 Plaster, polymer, pigment, scrim, oil, wax 石膏、聚合物、顏料、絲網、油彩、蠟, Diptych 雙聯畫 202 x 198 x 4.5 cm

HARMINDER JUDGE

Untitled (stretched over grass) 2021 Plaster, polymer, pigment, scrim, oil, wax 石膏、聚合物、顏料、絲網、油彩、蠟 66 x 48 x 5 cm

HARMINDER JUDGE

Untitled (sheltered) 2021 Plaster, polymer, pigment, scrim, oil, wax 石膏、聚合物、顏料、絲網、油彩、蠟 34 x 47 x 6 cm

HARMINDER JUDGE

Untitled (sinking pyre) 2021 Plaster, polymer, pigment, scrim, oil, wax 石膏、聚合物、顏料、絲網、油彩、蠟 70.5 x 40 x 4.5 cm

HARMINDER JUDGE

Untitled (building from ground) 2021 Plaster, polymer, pigment, scrim, oil, wax 石膏、聚合物、顏料、絲網、油彩、蠟 27 x 27 x 4 cm each (set of 4, 一套四件）

HARMINDER JUDGE

Prior to his painting practice, Judge had a critically acclaimed stint as a performance artist.

One of the notable performance installations is

Modes of the Ocean (2009-2012), where the artist performs in a sea of milk interspersed with psychedelica lights and Holi pigments.

Referencing the Hindu myth of “The Churning of the Ocean of Milk”, Judge transforms the expanse of liquid into a giant moving canvas.

He subsequently turned away from the exhausting sensorium and maximalist excesses of staged spectacles, and arrives at his art practice through the embodied synthesis of two influences: the tantric paintings from 17th century Rajasthan, and the repetitive labour of plastering in housebuilding.

Harminder Judge, Modes of the Ocean (2009-2012).

Performance documentation. 表演紀錄。

to an abstraction arrived at not through Western modernism, resonating with whilst challenging

For the first year of his study at the Royal

the art historical canon of abstraction in the

Academy, Judge fixed his focus on Franck Andre

lineage of Kandinsky, Malevich and Lissitzky, and

Jamme’s “Tantra Song” (2011), a catalogue of

Minimalism.

Jamme’s collection of abstract painting from the esoteric tantric tradition in Rajasthan, India.

Judge describes himself as an artist-maker “who

Intended to be used as a visual aid for meditation,

paints like a sculptor, who sculpts like a builder.”

these works feature vividly colored geometric

His experience as a housebuilder, in his hiatus

shapes drawn by hand onto found pieces of

from art, gives him deep intimate knowledge

paper. These images are more diagrams than

and bonding for the material of plaster, the

painting, holding a mesmerizing aura as objects of

fundamental surfaces of interiors and surfaces

spiritual practice. As portals, they demand viewers

that we often take for granted, which involves

not to look at them, but to look through them.

a laborious process that creates meaning in repetitive rituals. Hours can pass by working,

Against the white cube as ground, Judge’s

the artist’s mind zoning out. Akin to Italian

organic forms stand as the tantric object

fresco, where pigment is worked into layers of

of transcendence, a mindful abstraction via

continuously wet plaster (wet on wet), Judge’s

abolishing the objective world through the portal.

works originate in an immediate process that is

Poignantly, channeling this ancient tradition points

unstoppable once it begins.

