White Text #3 白文本 (第三期)

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2006

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第三期

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NUMBER 3

| HK$5ÿ| Student HKS45

編 輯總監 Editing Directors

白文本 WHITE TEXT

部凝姿 何兆基 譚偉平 余偉聯 黃麗貞 謝明莊

二 零零六 年九月 第三期 Number 3, September 2006

Tang Ying Chi Ho Siu Kee Tam Wai Ping Francis Yu Wong Lai Ching Tse Ming Chong

《白 文本》主要經 由學生 編制，

執 行編輯 Executive Editors

由 白管子 基金支 持發行。其得

老慧行 Lo Wai Hang 余椅I奇 Yu Kei Kei 盧慧珊 Lo Wai Shan

以順 利發行，有 賴眾多 香港藝

何穎雯 Ho Wing Man 陳慧思 Teresa Chan 蔡穎思 Choi Wing-sze

術 學院現 屆及畢 業學生 的義務 貢獻。版 權所有，本刊 物任何

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部份若 未經版 權持有 人允許

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不得用 任何方 式抄襲 或翻印

設言十 8? Designers

本 刊物所 表達之 意見或 觀點及

香建峰 Alex Heung 馬虔珠 Ivy Ma

其所 有內容，不 代表番 港藝術

黃振欽

學院， 白管子 之立場

Leo Wong

常 務編輯 Managing Editors 黃振欽 Leo Wong 李雪盈 Lee Suet Ying 譚家榮 Tam Kar Wing

定 價：港 幣五十 學生：港幣 四十五

中文顧 問編輯 Contributing Chinese Text Editor 袁婉荷

Yuen Yuen Ho

英文顧 問編輯 Contributing English Text Editors 廖慧楊 Gloria Liu 黎美蓮 Lai Mei Lin 黃曉霖 Wong Hiu Lam Laura Leung

出版 Publisher

白文本 White Text 聯 絡地址

Address

香港 灣仔港 灣道二 號香港 藝術中 心十樓 白管子 White Tube, 10th floor, Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong 印 刷公司 Printing Company

毅柏 廣告有 限公司 Apex Creative Services Ltd. 白管 子網頁

White Tube Website

http://www.whitetube.org

White Text is a semi-annual publication supported by White Tube Funds. Its achievement comes from contributions and voluntary works of students and graduates of Hong Kong Art School. All rights reserves.

Reproduction without written permission of the publisher is strictly forbidden. The judgments and opinions expressed and ' the content included in this publication do not represent the view of White Tube, Hong Kong Art School.

Single Issue: General HK$50, Student HK$45

查 詢熱線 Enquiry Hotline (852) 2922 2822

電郵 Information Enquiry

info@whitetube.org 發 行日期 Publication Date 於香 港印刷 2006 年 9 月 2006 September Printed in Hong Kong.

發行量 Distribution Copies

一 千本 1000 Copies

國 際標準 期刊號 ISSN: 1818-5657

編

上期的《白 文本》因為 一些技 術性的 問題而 耽誤了出版， 故此同 學和同 事們都 很努力，希望 可以令 這次如 期出版，逢 成一 年兩期 的設想。本校的同學，在日常 生活 中有多 個身份、角色：除了是 學生、 還是在 職人士、家 庭中的 要員， 或本身 擁 有其他 的才能，要 他們同 時兼顧《白 文本》的工作，相信 會加添 一定的 壓力， 希望其他 人士能 夠欣賞 他們的 貢獻。

輯 語

「身 份」、「角 色」 好像仍 然是香 港藝術 所關注 的問題。韋 一空的 〈無 領土化 文化身 份的反 覆無常 > : 討論 身份的 塑造和 形成， 提供了「年青 習性」、「沒 有器

官的 身體」等 的論述。策 展人何 慶基，分享了其策展 的意念、過程 和經驗，帶給 謓者 一幅再創造的 展覽圖 像。近年，策展 人和藝 術家的 關係產 生了微 妙的變 化，這 變化與「年青 習性」的身 份是否 連繫得上呢？ 其他 文章都 是藝術 家的親 身經驗，如何 兆基一 直以來 探討的「手 藝」和「身體 參 與」； 及黃麗 貞對傳統美善 的體會，兩 者都有 某些的 共通點。謝 明莊對 影像與 當代 社會的 關係則 有迫切 的回應。當然，最 能反映 藝術家 創作歷 程的， 莫過於 藝術 家自述 的環節，也是 第一身，甚 至第一 手有關 藝術或 藝術家 箇中的 情況： 譚偉平 把他關 心的事 情和影 響他的 人和事 一一 地記了 下來。

其他兩 篇都與 教育和 學習有 關，一 篇由白 管子的 統籌們 作自我 反省； 在 另一篇 中，張康 生則藉《克 力架》展覽，探述 教與學 的關係。作為 老師及 該展覽 策劃人 之一的我，亦藉 此以個 人身份 道出對 展覽的 期望。 該展覽 的目的 是希望 學生能 對自己 的創作，無論 是在心 態或作 品的發 展方面， 時時作 出反省 和批判，有時 總覺 得學生 太著意 作品的 完成， 而忽略 過程中 所遇到 的問題，特 別是有 f 其他」 因素 的影響。或許 經濟對 社會的 影響實 在太大，當 代藝術 的追求 都加入了快而 準的 特質； 這種現象 不單在 藝術家 的群體中出現，也 在藝術 學生中 出現。 最後，在此 代表學 校中的 每一位，悼念 最近離 世的校 友盧佩 君同學。盧 佩君於 2005 年畢業，她的 離開令 所有人 都覺得惋惜， 希望她 的家人 能夠早日收拾心情。 在 此獻上 永遠的 懷念！

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鄧凝姿

編 輯總監

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Editorial Note The last issue of White Text was delayed due to some technical issues.

This time, all our students and colleague are doing their best in hoping to publish this issue on time and to stick to the plan of publishing White Text twice a year. Students at our school bear many identities and roles in their daily lives: other than being students, they are also working people, family members; some of them possess other talents and are engaged in other commitments. Fulfilling those commitments and working on White Text is bound to add certain pressure to them. We sincerely hope that their contribution will be appreciated.

Issues like "identity” and "role" still seem to be something the Hong Kong art scene is still concerned about. Frank Vigneron's Deterritorialization the Arbitrariness of Cultural Identity discusses the construction and formation of identity with discourses of "young habitus” and "Body without Organs". Curator Oscar Ho shares with us his curatorial concepts, process and experience and presents to readers a re-created exhibition picture. In recent years, the relationship between curator and artist has undergone some interesting changes. Are such changes in any way connected with the identity of "young habitus”ÿ The following articles are personal experiences of various artists: "Craftsmanship” and "Participation of the Body”ÿ topics often discussed

by Ho Siu Kee; Wong Lai Ching’s understanding of the traditional beauty and kindness. There is something in common between the two articles.

Tse Ming Chong has some immediate responses to the relationship between image and contemporary society. Undoubtedly, what can most reflect an artist’s creativity is a statement by the artist himself, as the first person, interpretation. What Tam Wai Ping did was to record occurrences he cares about and people and things that affect him.

The Other two articles are about education and learning, one of which is some self-reflections by coordinators of White Tube. In the other article, Enoch Cheung explores the relationship between teaching and learning by taking a look at the Crackers exhibition. As a teacher and one of the curators, I would like to express my personal expectation of this exhibition. The purpose of this exhibition is to encourage students to be

reflective and critical about development of their work. stress on the completion of facing during the process

their own work, be it their mentality or the Sometime I feel that students put too much the work and neglect the questions they are of making, especially the influence of the "Other" factors. Perhaps economy has such a great impact to society, contemporary art has also incorporated some new qualities - instant and precise; such qualities are not only found in artists but also among art students.

Lastly, on behalf of everyone from the school, I would like to express our grieve about the passing away of Miss Lo Pui Kwan, who graduated in

2005. Her loss has been greatly missed by all of us and we send our sincere condolences to her family. She will always be in our hearts!

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Tang Ying Chi Editing Director

白文本 第三期 White Text Number 3 001

編輯語 Editorial Note 004

目錄 Content

005 無領 土化一 文化身 份的反 覆無常

Deterritorialization

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the Arbitrariness of Cultural Identity

韋一空 Frank Vigneron

025 策展 人常問 的問題

A Curator’s Frequently Asked Questions 何慶基

Oscar Ho

兼談 「開 物」、 「成 器」 與 「致 用」 On Making Bricks - and Some Thoughts on "Exploring Materials", "Making Utensils" and "Applications"

051 造磚記

何兆基

Ho Siu Kee

061 一只 破魚盤

A Broken Fish Platter 黃麗貞

Wong Lai Ching

069 影像 殖民的 都市人

Image Colonization 謝明莊

Tse Ming Chong

081 藝術家 自述： 這裡的 「我」 看著 那裡的 「我」 Artist Statement: Here, I look at me over there 譯偉平 Tam Wai Ping

103 白 管子、 《白文 本》、 「賣 藝日」 工 作分享

Sharing on White Tube, White Text and "Art Fair” 老慧行，楊 曉棠， 楊美青

Lo Wai Hang, Candy Yeung, Yang Mei Ching

從 「鬆 脆」 的裂口 反思學 習藝術 的過程 "Crackers" Exhibition - Introspection on the Process of the Study of Art From the "Crunchy" Cracks

119 關於 《克 力架》 展覽

張康生 Enoch Cheung

封 面圖片 Ivy Ma 提供

Cover Image is provided by Ivy Ma

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夏碧泉，《芬 蘭》，《攝 影組 合》， 2001 年。 Ha Bik Chuen, "Finland”ÿPhoto Assemblage, 2001.

翻譯：錢雅婷

今時 今日， 有關香 港文化 身份的 意見眾 說紛紜 一通常都涉及「混雜 j 、「漂 浮」、「離鄉 別井 j 等用詞

令人 日益需 要提出 一個能 容納嶄 新方法 去理解這現象 的理論 框架。

HK Lab 系列（由 建築師 Laurent Gutierrez 及 Val6rie Portefaix 發起及 編輯）的出 版以 及其作 者頗無 法無天 地運用 一些引人入勝 的概念，尤 其導致 我也構 思出我自己的 理 論遊戲：它包 括了把 玩其他 人創立 的概念，把它 們扭曲 成為新 的組合，令 我可 以用來

理解像 香港這 個地方，在 此生活，在 此工作。請原諒我在此透 過挪用 及?落 化創造「設

。一 如這些 消閒藥 物的使 用一樣，我這

計師 概念」，就 如其他 人創造「設計 師毒品 j 一樣

個舉動的目標 是娛樂 性大於 高級哲 學或社 會學。但有別 這些非法藥物 的使用，我 沒有違 反任何反抄 襲規條，因 為我相 信：利 用這些 概念進 行挪用遊戲仍 算是一種創作 行為。

要談論及 描繪這 個名為「香 港文 化身份 j 的東西，我 會用到 看起來 頗具限制性的 視覺工

具 .它 們的作 用不過 是令我 能把玩 概念， 並非意 圖假扮 科學化。本 地文化 的構成 包含多

重元素，經 過一段 時間及 距離後，逐漸 結合成 一個被 認為是 連貫的 整體。 事實上，要一

一 列出構 成文化 身份的 所有元 素是不 可能的，文化 身份的構成包 括實物、概念、實 際及 虛 擬空間、肉 體習慣、語言、文 學及藝 術傳統，以及 任何領 土內人 類及動 物參與 者的永

恆交流

註一) 認為 任何文化身份 都能達 成一個 清晰的 形態是 個天真 的想法，但 在此表

述期間，我 會假定 這是可 行的。 這個連 貫的整 體因此 是個海 市蜃樓 .但 屬於有 用的那 種，它能 幫助我 們了解 其形成背後的 機制。 事實上，我 們稍後 將看到，把 文化身 份視為

一 個流暢的物件 已變成 了其參 與者的「老 習?」（因 為任何文化身 份都只 能存在於真實 的 空間及 其參與 者之間

同樣地，我 們能夠 把一個 如此複 雜的物 件簡化 成一個 單一名

」

詞「香 港文 化身份 ，也足以 證明了 我們可 以把之 視為單 一物件。要 解釋這 個意念，我首 先希望能簡 介一下 Pierre Bourdieu 的一個 主要的 概念。

(註一

「 領土」 一 詞應該 是有個 更清晰 的定義 ，但 在香港 的情況，歷史 令這悃 任務比 其他地 方簡單 ： 在此的 「領 土」 就是指前英 國殖民 地所被 規限的 境界。

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文 化身份 的構成 如此深 入地融 入了本 地文化 群眾的 意識內，令他 們不察 覺其構 成的反 覆無常。這 變成了 Pierre Bourdieu 所謂的 "HABITUSÿ習性。 Pierre Bourdieu 直至 其於 2002 年離 世前， 一直是 College de France 的社會 學教授，廣 被認為 是二十 世紀其

中一 名最偉 大的社 會學家。受到 Marx, Durkheim 及 Weber 的著作 的啟發，並 跟隨後 結構 主義的 浪潮， Bourdieu 發展了一個社 會及文 化複製 的理論，嘗 試探究 個人自由如何

在不 斷改變 的社會 架構中運作。Bourdieu 相信，個人自由諷 刺地只 能存在 於某種 限制；

而他的「習 性」概念 對於了 解社會 限制如 何仍然 產生某 種自由 意願是 必不可 少的。 拉丁 文中的 habitus意指（肉體 方面的 ) 薰陶； 性格，品 質：衣 著風格，服裝，氣質， 感受；

習慣。Bourdieu 的人 類習性 概念與 原本的 拉丁文 意思有 所配合，它是 指從社 會所得， 具體化 的性情 及素質 系統。

受 到結構 主義及 Noam Chomsky 的生 成文法 (他認為 我們全 都有與 生俱來 的語言 能力， 因此即 使年幼 的小童 也能使 用語言 ) 啟發，習 性對於 Bourdieu 而 言是個「構成中的結 構」， 習性的 行動以 及行為 並不是 機械化 地生產 出來的，而 是由歷 史及社會形勢 導致的。習性 催生 能適應 一個特 定社會 環境的 行為， Bourdieu 也一直 堅持習 性的體 現性質，在身 體、手勢、姿 態及社 會薰陶 的某些 層面均 可體現。這些薰陶 因此對 於社會 成員而 言看似 是「自 然」 ，因 為他們 只能通 過其習 性才能 掌握。我想用 一個較 通俗的 方法去 稱呼習

性就是「老習 慣」， 即我們 經常作 出並從 不把它 當是受 外在因 素影響 的行為，雖然

。一 個完美 的習性例子就 是女性 在全球

Bourdieu 堅 持習性 的特點 正是永 遠都看 似自然

多個 社會中 的形象：女性 天生是「較 弱的 性別」的觀 念仍被 認為是 基於天 性而非 文化而

產生 (對於 性行為 的看法 也同出 一轍： 社會預 期男女在性行為中的 表現被 認為是 完全自 然，但事 實上這 些表現 受歷史 及社會 形勢的 薰陶與 受任何 基因影 響的程 度是不 相伯仲)。

在傳統 的自然 / 文化二分法中，像 Bourdieu 般的 社會學 家認為 我們的 行為中，受 文化影

響的比 例是大 於我們 願意相 信的。

回到文 化身份 的主題，一個 文化中 有很多 元素最 終會變 成某種 習性， 我會把 它稱為「年 青 習性」，因為 與一般 需要經 過幾代 才會構 成的習 性相比，它的形 成很快。正如 我早前

所說，我 們可以 把這個 複雜的 物體濃 縮成一 個單一 的詞彙，如「香 港文化 身份」 這也是 我以單 一流暢 的物體 介紹它 的原因

我也 想在此 借用二十世紀 兩位重 要作家 Gilles

Deleuze 及 Pierre Guattari 提出 的概念 (雖然 這看似不公平，但我從 現在起 只會稱這概念

為 Deleuze 主義 )。「習 性」一直扮演流暢物 體的角 色：在 現實中，它 是由一 大堆東 西組成 (語言、物件、地 方等 )ÿ但當 組成元 素變得 無數地 多時， 整體就 不再看 似是一 個建構。它

變成一 個我想 將之與 Deleuze 所謂的「沒有 器官的 身體」

Body without Organs}

比較的 東西。

首先， 我想介 紹一下 Deleuze 著作中談及的 BwOÿ他 的作品 時刻在 經歷發 展和臨 時性，

令人 有必要 把他的 概念過 於簡化，就 如下述。然而，能 夠把 其作品 的不完 整性變 成他的 長處，因 為他把 BwO 展示為 一個無 法逢至 的境界。他 眼中 的世界 是由成 河的慾 望流組

成，這些 流動不只是水、空氣、岩漿、血液、油漆、電流，不只是草、土地、太陽，也包括 意念、人、文化、書本、對 話等。由於 它們均 是時刻 在流動，它 們是通過割斷、阻 檔或汲

取其他 流動的形成的。事 實上，我 們棲身 的世界正是由這些慾 望流的 干擾及不和所 形成。 沒有這 些流動，就沒 有可靠 的架構，也就 沒有世 界可言。不過，慾望 流並不 希望被 割斷或

受阻，它們 也力爭 在它們之間達 至完全 平衡的 境界， 一個終 極而言 是不可 能連至 的平衡 狀態。這個慾望 流之間 無可能 達至的 完美平 衡就是 Deleuze 所謂的 BwO, 因此， BwO 是 一個 只能存 在於想 像之中 的完全 抽象的 概念； 這個平 衡狀態 也是一 個靜止 狀態，

Deleuze 有時 形容它 為死寂 或不事 生產。

，一 如照 片能把 一個人 跳動以 完全靜

任何文 化身份 的表述 均須要 在某個特定時刻進行

止的方 式呈現。但 那種表 述方式是有必 要地屬限制性，在某 程度上 永遠都 是一張 屍體的

。因此 我想引入一個「文化 BwOÿ的「設 計師 概念」，以 流暢物 件呈現 文化身 份的快 照片 照， 在當中，所有 的慾望 流都停?不前。一個「文化 BwOÿ將 是很多 社會曾 當試生 產的東 西： 一個完 滿狀況 的形象，被整 合至一 個包含 所有基 本元素 (語言、地方、物 件等) 的連貫

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整體，但 這個完 滿狀況是永遠 被延遲，永遠也不能 逢至的。為了繼 纗挪用 Deleuze 概念，

這 些元素 (語言、地方、物 件等) 也可以被用作與他的「慾望 機器」概 念比較，每種 元素是 由一個 慾望流 及對這 慾望流 的詮釋 所組成，有 時他 把造些 元素稱 為機械 式儀器，像一 個陷阱 或開關。道些「慾望 機器」永遠地 懸掛在 BwO 身上，希 望有朝 能成為 BwO 的一

部份， 進入切 斷及干 擾的永恆過程。這可以是 極度複 雜的溝 通或社 會融合 過程， 但如我 們很快 會明白，造同時 也是最 簡單的 物件。

任何 文化身 份的本 地文化 參與者 永遠在 他們的「文化 BwOÿ身上掛上東西 / 慾望 機器。

但由於「慾望 機器」的種 類是由 如此大 量的詳 情及由 大量人 員堆砌 而成， 要知道 文化在 將來 會發展 成甚麼 模樣是 幾乎不可能的。設 計師、 廣告商 及潮流 制定者 每天面 對的問 題，是酋 試以一 個既定 文化中 早已存 在的元素去預 測未來。這 項工作依重個人直覺，也 同 樣地依 重科學 性數據，因為「慾望 機器」如何 懸掛在「文化 BwOÿ身上 幾乎是 永恆地

主觀。讓我們看一 個例子。當 一個看 似陌生 的元素，一個「慾望 機器」，如 港式奶 茶是懸

掛在「文化 BwOÿ身上，它在一 短時間內可以被視為 一個人 為的附 加物件。它看 似是這 樣， 因為它 沒有時 間變成「習 性」。在此，使用「年輕 習性」一 詞可能 會有用 (讓我 提醒大 家，這 個意念 是被本 文的作 者劫持，它不 出現在 Pierre Bourdieu 的任 何著作，正 是我所

稱為的「設 計師 概念」）， 因為 奶茶一 加了煉 奶的港 式紅茶 一未有 足夠資 格成為 習性， 是一個 頗近代 的意念。該 種文化選擇 的主觀 性及該習性的 年輕度 並沒有 減低該 元素的 現 寅性。

，也只會增加 人工化 的感覺，因 為它 未有時 即使 是最新 加入的，如黃 炳培的《紅白藍》 間 融入成 為一些 看似是 BwO 的東西。黃炳培的《紅白藍》 在香港 到處可 見的人 造纖維

製成 的物料，多用 於建築、保護 及運輸 )， 看似 是個無 必要的 選擇，它也不只在香 港能找 到，但 造選擇 仍有理 據支持，因 為他沒 有停止 在把物 料識別 為只屬 於香港 的東西。他一 開始 就清楚 地表明，他在「紅 白藍」物 料中看 到的香 港特色 是由眾 多不同 元素組 成的構 思 (人們 提著由 該物料 製造的 袋子進 出香港，許冠 傑在演 唱會穿 著以紅白藍製 造的西 裝，用 作攤檔 及大排 檔的雨 蓬等等 )。 正是這 些元素 的互動、割斷 及干擾，道些「慾望機

器」， 短暫地 齊集在 他在香港文化 博物館 策劃的 展覽中展示的 連貫的 圖畫。

經過 一段時間後，

_ 個新 的元素會成為 BwO 的 一部份，作為習性的 一個新 層面； 雖然最

新的元 素感覺 仍然會 像被迫 嫁接到 BwO 身上的外來物。我 們很難 知道這些元素 之中會

否有一 些會成 為文化 BwO, 因為 BwO 是不斷 在接受 及排斥 新元素。我們 很難知 道有甚 麼 可以或 不可以 被嫁接在文化 BwO 身上， 但我們 有可能 (有時 是憑大 量運氣 ) 找到 _個

合適的 人選作 為下一 個嫁接 ( 而我個 人相信，「紅白藍」已經 符合資 格成為 香港習 性的一 部份 )。 但最終，由於 新元素 不斷地 加入及 被拋棄，要 準確 地描繪出任何「文化 BwOÿ的 面 貌是不 可能的。這 元素或「慾望 機器」為 數之多，種 類之多，令它 們無法 被放在 任何一

類連貫 的系統。因 此建構 的傳統 規條並 不能應 用在此，而我 將借用（這次 基本上 是不作 任何 修改) 結構主 義之父、人 種學家 Claude L6vi-Strauss的 另一個 概念。

在 The Savage Mind (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968)

—

書內，

Levi-Strauss 比較了「迷 思」 由他在 南美洲研究的「原始 社會」製生的 思想) 以及 一種他

稱之為"bricolage"的 (法語， 解作自 己動手，含 有欠缺 早有計劃的意 念及沒有好技 巧而製

成的 意思) 藝術。對於 Levi-Strauss而言，"bricolage"依靠 符號而運行， 像一名 工程師，永 遠在尋 找訊息。不 過， "bricolage"收集 的是預 早發放 的訊息 (像 用一張 舊桌的 腳去做

_ 張新桌）。 迷思是 一種智 慧型的 "bricolage"; 它 從一大 堆物件 及概念 中創造 出神話

及習俗。同 樣地， "bricolage" 類型 的藝術 家運用 他們手 上有的 任何東 西創作，因而 能獲 得出乎意料及 出色的 結果。 Levi-Strauss 提到 Art Brut 及 NaYve Art, 但 若加入

Kurt Schwitters, Robert Rauschenberg 及Thomas Hirschorhn 等藝術 家的作 品也不 為過。

Levi-Strauss—直 將神話 視為美 學物件，而 他提及 "bricolage" 賦 予了某 種藝術 製造神 話的 地位。 由於建 構的意 念是神 話形成的核心，我們 可以把 很多藝 術品的 產生視 為神話

的架構。如果

幅畫並不真正 符合藝 術品作 為神話 的定義，那頗 明顯地，籠 統地 被稱為

「裝 置」的 藝術製 作就完 全符合 "bricolage" 的稱號。總體 而言， L6vi-Strauss 並 不相信

這些藝 術品真 是神話 ( 事實上 我們不 能如複 製藝術 品般複 製神話 就輕易 地證明 了造一 點 )ÿ因 為他認為它們 有兩項 不同功 能：如 果藝術 品是由 物件及事件開始而形成架構，那 麼神話 就是由架構開 始而逐 漸發現 物件及事件。

"Bricolage"因此能夠在很 多藝術 家的創 作方式中找到，在 香港藝 術家中 就有不 少是以 這 種方式 創作! 香港 bricolage 鼻祖 應該是 夏碧泉，他 在街道 間遊走 多年， 為的就 是組織

他 那些令人驚嘆 的物件。陳 育強也 留意了 "bricolage" 好一 段時間 (雖然 近年在 威尼斯 雙年 展的參 與令他 變為採 用較有 計劃的 藝術創 作方式 )， 他在 參與黃 炳培的《建 一番

港 精神紅白藍》展覽時 就表示：「我 對主 題並沒 有太大 的興趣，反 正主題 往往出 現於作 品完成之後； 反之，我對『構成 方法? 有興 趣一透 過它無 論如何都可做 出一些 甚麼來 而且它 不斷牽 引靈感

Deleuze 定下了，任何生物其 中一項最基本 的行動，尤其 是人類，是開 創領土，讓 他們能 夠撤離「慾 望流」的旋渦， 找到某 種平衡。不過，我 們必須 緊記， Deleuze 視不斷 的切斷 及干擾過程為 創造世 界的基 本元素，「領 土化」最終 是條死 胡同， 無可避 免地會 走向靜 止 和死亡。很簡 單地說，「無 領土 化」， 打破領 土邊界 並衝出 任何既 定空間 的行為，因而

是令世界保持成為活 躍系統 的唯一 可能性，它能產生更 新的慾望流。「無領 土化」在今 時今日看來是 這個全 球化晚資本主 義階段 的總體 定律， 而一如 慾望流 的互動，那 過程產 生了同 等份量 的好結 果和壞 結果。

十九世紀 西方殖 民主義（實質 無領土 化的最早但災 難性的 嘗試）的 其中一 個最聲 名狼藉

的壞 結果是 產生了 東方主義風格，一種 企圖把其他國 家典型 的裝飾 及主題 帶入歐 洲及北 美市場 的藝術 及設計。不 幸地， 仍然有 藝術家 在進行 該種負 面的異 國風情，如多 年前我 遇 見的某 位法國 藝術家，以無 意義的 陳腔濫調作為主題繪 畫香港。在異國 情調頻 譜的另

一端，是一 種我們 可稱為「正 面異國 情調」的東西。畢 加索就 是該傾 向的明 顯例子，雖然 他 對於他 用作靈 感的非 洲文化 並沒有 流露任 何興趣。造些非洲元 素出現 在一位 居住於

法國 的西班 牙現代 派藝術 家的作 品之中，是一 個有趣 並方向 正確的做法， 但它未 是真正 的無領 土化，因為畢 加索仍 然是在 歐美藝 術市場 的脈絡 內工作 及創作。文 化中心 的概念

在當時 仍是個 完全未 受挑戰 的情況，畢 加索沒 可能有 另一種 想法。今日的情況在 迅速改

變，無領 土化的 概念需 要以前 所未有 的方式 形成。

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藝術家 Rirkrit Tiravanija 在雜誌 Artforum 內發 表對無 領土化 的意見令人非 常難忘，也

?售詩意。在 (The Lay of the Land

- An Experiment in Art and Community in

77?a//aA7? 有關幾 乎不可 能定義 這位國 際知名 藝術家 的藝術 項目文 章中， Daniel Birnbaum 報導 了一個 應用在 像珠江 三角洲 這樣的 藝術世 界時完 全理據 充足的 意見。

當 被問到 他的遊 牧式生 活可否 被視為 是嘗試 創造多 個中心，他所 回答的，相 反地，他對邊 緣的複 雜性更 有興趣，該名 藝術家 簡短地 表示：「因 為那 時你就 會明白，中心 其實是位處外 面。」（註三 ) 但這對 於仍然 依賴歐 美市場 維生的 大部份 藝術家 仍是一 廂情願。於 是問題

又變 成：關 注於為本地消 費市場 (如 香港) 而 創作文 化產品 的藝術 家和設 計師如何能在 全 球化經濟中產 生任何 影響？

讓 我們以 梁志和 一件頗 為著名 的作品 (無題，作於"Dream of a Path"後，1996, 一套五

件， 紙油畫，每幅 244 x 60 厘米，香港 藝術館 收藏品 ) 作為 例子。 無論該作品在 視覺上 是如何美麗，觀眾 也需要 理解中 文字句 的意思，經 典中 國文化 中石刻 的意義，以 至香港 獨 有的飲 食文化，才能 理解作 品的多層意義。問 題的 答案可 能是藏 在無數藝術家 在全球

各地新 興成為 「中 心」的邊緣 地區工 作及創 作的藝 術家所 進行的 無數的「混 雜化」舉

動。例 子多不 勝數， 從居住 在美國 及墨西 哥邊界 兩旁的 Chicanos 藝術家， 以至在 亞洲及

全球 各地創 作的菲 律賓及 越南藝 術家。 事實上，歐 美的藝 術家出 版媒體 對這些 作品的 興 趣日增，有關造些藝 術家的 文章已 經是報 導的常 規部份。雖 然這 些藝術 品的具 體文化 內容可 能未能 被其他 文化的 參與者 所領略，這個「混 雜化」過程對任何人 都仍然 是有趣

的，因為 一種可 被稱為「正 面異國 情調」的 態度。

有關 在香港 製作的 藝術品，以及 以本地 文化為 主題， 對於本 地參與 者而言 明顯不過的元

素對 外人可能是一 個謎。 但謎本 身也可 以是個具激勵 的動力，使人 以純正 規的方法欣賞

藝術，或產 生興趣，繼 而令觀 眾進一 步理解 這個本 地文化。無 論如何，藝 術品總 會產生

0

(註三)

4

Birnbaum, Daniel: wThe Landw, \r\ Artforum, Summer 2005, p. 346.

不同 的意義，被 每個觀 眾以不 同的方 式詮釋，每人都會 加進自 己的文 化背景。這樣 看來， 混 雜化的舉動又 似乎與 另一個 Deleuze 概念非 常接近：根莖。根莖 的生長 是無領 土化最

完美的 例子，它是無 中心的 分枝。 Gutierrez 及 Portefaix有 關一個 城市隨 著地? 系統而 發展的 意念也可被視 為是出 自同一 概念；它正 好說明 了文化 身份無 領土化 的意思：一個 既 能完全 地代表 一個地 方同時 又能輸 出至其 他地方 的概念。這種 物件或情況的 無領土

化 可以移 用到其 他背景，同時 產生其 他類型 的詮釋 及意義。「本 地 特徵」的散播至其他

領域 可能是 全球化 的唯一 可行方 案：眾 多本地 文化無 領土化 成為不 斷增長 的邊緣，而並

非把一切同化，成 為一 個龐然 大物的 中心。

O 韋

空

frank@arts.cuhk.edu.hk

韋一 空現為中文大 學藝術 系助理教授. 主要研 究+八 世紀 迄今的中國畫 理論史，及全 球語境中各方 面的中國當代 藝術。 他同時 是活躍 藝術家，曾在港舉 辦多個 個展， 亦多次 參與本 地及國 際性的 聯展。

'

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Deterritorialization the Arbitrariness of Cultural Identity Frank Vigneron There is today so much talk about a Hong Kong cultural identity - usually involving

terms like "hybridity”ÿ "floating", "diasporic" , and so on

that it has become

increasingly necessary to come up with theoretical frameworks that would allow for more innovative ways to understand that phenomenon. The publication of the series HK Lab in particular (initiated and edited by the architects Laurent Gutierrez and Valerie Portefaix), and the use its authors have made of fascinating concepts in sometimes

fairly anarchic ways, have led me to come up with my own theoretical game: it consists in playing with concepts invented by other people, and twisting them into new

combinations that would facilitate understanding, living and working in a place like

Hong Kong. May I therefore be forgiven for creating "designer concepts", through appropriation and bastardization, as other people are creating "designer drugs". Just like the use of these recreational drugs, the goal of that exercise is more about entertainment than it is about high-brow philosophy or sociology. But unlike the use of these illegal

drugs, I am not violating any anti-plagiarism rule since I believe playing a game of

appropriation with these concepts is still a creative act.

To talk about and represent this entity called "Hong Kong cultural identity", I will use visual aids that might seem rather limiting, they are only here to allow that play with

concepts and have no pretence of being scientific in any way. Local cultures are constructs of a multitude of elements converging into something that can, over time and from a certain distance, be seen as a coherent whole. It is in fact impossible to make a list of all the elements entering into what can be called a cultural identity. It is

formed of real objects, concepts, real and virtual spaces, bodily habits, language,

literary and artistic traditions and a constant flow of exchanges between the human and animal actors of any given territory(/Vÿfe7人 The idea that any given representation of

a cultural identity can be achieved in any clear form is

naive,

but I will assume for the

duration of that presentation that it can be done. This coherent whole is therefore a

mirage, but a useful one as it will help us understand the mechanisms of its making.

(Nore 1)

The term 'territory' also should be more clearly defined, but in the case of Hong Kong, history has

rendered that task easier than in other places: 'territory' is here the limits imposed by the former British colony.

In fact, as we will see, considering cultural identity as a smooth object becomes like "second nature” for its actors (as any cultural identity can only exist within and between the actors of any given real space). Similarly, the fact that we can reduce such a

complex object into a single expression like "Hong Kong cultural identity" is enough proof that one can see it as a single object. To explain that idea, I would like to briefly introduce one of the main concepts of the work of Pierre Bourdieu.

The construction of a cultural identity becomes so deeply integrated into the

consciousness of the actors of a local culture that they are not aware of the

arbitrariness of its constitution. It becomes what Pierre Bourdieu has called "HABITUS".

Pierre Bourdieu, who was until his death in 2002 a professor of sociology at the College de France, is widely regarded as cme of the greatest sociologists of the twentieth

century. Inspired by the works of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber, and following the wave of what has been called post-structuralism, Bourdieu has developed a theory of social and cultural reproduction which is an attempt to find how individual freedom can function within constantly evolving social structures. Bourdieu believed that individual

freedom, paradoxically, can only exist within certain constraints, and his concept of "habitus" is essential to understand how social limitations can still generate a certain

kind of free will. The Latin, habitus, means condition (of the body); character, quality: style of dress, attire, disposition, state of feeling; habit. Bourdieu’s concept of human

habitus matches somewhat the original Latin meaning, it refers to socially acquired, embodied systems of dispositions and predispositions.

Inspired by structuralism and by Noam Chomsky’s generative grammar (for whom we are all genetically conditioned for language, which can explain why very small children are already capable of using it}, habitus is a "structuring structure" for Bourdieu. The actions and behaviors of habitus are not produced mechanically, but rather by historical and social conditions. It generates behaviors adapted to a given social field, and

Bourdieu always insisted on the embodied nature of habitus which is inscribed on the bodies,

gestures, postures and certain aspects of social conditioning. These

conditionings therefore appear as "natural” to the social agents, because they can only

grasp them through their habitus. I suppose a common way to refer to habitus in everyday language would be to call it "second natureÿi.e. the type of behavior we often

engage in without thinking of it as conditioned by external factors, even though Bourdieu insists that habitus always appear to us as entirely natural. A perfect example of habitus would be how women have been presented in many societies around the world: the idea that women are by nature the "weaker sex” is still thought about as

defined by nature and not by culture (the same could be said about sexual behavior in

general: there are certain expectations on how women and men should behave that are

seen as entirely natural, whereas these behaviors are as much conditioned by historical and social conditions as they are by any type of genetical conditioning). In the traditional dichotomy nature/culture, sociologists like Bourdieu thinks there is more culture than we like to believe in our behaviors.

To come back to the theme of cultural identity, there are many elements of a culture that end up becoming a certain type of habitus, what I would like to call "young habitus” because it was formed very quickly when we compare it to the way habitus is

usually constituted, generally over several generations. As I have said, we can reduce such a complex object into a single expression like "Hong Kong cultural identity" (which

is also the reason why I am representing it in the form of a single smooth object), and I would like to borrow a concept created by two major writers of the twentieth century,

Gilles Deleuze and Pierre Guattari (as unfair as it may seem, I will only call this concept

Deleuzian from now

on>. "HABITUS" always acts the

part of a smooth object: in reality,

it is made up of a large number of things (language, objects, places, etc.>, but, when the

constituting elements are numerous enough, the whole does not look like a construct any longer. It becomes something I would like to compare to what Deleuze has called a "Body without Organs" or "BwO".

First, I would like to introduce the BwO as it appears in the work of Deleuze. His work

was

constantly

under

development

and

provisional,

making

the

following

oversimplication of his concepts necessary. However, Deleuze managed to make that incompleteness work in his favor since he presents the BwO as an unreachable limit. He

represents the world as made up of fluxes of desire, these fluxes being not only water, air, magma, blood, paint, electricity, not only grass, earth, sun, but also ideas, people, culture, books, conversations, etc. Because they are constantly flowing, they are

shaped by cutting off, restricting or drawing off other fluxes. In fact, the world we live in is shaped by these interruptions and ruptures among fluxes of desire. Without them there would be no reliable structure and, therefore, no world at all. However, fluxes of

desire do not want to be cut-off or restricted and they also strive to reach a state of

perfect balance between themselves, a state of balance that is ultimately impossible to reach. This impossible state of perfect balance between fluxes is what Deleuze calls the

BwO. BwO is therefore an entirely abstract concept that can only be conceived in one’s

imagination; this state of balance is also a state of immobility and Deleuze sometimes presents it as dead and non-productive.

Any representation of a cultural identity has to be made at a certain moment, just like a photo can represent someone jumping as perfectly static. But that type of

representation is necessarily limiting and is, somehow, always the picture of a corpse.

This is why I would like to introduce this "designer concept" of a "cultural BwO", a kind of snapshot of a cultural identity represented as a smooth object within which all the

fluxes of desire have come to a standstill. A "cultural BwO" would be something many societies have tried to produce: the image of a state of completeness that has integrated

into a coherent whole all its foundational elements (language, place, things, etc.}, but this state of completeness is always delayed and forever unreachable. To continue the

appropriation of Deleuzian concepts, these elements (language, place, things, etc.> can also be compared to his idea of "desiring machines", each one of them being made up of

one flux and an interruption of that flux, something he represents as a mechanical device, like a trap or a switch. These "desiring machines" are always being hanged on a BwO in the hope that they will eventually become part of it and enter the eternal

process of cutting-off and interruptions. They can be extremely complicated processes of communication or social integration, but they can also be the simplest of objects, as we will see shortly.

The local cultural actors of any given cultural identity are always hanging stuff/desiring machines on their "cultural BwO". But since the types of "desiring machines" are made

up of such a vast numbers of details and being put together by such a vast number of people, it is nearly impossible to know what shape cultural identity will take in the future. Trying to foresee that future with the already-existing elements of a given culture is a problem faced everyday by designers, advertisers and trend-setters. It is a job

relying as much on scientific data as personal intuition because the way "desiring machines" are being hung on the "cultural BwO" is almost always entirely subjective.

Let us take an example. When a seemingly foreign element, a "desiring machine", like

the Hong Kong style /a/c/7a 奶茶， is hanged on the "cultural BwO", it can be seen for a while as an artificial addition. It only seems to be so because it has not had the time to become "HABITUS”. This is where the notion of "young habitus" might be helpful (let

me remind you that this is an idea high jacked by the author of this paper, it is nowhere to be found in Pierre Bourdieu’s work and is what I like to call a "designer concept’’}, because laicha

-

Hong Kong style black tea with condensed milk

-

hardly qualifies as

habitus and is a fairly recent idea. The subjectivity of that type of cultural choice and the youth of that habitus do not take away the reality of that element. <

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0 9

Even more recent additions, like the "redwhiteblue" of Stanley Wong, will add to the

sensation of artificiality only because it has not had the time to become inegrated into

something looking like a "BwO". Stanley Wong’s "redwhiteblue" (the name he gave to the ubiquitous synthetic fabric used in Hong Kong for construction, protection and

transportation} might seem a gratuitous choice, and it is not only found in Hong Kong, but that choice is still justified because he did not stop short at identifying the fabric as

something belonging exclusively to Hong Kong. He makes it clear from the start that the "HongKongness" he saw in the "redwhiteblue" fabric was a construct of many different elements (the bags carried around in and out of the territory, the suit worn by Sam Hui

during a concert, the awnings protecting the clients of booths and daipaaidong, etc.).

And it is the interaction, cutting-off and interruptions of all these elements, all these

"desiring machines", that came together briefly into the coherent picture he presented in the exhibition he curated at the Heritage Museum in Hong Kong.

After some time, one added element will become part of the BwO as a new aspect of HABITUS; while the newest element will still feel like foreign bodies grafted by force on the BwO. Whether any of these elements can actually become part of the cultural BwO

is extremely hard to establish as the BwO is constantly receiving and rejecting new elements. It is extremely difficult to know what can be or cannot be grafted on the

cultural BwO, but it is possible (sometimes with a great deal of luck) to find a suitable candidate for a next graft (and I personally believe that "redwhiteblue” has already fulfilled the requirements to become part of the Hong Kong HABITUS). But, in the end,

it is impossible to make an accurate portrait of any "cultural BwO" as new elements get

added and dumped all the time. These elements, or "desiring machines", are so

numerous and so varied that they are impossible to put together following any type of organized systems. Traditional rules of construction therefore do not apply and I will borrow (this time basically unchanged) another concept from the father of structuralism, the ethnologist Claude L6vi-Strauss.

In The Savage Mind (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968), Levi-Strauss

compares "mythical thinking” (the kind of thinking that is produced by the so-called "primitive" societies he studied in South America} with a certain kind of art he calls

"bricolage" (a French word that means "do-it-yourself", and has undertones of being made without a preconceived idea and without good technical knowledge). For Levi-Strauss, the "bricoleur" works with signs, and like an engineer, is always looking for messages. The "bricoleur", however, collects messages that have been transmitted

in advance (like using the leg of an old table to make a new one). Mythical thinking is a kind of intellectual "bricolage”ÿit creates myths and customs out of a large variety of

objects and concepts. Similarly, the "bricoleur" artists work with anything they have at their disposal and can thus obtain unexpected and brilliant results. Levi-Strauss

mentions Art Brut and Naive Art, but it would not be far-fetched to add the work of

artists like Kurt Schwitters, Robert Rauschenberg and Thomas Hirschorhn.

Levi-Strauss always considered myths to be aesthetic objects, and this notion of

"bricolage" endows a certain type of art production with the status of myth. Since the idea of construct is central to the way myths are being shaped, it is not far-fetched to look at the building of many art objects as similar to the structure of myth. If a painting does not really fit that definition of artwork-as-myth, it is quite obvious that the art

production called rather vaguely "installation" fits perfectly this notion of "bricolage”.

All the same, L6vi-Strauss does not believe that these artworks are myths (and the fact that one cannot multiply myths as easily as artworks would prove that point without any

difficulty) since he saw them as functioning in two different ways: if the artwork starts with objects and events to end up being a structure; the myth starts with a structure to

discover objects and events.

"Bricolage" can therefore be found in the way many artists work and one does not have to look too long among the artists of Hong Kong to see that many of them have taken it

up for their art making. The "grand daddy” of bricolage in Hong Kong would be Ha Bik-chuen who has been rampaging in the streets for many years in order to put together his amazing objects. Chan Yuk Keung also has been looking at "bricolage" for a long

time (even though his recent participation in the Venice Biennale has made him turn to

more planned ways of art making), and his participation to Stanley Wong's "Building hong kong redwhiteblue" exhibition came with the following statement: "I am not greatly preoccupied by themes, as they will emerge naturally as the works of art are completed. In contrast, I am more interested in the 'method of construction’ÿby working

out a construction method. I can always produce something, and the inspiration that is induced can be infinite. ( 我對主 題並沒 有太大 的興趣，反 正主題 往往出 現於作 品完成 之後； 反之, 我 對構成方法」有興趣

透 過它無 論如何都可做出一些 甚麼來 而且它 不斷牽 引靈感 . . .).

"

But the city of Hong Kong as architectural real space is full of the idea of "bricolage", as this photo 什 om HK "LAB 2" shows; and even though "bricolage" is present in every city,

it has taken on epic proportion in Hong Kong and has led artists and curators like Hou

Hanru to create the notion of "post-planning" (because urban planning seems to be lacking entirely in urban spaces like Hong Kong or Guangzhou), a theme that he

-

(Note2)

NERVE. Works of Chan Yuk Keung, p. 88

0 2

% f:::齡

陳育強，《簷 蓬下 看書》 ，混合 媒介，

1993-1994年。 Chan Yuk Keung, Reading a Book

Under the Eaves, Mixed media ' 1993-1994.

developed in his curatorial work at the "Guangzhou Triennial" this year (2005). To conclude on the idea of "cultural BwO”ÿ it is important to remind the audience how

impossible it is to capture even the appearance of any given cultural identity at any

given moment. Any representation of a cultural identity can be, at best, only a blurred and moving portrait because its subject is constantly changing. But it is also important

to remind everyone that it is an activity we constantly engage in, and designers are

particularly prone to do so as they have to picture in their mind what their clients and customers desire. It is like asking the exact time, it is an impossible task since time

never stands still, but everyone does it all the time.

I believe the most important problem raised by the very complex problems created by these constant shifts is how to present a cultural product (artwork, book, but also watches or advertisings) that would fulfill the requirements of the actors of a local

culture while also being a satisfying product in an increasingly globalized marketplace. It

is obviously a critical issue for designers around the world, but it is also a problem faced

by many artists of the periphery (Hong Kong being obviously one, while Beijing would increasingly be a center of "mainstream" productions} who are trying to play a significant role in an art market still dominated by European and American collectors.

The answer might be a type of "positive exoticism", an idea once again based on a Deleuzian concept: "Deterritorialization" which Deleuze usually defines as positive but with all sorts of precautions. In reality, "Deterritorialization" is a neutral concept; it can be both positive and negative as in what could be called "negative exoticism".

Deleuze established that one the most fundamental acts of any living being, and

particularly of human beings, is to create territories where they can withdraw from the turbulent "fluxes of desire” to find a kind of balance. However, and we must remember

that Deleuze saw the constant process of cutting-in and interrupting as fundamental to the creation of a world, "territorialization" is eventually a dead-end and unavoidably

leads to immobility and death. To put it very simply, "deterritorializationw, the act of

breaking down the boundaries of "territoriality" and moving out of any given sphere, is therefore the only possibility for the world to remain a dynamic system, generating renewed fluxes of desire. "Deterritorialization" seems today the general rule of this

late-capitalist phase of globalization, and, just like the interaction of fluxes of desire, that process has generated both good and bad results in equal measure.

One of the most notorious bad results of the first disastrous attempts at physical deterritorialization, namely 19th century Western colonialism, has produced the

Orientalist style, a type of art and design which tried to bring into the markets of Europe and North America the stereotyped decorations and motives of other countries,

especially in Africa and Asia. Unfortunately, there are still artists practicing that type of

negative exoticism, as a French artist I have met a couple of years ago who made paintings about Hong Kong using meaningless cliches. At the other end of the spectrum of exoticism, there is something we might call "positive exoticism". Picasso would be an obvious illustration of that tendency, even though he did not show any interest for the

African cultures that produced the artifacts he used for inspiration. These African elements appearing in the work of a modernist Spanish artists living in France were an

interesting effort in the right direction, but it fell short of a true deterritorialization because Picasso was still working and creating in the context of a European and

American art market. The idea of a cultural center was still at the time an entirely

unchallenged situation and it was impossible for Picasso to think otherwise. Today’s situation is changing rapidly and the idea of deterritorialization has to take on shapes that have never been attempted before.

A very impressive, and very poetic, take on deterritorialization, was given by the artist

Rirkrit Tiravanija in the magazine Artforum. In "The Lay of the Land

- An

Experiment in

Art and Community in Thailand”ÿan article on a nearly-impossible to define art project initiated by this internationally famous artist, Daniel Birnbaum reported an opinion that makes complete sense when one sees the art world from a place like the Pearl River Delta. "Asked if his nomadic way of life should be seen as an attempt to create many centers, he replied that, on the contrary, he’s much more interested in the multiplication

of peripheries. 'Because then you will understand/ the artist offered gnomically, 'that the center lies on the outs\6e.,n(Note3)

But this may still be wishful thinking for the

majority of artists who are still relying on the Euro-American art market to make a living.

The question then becomes: How can artists and designers concerned with the creation of cultural products aimed for consumption in local markets like Hong Kong make any kind of impact in a globalized economy?

(Note3) Birnbaum, Daniel: wThe Land", in Artforum, Summer 2005, p. 346.

fD X

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Let us take the example of a rather famous work by Leung Chi Wo (Untitled, after "Dream of a Path", 1996, set of five, oil on paper, each 244 x 60 cm, collection of the

Hong Kong Museum of Art). However beautiful this work is visually, one would have to understand the content of the Chinese text, the implications of the act of inscribing on

stone in classical Chinese culture as well as the unique food culture of Hong Kong itself to understand the many layers of meaning this piece actually has. The answer probably lies in the numerous acts of "hybridization" conducted by numerous artists working and

creating in all the peripheries emerging as new "centers" all around the world. Examples abound, from the Chicanos artists living on both sides of the USA-Mexico border, to the

Philippine) or Vietnamese artists working in Asia and around the world. In fact, the art

press printed in Europe and America is also increasingly interested in these artworks and articles on these artists are now a legitimate part of their reporting. Even though the

specific cultural content of these artworks cannot possibly be grasped by the actors of

other cultures, this process of hybridization can still be interesting to anyone thanks to

an attitude we might call "positive exoticism”.

In the case of artworks produced in Hong Kong and taking as their subject matter the

local culture, what will be obvious to a local participant will be shrouded in mystery to

an outsider. But mystery itself can be a stimulating incentive to either appreciate the artwork on a purely formal basis or to spark an interest that will lead the viewer to learn

more about this local culture. In any case, the artwork will generate different types of

meaning that will be interpreted differently by each viewer; each one of them will actually bring his/her own cultural background to the mix. In that sense, the process of hybridization acts very much like yet another Deleuzian concept: the rhizome. Perfect figure of deterritorialization, the growth of the rhizome is ramification without a center.

Gutierrez and Portefaix’s ideas of a city developing alongside its MTR system can also be seen in the light of that concept; it illustrates perfectly what is meant by deterritorialization in the realm of cultural identity: a concept is seen as both

representing perfectly one territory, but it is at the same time presented as being exportable as it is. This deterritorialization of an object or a situation would be adaptable to other contexts, producing at the same time other types of interpretations and

meanings. The dissemination of "local characteristics" to other territories might be the only viable solution for globalization: instead of the assimilation of everything into a

monstrous center, the deterritorialization of a multitude of local cultures into

ever-growing peripheries.

o Frank Vignero

frank@arts.cuhk.edu.hk

Frank Vigneron is working as an assistant professor in the Fine Arts Department, CUHK. His research focuses on the history of Chinese painting theory from the 18th century onwards, and on different aspects of contemporary Chinese art seen in a global context. He teaches courses on the history of Western art, Western art theory, the theories of Modernism and Postmodernism, and on

Chinese and Western comparative aesthetics. Frank Vigneron is also a practicing artist; he has held several solo exhibitions in Hong Kong and has taken part in local and international group exhibitions.