HARMINDER JUDGE 在將創作重心轉向繪畫之前，Judge的行為創作亦廣

在美術館、畫廊的白盒子空間中，Judge繪畫中的有

受讚譽。在他最為著名的行為裝置《Modes of the

機形態猶如坦特羅密教的超驗之物，是由神秘通道對

Ocean》（2009-2012）中，Judge在一池如海洋般

客觀世界的消解所生成的靜觀抽象。這一連接著古老

壯闊牛奶中進行表演，奶水中混合著迷幻的燈光與印

傳統的抽象實踐不同於西方現代主義繪畫，它呼應著

度文化中常見Holi天然顏料，鏡照著印度神話《乳海

康定斯基、馬列維奇、利西茨基及極簡主義等藝術史

翻騰》。此件作品中，Judge對液體的處理猶如面對

經典，同時亦向它們發起著挑戰。

一面巨型的流動畫布。此後，他逐漸從舞台景觀過剩 的感官刺激轉向繪畫創作。他的繪畫作品融合著兩個 截然不同的傳統：17世紀印度拉賈斯坦邦的坦特羅繪 畫，以及房屋建造中重複的批灰工序。 在英國皇家藝術學院進修的第一年裡，Judge著迷於 Franck Andre Jamme 編輯的圖冊《Tantric Song》 （2011）。圖冊中收集了印度拉賈斯坦邦坦特羅密教 的抽象繪畫，這類繪畫意在為冥想提供視覺輔助，它 們常常出現在拾得的紙張之上，呈現生機勃勃的幾何 色塊。與其說是繪畫，它們更像是一種圖示，為意識 進入玄秘世界提供物質通道。觀看坦特羅繪畫時，觀 者的目光不應停留於畫面之上，而需要看到畫面背後 的世界。 Tantric painting from Rajasthan, from the publication “Tantra Song” by Franck Andre Jamme, 2011. Published by Siglio Press 拉賈斯坦邦坦特羅密教繪畫，Franck Andre Jamme 2011年編輯 的 《Tantric Song》。Siglio Press出版。

Judge自詡為一位「以雕塑的手法繪畫、以建造的 方式雕塑」的藝術家兼創造者。在藝術創作的間 隙，Judge亦建造房屋，這一經歷使他與石膏材料建 立起親密的理解與連接。作為建築內外表面的基礎 材料，石膏往往不為人注意，Judge透過石膏，以重 複的、儀式般的勞動生產出全新的意義。在長時間的 重複勞動中，藝術家的精神亦伴隨創作向更廣闊的空 間延展。Judge的創作手法近似於意大利的濕壁畫傳 統——顏料需繪於潮濕的石膏墻面之上，因此，他的 Illustration from The Red Book by Carl Jung. 卡尔·榮格《The Red Book》中的插畫。

© Foundation for the Works of C. G. Jung

繪畫創作亦是一場一旦開始便無法暫定的即時過程。

OSAMU KOBAYASHI

“Kobayashi elicits a sense of painterly agency in relation to the spaces one inhabits as sources of both tension and vitality.”

- Pranay Reddy, LA Artcore

Osamu Kobayashi is a New York-based artist who creates

Osamu Kobayashi是一位常駐紐約

oil paintings that utilize textured color fields, squiggly lines

的藝術家。他的油畫創作呈現充滿質

and uniform brushstrokes. Kobayashi’s abstract practice

感的色域、彎曲的線條與統一的筆

is a stand against the inundation of data, information and

觸。Kobayashi的抽象創作是對當代視

analytics in our contemporary visual culture. Kobayashi

覺文化多度數據化、信息化及分析化的

manifests the will to simplify an all-too-complex world by

抵抗。他專心於方形的油畫畫面，意在

focusing on the confines of the roughly square canvas.

簡化這個過於複雜的世界。

With a self-made contraption that links a bevy of paint

透過一個自製的、連接著一串畫筆的機

brushes, the artist applies paint onto the canvas in a

械裝置，Kobayashi在畫布上留下大幅

grand sweep. Above the canvas, the artist twists and

的筆觸。在畫布之外，他用力地扭曲身

turns into awkward positions to curve the seemingly

體，將弧線引入筆觸，製造著充滿空間

continuous stroke, leaving uniformly spaced traces in

感的流暢筆刷與色彩場域。畫布上的筆

a grand sweeping colourfield; the marks resemble the

刷痕跡令人想起京都龍安寺中的枯山水

elegantly raked sand in the rock garden of Ryōan-ji in

砂紋。

Kyoto.

OSAMU KOBAYASHI

Stray Shot 2021 Oil on canvas 油畫布本 117 x 127.5 x 4 cm

OSAMU KOBAYASHI

Fissure 2021 Oil on canvas 油畫布本 117 x 127.5 x 4 cm

OSAMU KOBAYASHI

Currents 2021 Oil on canvas 油畫布本 91.5 x 97 x 4 cm

OSAMU KOBAYASHI

Snake Steps 2021 Oil on canvas 油畫布本 91.5 x 97 x 4 cm

OSAMU KOBAYASHI

Snake II 2021 Oil on canvas 油畫布本 117 x 132.5 x 4 cm

OSAMU KOBAYASHI

Kobayashi’s compositional process is a mechanical and conceptual puzzle. Akin to a director, the artist choreographs visual elements as actors on a stage, in a process of directing, moving elements around. Like a mathematician balancing an algebraic equation, Kobayashi solves for a visual solution with line, colour, shape and size. The picture plane is a field of action and counteraction, a dualistic plane between flatness and illusion of space, softness and hard edge, tension and release, stillness and dynamism, seriousness and lightness.

Osamu Kobayashi, Wildflower II, 2020, Oil on linen.