策展 人常問 的問題

「展覽 策劃」並不 單是找 群藝術 工作者 和展品，擬定 一個展 覽題目，把作品掛上

牆那 麼簡單。策 展工作 當然包 括複雜 的行政、管理、策 劃等，但同 時也是 個極具 挑戰 性的文 化分析、演 繹和反 思過程。策展 人不斷 在不同 的文化 價值觀 之間爭

持，試圖 將自已 認為最 適合的 形式和 角度把 文化呈 現出來。因此，策 展人 應是個 不 斷問問 題的人，對文 化藝術、對 展覽 的語言、美學 價值觀，以至 對文化 藝術的

建制 不斷作 反思、回應和 挑戰。

展覽：不同 價值觀的戰場 1997 年初， 我應香 港政府 的邀請，在 英國愛 丁堡藝 術中心 策展一 個名為《今日 香港》

(Hong Kong Today) 的展覽。這 個關於 香港高 密度生 活的建 築展覽，由香 港政府 駐倫敦

辦 事處負 責籌辦，相 信是英 國人在香港回 歸前在 老家舉 行的最後一個 大型香 港展覽。該

辦事 處的負 責人就 是於殖 民地年 代在香 港極具 影響力 的前政 務司霍 德爵士

<Sir David

Ford)ÿ由 於展覽 是由政 府主催，在 籌備過 程當中 均有政 府官員的參與。我當

時的策 展構思，是要 展示香 港的高 密度建 築環境，如 何影響 港人的生活方 式和催 生了什 麼地區 文化特 色例如 在?小 公屋內，港 人如 何創意 地設計 盡量利 用空間 的傢俱。同時

也從 如何分配使用 細小的 空間上，觀 察港人 在文化 上的一 些偏向 和取捨 (例 如無 論廳有 多細，電 視必是 大得不 成比例，而且 必定在 家中核 心位置

在展覽 的中央，我決 定一模

—樣 地重構 一個普 通香港 公屋家 庭的室內擺設，作為 展覽的核心。

當我向 房屋署 尋求協助時， 他們馬 上答應，並 推薦把其展覽 廳內的 示範單位直接 搬到英 國去。 可惜那 示範單 位擺的，全 是乾淨 簡約的北歐傢 ?，跟 一般香港公屋 內那些在梳化 椅下也 有兩排 櫃桶的 本地傢 愀 截然 不同。當然，還有 那些差 不多每 個公屋 家庭也 有的麻

雀檯、神主牌、掛牆 的家庭 照片、 X0 拔蘭 地的展 覽( 這點隨 近年烈 酒不再流行而 逐漸消 失) 也欠奉。當那 些官員 知道我 要展出 他們眼 中認為 是低俗 無品味 的地道 東西時，他們

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2

十 分反感，認為 是要在老外面 前丟港 人的臉，反 而北 歐傢?才可以 表現香 港現代化和進 步的 _面。當 然在我的眼中，那些「低俗 雜亂」的居住 空間， 才最能 反映香 港文化 的靈活

精 妙之處。幾經 爭持，對方才 答應派 員工到 愛丁堡 在展場 搭建公 屋單位，而屋 內的傢

m

裝飾，則 由我來 搜集。

由 於展覽 裝置時 間頗長，我安 裝了好

_ 部份才送往愛 丁堡。 當我走 進展場 看見那 示範單

位時，我怒 不可竭，因 為有人 私下把 那些北 歐傢俱 運到愛 丁堡去，在 未經我 同意下，把有

些 人認為 是丟香 港人顏 臉的傢俱裝飾 統統換 上了北 歐傢愀。肯 定的是，他們對展 出真實 的公屋 空間十 分反感。當然，在 我的堅 持下， 他們只有把原有的公 屋傢俱 裝飾放 回示範 單 位內。

一切進 展順利，開幕 那天港督彭定 康到臨 參加開 幕儀式，隨 後我帶 嘉賓參 觀展覽。當我

陪同彭 定康步入示範 單位時，我幾乎要心 藏病發。示範 單位的 客廳內，坐 著一老 頭和兩

小孩，三人都穿上顏 色鮮豔、在 唐人街 賣給老 外的唐 裝異服，原來 倫敦辦 事處為 了給示 範單位加添香 港色彩， 在沒通 知我的 情況下，特別 安排幾 個演員，穿上「具 地方 特色」的 衣服，客串 扮演家 庭成員。相 信是計劃給我 一個驚 喜吧！

很明顯 這褢出 現對香港居住 文化的 三種不 同演繹。公 屋官員 要展示 的香港，是個 現代化

的都會 面貌， 而這現 代化最能從簡 約的國 際化設計中表達出來。這 種思維 普遍地出現在

香港 的中產 階層中，但肯定不能 反映出 公屋住 戶階層 生活空 間的真 實面貌。倫敦 辦事處

的唐人 街服飾，代表著 十九世紀殖民 地思維 的東方 主義獵 奇心態，即 使是百年之後，仍 走不 出殖民 地官員 的遐想。當 然遢有 一個土 生土長 的本地 策展人 對香港 公屋居 住環境

作 為一種 獨特文化現象 的肯定，當 然也隱 藏著個人對香港文化 的熱愛。三 種不同 形式的 思維，反映 出現代 多元社會中不 同文化，以及 在複雜的權力 架構內 互相交 接協商 的繁瑣 歷程。

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除了 籌劃、 主辦者 的互動 關係外，策 劃展覽 的過程 還包括 另一重 要伙伴，那 就是觀 眾。 問題是，究 竟觀眾 的對象 是誰？《今日 香港》是為 西方觀 眾而籌劃的， 究竟應 該如何

為這些 觀眾投 射一個香港的 形象？ 公屋官 員認為 要展示現代和 國際化 的一面，才 是有面 子 的正面 形象； 老殖民 地官員 神迷的，是那 早已脫 離現實 的奇異 東方； 還 有本地 土生一

族，樂於 展示已 有的現 寅狀況， 並引以 為傲。

「誰是 觀眾」是個核 心問題。雖然 策展人都說他 們希望 接觸不 同類型的公眾，越多 越好，

但是始 終有些 觀眾是 比較重 要的， 可能是 贊助商、可能 是文化 界的元老大哥、社會 名流、

政 府高官。他們 的存在，對展覽 的安排，有決 定性的 影響。

誰作出 決定？ 《今日 香港》引起 的種種 爭議， 正反映 出展覽 的策劃，是個 不斷的 爭論協 商過程。一個 展 覽往往涉及很 多不同 的人物 和機構，當中 夾雜迴異的意 識形態：可能是 主辦機 構的路

向 和傳統、政 府資助 的規限、贊助 商或合 辦機構 的要求，或 是機構 高層的 影響， 甚至是

當中 個別人士的取 捨等等，都可以在不 同的層 面影響 展覽的 面貌。 當中涉 及複雜 的權力 紛爭 角力， 雖然局 外人未 必能輕 易察覺，但最 後走出 來的藝 術展覽，其責 已是經 過重重 染色。把 藝術館 視為純 淨地讓 藝術工 作者表 達思維 和創意 的空間，只 是個美 麗的誤 會。即 使不談 種種繁 複的外 在因素，單是 藝術機 構如何 決定甄 選展覽，當 中的 評審過 程，已 明顯地 經過某種觀看 態度來 過濾。

1988 年當 我上任 香港藝 術中心 展覽總監時， 第一個要處理 的是個 上任前 已安排 好的項

目，名為《藝 術化 生活》

的《夏 季藝 術展》

with Art) 的公 開展覽。展 覽有點 像倫敦 皇家藝 術學院 Art Show), 參展 作品都 是經評 審團甄 選後獲 展出。作為一

個藝術 工作者，後 來變成 策展人，我心 底常有 個問題： 什麼人 有權決 定那些 是藝術，那

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些不是 藝術？為什麼 某些藝 術被容 許踏進 藝術館 的門檻，某 些藝 術卻會 被視為低俗粗 鄙而 被拒？ 我們 可否放 下優劣、精緻或粗俗 的分野，改從 較接近 人類學、社 會學 的角度

來 看藝術，例如 較全面 的視藝 術為一 種普遍 存在的 社會活 動現象。最後 我成功 說服策

展委 員會， 取消評 審制度，展覽 寅行來者不拒的政策，希望 展示的，不 是誰 優誰劣，而是

以包容 的態度 展示我 們社會 中不同 類型的 表?形 式和美 學觀。

作為新 上任的 策展人，我的 首個展 覽便質 疑策展 的本質，有點 近乎自我否定。因 為我一 直都是 認同人 類學那 種從較 為遼闊 角度來 看創意、把 創作視 為人類自然的 活動， 用以滿 足不同 的文化 和實際 的社會 需要。對這放 棄了精 英甄選 制度的 策展態 度反應 最強烈

的，反而 是本身 強調以 不停質 疑所有 東西為 使命的 當代藝 術界， 可能因 為這展 賢 不單挑

戰了他 們慣常 的藝術 定義， 更威脅 了他們 那近乎 神話式 的優越地位。

要策展 人來幹 什麼？ 但是，如 果放棄了評審，那麼 只要找 個行政 組織專 才每次 收集和 擺設作 品便行， 要策展

人來幹 什麼？ 如 果每次 都是什 麼都展 出的展 覽， 展上幾 次之後，還 有人來 看嗎？ 寅際上 我們的 社會需 要演繹、要 求體驗 不同的 視角。 問題是，在重 視個人 的多元化社會 .策展 人 為何要 為擁有 自已的 價值觀 而感到 歉意？ 藝 術中心 聘請我，正就 是因為他們認 同而且

喜 歡我的 觀點。

籌劃《藝 術化 生活》背後 的感覺 是複雜 和充滿 矛盾的，部份 是來自 權力的 內咎感，因為 藝術 機構， 始終對 一個地方的文 化藝術，包 括對文 化藝術 的定義，有一 定的影 響力。

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現寅是，即使 策展人 努力不 干預展 覽 的內容，也沒有 客觀地 全然展 示藝術 工作者 原有創

作意念 的展覽。當藝 術品離 開創作 者的工作室後，是要 經過複 雜的社 會過程，中 間不斷 被各種意識 形態所 影響和 左右， 而策展 人要算 是其中最具干 預力的 人之一。無論 是展覽

擺設、宣傳品設計，均可 直接影 響觀眾 對展品 的看法，更遑 論策展 人對展 品在理 念上的 演繹。即 使是最 真誠地 希望盡 量表現 創作者 的原意，任何展覽中，策 展人 的指印 仍到處 可見，演繹 是無可 避免。 以為有 客觀的 策展只 是個美 麗誤會。問 題是誰 有這演 繹的權

力？ 這 最後又 走到權 力架構，和在這權力 架構之下產生什麼的 藝術價 值觀這 問題。

或許最 重要的，不是 逃避演繹這怎 樣也逃 避不了 的東西，而是 承認它 的存在，不 停對它

質疑、反思 和批判。更重 要的， 是要確 認和面 對演繹 時個人 在視野上的種 種局限。對策 展人 來說， 這無疑 是個專業上的大挑戰。如果 演繹是 無可避 免的， 我們便 有義務 去爭取

我們 的社會，有多 元發展、包容 不同演 繹角度 的機制，而 不是 由一兩 個機構 獨大。

誰為 藝術下 定義？ 初 入行時，我不 時思索 藝術機 構在權 力架構 建制內 的角色，以及 它所使 用的一 套語言

背 後所隱 藏的意 識形態。較特 別的是，當時 我工作 的地方 香港藝 術中心，是香 港唯一 沒有 政府資 助但較 具規模 的獨立 機構，它能給 我質疑、挑 戰甚至 作反的 空間也 較大。

在《藝 術化 生活》展 覽之後，跟 著的另 一個主 要的本 地展覽，是在1989 年 和祈大 偉博士 。展覽仍沿著《藝 術化 生活》的民本 (Dr. David Clarke) 合作 策劃的《找尋 藝術》

路向， 試圖質 疑藝術 的?隘 定義。

《找尋 藝術》展覽建 基於一 個理念，就 是每個 人的家 都是個 私人博 物館。 展覽邀 請公眾 把 已沒有 什麼具 體功能，但 仍然在 家中明 顯地擺 設的物 件借出 來參展。很明 顯這些「擺 設物」，除 留作觀 賞外別 無他用，究 竟人們 為何保 留這些「觀 賞物 J ? 參加者 借出展 品時，

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需要寫 一段簡 單文字，解 釋這 些東西 對他們 來說有 何特別 意義？ 為 避免參 展者都 是那些

慣常 到藝術 館的中 產觀眾，展 II 積極 邀請較 為與藝 術機構 絕緣的 觀眾如 低收入 階層、 長者、盲人等，目的就是 希望得 到一個 較全面 的社會 圖象。

公眾對《找尋 藝術》的 反應相 當熱烈，參展 作品逾

_ 百件， 展覽場 地充滿 了古靈 精怪的

個 人物品。有 趣的是，從展 覽發現，人 們喜 歡一件 藝術品，不 是因為 它的藝 術風格、視覺

語言、藝 術史上 的特別 意義， 而是因 為那些「藝 術品」與個人 的親密 關係： 婆婆臨 死前送

的梳子、男友 細心編 織的紙 鳳梨、 聖誕節 派對抽 獎贏取 的玩具

以展覽的標題 (caption) 為例，為 什麼畫 的旁邊 要放上 標題？ 十八世紀歐洲 貴族的 私人畫 廊 不會放 上標題，因為 要看標 題才可 知道是 什麼作 品的人，根 本就 不配欣 賞藝術。標題 是藝術 普及化 (或民主化) 的產品。上 世紀八十年代 英國泰 德畫廊 (Tate Gallery)曾為應否

在展 品旁加 上詳盡 解說的 標題引 發爭議，更令人想起 這個小 小的標 題傳統，背後 隱藏多 少 的複雜 意念？ 例如 究竟藝 術館應 否更普 及化， 把藝術 向公眾 解釋？ 但太 多的演 繹又是 否扼 殺了觀眾自行 演繹的 空間？ 究竟演 繹還是 不演繹， 如果演 繹又要 去得有 多遠？

還有就 是標題 的格式。為 什麼 標題上 一定要 有藝術 工作者 的名稱、作品 的名稱 ( 即使是

原來沒 有名稱 的也要 作一個）、 年 份等？ 這種標 題的內 容是否 也反映 出某種 價值觀，例 如對 創作者的重視、要為 作品點 題解說、要 把藝 術放在 一個歷 史發展 的時間 歷程中。又

為 什麼這 些都是在展出 藝術品 時必須提點的 東西？

1995 年，我應 祈大偉 的邀請，以 藝術工作者兼 藝評人 的雙重 身份， 在香港 大學馮 平山藝

術館（現為 香港大 學美術 博物館 的古 物部策 劃裝置 展覽。 這名為《參與 傳統： 侵犯》 (Engaging Tradition: Violation) 的展覽，目的是質 疑傳統的展覽 形式。 展覽其 中一部

份，我更 換了一 些展品的標題，把「作者、題目、年 份」的格式，換上「這是 館長太 太最喜

歡 的東西，所 以放在 這裡」，或是「捐 贈這批 藏品的人堅持 這不大 好看的 東西也 要一同

展出」、或是「價值 $5, 000, 000」等。 事實上有時候 一件藝 術品得 以展出，和它 的藝術 價值、作者、年份，都拉 不上什 麼關係，反 而是在 那些好 像很中性的標 題後面，往 往有其 他 的影響力令某 些藝術 品得以 展出。

藝術 館的權 威從那 裡來？ 在裝置《參與 傳統：侵犯》展覽時，感 覺是 有點不 舒服的。因為 作為一 個專業 策展人，在 人家典 雅的古 物展覽 廳攪三 弄四， 好像真 的侵犯 了人家 的專業，也冒犯了藝術館 (特別是

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色彩深 沉的古 物館) 的尊 貴空間。藝 術館給 人家高 高在上的權威 感覺，是不爭 的事實，它

內裏 的擺設，同 時也散 發著權 威的說 服力。1997 年我策 劃了一 個名為《九 七三世 書：歷

史、社群、個 人》

Hong Kong Incarnated: History, Community and Individual)

的展覽、展 覽分 成歷史、社群、個人 三部份，當 中的歷 史部份，是個 虛擬的 香港遠 古歷史

.

博物館 我們根 據一個 本地傳 說中的半人半 魚動物 「盧 亭」，由 一群學.者 文化人 共同塑 造了一 個虛假 的本地 遠古史。展 覽的策 展理念 頗複雜，它不 單討論文化身 份的構 成與締 造、 質疑歷 史的真實性和 界定演 繹歷史 的權力、探 討比喻 (metaphor) 作為 歷史的 可能性

之外， 還把玩 藝術館 的虛假 權威。

盧亭像，一 《香港 三世書 一九七 博物館 ： 歷史、社群、個 人》， 展覽， 1997 年。

Image of Lu Ting, wHong Kong Incarnated

Museum

97:

History, i,

Community,

1997

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展 覽首先 由策展 小組以 那相傳曾經聚 居於大嶼山的「盧 亭」為起點，虛 擬本地 的神話，但

故事也 不是全 然虛構，很 多時候 是以比 喻的形 式來勾 劃本土 的文化 特色， 例如盧 亭那非 人非獸，介 乎水陸 之間的 在?蓬 間存在，正好 是香港 的一個 活寫照。擬 訂歷 史大綱

後，一群 藝術工作者便 根據故 事製造 假古物， 佯裝香 港的遠 古?物。展場 的設計，亦努 力 模仿傳 統歷史 博物館 的模式，例如 展覽箱是深啡 色木箱，目 的是 要製造 博物館 的權威

感， 令即使 製作得 極欠說 服力的「古 物」， 也因為 博物館 的環境，變 得有幾 分的真 實感。

不過這個「盧 亭」展 覽吊詭 的地方，是它 也不希 望完全 成功地 說謊， 如果觀眾離開 時完全 不 相信展 覽 所說的，展覽 當然是失敗了。但如 果觀眾 完全相 信展覽 內容， 展覽也 同樣地

失敗。只有 當觀眾 處於迷 茫狀態， 是非真 假已無 從分辨，當 觀眾能 體會那 似真若 假的歷

史荒 謬感時，展 覽才算成功。

策 展人經 常處理 的那套 傳統展 覽模式，無 論是標 題還是 展覽箱，都 有值得 反思和 質詢的

空間，甚或 把它們 轉變成 為新的 表現形 式的可 能性。 如果藝 術工作者是不停地質 疑的創

作人，那麼策展人 亦同樣要不斷以批判 的態度 去思考展覽的 本質和 新的可 能性。

展 覽策劃 不可能 沒有主 觀演繹 的元素，但 好的展 覽策劃，往往 在不經 不覺的 情況下，為

展品帶 入另一 層次的 意義。 在展出 藝術工 作者的創作時，策展 人可突 顯作品 的特色，甚 至引 領觀眾 從某特 定的角 度去觀賞那些 展品。 但展覽 策劃人也不是 完全自由獨立 地去演

繹 的個體，權 力架構、機構 的性質 (政府、民間、商業、非 牟利 ）、 展 覽語言 的傳統，均影

響展覽 最後走 出來的面貌。 策劃展 覽是個 複雜的 爭議協商過程。策 展人需 要明白和肯定 展 覽策劃 的局限，才能 不斷的 反思、 挑戰各 種傳統和規範，擴 闊策展 的範疇 和視野。因

為展 覽策劃，和 藝術創 作一樣，是個 不斷思 索質疑 的過程，當中 也集合了創意 和技巧，以 及 對傳統的承傳 和反思，只不過它 的運作，是 由藝術 工作者 那頗親 密的私人空間，發展

到另外 一個較 ?的社 會層面。正因 為策展 人是藝 術品與 公眾之 間的重 要中介，她 / 他有 需要就 自己的 角色和 使用的語言， 不斷的 提問。

什 麼是有 意義的 藝術？ 另 一方面，策展 人也不 單只反 思自己 的工作，而是 對藝術、社會不停 的思考 回應。什麼是

好 的藝術、壞 的藝術，不是 我關心 的題目。我 最感 興趣的，是「什麼是有 意義的 藝術？ J 那 就是說，在某

個時刻、某 一種社 會文化 狀況下，什麼 藝術最 能呼應、反映、挑戰、豐

富當 前的文 化及其 他方面 的情況 和需要。追 求這個「有 意義的 藝術」，把 藝術放 在一個 很實 在的處 境而不 是大堆 抽象的 理念中。相 信有些 人不會 認同我 的看法，但這 也無所

謂，反正 是多元社會。

在這 理念下，策展 工作和 社會文 化情況 便要緊 密相扣。在 九七 回歸前，我 每年策 劃最少

兩個突 顯本土 文化的「香 港文化 系列展 j 。 在回 歸過渡 期前面 對快將 來臨的 強勢文 化， 香港人心怯弱，對本 土文化 的了解 和認同，有逼切的社 會和文 化需要。但 在九十年代

後期，本土 文化意 識日益 強盛轉 而變成 心胸? 隘時， 我舉辦 一個較 特別的 香港文 化系列 展覽，名為《強勢 以外》

Minority) ， 展出的 都是菲 律賓、 印度裔 等非華 裔香港

人， 目的是 提醒香 港人我 們的多元多種 族文化，以 及那國 際化和 包容的 特色。

策展 人是要 服務大 眾嗎？ 但呼 應社會，也 不等於 不加思 索地滿 足觀眾 的訴求，有 時候反 而是挑 戰公眾 的思維，希

望引發 對文化、社會 現象的 反思。例如在 九十年 代初期，大批 越南難民滯留 香港， 對香港 形成 巨大財 政和社 會歷力。過 了一段 日子， 港人累 積的怨 憤日重，要 求把越南難民 送走的 群情變得洶湧。在 集體仇 視越南 難民的 環境下，我們 策劃了《靜止 生命》

Lives) 展

覽，展 出難民在營中 畫的畫，向 香港人 展示難 民營中 無了期 地被監 禁的成 人和小孩的感

受，希望 港人能 更人性 化地對 待他們。換 句話說，策 展也可 以是一 種社會 運動。 每份工

作都 有它的 特色和 不同的 影響力，而每 個人都 盡量利 用其工 作的獨 特條件，爭取一個更 合理 和公義 的社會，這和 策展人 的身份 沒什麼 特別的 關係， 而是每 個負責 任的市民應有 的 義務。

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和 藝術創 作一樣，展覽 策劃也 是個不停挑戰 傳統價 值的創 意過程，只不過 它是在 和藝術

不 同的層 面上工 作而已。展覽 的語言、傳統、社 會功能，以 至所展 出作品 所顯現 的思維 和 價值觀，都有 必要不 斷的重 新評估。策 展人 需要不停地追問問題，有時 候是呼 應社區

文 化需要，有時 候是挑 戰社群 或美學 價值觀。策 展人是 置身藝 術品、 藝術館、觀 眾和社

會 之間的「問題 人物」，透 過不斷 的提問，策展 人同時 扮演了中介者、演繹 者和挑 戰者的 角色。

(本 文之中文版本原為2005年台 北當代 藝術館 舉辦的「策 展人 國際研 討會」演 講講稿，經 作者修 輯。）

? 何慶基 何 慶基為前藝術中心展 覽總監、上海 當代藝 術館創 館館長，國 際藝評人協會 香港分 會創辦 人及現 任主席，現為

獨立策 展人。

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Translator: Amy Chin

A Curator’s Frequently

Asked Questions

* Oscar Ho Curatorship is not simply about looking for a group of artists and exhibits, setting a title for an exhibition and putting up works on the walls. Curatorial work certainly involves complicated administrative, managerial and planning work, but at the same time it is also a challenging process of cultural analysis,

interpretation and reflection. A curator constantly struggles among different cultural values, trying to present culture in what s/he thinks the most appropriate form and perspective. Therefore, a curator should be an enquiring person, constantly reflecting on, responding to and challenging culture, art, the

exhibition language, aesthetics and even institutions of art and culture.

Exhibition: A Battlefield for Different Values In early 1997, I was invited by the Hong Kong government to curate an exhibition titled "Hong Kong Today" in Edinburgh City Art Centre, United Kingdom. This architecture exhibition about population density in Hong Kong was organised by the Hong Kong

Economic and Trade Office in London, which was believed to be the last exhibition on a large scale about Hong Kong organized by the British in the United Kingdom before the sovereignty of Hong Kong was returned to China. The Director-General of the London

Office was former Chief Secretary Sir David Ford, who was influential in Hong Kong during the colonial days. Since the exhibition was initiated by the government, officials

were involved throughout the preparation process. My initial idea then was to show how the densely populated architectural space affected peoples' lives and shaped the local

culture. An example was how Hong Kong people creatively designed furniture that could maximize their limited space in their tiny public housing flats. Also, from the way they utilized their limited space, one could see certain cultural tendencies and preferences (for example, despite the little space of the living room, the television was always

disproportionately large and placed at the central spot in the household). I decided to reconstruct at the centre of the hall the interior of a generic Hong Kong public housing

flat as the focus of the exhibition.

When I approached the Housing Authority for assistance, they agreed at once and recommended to ship directly to Britain the show flat to be exhibited in the hall.

Unfortunately, the show flat contained nothing but all minimal northern European

furniture, completely different from the furniture in Hong Kong public housing where

there were two rows of drawers under the sofa. Of course, items that could be found in almost every public housing household — a mah-jong table, ancestral shrine, family

photos on the walls and brandy bottles (this item was rarely seen as hard liquor had

become less popular in recent years)— were all missing. The officials were offended when they learnt that I was going to exhibit what they regarded as tacky local things.

They believed that would be a disgrace to Hong Kong people in front of foreigners.

Northern European furniture, on the other hand, was able to reflect the modernization

and advancement of Hong Kong. In my eyes, surely, the "tacky and messy" living space could best reflect the flexibility and wit of Hong Kong culture. After considerable debate, the Housing Authority finally agreed to send personnel to Edinburgh to construct a public housing flat, while I would collect the furniture and decoration.

Since it took quite a while to assemble the exhibits, I had installed parts of them before sending them to Edinburgh. When I entered the exhibition hall and saw the show flat, I was furious because the northern European furniture had been sent to Edinburgh.

Without my consent, someone had replaced the "shameful" Hong Kong style furniture and decoration with northern European furniture. What is certain is that they were completely disgusted by the idea of exhibiting the real public housing space. Upon my

insistence, nevertheless, they had no choice but to put back the original public housing

decoration into the show flat.

Everything went smoothly. On the day of the opening, Governor Chris Patten

participated in the opening ceremony. After that I led the guests through the exhibition.

When I escorted Chris Patten to the show flat, I felt as if I had a heart attack. In the

living room of the show flat sat an old man and two children dressed in colourful

Chinese costumes, those sold to foreigners in Chinatown. What happened was, without informing me, the London Office intended to add Hong Kong features to the show flat

by arranging some actors in traditional Chinese costumes to act as family members.

That was probably meant to be a delightful surprise for me, I suppose!

Apparently, there were three different interpretations about Hong Kong’s living culture

here. The Housing Authority officials wanted to present a modernised city, which could be best expressed through minimal international designs. Such a mentality was

generally found among Hong Kong’s middle class, but was certainly unable to reflect the true picture of the public housing residents' living space. The Chinatown costumes chosen by the London Office represented the 19th century colonial mentality and oriental fantasies. Even a hundred years later, the British government officials were still

subject to that colonial nostalgia. Of course there was my recognition on public housing estates as a unique Hong Kong phenomenon from a locally brought up curator’s point of

view, which contained strong personal affection for Hong Kong culture. These three

different mentalities revealed different cultures in a diversified society and the complex negotiation processes involved in a complicated bureaucratic structure.

Apart from the interaction between the curator and organiser, the audience is another

important partner in exhibition. The question is who the audience are. "Hong Kong Today"

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was targeted at Western audience; what image of Hong Kong should be projected to

this group of audience? The Housing Authority officials believed presenting the modernised and international side of Hong Kong was right; the colonial officials were

obsessed with the out-dated exotic orient; and there were also the local people who were more than happy and proud to present the reality as it was.

"Who are the audience?” is a core question. Even though exhibition curators all claim that they want to reach different audience groups, the more the better, certain audience are more significant. It may be the sponsor, veterans in the cultural field, celebrities,

and government officials. Their presences are crucial to the arrangement of an exhibition.

Who Makes the Decision?

The various controversies caused by "Hong Kong Today" precisely shows that curatorship is a continuous process of debate and negotiation. An exhibition often

involves many people and institutions, containing contrasting ideologies: the direction

and tradition of an organiser, restrictions imposed by government subsidies, demands from sponsors or co-organiser, influence of senior executives of an institution and even trade-off made by individuals. They can all shape an exhibition on different levels. The complicated power struggles involved may not be easily detected by outsiders, but the final exhibition is in fact one that has undergone rounds of furnishing. To consider an art museum as purely a space for artists to present their ideas and innovations is just a

beautiful misunderstanding. The screening procedures alone in which an art institution

decides which exhibition to hold, irrespective of the various complex external factors, show that an exhibition is filtered by a particular way of seeing.

When I began to work as the Exhibition Director in 1988 for the Hong Kong Arts Centre, my first assignment was to take over a public exhibition entitled "Living with Art" which

had been planned before I took up the office. The exhibition was rather similar to the

"Summer Art Show” organised by the Royal Academy of Arts in Britain. Exhibits were selected by an adjudication panel before they were exhibited. As an artist and then a curator, ? often have a query: who has the right to decide what art is and what is not?

Why is some art allowed to enter a museum while some are rejected because they are

considered banal and vulgar? Can we discard the categorisation of good/bad and sophisticated/vulgar art, and see art from a more humanistic and sociological

perspective, for example, seeing art as a general social activity? Finally, I managed to convince the curatorial committee to abolish the adjudication procedures and to adopt

an open-door policy with a view to embracing different forms of expression and understanding of aesthetics rather than showing what is good or bad art.

As a new curator, my first exhibition questioned the nature of curatorship. It was almost

like a negation, because I have always been identified with the broader humanistic

perspective, one that sees creativity and creative work as a natural human activity that satisfies different cultural and pragmatic social needs. The group that reacted most strongly to the abolition of an elitist adjudication system, however, turned out to be the art sector, which emphasized the mission of constant questioning on the nature of

everything. Perhaps not only did this exhibition challenge their usual definition of art, it

also threatened their almost mythically prestigious status.

Why Do We Need a Curator?

However, if we give up adjudication, we only need to find some administrators to collect

and display the exhibits every time, then why do we need a curator? If every exhibition

is about showing whatever that comes along, will people still come to an exhibition after a few times? The truth is our society needs interpretations and experiences

different perspectives. The question is, in a diversified society where individuality is emphasized, why does a curator feel sorry for having his/her own values? The reason Hong Kong Arts Centre hired me was because they identified with and liked my point of

view.

The feelings of curating "Living with Art” was complicated and ambivalent, part of them was guilt derived from power, since an art institution, after all, had certain influence on

defining the art and culture of a place.

In fact, no matter how hard a curator tries NOT to interfere with the content of an exhibition, there is no exhibition that can present artists' original creative ideas in a completely objective way. When a piece of art leaves its creator’s studio, it has to go

through complicated social processes during which it will be influenced and interfered by various ideologies, among which a curator’s interference is most influential. The display of exhibits and the design of publicity material can directly affect the audience's

perception, not to mention a curator's interpretation of the exhibits. Even if the

intention is to present the artist’s work in the most genuine way, a curator’s fingerprints can be detected everywhere in an exhibition. Interpretation is inevitable. The thought

that objective curatorship exists is a beautiful misunderstanding. The question is who has the right to interpretation? At the end of the day, it goes back to power structure and the question of what artistic values will be produced under such a hierarchy.

Perhaps the most important thing is not to avoid interpreting the inevitable but to acknowledge its presence, to constantly question, introspect and criticise. More

importantly, it is to acknowledge and face the limitation of one’s perspectives during

interpretation. This is undoubtedly a big professional challenge to curators. If interpretation is inevitable, we have the duty to fight for mechanism that tolerates

different different interpretations and accommodates diversified developments in society, so that the cultural scene is not dominated by one or two institutions.

Who Defines Art? When I was new to the profession, I kept on pondering on the role of art institutions in the power structure and the ideology behind the languages used by them. A rather special situation was that the Hong Kong Arts Centre where I worked was the only local

independent institution of a decent scale that was not government-subvented. It provided me with more room to question, challenge and even rebel. Another major local

exhibition following "Living with Art" was the "In Search of Art" exhibition co-curated

with Di\ David Clarke in 1989. The exhibition followed the populist direction of "Living with Art" and attempted to question the narrow definition of art.

In Search of Art was based on the idea that everyone’s home was a private museum.

The exhibition invited the public to exhibit objects that had little practical uses but were displayed at home as decorations. These "decorations" obviously served no function

other than being looked at. Why did people keep these "exhibits"? When participants loaned their exhibits, they had to write a short statement to explain what these objects meant to them. In order to avoid having participants all being the middle class who are

frequent museum-visitors, the exhibition actively invited people who seldom had contacts with art institutions, such as low-income groups, the elderly and the blind,

with a view to achieving a more holistic picture of our society.

The public responded enthusiastically to "In Search of Art". There were over 100 pieces of exhibits, filling the exhibition hall with interesting, eccentric personal objects.

Interestingly, as discovered from the exhibition, what people liked about a piece of art

was not attributed to its artistic style, visual language or significance in art history, but

the intimate relationship between the "art work" and the individual: a comb given by the grandmother on her deathbed, a paper pineapple woven with care by one’s boyfriend, a toy won at a Christmas party lucky draw. ..a heart-warming, intimate stories permeated

the exhibition. This also revealed an important blind spot of art criticism.

In the art critiques that one usually reads, one rarely gets to know the private, intimate stories intertwined behind these artworks. Exactly due to the lack of this knowledge,

discussions in turn are reduced to dehumanized formalism or numerous abstract terminologies, leaving readers puzzled. What "In Search of Art” attempted to show was exactly such a blind spot often seen in art perception/critiques. It is also this blind spot

that takes away the most humanistic aspect of art.

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Why Is an Exhibition Presented in This Way? Apart from the perspective of personal interpretation, the traditional language of

exhibition format also has a significant impact on the perception and understanding of art. In the 1960s, the western land art was well aware of the effect of an exhibition hall

on art, and attempted to challenge the traditional exhibition space. Despite artists' constant challenges to this space in the past few decades, the white exhibition hall remains

the dominant exhibition language. The only variation has been additional

promotional decoration. These traditional exhibition languages are the basic tools for curators, yet behind its seemingly neutral and simplistic facade lie a lot of preconceived

ideologies.

Take the exhibition caption for example. Why do we put a caption next to a painting? In

the 18th century, there was no caption in European aristocrat’s private galleries because people who had to read the caption in order to know the art did not deserve to appreciate art. Caption is a product of the popularisation (or democratisation) of art. In

the 1980s, there was a dispute over whether Tate Gallery in Britain should provide

detailed captions next to the exhibits. The incident made one wonder just how many complicated ideas are hidden behind the tiny caption tradition. For instance, should art

museums be further popularized, explaining the art to the public? Will too much explanation, however, hinder the audience’s independent interpretation? To interpret or not to interpret? How far should we interpret?

Another issue is the format of the caption. Why does a caption always bear the artist’s name, title of the work (to make up a title even though it may not have one to begin with) and year?

Do such captions reflect certain values, for example, respect for the

creator, the need to explain the work and the need to place the work in a historical

context? Why must these things be highlighted when the works are displayed?

r

「

《無 題》，寧描，作 者未詳，靜 止生命

滯港 越南船 民藝術 作品展

.

1991 年

"Untitled", Drawing, artist unknown,

Shiilife - Art by Vietnamese Boat People in Hong Kong, 1 991.

：::七'，

1n 1995, being both an artist and a curator, I curated an installation exhibition at the Fung Ping Shan Museum of Chinese art and archaeology at the University of Hong Kong (now The University Museum and Art Gallery) upon David Clarke’s invitation. The

exhibition, titled "Engaging Tradition: Violation", aimed to question the conventional

exhibition format. One part of the exhibition, I changed the captions of some exhibits. I replaced the "author, title, year” format with sentences like "this work is put here

because it is the favourite of the curator’s wife", "the person who donated these collections insisted that the piece of work which does not look good be exhibited along

with the others” or "worth $5,000,000". As a matter of fact, sometimes whether a piece of work is exhibited or not has nothing to do with its artistic value, authorship or year. Behind the seemingly neutral captions, however, there are other forces that enable

the work to be exhibited.

Where Does a Museum's Authority Come From?

I felt a bit uncomfortable when working on Engaging Tradition: Violationw. As a profes¬

sional curator, "fooling around in the elegant gallery space seemed to have offended the professionalism and the solemnity of a museum, especially the dark-coloured exhibition hall

of antiquities. Undoubtedly, museums convey an impression of untouchable authority. Their

d6cor also carries an aura of authoritative persuasiveness. In 1997, I organised an exhibition

titled "1997 Hong Kong Incarnated: History, Community and Individual". It was divided into three parts: History, Community and Individual. The History part was a fabricated Hong Kong ancient history museum. Based on a legend of a half-human, half-fish figure "Lu Ting”, a group of local scholars and cultural workers collaboratively created a fabricated local

ancient history. The concept behind this exhibition was complicated. Not only did it discuss the construction and creation of cultural identity, question the authenticity of history and the power of interpreting history, and explore the possibilities of using metaphor as history, it

also played with the fictitious authority of art museums.

The exhibition began with the legend "Lu Ting , which was said to once live on Lantau

Island. The planning team fabricated a local myth, yet not the entire story was fake; very often the story made use of metaphors to present features of local culture. For example,

"Lu Ting”ÿpartly man and partly beast seemingly existed in the gap between water and land

was a representation of Hong Kong. After drafting the historical framework, a group of artists started to create fake antiques based on the story and presented them as if they had been Hong Kong’s heritage. The design of the exhibition venue also imitated a conventional

history museum, for example, the use of dark brown wooden boxes as exhibition boxes

intended to create a sense of authority. Even though the "antique" itself was not very convincing, the museum environment had enhanced its sense of reality.

The intriguing thing about the "Lu Ting" exhibition, however, was that it did not entirely seek to tell a lie successfully. The exhibition failed whether the audience left the exhibition

without believing anything it presented or vice versa. The exhibition was only successful when the audience felt puzzled and could not distinguish between what is true and what is false; it was only successful when the audience could experience the ambiguity and absurdity of history.

The conventional exhibition mode, be it the captions or exhibition boxes, deserves reflection, questioning and even possibilities of turning it into a new way of presentation. If an artist is a creator that never stops questioning, then a curator also needs to constantly and critically examine the nature of exhibition and new possibilities.

It is impossible for curatorship to be free from subjective interpretation, but good curatorship will bring in a ? additional level of meaning to the exhibits without one realising it. In exhibiting the work of an artist, a curator can highlight the works' features and even lead the audience to appreciate those works from a particular perspective. But a curator is not an individual with complete independence. Power structure, nature of the organisation (government, civil, commercial, and non-profit-making) and traditions of exhibition language

all play a part in shaping the final look of an exhibition. Curating an exhibition is a complicated process of negotiation and compromise. A curator has to understand and acknowledge the

limitations of the process in order to reflect on and challenge the traditions and conventions, and to broaden the scope and vision of curatorship. Since curatorship is like artistic creation,

it is a process of constant questioning involving creativity, techniques, inheritance and reflection on traditions. The difference is that it operates in a broader social aspect instead of an artist’s intimate private space. It is exactly because an exhibition curator stands between art work and the public that s/he needs to question her/his role and the language used.

What Contributes Meaningful Art? On the other hand, a curator does not only reflect on her/his own job, but also thinks about and responds to art and society. My concern is not about what is good or bad art. What interests me is "What constitutes meaningful art?", that is, at a certain moment, under a certain social cultural circumstance, what kind of art can best respond to, reflect, challenge

and enrich the situation and needs of contemporary culture and other aspects? I aspire to pursue this "meaningful art", putting art in realistic situations instead of a bunch of abstract

ideas. There might be people who disagree with me, but it does not bother me. It is a

diversified society after all.

With such a notion, curating an exhibition has to be closely linked to social and cultural contexts. Before Hong Kong was handed over to China in 1997, I had been curating at

least two exhibitions every year, the "Hong Kong Culture Exhibition Series”ÿ which

highlighted local culture. In face of the advent of a dominant culture during the transitional period, Hong Kong people became timid and weak. There were acute social

and cultural imperatives to understand and identify with the local culture. But in the late 1990s, when the awareness of local cultural had become stronger and narrow-minded, I

organised a rather different exhibition series about Hong Kong culture, titled "Being Minority”. The exhibits were works by non-Chinese Hong Kong residents, such as

Filipinos and Indians, aiming to remind Hong Kong people of our cultural and racial diversity, internationalization and tolerance.

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Does a Curator Need to Serve the Public?

Responding to society, however, is not equivalent to uncritically satisfying the

audience's requests. On the contrary, challenging the public's thinking is needed sometimes, hoping to initiate reflection o ? cultural and social phenomenon. For

example, in the early 1990s, the large number of Vietnamese refugees staying in Hong

Kong posed tremendous financial and social pressures on Hong Kong. After a while, the

accumulated discontent among Hong Kong people led to raging public sentiment demanding the refugees to be expelled. In an environment where there was collective hostility toward Vietnamese refugees, we organized the "Still Lives" exhibition to exhibit

paintings done by refugees in the camps to show Hong Kong people the feelings of adults and children in the detention camps for unknown period of time, hoping Hong

Kong people could treat them in a more human way. In other words, curatorship is also a kind of social campaigns. Every job embodies certain features and different influence;

everybody does her/is best to make use of the unique work condition to fight for greater

fairness and justice in society. It does not have much to do with a curator's identity; it is a responsibility of every responsible citizen.

Same as artistic creation, curatorship is also a creative process that constantly challenges traditional values. It, however, works on a different level from art. The mentality and values of exhibition language, convention, social function as well as the exhibits need to be re-evaluated on a constant basis. Curators need to ask questions all the time: sometimes it is to respond to the needs of community cultures; sometimes it is to challenge the values of community or aesthetics. A curator is a "man of enquiries" among the exhibits, the museums, the audience and society. Through constant

questioning, a curator plays the roles of a mediator, interpreter and challenger.

(The Chinese edition, revised by the author, was originally a speech delivered at the

"Curators International Conference" organized by Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei in 2005.)

o

Oscar Ho Oscar Ho previously worked as Exhibition Director at the Hong Kong Arts Centre and Founding Curator at Shanghai Contemporary Art Museum. He was the founder and chairman of International

Association of Art Critics, Hong Kong. He currently works as an independent curator.

造 磚 記

談

開 物

*何兆基

?口

與 致 用

造磚 之想， 或源於 近日讀《天工 開物》一書 所生的 啟發。

《天工 開物》初刊 于明崇 禎十年 (公元1637 年 )， 是 中國首部綜合 論述農

業及手工業生產技術 的專著，在上、中、下三部 共十八卷的篇 幅中，作者宋 應星詳 述了超 過一百 三十項 傳統產 業的源 革與生 產工序，由 物料 的開發 採集、提煉 加工； 到器 物的製 作成形、流 傳應用，在此「開 物」、「成 器」、 「致 用」的 過程中，似乎反映 了中國 人對物 質世界 的某種 理解和 信念。

《天工 開物》卷七 ■陶埏，有 這樣關 於造磚 造瓦的 描述:

「凡埏 泥造瓦，掘地 二尺餘，擇 取無 沙黏土 而為之，百里 之?，必產合 用土色，供 人居室之用」

「凡埏 泥造磚，亦 掘地驗 辨土色，或藍 或白；或紅 或?，皆以黏 而不散，粉而 不沙 者為上，汲水 滋土，人逐數牛錯趾，踏成稠泥，然後填滿木 框之中，鐵線

弓畏 平其面 ’而成 述形」

「埏 泥」， 就是以 水和泥 的意思。凡製 陶為器，水 與泥 是最基本的構成元素，當中，匠人

對泥土 之採煉，尤其 講究。「掘地 二尺餘，擇取 無沙黏 土而為 之」， 是對外 在物質 條件一 種由 表至裏、由粗 至細的 體察； 再而透過 不斷實 踐驗證，最 終逢至 對材質 物性的透徹掌 握。「百 里之內， 必產合 用土色，供 人居室 之用」，正 是長期 經驗累 積之下，形成對自然

世 界的一 種堅定 信念； 而當這一切皆 以成器 致用為目的時，對自然世界 的信念，就 更因 其源於 生活、貼近生活而顯 得質樸平實。

細讀《天工 開物》 ，不難 發現書中處處 體現了中國人 原始樸 素的自 然觀。 人與自 然世界 的關係，不單 在於世 間物質 之供人 取用， 更在於 人能體 察及順 應物性的變化。所謂 「合 用」，其實 並無劃 一標準，「或 藍 或白； 或紅或 ?」， 不過就 地取材、因 材致用 而已。

0 5 3

何兆基，《造 磚》 ，手造 物件， 2006 年。

Ho Siu Kee# Making Brick, hand made object, 2006.

公元 2005 年， 試參照《天工 開物》所載之 法造磚。選擇 造磚， 因其造 形純以 功能決

定，基本 上不涉 及美感 的考慮。製器 而不以 器形之精美與 否為念，心 思或 更能專 注於成 器過程中的種 種物質 轉化。

「凡埏泥造磚，亦掘 地驗辨 土色」， 單這起 始一步，原 來就沒 有想像 般簡單。居住 於繁華

鬧市，固然 難有可 掘之地，即使 走到鄉 郊野外，要 覓得 未經開 發的原 生土地，也 極不容 易。最後，於元 朗一帶 較荒僻 處試掘，挖至 約八十 公分深， 取得深 褐色粗 土約二、三公 斤，惟黏 性似未 如理想，試 以小量 粗土和水搓揉，勉 ?達到「黏而不散」的標準。粗 土帶

沙，還需 以鋼質 細目篩 網濾過，得極 細泥粉，然份 量已不 及原來 三份之

一。 將泥粉 置於盤

中， 加水蓋 過表面，讓其 徹底吸 水滋潤，隔 一晝 夜備用。泥 粉飽吸 水份而 成稠泥，約重 三、 四公斤，造份 量自然 用不著「逐 牛錯趾 j，但仍 得以雙 手搓揉 百遍， 使泥質 黏結成 團，然 後可以「填 滿木框 之中」，歷 成磚坯。木 框以四 塊薄木片用榫 口接合，構成 了二十

0 5 4

公分長、+公 分闊、 六公分 高之空 間供填 泥壓坯。約二、三公 斤粗土，經重 重工序處理， 最後所 得泥團，僅 夠造磚 一瑰。

於 造磚的 過程中，挖土、篩粉、和水、揉泥，雙手 經驗泥 土這種 天然物 料的不同形態 變化，

時而粗鬆； 時 而細軟，到坯 成後入 富舉火，待火 候足時，依《天工 開物》所述，「從 塞門透 視?壁，土 受火精，形神 搖蕩，若金銀 熔化之 極然」。至此，富 內磚坯 燒得火 紅通亮，已非

平常所 見泥土 之形貌。《天 工 開物》引《易•既 濟》卦謂：「水火 既濟而 土合」，又謂：「水 火既濟，其質千秋」，自然 界的物 質轉化，非 切身 體驗實難領會 其妙； 若能 順應調 協這種 種轉化，以 ?到成 器致用 之目的，人 類文明 亦由之體現。

2005 年十二 月九日，磚成。上有 封泥印「阿基 造磚」四字，概取《呂氏 春秋》「物勒 工名，

以考其誠」之意。器 物上刻 勒工匠 之名， 是匠人 對自己 工作認 真盡貴 的表現，僅此 而已。

(本文之中文版 本原載 於藝訊 2006 年 一月號，經 作者修 輯。）

參考 資料： 明宋應星，《天工 開物》北京：中國 社會出版社， 2004 年。

?何兆基

skho@hkac.org.hk

畢業於 澳洲皇 家墨爾 本理工 大學獲 藝術博士學位。現任 職香港 藝術學 院學術 總監。 何兆基 一直專 注創作 及藝術

教 學工作，參 與展覽 包括第 二十三 屆聖保 羅國際 雙年展 及第四 十八屆 威尼斯 雙年展

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And Some Thoughts on “Exploring 3 Materials”ÿ“Making Utensils” And “Applications”

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I *Ho Siu Kee The idea of making bricks might have been inspired by the book 77an GOAÿ/(ÿ/ l/Wy 《天工 開物》 Exploitation of the Work of Nature} which I have recently read.

77a/? Go/7分 /Ca/ Wiv, first published in 1637 (明崇 禎十年

the 10th Year of Emperor Ch'ung Chen's reign in Ming Dynasty), was the first specialised book in China that gave an integrated account on agriculture and handicraft techniques. The book contains 18 chapters divided into three volumes, in which author Song Ying-sing (宋 應星） presented in detail the evolution and production processes of over 130 traditional industries: from the discovery and collection of materials to the processing, formation, circulation and application of utensils. The processes of “exploring materials”ÿ“making utensils” and “applications’ seem to have reflected Chinese certain understanding and beliefs of the material world.

In 7"ao

/an (陶? Ceramics}, Chapter 7,

77aA7 Go/7沒 /Ca/. 1/Wy, there is such a description of

making bricks and tiles:

To mix the day for making tiles, dig the ground for over two feet and choose sticky mud without sand. Within a hundred miles, there must be day suitable for making tiles to build houses for people to live in.

To mix the day for making bricks, also dig the ground and check the colour of the day.

Whether blue or white, red or yellow, the ideal clay should be sticky but not loose, powdery but not sandy. Moisten the day with water and step on it until the day becomes thick.

Then, pour the clay into a wooden frame, use an iron thread to cut smooth the surface, and a raw brick is formed.

“Yan ni”（?泥 mixing clay}, literally means mixing water and clay, forms the fundamental elements in making ceramic utensils. Craftsmen were particularly concerned about the processing of clay. "Dig the ground for over two feet and choose sticky clay without sand" is a personal investigation of the external materialistic conditions, from the outside to the inside, from the coarse to the fine. Through continuous experimentation and verification, one reaches an ultimate understanding and mastery of the nature of material. “Within a hundred miles, there must be clay suitable for making tiles to build houses for people to live in” is a firm belief in nature accumulated from years of experience. When all these are aimed at making utensils for use, the belief towards nature appears to be down to earth and pragmatic because of its origin in and proximity to life.

Reading Tian Gong Kai Wu in detail, it is noticeable that the book very much embodies Chinese primitive and austere views on nature. The relationship between man and nature

is not just about man using things available in this world, it is more about man observing and adapting to the changing nature of things. There is no standard of what is "suitable.”

"Whether blue or white, red or yellow", we simply make the best use of what we have.

In 2005, I tried to make a brick using the methods recorded in Tian Gong Kai Wu. The reason I chose brick was because the form of a brick is simply determined by its function, and basically does not involve aesthetic consideration. When one does not have to focus on the appearance and exquisiteness of utensils, one can perhaps be more focused on the materialistic changes during the process of making.

"To mix the clay for making bricks, also dig the ground and check the colour of the mud.”

This first step alone was not as simple as one thought. Living in a crowded urban city, it was not easy to find a ground to dig. Even when I went to the countryside, it was hard to find a piece of land that had not been developed. I finally tried to dig the ground in a relatively remote area in Yuen Long. I dug to about 80cm deep and took two to three kilograms of dark brown crude clay. However, the clay was not sticky enough. I tried to mix a small amount of the clay with water to make it barely reach the standard of "sticky but not loose”. The crude clay was a bit sandy and needed to be sifted with a finely weaved steel sieve to get the extremely fine clay powder, which was eventually less than one-third of the original clay. The clay powder was then put in a bowl and soaked with the amount of water just enough to cover it, and left overnight to become thick clay weighed three or four kilos. This quantity did not require "stepping with feet”ÿ but I still had to use

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my hands to knead for over a hundred times until the texture became sticky and formed dough. I then filled a wooden frame with the clay and pressed it into a brick. The wooden frame was made with four thin pieces of wood measured 20cm long, 10cm wide and 6cm tall. After a number of procedures, the two to three kilos of crude clay could only formed mud dough just enough to make one brick.

During the brick-making process, through digging for clay, sifting for powder, mixing with water and kneading, my hands experienced the changes in form and texture of this natural material clay - sometimes rough and loose, sometimes fine and soft. When the raw brick was finished it was put into a kiln to be fired. When the kiln reached the right temperature, just as it was written in Tian Gong Kai Wu, ''Looking into the kiln through the door, the clay, when heated by fire, changes its shape, as if it were gold and silver melted to the maximum' By then, the brick in the kiln had become red and bright, which did not look like any clay one saw in daily life. Tian Gong Kai Wu quoted a divinatory symbol from V7ÿ//n分 J/.Z/ (《易 ■既 濟》 "water and fire combines to solidify clay", and "as water and fire combines, the texture of clay transforms which makes it last for a very

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long time". In nature, the transformation of materials is so wonderful that one needs first hand experience to comprehend. Human civilisation is actualized when utensils are made for use by following and adapting to such transformation.

On 9th December 2005, the brick was made. The brick is sealed with the words “A Ji Zao S/7/ C/7UA7 Zhuan” in Chinese (「阿基 造磚」Ah Kee Made Brick). This is a reference to .

Qiu “Put the maker’s name on the object to express one’s sincerity”ÿ the craftsman’s name on the utensil simply represents the craftsman’s serious attitude towards one’s work and nothing else.