Osamu Kobayashi《Wildflower II》2020。油畫布本。 Image courtesy of the artist. 圖片由藝術家提供。

Kobayashi’s practice draws connections to Modernist design movements, geometric abstraction, as well as manga and anime visual culture. For example, Ikko Tanaka’s notable fusion of traditional motif and International Style, as well as the zen-inspired hard-edge circles of Jiro Yoshihara from the Gutai group, provide a viable pathway towards Kobayashi’s minimalist visual world.

Ikko Tanaka, Poster for Salvatore Ferragamo.

田中一光《Salvatore Ferragamo 海報》。

OSAMU KOBAYASHI

Kobayashi的創作過程猶如一場機械與觀念的迷局。 創作中，他如同導演排布演員的位置般在畫布上安排 著視覺元素的分佈。他亦好比一個平衡著代數公式的 數學家，孜孜不倦地計算著線條、色彩、形態、尺寸 的視覺公式。他的繪畫平面裡充滿著作用與反作用、 扁平性與空間感、柔軟與堅硬、張力與鬆弛、穩定與 靈動、嚴肅與輕鬆。 Kobayashi的創作深受現代主義設計運動、幾何抽 象、漫畫與動漫文化的影響。無論是Ikko Tanaka 對傳統圖像及國際風格的融合，還是具體派的Jiro Yoshihara深受禪宗影響的硬邊圓形，都是理解 Kobayashi極簡視覺世界的有效入口。 Ikko Tanaka, Poster, Japan Week L.A., 1987, Poster. 田中一光《洛杉磯日本週海報》1971。海報。 M+ Collection, M+ Hong Kong. © lkko Tanaka

Jiro Yoshihara, Red with Blue Circle 57/101, 1971, Screen print on paper. 吉原治良《Red with Blue Circle 57/101》1971。絲網印刷紙本。

Osamu Kobayashi’s self made paintbrush contraptions.

Osamu Kobayashi 的自製畫筆的機械裝置。 Photo credits: Steve Benisty.

ANDREW LUK 陸浩明

“Often, I have very little control of what happens…The process is organic. I think that’s the negotiation between humans and nature and the dominance of humans over nature.”

- Andrew Luk

Andrew Luk explores of materials and surfaces that

陸浩明探索物料及表層的可塑性，

see to both the establishment and destruction of

並反思著文明的建立與毀滅。陸氏

civilization. Creating mimic paintings of sorts, the

將「畫布」表層視為建造的地基，

artist enacts upon the ‘canvas’ surface, treating it as

透過他的介入，一種擬繪畫創作由

a foundational plane for building and intervention. Luk

此而生。他的創作過程充滿變動與

works with volatile processes and metamorphosing

未知，他的創作材料亦時常變幻形

materials, and likens transformation to the historical

態與材質，在陸氏看來，這些變幻

abstraction of time and space. Risk and chance occupy

是時間及空間的歷史抽象。在陸氏

a central role in Luk’s practice, wherein unstoppable

的藝術實踐中，「冒險」與「可能

abstraction takes the action of scorching combustion

性」扮演著重要的角色。無論是固

of napalm on brass, uncontrollable expansion of

體汽油在黃銅上的灼烈燃燒、水泥

expanding foam protruding hardened cement, and

材料上不可控的蔓延與凸起，還是

geological sedimentation of pre/post-historic beings in

樹脂中史前生物的考古沉積，都生

resin.

成著不穩定的抽象圖像。

ANDREW LUK 陸浩明

Deep Earth Event Horizon No.4《地球深層事件視界 4》 2021 Resin, dye, silicon carbide 樹脂、顏料、矽膠碳化物 150 x 110 x 3.5 cm

ANDREW LUK 陸浩明

The Fragility of Things Built from Rock No.3《岩石造物之脆弱性 3》 2021 Concrete, expanding foam 水泥、膨脹膠 113 x 86 x 27 cm

ANDREW LUK 陸浩明

The Fragility of Things Built from Rock No.2《岩石造物之脆弱性 2》 2021 Concrete, expanding foam 水泥、膨脹膠 98 x 81 x 24 cm

ANDREW LUK 陸浩明

The Fragility of Things Built from Rock (Study 1)《岩石造物之脆弱性 (研究1)》 2018 Concrete, expanding foam 水泥、膨脹膠 39 x 33 x 31 cm

ANDREW LUK 陸浩明

Oxidization / Immolation 4 《氧化/火祀 4》 2016-2019 Copper, homemade napalm, ammonia, salt 銅、自製凝固汽油彈、氨水、鹽 117 x 117 x 6 cm

ANDREW LUK 陸浩明

Oxidization / Immolation 6 《氧化/火祀 6》 2018 Copper, homemade napalm, ammonia, salt 銅、自製凝固汽油彈、氨水、鹽 117 x 117 x 6 cm

ANDREW LUK 陸浩明

Andrew Luk, Oxidization/ Immolation creation process. 陸浩明，《氧化 / 火祀 4》製造過程。

ANDREW LUK 陸浩明

In keeping with humanity’s capacity for destruction, the artist’s treatment of Oxidization

/ Immolation similarly sees a ‘canvas’ surface undergo an entropic intervention as the artist immolates homemade napalm over a copper surface. Revealed only when the flame has been extinguished, the copper surface is ultimately corroded and scarred into a black tangy oxide.

Deeply rooted in these charred textures are references to napalm’s catastrophic destruction

Michael Heizer, Munich Depression, 1969.

Michael Heizer《Munich Depression》1969。

during WWII and the Vietnam War. The canvas surface suddenly is reminiscent of an aerial landscape, the volatile explosive’s unforgiving

of resin and silicon carbide. Appearing to have

touch renders everything into nothing more

been excavated from the same sedimentary

but a blurry abstraction of shapes, textures

rock layer, the uncanny composition insinuates

and trauma. Recalling Robert Smithson’s Spiral

a post-human future that casts its gaze back

Jetty and Michael Heizer’s crater works, these

at our contemporary state. Not only is Luk

land artists treat the earth as a canvas from a

critical of the myth-making and story-telling

bird’s eye view, imposing interventions to the

inherent in building civilization and national

landscape before handing nature back to itself

consciousness, his work makes bare humanity’s

to act upon organically for the many subsequent

efforts to continuously develop an endless array

years.

of technological tools and artificial materials to reinforce our existing power structures. Luk’s

Luk’s Deep Earth Event Horizon series consists

acceleration and compression of organic and

of large reliefs that emulate sites of excavation,

geologic time hark back to the concerns of the

an archeologist’s chance encounter with the past pioneers of the Land Art movement, echoing an in the present time. The artist combines natural

eschatalogical moment in the Cold War era when

plant species with contemporary digital artefacts

mutually assured destruction through nuclear

and buries them under semi translucent layers

power seemed all but likely.

ANDREW LUK 陸浩明

Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, 1970. Aerial Documentation taken in 2014 Spring.

Robert Smithson《螺旋形的防波堤》1970。 2014 年春季航拍紀錄。 Dia Art Collection. © Holt/Smithson Foundation/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. © Aero-graphics, Salt Lake City

在《氧化/火祀》中，陸氏沉思著人類的破壞力，他

《地球深層事件視界》系列為一組巨型浮雕，它們仿

在黃銅表面上引燃自製固態汽油，以此將作品的「畫

佛來自考古挖掘現場，是當代與歷史時空的偶然邂

面」視為熵的變幻場域。火焰被熄滅後，黃銅表面呈

逅。藝術家將不同種類的植物與當代數碼物件一起覆

現出被深深腐蝕的斑紋，以及黑色、焦灼的氧化疤

蓋在一層半透明的樹脂與矽膠碳化物之下。於是，仿

痕。深埋在這些焦黑紋理下的則是固態汽油彈在二

若來自沉積岩層的遠古化石上呈現著怪異的組合，好

戰及越戰時期制導的破壞與災難。作品表面如同高空

像是後人類世的未來向當代世界投以的凝視。面對人

俯視戰場時所見到的景觀——在劇烈的爆炸之下，

類文明與國族意識對神話創造與故事講述癡迷，陸氏

一切都化為烏有，只剩下抽象、模糊的形狀、質感與

投以批判的檢視；他的創作亦揭示人類為鞏固現有權

創傷。一如藝術家Robert Smithson的《螺旋形防波

利結構，對科技產品及人造物無窮盡的開發。陸氏對

堤》和Michael Heizer的坑洞創作，大地藝術家們將

地質時間的加速與壓縮令人聯想到大地藝術時期前衛

大地作為鳥瞰視角下的畫布，他們介入地景，隨後將

藝術家們的時代隱憂，彼時，冷戰的陰影令世界都被

畫面的控制權交歸自然、時間與有機體。

籠罩在核武器的末日陰影之下。

In The Fragility of Things Built From Rocks, the artist fills a concrete box with expanding foam before proceeding to smash the container in shards with a sledgehammer, resulting in a reproductive blossoming of ejected foam leaking out in a defiant state of natural growth. Used for building and repair, both the materiality of concrete and foam negates their typical controlled construction properties, debunking mankind’s generational obsession with permanence and legacy. As the foam sets in shape, it continues to darken over time, taking

Lynda Benglis, Eat Meat, 1969/1975, Cast aluminium.