(The Chinese edition, revised by the author, was originally published at the January 2006 Issue of ArtsLink.)

Reference: Sung, Ying-sung, Exploitation of the Work of Nature, Ming Dynasty, 1637, translated by Li, Chiao-ping, China Academy, Taipei, 1980.

o Ho Siu Kee

skho@hkac.org.hk

Ho Siu Kee obtained his Doctor in Fine Art degree from the RMIT University, Australia. He is currently the Academic Head of Hong Kong Art School. Ho has participated in various international exhibitions including the 23rd International Biennial of Sao Paulo and 49th Venice Biennale as Hong Kong official representative.

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只 破魚盤 I

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把舊 毛衣送 到織補 店修補，送回 來時與 新衣並 無兩樣，巧 奪天 工的修 補功夫 令人嘖 嘖稱奇，那時 從未想 過相似 的修補 方法亦 曾被應 用在陶

瓷上。

數年前到山東 淄博看 大魚盤，頭 一次看 到一隻 用兩腳釘補過 的盤子。師

傅先用 手搖轉 在裂痕 兩旁轉出數雙 小洞， 再用小 鎚子將 釘腳輕輕打入 洞中，將裂 痕迫合，一只破盤就 修好了。從 事藝術 創作者或許立 刻由此 獲得無 限創作 靈感， 聯想到「媒 介的 混合」、「方 法的 轉移」等當代藝術 詞彙： 事實上，這 只不過是一 種以往 北方人 常用的 器物復 修方法 而已。

細 想一下，這種 傳統對 於我們 來說並不陌生。廣 東人愛 喝湯， 常以大 砂煲煮 湯三數小時，

，一 道道裂 紋便漸 漸產生。人 們對舊 煲卻情

砂 煲由粗糙低? 泥製成，由於 經常受 熱受冷

有獨鍾，於 是想出「箍 煲」的方法，用鐵 線將裂 痕迫住，_只大 砂煲又 給保存 下來。

以往 修補行業盛行，除 了因為 當時物 質缺乏，亦反映器 物在人 們心目中的重 要地位。人 視器物 如對待自己身 體一樣，壞了總是想 盡方法 把它修 補再用，令 它重生，漸漸 培養出

一 種惜物 的情操，那怕 器物表 面佈滿 歲月的 痕跡，「用即 是美」成 為一種 人人認同的生

活 哲學。

機 械生產 的出現，將 手造手 繪用器 之獨特 性搖身 變成一 個標準 的模式，人 人依循，物件 的人性 部份漸 漸淡出。大 量化 的生產 形式使 用器價 格低廉，隨 手可得，人 對物由 愛惜，

尊重，變 成支配，挪用，幾 千年來 器物與 人建基於生活之上的 相互關 係漸漸 消失。從此， 陶 瓷發展 便走上 分?路：做器 物的人 叫器匠 (potter), 創 作非器 物的叫 陶藝家 (ceramic artist), 工藝 與藝術 (art and craft) 進 入紛辯不休的狀態。

造器重 視取材，傳 統器物 製造講 求材質、天時 和地理 的配合，缺一 不可， 反映當 時人們 擁有一 個宏大 遼闊的 世界觀，這種 敬畏大 自然的 事物觀，令 器物的 製造擁 有一種 獨特的

節奏 和規律。傳統 強調物 盡其用，就 地取材，令材 料的品 質得到 最完美的發揮，在 生活

上自然滲透，人從 器物身上得到 無窮的 啟發。 當代藝 術強調 概念的 發展，「物」的 層次漸

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被降低，陶 瓷成為表? 一種表 達藝術的形式，而 其本來 之角色 卻漸被 ?忘。當挑戰 極限，

人定勝 天成為 座右銘，物 盡其用 就被演 繹成將 物料的 某種可 能性單 獨抽出 來運用，當 其探索愈 趨棰限，陶 瓷與生 活及整 體環境 的距離 亦愈來 愈遠。

器匠 造器， 講求身 體力行，逐漸 體會。 在重複 的練習 過程中，人與 物不斷 地對話，兩 者關 係漸 漸變得 平等； 熟能 生巧，這「巧」便 是指人 與物之 間在這 過程中 所產生 的特殊 關係，

創 意與藝 術在有 意無意 之間得 到體現。然而，在強 調單向 創意的 時代中，這 種工 藝精神

卻往往 被誤謓 為一種 無意義 的抄襲 與臨摹，人在 當中所 錯失的，不言 而喻。

在當代 陶瓷中，傳統 器物一方面被 定性為

_ 種負 面的封建象徵 種受質 疑與攻 擊的對 ，一

象； 另一方面，它的豐 富內容 卻又常被挪用 在一些 支離破碎的藝術拼貼 當中。

每次 看到器 匠造器，我總 是被這 過程深 深吸引，感覺 到一種 釋懷的 舒暢。 器匠都 擁有一 種知其位的 謙虛與傳其藝 的承擔。物 盡其用，以人 為本； 造者、用者、器物 三者之間由一 種不 可代替 的關係維繫?，傳統 實用器 物自足 的價值，亦建立於這

_ 道互通的橋樑 之上。

工 藝與藝 術本來 就是由 生活發 展出來，不 單沒有 衝突， 還會互相輝映。立 新並不建基於

破 舊之上，回 顧歷史，親歷其境地 去體驗 傳統，令我們 有機會 再發現 一種久 違了的 根本， 意識到 身處失 衡狀態 的危機，人與 物之間 漸深的 裂痕或許可以被慢慢 地修補 過來。 ( 本文之中文版 本原載 於藝訊 2005 年十二月號，經 作者修 輯。）

?

黃麗貞

fwong@hkac.org.hk

黃 麗貞於1997年在中文大 學取得 藝術碩士學位，曾為 香港理 工大學、香港 大學及 Beaver College in Philadelphia 的客席 師，現 任教於 香港藝 術學院。?氏 的陶藝 及混合 媒介作 品曾於 加拿大、夏 威夷、美國、德國、瑞士、台

m

灣、韓國 等國家 展出。

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When I got back my old sweater from the mending shop, I was amazed by the flawless workmanship as it looked almost brand new to me. At that time, I had no idea that similar repairing skill had also been used in ceramics.

Wong Lai Chin

I went to Zibo of Shandong Province to see big fish platters a few years ago. That was the

first time I saw a platter repaired with two-tip nails. The restorer first made a few pairs of tiny holes on both sides of the crack with a hand-turned drill and then used a small

hammer to hit the nail tip into the holes, closing up the crack and fixing the broken platter.

This repairing process may offer artists endless inspirations and invoke them to think of contemporary art terms such as "mixed-media" and "transference of method”. As a

matter of fact, the process merely shows a common technique of fixing pottery employed by people in northern China.

Thinking more about it, we may not find this traditional method entirely unfamiliar to us.

Cantonese love soups. They often boil their soups in Chinese casseroles for long hours.

Since Chinese casseroles are made of coarse low-fire clay, cracks will gradually appear due to frequent heating and cooling. Yet people are so attached to their old casseroles that

a strapping method has been developed to close up the cracks with iron wire, thus preserving the big casseroles for further use.

The repairing industry was popular in the past because the society was not so affluent. It also indicates the importance of pottery to the people at that time. People took the pottery just like their own body and would try every method to repair and revive those

utensils when they were damaged. Years passed and people learned to treasure the things they used even when they were covered by marks of time. "Utility is beauty” became a widely accepted philosophy of life.

The emergence of mechanical reproduction turned the uniqueness of hand-made or handpainted pottery into a standard model everyone would follow. The human touch in pottery

gradually faded away. Mass production has lowered the price of pottery to such an extent

that they are readily available. The care and respect for things has changed into control and appropriation of them. The close relationship between man and pottery, which had been built on daily lives for thousands of years, also slowly disappeared. From then on, a duality has formed in the development of ceramics: people making utensils are called

"potters" and those creating non-functional objects are known as "ceramic artists". A

state has reached where endless debates and arguments over the issue of art and craft

have been conducted.

Pottery making puts great emphasis on the choice of materials. Traditional way of making pottery asks for a harmonious combination of three elements: materials, time and geographical setting. None of these three elements is to be sacrificed. This tells us that

people in the past had a wide perspective of the world. This respect for nature has given

a unique rhythm and pattern to pottery making. Tradition lays a stress on the optimization of materials and the selection of suitable materials on site. The strength of the materials is given a full play, which will then be brought out naturally in daily lives. From pottery, people gain a good deal of inspiration. Contemporary art emphasizes the development of concept and gives scant regard to the utility of "object". Clay has become a means for artistic expression with the significance of its original role fallen into oblivion. As people believe in challenging the limit and take "man can conquer the nature" as motto, optimization

of materials is interpreted as isolating and applying a particular possibility of the material.

When such an exploration has reached the utmost, pottery has also become more and

more distant from life and the larger environment.

When the potters make pottery, they ask for diligent practice and through practice, they acquire a deeper understanding about pottery-making. In repeated practices, man and

object enter into incessant dialogues and eventually become equal in their relationship.

Practice makes perfect. The resultant "perfection" points to the special relationship between man and object in the practice process. It is during this process that creativity and art are naturally realized. In an age which emphasizes unidirectional creativity, however, this spirit of craftsmanship is often misinterpreted as meaningless copying and

imitation. What we have lost in such a misinterpretation is self-evident.

In contemporary ceramics, traditional pottery is, on the one hand, stereotyped as a

feudal symbol carrying negative implications, subject to queries and attack. On the other hand, its rich contents are frequently appropriated in some fragmentary art collages.

Each time I see a potter modeling an object, I am always attracted by the process of his making and find in it a relaxed pleasure. All potters are humble in knowing their own

places and committed in passing on their skills. They utilize their materials to the best

and are people-oriented. Because of this, the maker, the user and the object are tightly

connected with each other. The self-contained value of traditional pottery is also founded on this interconnection. <

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Both art and craft are originated from life. They do not contradict with, but rather,

reinforce each other. It is not necessary to break the old in order to build the new. By looking back at history and experiencing tradition at first hand, we will have the opportunity

to re-discover the origins that have been long forgotten and realize the crisis of imbalance that we are facing. Through this realization, we may be able to repair, step by step, the

ever widening crack between man and the object he makes.

(The Chinese edition, revised by the author, 2005 Issue of ArtsLink.)

o

Wong Lai Ching

was originally published at the December

fwong@hkac.org. hk

Wong received her M.F.A. at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1997. Wong has been a visiting lecturer at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the University of Hong Kong and Beaver College in Philadelphia. She now teaches at Hong Kong Art School. Wong’s works range from ceramic to mixed media pieces. Her work have been shown widely in Canada, Hawaii, U.S. A., Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan and Korea.

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在 香港這個大都 會生活，每天 都被無 數的影 像包圍， 它們佔 據著公 眾空間，從不 同的媒

介入 侵我們 的眼睛、進駐 我們的腦袋；這現象，因 數碼 科技普 及而更 加突顯。不 知不覺 間，影 像成為了生活 的鏡子，我們 生活的 指南； 都市人 要與影 像看齊。而更 甚的是，影像 取 替了語 言成為了人與 人溝通 的橋樑，沒有 了影像，人 們不知 如何生 活下去。正如 一些西

方學 者的研 究結論，當 今的都 市生活，是 由影像 建構； 影像 替代了 可經驗 的真實 客觀世 界，成為了都市人的第 二自然

second nature),

_ 個比 真實來 得更加 更真寅的超真

實世界 (the hyperreality)ÿ當我 們去探 討這個 現象， 得追溯 攝影的 出現和 它所帶 來的影

響。

攝影於1839 年 披著神 秘的面 紗在法 國出現。雖然 當時人們還未 準備好迎接它 的誕生，但 從事攝 影活動 的人士，大都 認為攝 影源於 大自然，是大自然將 影像顯 現出來。英 國攝影

先驅 William Henry Fox Talbot 在他1844 年出 版的攝 影集也 稱之為《自 然的 畫筆》 Pern;// of /Vafivrdÿ借喻 大自然 對自身 的描繪。當時人們高 舉理性，認定 相片是 對客觀

世界 的真實 呈現； 時至今日，大部份人仍然堅信 相片中 的世界，是 真實的 再現。

十九世 紀的攝 影活動，面 向的 是外在 的世界。攝影 用於對 大自然 的研究 和記錄、見 証都 市的 發展和 興衰； 人們 通過相片認 識遙不可及的 國度和 了解遠在他鄉 親人們 的生活 境況。

當時 的肖像 攝影除 了是有 錢人的 玩意，也是當 權者對 都市流 動人口 的監管，一如 現今的 身 份証；而被 展示於街頭巷 尾的半 身相， 跟現時 的通緝 照無異，目 的是為 了維持 社會穩

定。往後，攝影 因著它 真實的 性格而 變為商 品廣告 的代表，盛載 著資本 與消費 主義。

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熟悉攝 影史的 都知道， 攝影的 出現是 達蓋爾

Jacques Mande Daguerre) 與法

國政府 的_ 項交易。從一 開始， 攝影就 與商品 脫離不 了關係，伴隨 而來的 是工業 化和大

量生產 的相機。早在 1833 年， 攝影面 世不到 50 年，美 國柯? 公司便 於紐約 市蓋建 廠房， 生產 菲林； 五年後，更 大量生 產相機，附 上菲林，以大 眾能負 擔得起 的價錢 出售。 自此， 攝影便 從專業攝影師 的手中，過 渡成為中產階 級的流 行玩意。當時 柯達相 機的促 銷廣告

口號：「你按 下快門，剩 下的交給我 們。」使 攝影迅 速普及，進 入家庭，發 展成生 活中不

可缺少 的記憶，直至今天。

隨著科 技進步，人 口不 斷膨漲，加 上工廠 的建立，使人 們聚居 都市； 為了 應付人 們生活 所需，工業 化地大 量生產日用品，似乎是唯

_ 可以滿 足道方面需求 的方法。鑑於 都市生

活 複雜和 多元化，都 市人開 始要通過媒體 和資訊 來了解、面 對他們 的境況。而另 一方面 ，商品也要 通過影 像與大眾接觸，使大 眾認識，才 能增 加銷售，促進消費，帶 動經濟。攝 影頓時 變成了消費的 寵兒和 代言人，大眾 的消費 對象不單是商品本身，還 有它的 化身：

商品的 影像遍 佈於都 市不同 的角落，影像 主導著 整個消 費商業 活動， 俘虜整 個城市，繼 而漂 洋過海，在香港這遙 遠的東 方之珠 殖民。

香港 的開埠，本身 已是連 串貿易 歷史的 反照， 從開始 便一身 資本消 費裝扮。雖然 有機會 脫離 殖民， 卻仍要 聽命保 持身段，濃妝 豔抹五十年； 守 著那貿 易自由 的大門，供 投資者

和自由行者 穿梭。 九七回 歸以降，正值 數碼科 技孕育 成型； 消費影 像乘數 碼浪潮澎湃洶 湧而至， 淹沒整 個小島。因為 數碼影 像是數 據資料，它能夠以百 變多樣 的形態，出現於

左鄰 右里； 有如行 者悟空，忽 隱忽現，巨 者如整 棟高樓 的外牆，或 變貌成 巴士在 都市內 穿 街過巷，誘 人膜拜。我 們的衣、食、住、行 無不服 膺於它 的鬼蜮 技倆。

0 7

生活於香港的 都市人，由身 體開始：瘦身、潔齒、美白、去 暗瘡； 到四季 時尚， 服裝飾 物的潮 流 文化； 家居 設計，樓 盤的銷 售書； 以致放 假旅遊，吃喝 玩樂皆以影像為依歸。他們將從媒 體看 到的影 像當作 是真實 和標準，用自己的 行止舉 動來裝 扮對應，唯恐被眨是落後於時代，

滿 以為跟 著仿效，就 是貼近 大都市 人的生 活模式。這 種現象，豐富 了傅柯 (Michel Foucault) 在《規 訓與懲罰》

沖 有關圓 形監獄

的論

述 （註一 。香港就 是這所圓形的 大監獄，那 些無 處不在 的影像，便是 監獄中 心的監視塔，

生 活在當 中的人，變 成是影像的階 下囚， 以影像 來檢視自己的 行為。

數碼 影像其 中一項 特點， 是它能 夠在短 時間大 量製造 和傳播，都市人樂此 不疲地 拍攝和 上載。 但只要 我們細 心研究 和引證，不 難發現 那些影 像的內 容是互 相對照，不斷 重覆。

那些我 們曾經 觀看過 的影像，會 有意或無意在 我們手 中翻版 再現； 最佳 例子是 無數的 「到此一遊」相片 ，尤瑞 (John Urry) 在他所作的《觀 光客的 凝視》

7btyr/_sr

Gaze>l

有詳 盡分析 (註二 。香港人 放假離 港旅遊，目的 是拍攝 以自己 為主角並身處 現場的 相片，

以滿 足自己 和跟朋 友交代，反之 行程與 感受變 得次要。但不 要忘記，拍攝 行為本 身是一 種 干擾； 而無 線電話 / 手機 附有攝 錄工能，使不停地拍攝記錄自己這 種自我干擾， 無限伸

延擴大。這種 攝錄干 擾行為，將原為一體 的生命，剪 輯成支 離破碎 的數據，在網 絡虛擬 世界遊 走重組 再現。

(註

Foucault, 1926-1984)，法國 哲學家。在1975年出版的 S«//ve///erefPi/n/r 英譯為 Discipline

傅柯

& Punish, 1977 年面世 第三章， 借邊沁

的全景 式監獄

論述 權力對 人們的 規訓。

「我 們是 處於全 景敞視 機器中，受到 其權力 效應的 干預。 造是我們自己 造成的，因為 我們是 其機制 的一部份。」

節錄自《規 訓與懲罰》劉北成、楊 遠嬰譯，臺 北市： 桂冠，1992。p. 216。

(註二

尤瑞

Urry) 是英國 蘭開斯 特大學 7b(/r/sr

of Lancaster) 的社會 學教授。他 的著作《觀 光客的 凝視》

GazeJ 於1990 年面世，由 Sage Publications Ltd出版。

“ 攝影為旅程定 出形式 和方向。就 是道個 原因， 人們會 停下來，拍照（或 抓拍一 張快照 ）， 然後繼 纗上路。攝影 涉及資任。人 們覺得 他們一 定不能 錯過某 些景點，否則 就是錯 過了在 那兒拍 照的機 會‘

( 原文第128 頁）

謝 明莊，《20060606,

旺角》 ，攝影，2006 年。 Tse Ming Chong, 2006 06 06f Mongkok,

photography, 2006.

三

二

0 7 3

在這個 被喻為「後 殖民 時代的 香港」，影 像取替 了十八世紀啟 蒙運動所高舉 的唯理 思想。

網路上甚至 有人以「我攝，故 我在」為名，拍攝 行為轉化成為 一種自 我肯定 的表徵。可 惜，

當今都 市人所 超量製 造出來 的影像，一是 大部份 以自己 為主題，相 片中的 人物是 拍攝者

自己，他 / 她 們以模 仿廣告、電影 中的人物舉止 為榮。二是沒 有意識 地在不 斷重覆 別人的 影像，滿以為自己 拍攝出 來與其他人相 仿的影 像便是 捕捉了 真實，但卻忘 記了他 們是在

自 相仿傚，真實 早已在他們對 照中漸 漸遠去 ，? 留下的 是虛擬 影像； 而都 市人便 以這個 遠留下 的擬像 來建構他們的 世界。 Reference: Foucault, Michel. Discipline And Punish, 1977.

Newton, Julianne H.. The Burden of Visual Truth. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 2001.

Ronerts, John. The Art of Interruption, UK: Manchester University Press, 1998.

Urry, John. The Tourist Gaze. London: SAG Publication Ltd, 2002. 駱穎佳。《後 現代拜 物教》。香港 ： 學生福 音團契 出版社 2003 年。

? 謝明莊

tsemingchong@yahoo.com.hk

謝氏於 2004 年獲 英國倫 敦大學 金匠學 院影像 與傳播 系碩士，2003 年畢 業於香 港浸會 大學新聞系。 現為香 港藝術 學院學 科統籌。謝 氏不單 是一個 攝影師，他亦 有興趣 其它影 像媒介，如時 間媒介、舞 台藝術 和互勖 媒介。 他的作 品關 注個人、歷史 與社會 的關係

::

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Translator: Wong Hiu Lam

Infiage Colonization

* Tse Ming Chong

Living in Hong Kong, a metropolitan city, we are surrounded by

pervasive images

every

day. Images are occupying our public living space; invading our eyes and storming our

brains from various channels. This phenomenon is intensified by the growing popularity of

digital technology. Without much awareness of it, images have become a mirror and a compass for our life. People of the city consider it necessary to lead a life comparable to

the images. To go further, images have replaced languages to become the bridge of

communication between people. Without images, people have few cues to live on. As some Western scholars have concluded in their studies, contemporary urban life is

constructed by images. They have replaced the experience of a real and objective world, becoming our second nature and being perceived as a form more real than reality - the hyperreality. We must trace the emergence of photography and its influence in examining

this observation.

In 1839, photography came out with a mysterious black veil on it. People were not prepared for its emergence but most of those who took part in photographic activities

considered that photography was originated from nature and it was the nature that showed us the images. In 1844, William Henry Fox Talbot, a British inventor in photography,

described photography as the "Pencil of Nature” \n his album published in 1844, metaphorically suggesting that photography is the self-portrait of nature. People of the time held reasoning in esteem and thus firmly believed that a photo is an objective

representation of the real world. Nowadays, most people still believe that the world in a photograph is a representation of the reality.

In the 19th century, photographic activities mainly targeted at the outside world.

Photography was used for studying and documenting the nature. It also witnessed the development as well as the rise and decline of cities. By means of photographs, people got to know distant lands and learned more about their relatives across the miles. At that

time, portrait photography was not only a fashionable item for the privileged, but also a

tool of those in power to monitor the moving population of a city, just like the use of identity card today. The Mug Shot displayed on the streets bore little difference from the

photos used nowadays to show wanted persons. They were aimed at maintaining social

order. Photography, because of its nature of revealing reality, was eventually transformed into a representative tool of the commercials, becoming a vessel of capitalism and

consumerism.

Anyone familiar with the history of photography is well aware that the emergence of

photography was the result of a deal between Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre and the French government. From the very first beginning, photography has been linked tightly

with commodities. What followed was the mass production of camera through industrial means. In as early as 1883, when photography was no more than 50 years old, the American

firm Kodak already built their factory in New York City to produce photographic film. Five years later, Kodak began producing in huge quantities cameras with film loaded and sold

them at an affordable price. Since then, photography was handed over from professional photographers to the middle class, who took it as a popular activity. With Kodak's slogan

"You press the button, we do the rest”ÿ the popularity of photography quickly went to

new height. Photography got access to families and became an essential part of daily memory. This is still true as at today.

The development of technology, continuous growth of population and the building of factories attracted people to settle down in cities. Industrial production of large quantity

of commodities appeared to be the only way to cope with the daily demands of the increasing urban population. As city life was complicated and full of varieties, it was necessary for people living in the cities to start learning and facing their surroundings

through media and information. On the other hand, the commodities had to get in touch

with the people and promote the brand name via images. In such a way, sales would be

stimulated and spending would be encouraged, facilitating the blooming of economy. All of a sudden, photography became the favourite medium and spokesperson of consumerism.

What people spent to buy was not only the product itself but also its images. Images of

commercial products could be found in every corner of a city and they formed the leading force of the consumer activities, eventually capturing the whole city. Images also

travelled a long way and colonized the distant Pearl of the Orient - Hong Kong.

The founding of the city of Hong Kong was a story of trade in history. It has been wearing

the capitalist makeup from the first beginning. Even when it has the chance to be free

from colonization, it still needs to obey the order of keeping in capitalistic shape for 50 years,

guarding

the gateway

of

free trade

and

allowing

smooth access

by

investors/Mainland tourists. After the return of sovereignty in 1997, digital technology has been developing and taking shape. Images of consumerism have taken a ride in the

wave of digital technology, drowning this small island. Digital

images

are made of digital

data and can appear in the daily living space in thousands of forms, just like the Monkey

King in Chinese legend. They can be as big as the external wall of a skyscraper or travelling through busy streets in the shape of a bus, asking people to bow and worship. Every necessity of our daily lives: clothes, food, houses, transport, is controlled by the evil power of digital images.

People in Hong Kong use images as a reference of their daily lives, starting from body-

related issues like body slimming, teeth and skin whitening and removal of pimples, to

seasonal fashion and the trendy culture of clothes and accessories, home design, brochure on sales of flats, holidays and travels, as well as dining and fun. People believe that the images from the mass media represent the reality and the standard. They respond to that standard with their own appearance and behaviour, in fear of being labelled as old-

fashioned. They consider that modelling on such standard would bring them closer to the living pattern of a big city. This phenomenon enhances Michel Foucault's discussion on

the panopticon in his book Discipline and Punish

(Note 1).

Hong Kong is like the huge

annular prison, and the images are the surveillance tower in the centre. Those who live

in the city are just like prisoners of images and they use images to review their own

behaviour.

(Note 1)

Michel Foucault (1926-1984) is a French philosopher. In Chapter 3 of his book

Sfy/ÿe/7/er ef

厂

published in 1975 (the English translation Discipline & Punish was published in 1977), he quoted

Bentham's Panopticon in his discussion of men being controlled and supervised by power.

"We are

A characteristic of digital images is that they can be quickly made and disseminated in huge amount. People enjoy shooting and uploading their pictures to the network. If we make careful study and comparison, it is not difficult to find that the contents of those images are cross-referencing with and repeating each other. The images that we have

seen may be reproduced in our hand consciously or subconsciously. The best examples are those photos taken at famous tourist spots, saying "I have been there”. There is a detailed analysis of this phenomenon in the book The Tourist Gaze by John Urry

(Note 2).

When the people of Hong Kong go for a holiday trip, their purpose is to take photos of

themselves at the places they visit so as to satisfy themselves and keep records to be shown to friends. The trip itself and the experience are often put in low priority. We should not forget that the act of photography is an interruption. The inclusion of camera function

in mobile phones has infinitely extended the self-interruption process of continuously taking pictures of oneself. This interruption process of photographing/recording cuts the life, originally in a whole, into fragmentary data which will travel and be re-assembled and

reproduced in the virtual world of computer network.

In this "post-colonial” period of Hong Kong, images have replaced reasoning, which was promoted in the enlightenment movement of the 18th century. There is even the saying of "I shoot, therefore I exist" on the Internet. Photographic behaviour has been

transformed into an act of self-reassurance. There are two points which are worth to

(Note 2)

John Urry is Professor of Sociology at the University of Lancaster. The Tourist Gaze was first published in 1990 by Sage Publications Ltd.

'Photography gives shape to travel. It is the reason for stopping, to take (snap) a photograph, and

then to move on. Photography involves obligations. People feel that they must not miss seeing particular scenes since otherwise the photo-opportunities will be missed. •••’ p.128.

7

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images is the people themselves. They are proud of

copying

the look and behaviour of

characters in commercials and movies. Secondly, people are subconsciously repeating images taken by others. They believe that they have captured the reality if what they have taken is similar to that taken by others. They are not aware that the reality has already stepped away when they copy from each other. As a result, only virtual images are left

behind and it is based on these virtual images that the city people construct their world.

Reference: Foucault, Michel. Discipline And Punish, 1977.

Newton, Julianne H.. The Burden of Visual Truth. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 2001.

Ronerts, John. The Art of Interruption, UK: Manchester University Press, 1998.

Urry, John. The Tourist Gaze. London: SAG Publication Ltd, 2002. 駱穎佳。《後 現代拜 物教》 。香港 ： 學生福 音團契 出版社 2003 年。

?

Tse Ming Chong

tsemingchong@yahoo.com.hk

Tse received his master degree from Goldsmith’s College, University of London in Imaging and

Communication in 2004. He graduated from Hong Kong Baptist University in Chinese Journalism in 2003. He is now working as a subject coordinator at the Hong Kong Art School. Tse is not only a photographer; he is interested in every image-making media, time media and theatre art. His works

focus on how individuals behave in relation with history and society. Currently, he is exploring interac¬

tive media.

*譚偉

現代人 所面對 的是過 度活躍 的生活，這種 活躍的 生活狀 態既是 主動 的個人 選擇， 亦是被 動的無 可奈何，這 使我們 在獲得 利益的

同時，也 喪失了自主。

圍繞 著我們的是千絲萬縷 的關係，我們 的工作、我 們的生 活可能

影響著 遠在他 方的無 名個體，也被 不知名 的力量 和無形 的群體

生活 領著我 們走向 不屬於 自己的 未來。

我們無 法獨自 地生活，但不 意味著 獨立的 意識並 不重要，或 許我

們更需 要恢復 這種以「個 人」為單位 的獨立 意識， 來平衡 外在世 界的「大 一統」現象。

我們的 世界存 在著無 數等待 解決的 問題， 而我們 採取的 態度是

等問題 出現後，才 找解決 的辦法。就 是這樣 把不同的問題 一直纏

繞著，繼 續擴大，積累為不能 所動的 力量， 把我們推向更 失控的 處境。我 們不應 只以問 題的解決方法為目標，更應 注意問 題的本

質是 什麼。

「人」的 本身就 是問題 的根本。哲學、歷 史學、 政治學、心 理學、

人文地 理科學

我是 害怕對「人」的探討， 在早期 創作已 避免把「人」放在 作品裡，那是 出於對「人」的不

理解，它 的複雜 性使我 沒有能 力處理「人」這個 問題。 但是，長時間的逃避讓我 意識到 理解人 的重要 性和其 吸引力。對「我」的 認識可 以說成

自 覺意識 的恢復 (註一)， 從「我」去認識「個 體」相信是 最為直 接及少了要對他人負 責的壓 力。事實 卻相反。當 我想 要看清 自身時，卻發 覺我們 無論如 何都無 法看清 真寅的 自我， 因 為我們 無法看 見自己 的外貌

切都需 依靠 外在的 反射， 像水裏 的倒影 (作 品一)，透過

、或 另外的 媒介才 能看見 影像的「我」，那是「二手」、「間 接」的我， 鏡子、影子、相片

_

個外在、不 可信的「我 J 。 窺探 內在的「我」是危險 的當試， 因為要 面對自 我審視 的過程。我必 須要接 受內在 真實的 「我 j 和外在日常的「我」之 間的分 裂差異，既是 如此， 那麼在「真實 世界」和「現 實世界J

中的 我到底 分別在 哪裡？「現實 世界」是「真實 世界」的倒影，「現 實」 「真 實」

來自 倒影的 自身。 荒謬的、美 好的、 誘惑的、燦 爛的、 罪惡的

是可 見的，

f

M

::匕

(作品

)

m

《倒 影》. 35 厘 米影片/2003 年 3分14秒， 我慢慢 地吸吮 自己在 水中的 倒影， 直至倒 影消失。我把我的倒 影喝掉

mt-m

(Artwork 1)

“Reflection", 35 mm film / 2003, 3 min 14 sec

I suck my reflection in a pool of water very slowly, until my reflection was disappeared. I drank my own reflection.

(註二

f f 本源 j 的意 思在 逋裡是 指：一 件事物，從何、和經 由什麼，成為 現在的 它以及 作為現 在的它、使 它成 為現在 的它、 以及使 它作為 現在的 它的那 個東西，我們 稱之為 本質或 本性， 事物的 本源是 其本質 的根源。j 海德格

(Martin Heidegger),《藝術 作品的本源》f77?e O/57/7 of f/re

八

H*

5

0 8 5

生活是不需要 理會每 件事情 的本質，久而久之現 實生活 會掩蓋、替代 了真責，讓 我們逃

避、接受、相信、滿足 於現實 世界中的狀態。包 括現寅 生活中 的常規，教導 我們不 可直接 表達自 己的原 始狀態 一原始慾望及 動物性。例如「現實 世界」製造出「低 等」及「高 等」 的概念，使「人」開 始界定 人與事 的高低，產 生出社 會不同 的教條、律法、標準； 界 定什麼

是正確的， 什麼是 錯誤的，建立

_ 套理性和一套 認為對 每個人 最為合 適的生 活方式。但

它最 終的目 的是在「現實 世界」中製 造出統 治者和被統治 者的階 級觀念。打 破教條、律

法、標準是非 常危險 的意識，人 們相信這會帶 來破壞、不隱 的狀況，恐 懼脫離「現寅 世界」 後進 入虛無、模糊、原 始的 狀態。

J

但是「我」要活 在他人 製造的「影 子」中 生活？ 還 是要活 在原始 真寅的「我 ?

「真 實」是可 知但被 阻礙接 觸的。「人」還是 要存活、依靠、接觸「現寅 世界」後才可想像

及認知「真 實」的存在，它甚 至跟虛 假有某 種類同 的相似。還 有人 把夢說 成是唯 一的真 實，「真 實」變成類似幻象 的東西 (註三)ÿ 更加難 於理解。它危 險之處，在 於如 能恢復「真

實」的認知，將 會改 變現寅 生活中 的秩序，因 為明瞭 事物的 本質後，再無 須服從「現 寅世 界」中 的條文。因此，當 「人」恢復原 始意識、狀態後，便不 再受固 有的價 值觀所 影響， 「我」不再是 活在別 人製造 的圈子 或影子裡生活，而是 清晰地 恢復自 我意識，隨 著自己

的意向 生活。

但寅 際上， 是我們 離不開「現寅 世界」，也不能隨 時走進「真實 世界」，因 為要有「超 人」（註四 的意志，才 能擺 ?社會、家庭、道德、標準、宗教、系統、體 制等，幾 千年來，人們 用盡一

切心力建構 的世界。然而問題 卻在於，大部 份人選擇棲身 (作 品二) 於「現 實」的 生活中，對 「真 實」的認 知顯得 模糊和疏離。

「現 寅」和「真 寅」是 處於二 元矛盾 的關係，在依 附與脫 離之間 游離。

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那麼「真 實」、「現 實」和「藝 術」之 間帶有 什麼的 關係？

柏拉圖

的「藝 術即 模仿」

代哲人 對藝術的態度 《理 想國》 年輕的葛羅康

as imitationh 註五）之魔咒，一直 纏繞著 不同時 /7epcÿ//c)_ 書， 講述蘇 格拉底

和

之間 的一席 對話，蘇格拉 底解釋 了為何 要把藝 術家排 除於理

想國 之外，他認為關鍵在 於藝術 的本質 與真正存在的 本質。

以下 是節錄 的對話 (註六)

蘇：我 們就拿 一個普 通的例 子來說吧！世 界上有 恨多床 和桌子，是不是呢？

葛：是啊！ 蘇：但這 些傢俱 只有兩 種形式，一 個是床 的概念，另一 個是桌 子的。

葛：是啊！ 蘇：我們不 也常說，工匠每製造 一張床、桌子 或其它 物件時，都 是按 照適合 那件用 具的 形式來 製造的，但卻 沒有一 位工匠 能製造 形式本 身吧！他哪 能夠？ 蘇：其 實有一 種辦法 可以使你自己 製造出 這一切 事物？

葛：用 什麼方 法呢？ 蘇：那並非難事，有 許多快 速且輕 易地完 成這個 奇蹟的 辦法；最容易 的莫過 於拿面 你馬上 就會造 出太陽、蒼穹、大地，以及 你自己 和所有 鏡子轉 來轉去 試試看 其他的 動植物

葛：沒錯！在外 形上我 是能製 造它們，卻不 是它們 本然的 實體。 蘇：畫家在 某種意 義上雖 然也在 製造床，卻 不是真 正在造出床的 實體，是吧!

葛：是啊！就像旋轉 鏡子的 人一般，他製 造的也 只是床的外形 罷了！ 蘇：我 們可不 可以就 根據這些實例，來研 究一下模仿的 本質？

葛：請吧！ 蘇：好吧！床不 是有三 種嗎？一種 為自然 中本有，我想，不 妨稱 它為神 所造的，難道 會 有其他 的製造 者嗎？ (註五

湯瑪斯 / 華賸伯格(Thomas E. Wartenberg), 《論藝 術的本 質》. 柏拉圖

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藝術即 模仿。

(註六

Plato, Translated by Desmond Lee, The Republic, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd, 1955.

葛：不 可能。 蘇：第 二種則 是由木 匠所製 造的。

葛：是的。 蘇：那麼畫 家描繪出來的 就是第 三種？ 蘇••那 麼畫 家呢？他可否 稱作床 的創造 者和製 造者？ 葛：當然不 可以。 蘇：那 麼畫家 和床之 間到底 發生了什麼的 關係？ 葛：我想，最好稱呼他為 模仿者 一模仿 了神和 木匠所 製造的 一切。 蘇：所以模 仿者和 真實體存著一 段距離，表 面上它 好像能 製一切 的事物，其實是因 為 它只取每件事 物的一 小部份，且那 一小部 份還只 是一種 影像。 蘇：再 想一想，影 像的 製造者，就 是我們 所謂的 模仿者，只知道外形，對於存在的

真實 體卻一 無所知，是 不是？

葛：沒錯。

蘇：荷 馬確實 為當代首屈一 指的悲 劇詩人，可是請 千萬記 著：除 了頌神及讚美好人的 詩歌以外，可不准 其它詩 歌闖入 城邦?。你一 旦讓步，准 許甜言 蜜語般 的抒情 詩或史 詩進來，統 轄城邦 的執政 者便不 會是法 律和一 向被視 為至尊 的理性，而 是 極為平 常的快 樂與痛 苦了。

「一 種為自然中本有」應 為事物 的概念，跟「真 實的 世界」的概

首先 我相信 柏拉圖 所講的

念是相 符的； 而「第二 種則 是由木 匠所製 造的」應 為人造 的事物，跟「現實 世界」中人造 的知 識是相 對的； 而最 後的「模 仿」是 否就是「藝 術」呢？

「藝術 j 逃不了再現 的功能，但 非為它 的目的。柏拉 圖所說「模 仿」的 性質是 三等的，藝 術家從 事的工作是複 製的再 複製， 所以不 應當真。然而「現代 藝術」是發現、認知、啟示

及創造，而不只於純粹的模仿及影像 的複製。那麼柏拉圖為什 麼沒有指出藝 術的本 質呢？ 恐 怕是因 為出於 對藝術 的恐懼。藝術 帶有啟 發認知 的能力，害怕 人發現 超乎理 性以外

的想法，後果 將會# 致「理 想國」的失控和毀掉。藝術 是相當 危險的，它可 引發出 人內在

，一 條穿越「現實 世界」到達

的潛能，打 破理性 的規限，在 非理性 (想像、幻象、夢) 中游走

「真實 世界」的途徑。藝術 不會是 純創新，它 應是認 知以後 把意識 恢復的 行為； 藝術不 是 純觀念，它 要透過創造的 過程， 來驗證 真實的 一面。

我通過《我 的真寅 生活》（作 品三) 來驗證「我」的 真實面，而 不是從 模仿中 或概念 中製造

」

藝術； 不是以 創作為出發點，而 是從現 實生活 中觀察「我」，「我 變為了客體，這 過程之

後才有 藝術的 出現。 藝術不 是模仿 現寅世 界的事情之後 的再現 或再造，它 是從生 活中通 過 經驗藝 術後直 接進入 本質； 透過 藝術創 作所得 的經驗，可 以是無 意識的 經驗， 一種非

，一種沒有 功能性的活動，一種唯一透過藝術創造恢復的「原始」狀態。

帶有目的性 的手段

理 解通過 藝術可 逢到本 質是一 件事情，生 活在現 實的混亂中也 是一種 境界。 f 真實 世界

J

和「現寅 世界」可以 是同一 件事情，也 可以是 存著矛 盾的兩 個世界(作品四 )。 我喜 歡在這

兩個世 界之間 游走， 累了便「入 睡」，過了

陣子便 會自然「醒 來」。或許，明白 了以後，

還 是照樣 地生活 下去。

?

言軍偉平

ltam@hkac.org.hk

謀 偉平畢 業於英國倫敦 大學斯 萊迪藝 術學院 研究院。現 任職香 港藝術 學院課 程統籌 及講師，亦 為藝術 地圖之

主席及 其創辦 人之一。作 品曾於香港、中國、台灣、英國、美 國及法 國等地 展出。

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Translator; Stephanie Cheung

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—

一.3

m'

Artist Statement: Here, I look at me over there *Tam Wai Ping The modern man lives in hyperactivity. This is a choice, and also something inevitable. Such a life is at times lucrative; at the same time it costs our autonomy. We live in a web of complex relationships: our lives and work affect some nameless entities far away; other unknown forces and collective lives bring us to a future, hardly willed by ourselves.

We cannot live alone, but independence is still important. In face of the pervasive "unification” taking place all around us, perhaps an independent consciousness is all the more essential. Our world is facing numerous problems, all yet to be solved. We are used to solving problems only when they break out. Very likely, problems get all mixed up and become more and more overwhelming. Problem solving is actually not good enough - we should rather see to the core of problems.

People are basically the source of all problems. The ultimate project of philosophy, history, political studies, psychology, human geography...is always an understanding of people. If our problems all come from ourselves, the first and foremost way to tackle them is to sort things out on an individual level. Then all national, social, work and family problems will not be difficult anymore. This is not an advocacy for individualism, narcissism, emancipation,

idealism or any political ideology. I am just putting forth a discussion about an individual.

I am reluctant to talk about people. When I started making art, I always avoided showing people in my work because I did not understand their complexity. I simply could not handle the subject. Having run away from the subject for a long time, I got to realise the importance of understanding people, and the interesting thing about it. To rekindle such a consciousness, I started with self understanding (Note!). I started with myself because such an understanding is immediate and I do not have to be responsible to others. However, things turn out to the contrary. When I tried to look into myself, I never succeed fully. We cannot even see our appearance. We have to rely on reflections - on water (Artwork 1), in mirrors, shadows, photographs or through other media. The "self" in all these is "second-hand” and indirect.

One can never trust such images.

{Note”

"What I have lost" "Whenever I gain something, I lose more, I can no longer verify this conclusion, written in my 20s. That pessimism has always stayed with me. Perhaps my life has always been troubled by feelings of insecurity.

Doubts drive me to search. I know this is never-ending, like the mythical story of Sisyphus (who drags a huge rock all the way up a mountain; whenever he reaches the peak, he slips and starts from the bottom again). The only difference between my story and Sisyphus’s endless torture is that I am free when I make art. I can take a break from the routines of life.

Life's repetitions take up most of my time. Modern life mechanically devours my time and space; it even gets me used to its mode. Art-making becomes an occasional rebellion. Rebellious thoughts touch my nerves. This is all heedless; but it restores my self consciousness and wakes my senses.

Tam Wai Ping, 23 April 2003

Introspection, on the other hand, is dangerous. When one really looks at oneself, one sees the split between one’s inner-truth self and one's external everyday self. How are the true

self different from physical self? The physical world is a reflection of Truth. The former is the manifestation; the latter the origin of this "shadow". Absurdity, beauty, allure, glamour, evilness...are all descriptions of the real world. The realm of Truth, on the other hand, cannot be described. There are no human standards; only objective processes.

Truth is the origin of the tangible; it is the path to the nature of things (Note2).

In everyday life, we do not have to bother about the nature of everything. Eventually, pragmatics evades Truth. This leads to escapism, compromise, make-belief and indulgence. The rules of everyday life overshadow our innate being - primitive desires and animalistic instincts. For example, the concept of class conventionalizes different doctrines, laws and standards. It delimits right and wrong, and configures a supposedly

rational and universal way of life. Ultimately, it creates hegemony of the ruler and the ruled. It is conceptually dangerous to break rules. People think that this would bring damage and instability. They fear that, if they turn away from this world, they would sink into primitive uncertainty. But should the self live in other people's shadow? Or should I resurrect its primitive, true nature?

(Note2)

"Origin here means that from and by which something is what it is and as it is. What something is, as it is, we call its essence or nature. The origin of something is the source of

its nature/' Martin Heidegger, The Origin of the Work of Art. [Translator’s note: The quoted part comes from an electronic version of Hofstadter.s English translation of Poetry, Language, Thought (Chapter 1: The Orgin of the Work of Art): http://btobsearch.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?z = y&btob=Y&ean = 978 0060937287&pwb = 1&displayonly = EXC]

Truth is knowable, just that knowledge of it is not immediate. People can only get to know Truth by experiencing the physical world. Sometimes Truth feels fake; some people take dreams as the only truth, thus turning it imaginary and unfathomable (Note3j. Such insights are threatening because once people see the nature of things, they would find it difficult to conform to the mundane regulations. When people rediscover their primitive consciousness, they are no longer governed by existing values. The self no longer lives in others' influence. Autonomy is restored. The self lives by its own standard.

Yet the fact is, we cannot leave the physical world, and we cannot just walk into the realm of Truth anytime. Only the uberman (superman)(Note4) is capable of transcending the ties of society, family, morality, religion and institutions forces that have shaped the world for thousands of years. Most ordinary people reside (Artwork 2) in pragmatics, in spite of the alienation from Truth.

—

The metaphysical polemics always mean a dilemma between conformation and alienation.

So, what is the relationship between Truth, the World and Art? The Platonic cannon of "Art as Imitation" (Note5) has far-fetching impact on aesthetics.

In The Republic, Plato captures a conversation between Socrates and the young Glaucon.

Socrates explains the exclusion of artists from the republic. His sees the reason in the nature of art - and the nature of existence.

(Note3)

"Men of philosophical disposition are known for their constant premonition that our everyday reality, too, is an illusion, hiding another, totally different kind of reality." Friedrich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy.

[Translator's Note: The quoted part comes from an electronic version of Golffing and Kaufmann's English translation of The Birth of Tragedy (Section 1): http://www.geocities.com/thenietzschechannel/bt3.htm ]

The following is an excerpt of the conversation (Nÿte6) : Socrates, 'Then let us take any set you choose. For example, there are many particular beds and tables, G/aucon, "Yes/

Socrates, "But there are only two forms, one of bed and one of table.

Glaucon, JYes/ Socrates, 'Then we normally say that the maker of either of these kinds of furniture had his eye on the appropriate form when he makes the beds and tables we use; and similarly with other things. For no craftsman could possibly make the form itself, could he?’ f

Socrates, JDo you know that there’s a sense in which you could create them itself?’

Glaucon, 'What sense?"

Socrates, It’s not difficult, and can be done in various ways quite quickly. The quickest way is to take a mirror and turn it round in all directions; before long you will create sun and stars and earth, yourself and all other animals and plants Glaucon, 'Yes but they would only be reflections, not real things/ /

(Note4) "Talent is the ability to maintain a purely sensual status, to discard the self in senses and to remove the knowledge that exists purely to worship in the ritual of the will// Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation.

[Translator's note: in the original Chinese version of the text the author uses the phrase " chaoren [超 人] ", literally "superman", to refer to this Nietzschean idea of uberman {or Gbermensch }• The idea refers to strong-will individuals who can transcend social norms and create new values (see Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None, first published in German in 1880s1890s; trans. Graham Parkes, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). To make it clearer for the English readers, Nietzsche's own term is used in this translation. In the Chinese original, this note includes a quote from a Chinese translation of Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Presentation.

The quote, a discussion on talent, basically reassures the importance of self-consciousness and rejects the ritualistic hegemony of knowledge.]

(Noted)

Thomas E. Wartenberg, On the Nature of Art. Plato, Art as Imitation.

(Note6) Plato, Translated by Desmond Lee, The Republic, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd, 1955.

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Socrates: 'You may perhaps object that the things he creates are not real; and yet there is a sense in which the painter creates a bed, isn’t there?

Glaucon: 'Yes, he produces an appearance of one•’

Socrates: 'Then shall we try to discover just what the activity of representation is, on the basis of this example?’

G/aucon: 'Yes, please/

Socrates: 'We have seen that there are three sorts of bed. The first exists in nature, and we would say, I suppose, that it was made by god. No one else could have made it, could they?’

Glaucon: 1 think not, Socrates: JThe second is made by the carpenter/ G/aucon: 'Yes/

Socrates: 'And the third by the painter?’

Socrates: 'And what about the artist? Does he make or manufacture?’

G/aucon: yNo/

Socrates: 'Then what does he do?’

G/aucon: 7 think that we may fairly claim that he represents what the other two make/

Socrates: 'The art of representation is therefore a long way removed from the Truth, and it is able to reproduce everything because it has little grasp of anything, and that little is of a mere phenomenal appearance.

f

Socrates: 'Now to another point. The artist who makes a likeness of a thing knows nothing about the reality but only about the appearance - that was what we said, wasn’t it?’

Glaucon: 'Yes/ Socrates: 'Homer is the best of poetry that should be allowed in a state is hymns to the gods and paeans in praise of good men; once you go beyond that and admit the sweet lyric or epic muse, pleasure and pain become your rulers instead of law and the rational principles commonly accepted as best,

Plato's idea of natural existence belongs to the realm of Truth. The second kind of things, which are "made by carpenters", are artificial, and correspond to man-made knowledge.

As for "imitation", is it the same as art?

Art is inevitably representational. But this is not its goal. Plato’s idea of "imitation" refers to a third order: artists copy copies, so the work should not be taken as real. Modern art is about discovering, knowing, inspiring and creating. It is never just imitation. Why did Plato refrain from pointing out the nature of art? It was probably out of fear: art stimulates thinking; it transcends rationality; eventually it may overthrow his ideal republic. Art is dangerous. It can bring out Man’s inner potentials, and transgress the limits of rationality. In an irrational (imaginative, illusory, dreamy) manner, it leads one from the physical world to the realm of Truth. Art is not just about innovation. It is about cognition and consciousness.

Art is not just about concepts. Through creative acts, it tests reality.

Instead of working on imitation or concepts, I tested my own reality through My Real Life (Artwork 3). The work did not start with art making. It started with observing myself in real life. I objectified myself, and the work came from the process. Art did not imitate nor represent the world. Rather, through live experiences, art got to the nature of life. When one gains experiences through art making, instead of being purposeful and strategic, s/he can be heedless. Such pursuits are not functional, just that they lead one back to a more primitive state.

Seeing art's insight to the nature of things is one thing; living in the chaos of everyday life is another. The everyday world and Truth can be exactly the same. At the same time, they can be contradictory (Artwork 4). I enjoy wandering between the two realms. When I am tired, I "get some sleep. After a while, I "wake" naturally. Perhaps, after understanding all these, I just live on as before.

(作 品三） 《我的 真實生 活系列 一譚偉平》，

照片/1997

-

2004 年，尺寸 不一。

「我 覺得非常混亂，記 憶都翻 倒了。

J

(Artwork 3) "My Real Life Series" - Tam Wai Ping, Photography / 1997 - 2004, Dimension variable.

J,l am very confused. My memories are shuffled along with my consciousness,

D

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I I I1 I I mm if

m

r# %

i

《我的 訪客》

《我的 演出》

她對 我說： f 神經病!」掉頭 便走了，.我 覺得 我有一

她說：「不 要。j 我知道她想著 別的男 人遢好，逭 只是導 演安排

點過份，有點歉意，但來得 太快了，不 知怎樣應對，

的情節 > 但生活中並沒 有情節 的安排，只有真實 的事情。但 戲還是

也 不敢跟 別人說.好 像逭樣 對我倆的形象 都不好 算 了吧！要做的 都做了， 多想也 沒意思•但 心裡還

要繼纗的演 下去。

是衝 出一種 莫名的 馗尬及 被輕蔑 的感覺

My Acting She said, “No.” ? knew that she was thinking of another man, I knew it. Thank god that it was only a fictional drama created by the director. But there is no fiction in life, and there are onfy real happenings. But the drama goes on.

t

i

My Visitor She said, MYou nutsr and then walked away. / felt uncomfortable because / thought / was a bit over the line. But it happened too fast that / didn't know how to react. It seemed not appropriate to talk about it with other people as it might do harm to our image, hers and mine. Bygones! It is no use thinking about it over and over again as / have tried my best. But deep down in my heart / feel something awkward and being treated with disdain.

f

Mil

卞一 炱一

《我 的記 者證》

《我的 訪問》

想起當 天電視 台女監 製差點兒跟同 事打架，都 瘋了。

我在 電視訪 問中介 紹其他 藝術家 的作品 .? 有些外

外 面各國 的記者 都齊集 在大銀 幕前觀 看最要緊的時

國地方 考慮政 治的因 素重些•有 些地 方則考 慮人文

J

刻 .已在 逋裡逗 了幾天，大家 都想趕 快回家 在臨時

的因素 .有 些地方則不同 .純 粹是藝 術價值的發展

影廠內 .高 級監製 站在控 制台的 後排. 偶爾跟 身旁的

我機 械式的 把介紹 藝術台 詞鯰完 ■•在 藝術圈 裡大家

入 發表一下意見，前排 的同事 例行把 按鈕及 操控捍

都唸著 差不多 的台詞，大 家都似懂非懂 .有台 詞遢好 ,

推 拿一下.最歷 史性的 時刻便 發放於 波頻去

戲才可 演下去.看 誰的比 較好看

?