Lynda Benglis, 《Eat Meat》1969/1975，鑄鋁。 Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas.

on an odd liveliness that disturbs the binaries of the natural and the artificial.

“Without stories of progress, the world has become a terrifying place. The ruin glares at us with the horror of its abandonment. It’s not easy to know how to make a life, much less avert planetary destruction.”

-Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, “The Mushroom at the End of the World”

在《岩石造物之脆弱性》中，陸氏在密封水泥箱中注 滿膨脹泡沫，隨後，他用鐵錘將水泥箱砸出碎片， 使得膨脹泡沫如同草木生長一般從縫隙中溢出。作品 中，常用於建築與修補的水泥與泡沫共同否定著自身 固有的建築屬性、質疑著現代人類對永恆及遺存的迷 思。膨脹泡沫凝固之後，會隨著時間逐漸邊深色—— 這詭異的、充滿生命力生長與變化持續干擾著自然與 人工的二元性。衝破水泥岩層的泡沫綻放著奇特的美 感，它令人想起人類學家羅安清在《末日松茸》中對 讀者的提議，她建議人們重新思考在人造資本主義及 生態廢墟下合作共存的可能性。

Lou Bontecou, Untitled, 1962, Welded steel and canvas.

Lou Bontecou, 《Untitled》1962，焊接鋼、帆布。 The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

About the artists 關於藝術家

Paul Barlow (b.1988, Sheffield, UK) is a painter who

Paul Barlow 1988年生於英國謝菲爾

graduated from the Royal Academy in 2021 and was

德，2021年畢業於皇家藝術研究院，最

recently selected for Bloomberg New Contemporaries

近被選入南倫敦畫廊的Bloomberg New

at the South London Gallery. His abstract paintings

Contemporaries。他的抽像畫是以水為稀釋

are created using water as a solvent to strip away

劑，剝離畫作上的色彩殘留而創作的。Barlow

residues of colour on his paintings. Barlow currently

目前在英國倫敦生活和工作。

lives and works in London, UK. Harminder Judge (b.1982, Rotherham, UK) Royal

Harminder Judge 1982年生於英國羅瑟勒

Academy in 2021, his practice spans object making,

姆, 2021年畢業於皇家藝術研究院。他的實

performance and installation. His most recent body

踐包括了物品製作、表演和裝置。他最近的

of work engages with a history of Indian abstract

創作靈感來自17世紀印度拉賈斯坦邦的怛

painting related to tantric ritual. Judge recently

特羅-密教的抽象繪畫。Judge最近在巴黎

held a solo exhibition “Mountain and Mercies” at

的galeriepcp舉辦了個展 “Mountains and

galeriepcp in Paris. Judge currently lives and works in

Mercies”。 Judge目前在英國倫敦生活和工

London, UK.

作。

Osamu Kobayashi (b.1984, Columbia, South Carolina,

Osamu Kobayashi 1984生於年美國南

USA) creates abstract paintings of whimsical colors

卡羅萊納州，他的抽像畫帶有異想天開色

with sweeping brushstrokes, creating scenes that

彩，筆觸舒展，創造出熟悉又幻想場景空

range from familiar spaces to imaginary dimensions.

間。Kobayashi最近在洛杉磯的LA Artcore舉

Kobayashi recently has a solo exhibition “Hand in

辦了個展 “Hand in Hand”。Kobayashi目前

Hand” at LA Artcore in Los Angeles. Kobayashi

在美國紐約生活和工作。

currently lives and works in New York, USA. Andrew Luk (b. 1988, New Jersey, USA) is a Hong

陸浩明1988年生於美國新澤西州，是一位香

Kong artist who works across a range of media

港藝術家。他的作品涉及一系列媒體，研究人

examining the intricacies of the human experience

類經驗的複雜性，以及與文明建設相關的神話

as well as the myths and histories associated

和歷史。陸氏曾在香港亞洲協會（2019）、

with civilisation building. Luk has participated in

香港大館（2019）、上海當代藝術博物館

exhibitions at Asia Society Hong Kong (2019), Tai

（2018）等地方舉辦過展覽。 陸的作品被

Kwun, Hong Kong (2019) Power Station of Art,

美國芝加哥的Smart Museum of Art 和香港

Shanghai (2018) amongst others. Luk’s work is

K11藝術基金會收藏。 陸氏目前在香港生活

collected by the Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, USA

和工作。

and K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong. Luk currently lives and works in Hong Kong.

www.blindspotgallery.com

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