My Press Pass

My Interview

That day, the female TV producer nearly had a fight with other colleagues. They were all very mad. Reporters from all over the world, standing in front of and looking at the big screen, were waiting outside for the important moment to come. They had been waiting in here for a couple of days and all they wanted is to go home soon. Inside the temporary studio, the senior producer was standing at the back of the control panel, occasionally uttered a word or two to others. Some colleagues sitting in front of the control panel were switching the buttons and sticks as usual, and then the historical moment was broadcast in the air.

/ did an interview in a leading

》

TV station in Hong

Kong for promoting other artists works. "Some countries give more weight to political considerations, and some other countries are more inclined to humanitarian concerns, while some other places have very different views. This is purely a development of the value of art, / mechanically finished my lines on introducing art. In the art circle, everyone is speaking more or less the same thing, and it is questionable whether the speaker completely understands what he is talking about. Anyway, it is good to have these standard lines that facilitate the drama to go onÿ Let's see whose drama is better. f

_

•照片、海報 《二度 現寅》

沿彌敦

道從 佐敦、 油麻地、旺角、太子張貼 3000 張海報 / 兩星 期時間 .由 晚上六

時至零 時三時 ）、 裝置（時 鐺酒店 ）、 錄像(Kubrick 窨局 )/2005 年。

(Artwork 4) "Second Reality", Photography, Poster (posting 3000 posters for 2 weeks from 6:00pm - 3:00am at Nathan Road - from Jordon, Yau Ma Tei, Mongkok, Prince

cÿ尸

Edward), Installation (love hotel), Video (Kubrick Bookshop) /

二度現霣 一後感

r 從樓 梯轉上，聽到 [嘟 j -a後門 便開了，是 從閉路 電視得 知客人 上門的•■先生是時租或過夜？ 帶你 進去看 看， 99 號 尾房是 間大房，算你 便宜的 500 元。 現在自由人客 比較多 .房間 都不一 定有的，道間 好不好 _? 好的出

. 道是間 不錯的 房間，

去登記

把 門關好 .進入 了只有 我和你 的世界， 倆人相對著幾 乎把空氣凝固，那是

次進入泥沼的 關係， 是那種 慢慢陷

入而不 能抽身 的事情•無論前進或 後退， 總是步 伐蹣跚•房 間內就 像無邊 的泥沼，讓我 無法找 到自己 的位置 .

唯有 把電視 打開， 尋找現 寅世界 的依據，適 已是一 種慰藉 的習? .像 是進入 家門先把電視 開上， 不要讓 空氣凝 固. 逭房? 帶著冬 天陰寒 的濕味•我 把冷氣 機當作?氣機 使用， 好像改 變了性 別似的 .排出 機械性 的?風 .斗

室 的空氣總是怎 樣調教 .也感 覺得不 自然. 放棄了，我們開始脫 掉衣服， 相信對 方的體 溫才是 最自然 的慰藉 我在那

刻是逭 樣想的

我突然 清醒， 好像想 起了什

我把房 間內唯 一的窗 戶打開， 外面風 很柔和，陽光照拂 著草地，很 大很大 的天地

?非 常重要的事情，那是 一次非 常嚮往、深刻的經驗，好像 很久以 前曾經 發生過

.

但總是 記不起 在那裡 發生及

和跟誰 在一起，我只知道 那次經 驗對我非常的 重要。 而現在.我想 尋回那 消逝了的記憶 , 窗不知在那時已關上.然後燈關上 .腦 裡通停 留下一 點殘光，終於熄滅了，進 入了一 個無夢 的睡眠

課偉 平寫於2005 年 一月二 十二日

-

J

-

Second Reality afterword MAfter a turn at the staircase and a Jbeep' sound, the door opened. They knew guests were coming from the closed circuit TV. Hourly rent or one-night-stay. Sir? I can show you the room if you like. No.99 is a big room at the end of the corridor. $500 for a night, that’s a good discount. Now we have more guests than before, sometimes rooms are full. How about this one? You can register for the room outside if you like. This is really a nice room.

Shut the door. Now, only you and me, face to face. The air was condensed and still. We were dragged in the relationship, the mucky relationship. We fell and fell and fell, until one day we could no longer walk out of it. No matter we advance or retreat, we dragged through it. The room was a vast morass where I could not find my position.

In the search for a basis for the reality, I reluctantly switched on the TV. Such had long

f

-

been my habit of consolation once I stepped in my apart merit, I switch on the TV so as to switch on the air. The room was chilled with winter mist. I turned on the air conditioner as if it was a heater. Like changing sex, it began to exhaust warm air. No matter how I tried, I could never tune the temperature to make us easy. So, we started to take off our clothes, our body temperature became each other's only natural comfort. ? did believe so at that moment.

I opened the only window in the room. The wind was gentle and sweet, the sun beamed down upon the restful grass, and I saw the infinite sky. Suddenly, I was awakened, like something important suddenly crossed my mind. That was an unforgettable and beautiful experience. It happened before, but I could not recall when or with whom. I only realized that it was something great in my life. And now, I wanted to go back to my lost memory.

Without noticing, the window was closed once again, then, the lights were out. The only fading glow in my head disappeared, and I, fell into a dreamless sleep,

Tam Wai Pingf 22 Jan 2005.

我倒 沒有發 覺事情 是這樣 的發生，相片中的我 來得並 不真實，那是 一種發 生過後 才意識 到的 東西， 相片最 初只是 作為一 種紀事 的活動，並沒 有所謂 觀念性的藝術。我想，每個 人 所經歷 的真實 比模仿 性的真 實來得 更直接，沒 有修飾，沒 有動機，複 雜得非 常隨意，隨

意 生活在 混亂中，亂得 分不清 楚何謂 真實。

I have never noticed things happened that way. My "self" constructed in the photographs seems so unreal, and I can only sort out the feelings afterwards. Originally, photographs are for the documenting purpose, and it has nothing to do with so-called conceptual art.

However, I think that the authenticity of individual experience is more straightforward than the "mimic authenticity". No embellishment, no motivation. Relax, and live in chaos.

Sometimes it is so chaotic that we can hardly know about the reality.

oTam Wai Ping

ltam@hkac.org.hk

Tam Wai Ping completed his postgraduate study with distinction from the Slade School of Fine Art, University College of London, UK in 1995. He serves as a programme coordinator and lecturer in the Hong Kong Art School. He is also the founder and director of Art Map & A.M. Post. His work has been shown widely in various countries, e.g., Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, UK, USA and France.

白管子《白文

『賣 藝日』

作分享 i

TW .ÿ

:ÿ.rCÿP4

楊嘵棠 老慧行 楊美青

▲雄‘:•

前言 老慧行

在香港 有關視覺藝術 的課程 主要分為兩大 類：就 是藝術 創作和 藝術史 課程； 藝術 創作課 程 是培育 藝術創 作者的、而 藝術史 課程是 培育藝 術研究 學者的。藝術 作為一 門專業，上

述 兩者固 然重要，可是「藝術 行政」訓練的重要性 亦不遑 多讓。

本 地所提 供的藝 術行政 訓練非 常缺乏，大多 是供業 界進修 (註一)， 或附著 在整個 藝術課 程中 的一個 副修科目而已。以 藝術行 政掛帥，由零 開始的 藝術行 政課程 則欠奉。這 現象 是否 意味著 藝術行 政管理 比藝術 創作和 藝術史 的地位低呢？ 還是 藝術行 政與一 般行政 無異，並不需要特別進 修呢？

事實並 非如此。藝 術行政 是專業，並且 是很實 際的一 門學問，亦是 各地藝 術發展 中不可

或缺的一環。藝術 行政本 來就是 藝術系 之中的 一科， 海外和國內的 學府都 不曾把 藝術行 政課程 看輕。 比方說，藝 術創作 就像廠 家製造 產品， 而藝術 管理就 像展示、推廣 及銷售

貨品，兩 者都同 樣重要。這 樣看來，藝 術管理 和藝術 創作又 怎會不 唇齒相 依呢？ 如果沒 有了 藝術展 覽場地，沒有 適當的 宣傳， 沒有明 確的策 展方向，那管 藝術家 在工作 室裡的

作品再好，也 沒有機會讓人 知道。

(註 一）

香 港藝術 學院由 2002 年開 辦了藝 術行政 專業證 書 課程 .但 主要供 業界人 士報讀

0 4

?

學院 藝術空間淺談 楊曉棠

在藝術 學院開 設畫廊，應 該是 理所當 然的事。藝 術學生 既可有 途徑和 機會發 表作品，給 予外 界了解 其水平，更 可觀摩 藝術家 或同學 的作品 和構思，由 於他們來自不 同背景，又

從事不 同媒介 的創作，便能 激發更 多討論 及創作 動力。 實際上，看 來理所 當然的 行動， 是否能 理所當 然地運 作暢順，當中 又會遇 上多少 得失？ 又有誰 來支持 它的運作呢？

作為 一名藝 術學生，由 不太熟 悉藝術 這東西，到有 機會從 實際運 作來認 識藝術 統籌及

管理工作， 過程有 點匆忙，但也認識到 不少管 理上要 注意的 地方。 看著新 學院畫 廊連名 字 還沒有，到 慢慢有 不少傳 媒刊物 報導和 介紹， 讓筆者 明白只要肯承 擔責任，多 複雜的

構想也 可成事。而白管子 (香港 藝術學 院畫廊，下稱白管子 ) 便這樣 成事了。它由 香港藝

，一 班願 意承擔 的藝術 學生協 助運作，擔任 各職務 及執行 展覽統

術學院 資深導 師帶領

籌工作。白 管子是 由前學 院畫廊 演變的，現在除了給 學院學 生外, 也有藝 術家用 作展覽

場地，也出版 有關藝 術理論 的刊物 及舉辦 藝術籌 款展覽。那麼，它 的出現 有何意 義呢？ 我們又在承擔 什麼責 任呢？

其實學 院內藝 術空間 的出現，可 以改變 往常的 藝術教 育模式。我 們一般 期望在 藝術學

校學 習藝術 品的製作過程，尋 找和運 用適當 的物料，作為 表達自我思想 的工具。學 校有

了自己 的藝術 空間後，學 生便開 始留意 發表的 可能性，意識 到要為 自己籌 辦展覽。這可 能只吸 引到較 為積極 的學生， 但他們的展覽能吸引 院內其 他學生 的注意 及校內 導師的 參觀， 令這件 事情變 得更有 互動性，展覽 者會認 真地想 想作品 的呈現 方式和 完成度，其

他同學 亦會彼 此感染， 積極策 劃展覽 以展示 自我學 習成果 及過程。這樣，籌 辦展 覽便成 為 一種學 習風氣，藝術 學院不再單純 為學習 完成藝 術品各 種技巧 和竅門 的場所，學校 藝術 空間的 出現， 使學習 更全面，學生 自信心 也能大 大提升。此外，幫助 管理這 類空間

的同 學亦大 有裨益。筆者 從中明 白唸藝 術的學 生也可 以有不 同出路，所謂 出路， 並非全 然 指畢業後賺取生活費 的途徑，而是 修讀藝 術意藝 的其他可能性。唸藝 術不一 定要成

為 藝術家，但絕 對可以 憑著其 他獨有 的能力，應 付有 關藝術 的工作，如藝 術管理，寫作 或 策劃。

白管子在財政 上具有 頗高的 獨立性，不 用背著 既有的 理念和 規則， 讓我們 想出以 不同的

籌款方 式支持白管子 的運作。一年 一度的 賣藝日，邀 請藝術 學生或 藝術家 提供作品作籌 款買賣，同學 有機會 發表創 作成果，嘗 試為作 品定價，反應 熱烈。為了令《白 文本》能順 利出版，我 們想到 一個頗 新鮮的 活勖一 短片放 映會。 財政獨立可能阻礙白管子的 發展， 但 我們從中想到 多樣藝 術活動，學 習變通，更 讓不同 媒介的藝術有多一條 的出路 (註二)。

獨立，讓白 管子出 現多個 具革命 性的展 覽：較 令筆者 難忘的 展覽包 括白管 子開幕 日及首 個 展覽會。我 們徵集 多件以「新」作主題 的不同 媒介的 作品， 吸引了外界的 全職和 業餘藝 術家。場 地佈置 更是別 出心裁，我們 以多條 手製的 透明管 道連貫 全場， 藝術品 放在內，給

人統一及鮮 明的視 覺效果。首個 藝術家 展?一 《交換•歷 史》， 是香港 藝術家 林嵐在 Lamu 的作品記錄。一個 個飄逸 的紗帳，整齊 地排列，吊掛 在展場 的中央，讓經 過的人 或觀賞 者有全 新的觀 看體驗。還有《藝術 的歷史，我 們的 故事》，以 創作回 應學生 眼中的 藝術史

，這類 展覽在 主題上很像課 堂學習，但其 實是可 以引發 很多學 生之間 的討論。故此，白管 子是 一個可 以容納 既實驗 性又具 專業水 平的展 覽 空間。

總 括筆者 的經驗 和觀察，白 管子當 然有需 要改進 的地方，包 括展後 討論、 配合合 適的宣 傳、展 覽資料 的記錄 及整理 和內部溝通。 相信這 些都是其他藝 術場地 要面對 的問題，筆 者 認為隨 著經驗 的累積，現存 問題應 能慢慢 解決。

長 遠而言，大 家若能 夠重視 藝術管 理教育 及藝術 學生出 路就更 理想。

(註二

短片放映會

——

個名為《白光影》的獨 立影片與錄像 欣賞會，於 2005 年七月二十日假白管 子舉行。此放 映會不

獨是白管子首次與 其他媒 體合作 的項目，亦 給子學 生一個 機會與 媒體藝 術創作 者分享 創作的 心得。

f 白光 影-獨 立短片與錄像 欣賞會 J 白管子， 2005 年

-

.

Z1, White Tube, 2005.

《白文本》的誕生 老慧行 根據 近年學 習所得，視 覺藝術 從來都 不只是 視覺上 的東西，而 是理論、實踐、想法、政 治等問 題加起 來的一 種語言。如 果認識 藝術只 認識映 影而不 涉足理 論研究，難 免未能

明白藝 術品背 後真正 的意義。認 識藝術 理論， 文字出 版是當 然之選，奈何 以中文 編製的 視覺藝 術文字 雜誌一 向較少， 尤其是 談本地 藝術的，細數 之下不 過幾部。出 版數目

少，要 談的事 情多， 自然而生的問 題有二：一是內容不 夠深入，二是 聲音不 夠全面。雖說

，一

多辦一 部新的 視覺藝 術雜誌 並不代 表一切問題都會得到 解決，但能夠 向前踏 出一步

定是一 件美好 的事。 2005 年白管子 開始了《白 文本》的出版。《白 文本》談的是 本地藝 術理論，當 中涉 及到的

是 不同科目或藝術理念 的研究、不同作品 的分析、自我論述、 大小展 覽感想 和書評 等等。

在過 去數期 中我們 邀請了於藝術 圈內不同位置 的作者，就著自己的 研究和經驗自由撰寫 文章，希望 文章能 從不同 角度帶 出討論。我們 的出版目的是 單純的，除了給同學 們?讀

這個教 育目的，還 藉此給 本地視 覺藝術 帶來多 一點討 論空間，在這 方面我 們是成 功的， 因為《白 文本》的確 讓不同的作者 分別道出了心 中所想，同 時亦提 醒了我 們這些 修讀藝 術創 作科目的同學，在手 藝之外，藝 術還有其他很多的 範疇。

《白文本》出版的 時候，白管子 的同學同時擔 當管理，編輯 和宣傳 等工作。要成 事先要 有 金錢；印刷、翻譯、作者 稿費等，處處 都花錢，《白 文本》可算是白管子 牽涉到 最多金 錢 的項目。對 於堅持 以紙張 形式辦《白文 本》， 是經過 有關閱 讀文章 時的種 種考慮。相 比起 螢光幕，書本 是比較 令人專 注的一 種載體，有 利於 思考和 再閱讀，紙張印刷 遂成為

《白文本》的發 表形式。金錢 對於我們來說 是很困 難的事，白 管子 向來舉 辦展覽 是免費 的，只在一年一度的「賣 藝日」，白管 子才會 有微薄 的進賬，以 應付日 常開支。而《白文本 》出版高 度獨立，因為 我們相信財政 獨立是 思想獨 立的唯 一法子。沒 有財團 支持， 沒有穩

定贊助，《白 文本》就只靠「賣 藝日」賺 回來的 錢和四 方八面 籌募回 來的善款維持 第一期

的開支。那天 我們左 手拿著 一張出 版概念，右 手拿著 自製木 造錢箱，沒有 能夠說 服別人 資助 的憑證，就這 樣子走 進藝術 學院各 班課室 籌募善 款：當 天的一 分一毫，都是同學們 的信任 和支持。至於《白文本》的售價，對學 生來說 雖不算 是便宜，但 絕對是支持 持纗出 版 之中的 最低價，為 的就是 希望有 更多人 可以接 觸到這 本書。 相比 起白管 子的日常運作，《白 文本》的運作需要 更緊密的組織，當中時間控 制和人手分配 尤為重要。作 為藝術 學生， 在創作 的時候，獨立 思考和自我追 尋往往 比一切 重要， 分工合

作和把 握時間 對於我們來說 是一種 久逢了 的學習。學 習需要 時間， 人與人 之間亦 需要時

間去 磨合, 作為執行編輯，在《白文本》出 版初期，一切 都要從 頭學起，不論 是人際 關係、 管 理技巧以至編 輯統籌，由零開始到經驗 的累積，當中 的得著 並不是 課堂上 能夠學 到的。 正如 課堂經 驗未必可以帶 到工作，從工作中 得到的 經驗亦 不是課 堂經驗 所能取代的。

白管子 的同學 並不是 專業的 藝術管 理人員，不過我們 相信只要努力 做一件 事情， 結果是 好 是壞並 不重要，得到 的經驗 就是再 向前走 一步的 依據。

一 件可喜?的事 楊美青 一群 熱愛藝 術的人 為令到 更多人 對藝術 多加一 點了解，並 拉近彼 此之間 的距離，所以 鼓 勵收藏 藝術品，希望藝術 普及化，令本地文 化藝術 多加一 點色彩，多添 一些熱 鬧的氣

氛； 在 2002 年， 這一伙 人就以 此單純 的理念 開始實 踐理想，而「賣 藝日」便在這 個構思 下誕生。從 香港 藝術學 院的舊 址到現 在香港 藝術中 心香港 藝術學院十樓白管子

——

個

穩定 的地方，至今「賣 藝日」已舉辦 了四年，所 有收益 作為白管子舉 辦所有 活動的 支出及 《白 文本》出版經 費之用。它 是由香 港藝術 學院資 深導師 帶領一 群願意 承擔責 任的香 港藝術 學院之 學生， 以義工 形式參 與統籌、策 劃甚至 實行的 工作。

j

張慧婷 老師連同四+ 位藝術 文憑一 年班同 學. 「藝術 的歷史 . 我們的 故事] •白管子，2006 年。

知識、技巧 及能力，在 策劃 活動上有著很 重要的 影響；而團 體合作 性亦緊 扣著這 三個特 質。歷 年來我 們曾嘗 試以不同的主 題帶出 藝術普 及化這 個概念，如在 藝術品中尋找 賓藏、 藉 收藏藝 術品提 高個人 生活品 味等等。另 一方面，除了作品買 賣之外，亦 曾經擺 設各種

類型 以藝術 為主的小攤子，如自 製玻璃 瓶裝飾、售霣白管子 印製的 杯子、自製咖 啡室等 等

有 時候作 品質素 可能參 差不齊，但看 到每件 作品各 具特質，像 似一 個孕育 過程中 呈現出 的 一連串 猜想不 到的驚 喜一樣。而 買者亦 會按照自己的喜好， 從心出 發來選擇收藏，建 立個 人品味。所以，尋找 事物的 本質， 也許是 藝術學 生創作 基礎的 優勝之 處吧！

一 件藝術 作品需 要藝術 家用時 間來凝 聚結晶，這是 看不到 的時間，而這些 卻是創 作中最 可愛 的地方。要逢 到藝術 普及化，讓普 羅大眾 都可以 接近的 藝術，是有賴 於各藝 術團體

以合 一的心 態來締 造的。 我們希望藉著「賣 藝日」推動 本地藝 術文化 之餘，令更多 人知道 香港藝 術品是 有價值，而且 是可被 大眾接 受並推 而廣之。再者，亦 有助平 衡整個 藝術生

態，藝術 家在經 濟上得 到支持，便 可以 更專注 地創作。此外，藝術 學生透 過售賣 作品而 得到認 同感， 從而建 立自信，對他們的學 習過程中產生 鼓勵的作用。

經過 籌劃這 個活動，幫 忙籌備、管 理的每 一位同學所體 會到的 都不少於在課 堂中的 學習。 而 從陌生、混亂、模 糊的 狀態下，摸索 一些解 決問題 的方法，並且 發掘事 情的可 能性的

時候， 我才察 覺到這種經歷 與學習 藝術的 過程甚 是相似。一年又一年，「賣 藝日」的可貴 之處 不在於 賺的錢 有多少，而是 每個同 學一起 齊心協 力去面 對事情、去為事情幻想、坦

白 地去表 達自己的想法，然後 一起迎 接成果。所 以它 亦成為了我在 學習藝 術過程中一個 珍貴的 記號。

?

楊曉棠

hiutong_yeung@yahoo.com.hk

2006 年畢 業於香 港藝術 學院與 澳州皇 家墨爾 本理工 大學合 辦之文 學士學 位課程 ( 純藝術 )。 2002 年畢業 於香港 演藝 學院服 裝及佈 景設計系文憑。曾為《伙 炭工作 室開放 計劃》

及《藝 訊》

撰文。現 為白管 子統籌

及兒童 藝術# 師。

? 老慧行

lowaihang@gmail.com

2003 年畢 業於嶺 南大學 文學士（文化 研究）榮# 學 位課程，現 為香港 藝術學 院與澳 洲皇家 墨爾本 理工大 學合辦

的藝 術文學士學位 (純 藝術) 之 學生及《白 文本》執行 編輯。

?

楊美青

circleymc@gmail.com

畢業 於香港 藝術學 院美術 與設計 證香課 程及藝 術文憑 課程。 現為該 校與澳 洲皇家 墨爾本 理工大 學合辦 的藝術 文學 士學位 (純 藝術) 之學生。曾於 2004 年 資藝日 參展及 2005/06 年檐任寶藝 日統籌 工作。

Translator: Amy Chin

Sharing on White Tube, White and "Art Fair" * Candy Yeung, Lo Wai Hang, Yang Mei Ching Foreword Lo Wai Hang In Hong Kong, there are mainly two types of course that offer professional visual art

training: studio art programme and art history programme. Studio art programmes aim at nurturing artists, while art history programmes aim at nurturing art historians. Both are essential for the development of art as a profession, but art administration training should be just as important as them.

Art administration trainings available in Hong Kong is very much lacking; most of them

are for people who are working in the industry, or are merely some minor courses included in an art programme

(NoteDÿThere

is not a single programme that bears the title MArt

Administration" and is totally dedicated to it. Does this mean that art administration has

a lower status than art creation and art history? Or does it mean that art administration is the same as general administration; and no need to go through special training?

The answer is No. Art administration is a profession: it is a very practical discipline, an essential part of art development in any given place. Art administration is a discipline

originally under the Art Faculty; overseas and Mainland Chinese institutions have never

regarded art administration programmes as unimportant. For example, art creation is similar to product manufacturing, while art administration is like displaying, promoting

and selling products. Both are equally important. From this perspective, art administration and art creation are in a totally interdependent relationship. If there are no exhibition

venues, appropriate promotions or clear curatorial direction, no matter how good the

pieces are, they will remain in the artists' studio without a chance of being known by others.

Eÿ

(Note1)

Hong Kong Art School offers the Professional Certificate in Arts Management programme since 2002; most students of this programme are those working in the industry.

1

A Brief Discussion on the Art Space in Hong Kong Art School Candy Yeung

To open an art gallery in an institute of art seems natural. Art students can have a channel and chance to show their works, an opportunity for being known, as well as a chance for them to learn about other artists' or classmates' works and ideas. As students come from different backgrounds and engage in creations of different media, an art gallery can stimulate

more discussions and creativity. In reality, can this seemingly natural thing be operated smoothly? How many gains and loss are involved? Who are there to support its operation?

An art student like me has gone through a learning process from unfamiliar subject like art

making to art coordination and art administration work, I was a bit hectic, but I have learnt

a lot. From a new gallery without a given name, till it gradually received some media

reportage, I came to understand that as long as one is willing to take up the responsibility, even the most complicated ideas can become true. This was how White Tube (a gallery of

Hong Kong Art School) started. Led by experienced teachers and run with assistance from committed art students who helped in various posts and carried out exhibition coordination duties, White Tube developed from a gallery in school’s learning centre; now it is widely

used as exhibition venue for students and artists too. It also initiates publication in art

theory and organises fund-raising exhibitions. So, what are the implications of its existence? What kind of responsibilities are we taking up?

The emergence of art space inside institute can change the traditional mode of art education.

In an art institute, we generally expect to learn the process of art making, the use of and find the appropriate materials to express our thoughts. When the school has its own art

space, students will look for possibilities to show their work in an exhibition setting. This can possibly attract the active. Their exhibitions will arouse the interest of other students and teachers in the school and led the whole event more dynamic. Exhibitors will give a

serious thought on the presentation and the completeness of their work. Other students will also be affected and actively organize their exhibitions to show their self-motivated

output and process, and this attitude becomes a positive learning atmosphere. The school is no longer purely a venue for learning the skills and tricks of completing artworks. The existence of an art space makes learning more complete; students confidence will also be

「資 藝日05J , 2005年,

"Art Fair 05", 2005.

greatly boosted. Moreover, students who help to manage such space will also be benefited. I have come to understand that art students can also have many options in their career after graduation. By "options" I do not only mean the way to earn a living, I

also mean the meaning of studying art in other possibilities. It is not necessary to become artist, but we can definitely make use of our other abilities in art, to apply to many art

related work such as administration, writing or coordination work.

Financially, White Tube enjoys a rather high autonomy. It does not have the burden of set ideals and rules, so we can use different fundraising methods to support its running. The annual art fair invites art students or artists to provide artworks for fundraising. Students have a chance to present their creative work and set them own price. It has received

overwhelming responses. To enable the publishing of White Text, we thought of a new idea

- short film screening.

Financial autonomy may be a hindrance to the development

of White Tube, but it also enables us to come up with new activities, to be flexible, and

to offer additional outlets for the other media (Nÿte2).

As an independent organization, White Tube has many revolutionary exhibitions. The most memorable exhibitions included White Tube Opening Exhibition. We collected many works from different medium with "New" as the theme and attracted professional and amateur

artists. Venue design was ingenious. We used many hand-made transparent tubes to run

through the whole venue and put the artwork inside. This gave a sense of unity and created a sharp visual effect. The first artist exhibition "Exchange-History" was a record

of work at Lamu, by Hong Kong artist Jaffa Lam. Free-flowing curtains were placed neatly and hung in the middle of the venue, so that all viewers can have a new visual experience.

Then there was "Art History", Our Stories which students used artwork to respond to their understanding in art history. Thematically speaking, this exhibition seemed like a

topic set for the class. It actually had a lot of discussions among students. White Tube is an exhibition space which encourages all kinds of professional experimentation works.

(Note2) Short Film Screening: "White Light", an independent film appreciation and showcase was held at White

Tube on 20 July 2005. Not only it was the first cooperation between White Tube and other media, but also provide an opportunity for students to share their experiences on art and creativity with the

participating artists.

f 阿女 bra braj 邀請咭 . 白管子. 2004 年.

MAh nii Bra Braw Invitation Card, White Tube, 2004. *ÿ"•.ÿ

Sir*二

According to my experience and observation, there are of course lots of areas needed to be improved in White Tube, such as, to have more exhibition discussions, good publicity, exhibition documentation and internal communication. I believe that other art venues also face these problems. I believe that as we gain more experience, we will solve the problems

eventually.

In the long run, it will be even better if the public can be more aware of the importance of art administration and career development in art students.

The Birth of White Text Lo Wai Hang According to what I have learnt in recent years, visual art is never just about visual

images; it is a language combining theory, practice, thoughts and politics together. If one knows only images of art and neglect art theory, one will somehow does not understand its real meaning. Publication is one source to understand art theory. Unfortunately,

publication in Chinese language visual art journal is rare. In particular, there are only a few, which talk about local art. There are two problems arisen from lack of publications and of

too many issues to be discussed. They are: 1) the discussion is too shallow, 2) not enough

representation. To have a new visual art journal does not mean all problems will be solved, but it is definitely a positive thing that we are able to move a step forward.

In 2005, White Tube started the publication of White Text. White Text talks about local

art theories; it involves studies of different subjects and art concepts, analyses of artwork, statement by artists, reviews of exhibitions and books, etc. In the past few issues, we have invited authors from different institutions and circle in the art scene to

write from their own concern, in the hope that the different perspectives can stimulate discussions. Our purpose of publishing White Text is pure: other than the educational

purpose of offering students something to read, we also hope to create much space for the discussion of local visual art. In this respect we have been successful, because White Text enables authors to voice their views and reminds us as art students, that there are

many other aspects of art besides learning of art skills.

When White Text was first published, students from White Tube helped to share duties in

administration, editing and publicity work. To make things work, we had to have funding.

Printing, translation, and writing fees for authors - everything needs money. White Text is a project that involves the most monetary costs. We insisted on adopting printing on

paper as publication form. Compared to the computer screen, a book is a carrier that enhances concentration. It helps thinking and re-reading. Paper therefore became the format of White Text. For us, money is a difficult issue. White Tube exhibitions are usually free. We gain funds from the annual Art Fair to support our expenses. White Text remains

highly independent; because we believe that financial independence is the only way to independent thinking. Without the backing of big financial groups and stable sponsorship, White Text can only rely on the money earned from Art Fair and supports from students

and friends for the publication of its first issue. I remember one of my hands was holding

a paper stating our belief and another hand was holding a hand-made wooden money collection box, without any evidence to convince people, we went to each classroom and asked for donation. Every cent we received represented the trust and support from our classmates. The selling price of White Text is not inexpensive for students, but it is

absolutely a very low price to pay in order to support our sustainable publication. We hope that more and more people can come to know it.

Compared with White Tube's daily operation, White Text requires closer relationship

among coordinators. Schedule and manpower are of particular importance. As an art student, independent thinking and self-pursuance tend to come first over everything else when one is creating work. Division of labour and time management seem to be something

we have long forgotten and something we need to learn. It takes time to learn, and it takes time for people to get used to working with each other. Be it people inter-personal

relationship, management skills as well as editorial coordination, we learnt from the very

beginning. The knowledge we acquired cannot be earned from any lectures. Just as things you learn in class may not apply to work, experience learnt from work cannot be replaced by any lecture.

Students who work at White Tube are not professional art administrators, but we believe

that as long as we do our best, what really counts is not the end product. The experience

we get is what we base on to move another step forward.

A Pleasant Event Yang Mei Ching A group of art enthusiasts want to enhance people’s understanding of art and to draw artists and viewers closer. They encourage artwork collection and hope that art can be

popularized to make the local art more colourful and dynamic. In 2002, this group of

people began to turn their idea into action. That was how the idea of Art Fair was born.

From the old address of Hong Kong Art School to the present venue (Hong Kong Art School, 10/F Hong Kong Arts Centre}, a more stable place gave birth to the fourth Art Fair.

All income generated will be used to organize White Tube activities and publish White

Text. Senior teachers lead a group of committed students to take part in the coordination, planning and execution - all on a voluntary basis.

Knowledge, skills and capability have big influence on planning activities; cooperation is also closely connected to these three attributes. Over the years, we have tried to bring out the concept of popularization of art with various themes, such as looking for treasure in art, enhancing personal taste through collecting artwork. On the other hand, besides

selling artwork, we also set up small stalls with art as the dominant theme, e.g. home-made glassware decoration, White Tube mugs, coffee shops etc, all embracing. After all, since this is a voluntary duty, students can apply what they have learnt, design the activities with innovation and discover interesting aspects. With certain demands imposed, we tried to make every activity flawless, in order to make a joyful, pleasant and dynamic atmosphere

throughout venue. The results were made possible because of everyone's patience, unselfishness and their cooperation.

As art students, apart from assignments, we can also learn how to organize an art exhib-

tion, activities and administrative skills through this opportunity. When we first handled

our duties, it was a bit chaotic and the results were not as good as we hoped. From promotion to collection of artworks from artists and students, every task was intimidating.

Time was running short too, so the atmosphere became tense. When the day came, as

people arrived, we felt truly excited. We encountered many problems during the whole

process, e.g. how to finish work according to schedule, consideration of promotion, how to encourage students to take part and communication techniques. Moreover, it wasn’t easy on a limited budget. For art students, it wasn’t easy too to handle art administrative work. Yet through hands-on training, even though we were far from being professional,

we gained some basic knowledge in art administration.

I ii

f

As for artworks, other than works of a group of low profile artists, we also focus on

collecting student works. In the eyes of many, this is a rather risky move. The fact that student works are comparatively unsophisticated than artists is understandable; in fact, each and every student has a immature quality which becomes a unique feature of his/her work. Nevertheless, we hope that each piece of work is a result of genuine effort and is

something that the creator wants to present to the viewers. Sometimes, the quality of work might be inconsistent, but seeing each piece possessing its own uniqueness was

really exciting. A buyer will collect works from their taste. Perhaps, the winning aspect of art students' creation lies in the search for the nature of things!

A piece of artwork requires an artist’s time, the time that is invisible; this is the most adorable aspect of creation. To make art popular, we need effort from various art groups.

We hope that Art Fair can promote local art and culture, and let more people realize the

values of art from Hong Kong artists. Indeed, Hong Kong Art can be appreciated by the

public and be promoted, so that it will be a healthy art scene. With financial support, artists can then be more focused on this creative work. On the other hand, students gain confidence though selling their artworks. It is something very encouraging during process of learning.

By planning this activity, every student who helped to prepare and manage the event gained an experience that was no less important than what one learns in class. By exploring

ways of problem solving and discovering possibilities in new, chaotic and uncertain situations, I realized that how similar this experience is to the process of art making.

When time goes by, the value of Art Fair does not lie in the amount of money it generates; it puts students together to face challenges, to imagine possibilities, to express their

thoughts honestly, and to embrace the results together. In this way, it becomes a

precious marking landmark in the process of my art learning.

oCandy Yeung

hiutong_yeung@yahoo.com.hk

Candy Yeung is a graduate of the Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) programme, which is jointly organized by

Hong Kong Art School and RMIT University. Previously, she had obtained a Diploma in Set and Costume Design from Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2002. Yeung composed articles for Fotanian Open Studio (2004) and Arts Link (2005). She is presently an exhibition coordinator of White Tube and a children art teacher.

o Lo Wai Hang

lowaihang@gmail.com

Lo completed her first BA (Hon) Cultural Studies at Lingnam University in 2003. She is now studying her Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) programme, which is jointly organized by Hong Kong Art School and

RMIT University. She is also one of the executive editors of White Text.

o Yang Mei Ching

circleymc@gmail.com

Yang completed her Certificate in Arts & Design and Diploma in Fine Arts programmes at Hong Kong Art School. Currently, she is a student of the Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) programme, which is jointly organized by Hong Kong Art School and RMIT University. She participated in Art Fair 2004 and has been working as chief coordinator of Art Fair since 2005.

張康生

由 記者向 展覽統 籌查詢，《克 力架》展覽中 的作品 是否用「克 力架」作媒材 這則笑 話中，

可知道 這並不 是一個「顧名 思義」的題目 雖然筆 者作為 展覽的 觀察員，亦曾經 對命題 與 展覽概 念之關係產生 誤讀。

這個展 覽是香 港藝術雙年展 2005 的配 套節目，由 香港藝 術學院 及白管 子主辦。參 展藝術 家 均來自 該學院 藝術系 的學生 (下稱 參展人）， 而展 覽的概 念由學 院的一 眾講師 ( 下稱策

展人) 提出，以「工 作進 行中」為框架，強 調創作 至展出 的整體 過程而 非完成作品。 但對展

覽? 念的實 際詮譯以至創 作取材，從 運作至 推廣， 卻是大 幅度地 容許參 展人自 主決策

參展人 雖來自同一學 院的藝 術系， 然而策 展人刻 意包攬 由文憑 至碩士、日 間至兼 讀制、

具代表 性而非純粹精 英的學 生參與。由於 背景相 對廣寬，理論 上?帶 來更多 可能性

t

藝 術家抑 或藝術 學生？ 既 然包攬 不同程 度的學 生是一 項策略，展覽亦不得 不介紹 參展人 的學生身份； 如此 一來，

容易令人覺得 是另一 個藝術 系系展，這當 然不會 是所有 參與者 的期許。直 接換上 藝術家 身 份參展，卻 如何淡 化學院 對甄選 參展人 所行使 的權力 和講師 介入的 尷尬？ 故此 籌備期 間曾經 展開對「學 生藝 術家」這種 中介性 身份的 討論。

其實近年香 港的專 上藝術 教育發 展迅速，隨著 各式各 樣藝術 課程的 開辦、 大學藝 術系的 增加，衍生 出數量 可觀的 藝術系 學生。 學生們 爭取不 同的展 出機會，又或 聚集成 不同的

工 作室群 以定期 或不定 期形式 向公眾 開放； 而當 中更 有不少在求學階段已 獲得各 式的認 同，例如參與國 際展覽、獲 頒本地 甚或外 國的獎 項等等。可是 這些展 出的作品之中，仍難

免會受 學院所 設定的 課題、 或講師 的指導 所影響 (註一)。 雖然，我 們無需 因此為 作品加

添 註腳； 又或 認為 藝術家 / 藝 術學生，純 粹是稱 呼上的 問題，可以不值一提。但其 實背後

隱含著 對教與 學的一 種意會 和狀態，「學 生藝 術家」的討論 確實值 得伸延

(註 一）

以 2003年香港藝 術雙年 展為例，鄭廣泉的獲 獎作品《這是橙》， 源自香 港藝術 學院藝 術文憑 課程中 《平面視像》的課程 內容，

0

學生作 品一般 較易得 到觀眾 的寬容，因 為在藝 術教育 過程中，對 學生作 品的評 鑑只不 過是實 踐民主 教育的 表現。 這種教 育模式，體現 了三種 不同程 度的民 主觀念： 一) 在受

到學 院的保 護之下，藝術 的創作 將會為 公眾所 認識；（二) 關於藝 術作品 的價值和效果， 實質 上取決 於創作 者以外 的人的 反應；（三) 學生的 藝術作 品首先 由同學 朋輩間 所組成

的「陪 審團」所評鑑 (註二 )。 故此 我們不 會苛貴「學 生展」作品 的水準，不 僅如此，公眾 (包 括對藝 術飽有 認識的或一般 觀眾) 更可能 從中尋 獲驚喜。然 而對待 藝術家，尤 其是具

知名度 或廣為 人所欣 賞的， 公眾總 不免充 滿期盼。另一方面， 學生們 又未必甘於將自己的

作品被喻作學 生作品。因此，討論「學 生藝 術家」的主要 原因， 是關乎 公眾的 壓力與期望。

參展 人之一 陳麗雲 (註三 ) 對 這個稱 呼作出 最直接 的理解，認 為尚在 求學時 期的就 是學生 藝術家，完成 學業的 就是藝 術家； 但又認 為藝術 家可以 是自學，不一定要經 歷學生階段。 這是一 種以時 間及學習階段 作界定 的說法，看 似合情 合理， 卻又不 無矛盾：藝術 家之為

[家」是不 是應以作品的 質素為 依據， 而並非 類似按 鈕開關 般因應 求學或畢業的 時態而 隨開 隨關？ 否則，由文憑 到學士，進而碩士、博士，並不 需要按 年修讀，那 麼各課 程之間 的進進 出出又 該如何計算？

其實 近年本 地藝術 機構已習慣統 稱參展 藝術工 作者為 藝術家，或 者應該放下對「藝術 家」這 個名稱 的景仰。正如 展覽統 籌唐偉 傑所言，不 要認為 藝術家 就是高 高在上，其實

不外是在我們 身邊， 一同生 活一同 呼吸的 人罷了(註 eg)ÿ我對這 番話雖 表認同，但 如果著 眼於另一個觀點：正如上 述討論，當學 生以藝 術家自 居而淡 化學生身份時，便難 免要正

面面向 公眾的 壓力與 期望。 於是學 生參展，需要自我要 求展出 可稱為「作 品」之 完成作 (註二) E.B, Feldman, Philosophy of Art Education (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1996), pp. 50-51.

(註三

筆者 在訪問 陳麗雲 之時， 她已完 成課程，但尚 未完成 畢業展 及未獲 頒學歷。而 她在 學時期 的作品 Wearah/e 价

曾獲 得旅英 策展人 Julie Wu 賞識， 到英國 參與一 個名為

設計。詳 情可激 K http://www.juliewudesign.com

的時 裝表演，擔 任服裝

.

(註四

在訪問唐 偉傑時，他憶述參與《灣 仔現埸 一駐場 藝術家 計劃》前後，對外 地到訪 藝術家 的觀感，和對《克 力架》 展 M 的統籌 經驗。

品，這 樣不單阻礙學 生對公 開展示「未 完成」作品的 可能性，亦變 相縮短 了學生 實驗創

作、並在 同儕間取得評鑑的特 權時期。關於 這一點，唐 偉傑對「學 生藝 術家」的 看法更 值得 參考： 其實求 學階段，倒 不必要 急於做「作品 j , 也不必 急於尋 找自己 的位置，反而

可以 趁機多 作酋試，不 論在創 作過程、或理 論研究、或行 政方法、或 策展計 劃等等，總 之就 是投入 參與。

在求學 階段盡 量嘗試 是+分 積極與 理想化 的模式，然而理論 歸理論，在 實踐上 始終有 其局限。再 者學習 方法因 人而異，學生 如何看 待自己作品的 態度亦 可以南 轅北轍。學生

普遍對「學生 作品」存在 著貶義 的理解。尤其 在將藝 術教肓 與視覺 文化掛 勾的今 正正 強調學 生自我 的判斷 力與思 考力。 對待藝 術作品 的態度，亦 由過往 以欣賞

天 (註五

(appreciation) 為主，改變 為欣賞 與評論 (critique)並重 (註六 )。 學生對自己 的作品 已經有 一套 從自我 與同儕 的評鑑 中釐訂 的標準。在現 實上， 學院與講師亦 有一套 評定學生水平 的準則，但 困難在 於藝術 知識與 其他學 科不同，它是一種結 構不良的學科 (ill-structured domain)ÿ要與學 習科學 知識的 方法有 所區別。對於 藝術觀 念的詮 釋亦不 能_概 而論，

要因應 不同作 品而異

approach) (註七 )。 講師 在激發 學生創 作思維 之餘，

不得不 對學生 作出批 判以完 成評估。問 題是，在強 調當代 文化背 景脈絡 (Context) 的重

要 性時， 「好」 與「壞」是不容 易判斷 (註八 )。 講師穿 梭於學院準則 與學生自我評估之間，

若 兩者有 所差落，學生往往將 問題歸 咎於學 院和講 師行使 的權力 與權威 (註九 )ÿ 教與學 之間始 終存在 衝突或 誤解。 (註五

*花： 〈視覺文化 的品錕 >, 輯於《文化與藝術教育一 當代的觀黏》（香港

陳

： 香港教 育學院 藝術系， 2004)，頁 76。

(註六

郭楨祥、趙 惠玲：〈視覺文 化與藝 術教育 >, 輯於《藝術與人文 教育》（台 北：桂 冠圖書，上冊，2002) , 頁325-366。 (註七 )

A.D Efland, Teaching and Learning in the Arts. Arts Education Policy Review 1993, pp. 26-29. (註八)

I

K Freedman, Teaching Visual Culture: Curriculum, Aesthetics, and the Social Life of Art (New York: Teachers College Press, 2003), pp. 51-55.

2 2

(註九

E.B Feldman, Philosophy of Art Education (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1996), pp. 45-49.

《克力架》展覽 的機遇 與作用 筆 者認為，《克 力架》展 覽隱現了對探 討上述 問題的 契機。

有 別於一 般藝術 系系展，《克 力架》作為 香港藝 術雙年 展的配 套項目，展 出地點 又是離

開與院 校相關 的展館，本身 無疑是 一個具 認受性 的公開 平台； 而 策展人 盡量抽 離作為

講師 的角色，只 是明確 地拋出 「工 作進 行中」為引子，營 造一個 較大自 由度的 實驗室。而 展覽沒 有扣上「學 生展」的帽子，亦 沒有 刻意淡 化學生 的身份。在 一個公 眾藝術 展館參 展， 卻又不 鼓勵展 示完成 的作品。種種 非正常 的狀態，進一 步驅使 參展人 不僅對 自己的

作品，更 要為是 次展覽 的本質 作深度 思考。

藝術 創作是 一個思 考問題，亦同 時是解 決問題 的歷程。除 了創作「藝 術品」的實 體外，

若要更 具體地 滿足作 品的完 整性， 便需要 考慮展 示方式 與空間 的運用。再進一步，學生 透過參 與實踐 性的展 覽籌劃，更容 易引發 對何謂「公 眾」、如 何確立「藝 術品」的 理解，

甚 至對制 衡藝術 館權力 等問題 的反思。高層 次的思 考方法，不能單 靠教授 理論而 獲得， 更 應該從 每個人 在尋求 解決賣 際問題 的過程 中領略 (註十)。 策展人 將籌辦《克 力架》的

重任 交到年 輕的參 展人與 展覽統 籌身上，騰 出空間 讓他們對這個 以過程 為本的 主題各 自詮譯，讓參 展人積 累實踐 的經驗。而在 這異常「鬆 脆」的框 架內，加上被 默許擁 有近乎

特權的「學 生藝 術家」身份下，參 展人免卻了被 評估的 衝突；若在學 時對成 績有所 不滿， 這 正是挑 戰權力、權威 的不二 時機。

單以 展出形 式而言，由於 每位參 展人所 運用的 媒介與 關心的 課題大 相逕庭，故此 除了策 展人所提示的 展示工作室模 式外， 參展人 亦大可 以從過 程藝術 (Process Art) (註十 一)、 偶

(註十

D.J Trefflinger, On the Edge (and keeping on the edge) about teaching thinking. In E.P. Torrance (Ed.), On the Edge and Keeping on the Edge (Westport, Connecticut; London: Ablex Publishing, 2000> pp.34-52. (註十一）

Process Art: 過 程藝術。強 調觀看 靜止和 持久的對象時，體驗 時間的 流逝性 及轉瞬 即逝的 短暫存 在。故此，藝術家多使 用易於 體現時間變化的軟性物料。他們認 為藝術 的制作 過程比 事前的構思更 為重要。最初由積遜 / 波洛克(Jackson Pollock) 和海倫 / 法蘭 肯柴勒 (Helen Frankenthaler) 等在創 作中?意 濺滴顏 料道種偶然性 所啟發。代表 人物包 括羅拔 / 莫里斯 (Robert Morris) 等。

2 3

發藝術 (Happening)( 註十二 )、 現 場藝術 (Live Art)( 註十三 ) 等經驗 中取經，又 或從 Process

as

art( 註十四）、

Art-in-progress

(註 十五) 等教學 和研究 實驗中 獲得啟 發：例 如利用「工作

進 行中」對 所強調 的過程，進 而對展 覽期限、展館 場地、 與觀眾 的互動、創 作的開 放性等

方向加 以探討。十二位 參展人，理 應有十二段不 同的過 程經驗。加上 由展覽 計劃、 設計、

」

建構、安裝、場 地運 用到糾 正錯誤，參展 人均高 度自治。究竟 以這種 特製的「麵粉 ， 可 以烘焙 出怎樣 的一塊「餅乾」？ 筆者十二分期 待著。

?「過 程』換上「結果」 出乎意料， 結果是「結」了一 個異常成熟的 果」。

「

大部份參展 人選擇 展出成 果一可 說是相 當成熟 的作品，「過 程」反 被埋藏 得妥妥 貼貼，

當中 更有些 幾乎原 封不動 地從畢 業展中「搬 運」過來，而工 作進行中的概 念原來 就是一 本本 製作前的草圖 與方案。其 實有些 作品， 例如阮 美?的《恆 河》， 展出數 十只以 肥皂雕 琢 而成的 小艇； 縱使 排列井 然有序，觀 眾仍可 以從一刀一刻 深淺有 別的紋 理中感 受到創

作過程。然 而作品 由過程 至成果 是可以 預期的，正如 乘座巴 士途上 會知道 何處為 終站一

(註 十二）

Happening: 偶發 藝術。 以表現 偶發性 的事件 或機遇 為手段，重現 人的行為過程，以 探討人 的本能 反應。這 Happenings in 6 個名 詞來自 1959 年艾倫。卡 普羅 (Allan Kaprow) 在紐 約展出《六 幕十八 項偶發 事件》 parts) 的作品，由演 出者和 觀眾共同創作 的一件 環境藝 術作品。卡普 羅認為，這 種藝 術概念 摒棄傳 統藝術 的 技巧和 永久性，著 重藝術 活動機 遇性， 創作在 於即興 發揮。 (註 十三）

Live Art: 現 場藝術。以英國為發 展基地，在 國內 翻譯為「現場 藝術」。是一 種個人化的現 場表演 藝術。

Live Art 不被 定義， 因為它旨在模糊過往 涉及表 演的藝 術分類，使 它可以 跨越行為藝術、身 體藝術 等各種 藝術 形式的 界線。 英國的 Live Art Development Agency 為最具 代表性 的民間 機構， 可參考

http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk.

?

(註 十四）

Advisor Program) 中，曾舉辦以 美 國佛蒙 特大學 (University of Vermont) 的「指 導老師 課程」 Process as art 為實 驗目榡 的課程，現已 停辦。 可參考 http://www.uvm.edu/~artclass/process.html.ÿ (註 十五）

波 蘭亞蓋 沃大學 Uagiellonian University) 哲學博 士生以 Art in process as a type of the open work of art 為題，以 安伯托 / 艾可 (Umberto Eco) 的「開 放作品 J 觀念 (Open Work) 為藍本，研究 Art in process

的可 能性。可參考 http://www.filozofia.pl/zf/en/?nzw = uz&nr=121.ÿ

樣，較難 引起延 伸討論。而 陳麗雲將收 集自不 同國家 的雜誌，以碎 紙機切

@為條 狀新聞

片段，再加 以編織 為一幅 文化交 ?的大「字」「布」 大字報 ）， 再邀請 觀眾參 與剪織。但

雜誌 早經精 工處理，展品 亦妥善 懸掛， 再親身 以事先預備的 剪刀邀 請觀眾 修剪其 作品， 觀 眾參與 的模式 變得公 式化； 後期 觀眾不 按指示 破?作 品只不過是插 曲一首。余迪文以

藝術家 的角度 重繪國 際時事，畫 作本 身已相 當完整，每 天增加 剪報數 量和更 改位置，可

算 為切合 主題而「增值」而已。陳 惠蓮的《終 極》最 為顛覆，以膠 袋包裹 著一件未完成 的陶作，以 列印方 式將本 來立體 的工具 平面化，帶有「以 什麼創 作？」，「是 誰在 創作？J 的暗示。這 件關於「過 程」的示 範作， 與她剛 在藝術 碩士畢 業展展 出的作 品比較，兩者 之間的 創作取 向迥異，不能 窺知真 正屬於 她的藝 術內涵。此 類作品，很可 能是為 了展覽 主題而 作調節，在探 討自我 發展與 認同中 失卻長 遠意義。就 回應展 覽的概 念而言，眾位

參展 人雖各 展己長，卻未 能恰如 其份。

阮美寅 《恆 河》（組 合展示 )， 雕塑.

於「克 力架」展 出作品，2005-2006 年。

Yuen Mei Po Meipo, Forever River (installation view), sculpture, exhibited in "Crackers", 2005-2006.

|nj EH

余迪文 《圖繪新聞》（局部 )ÿ混合 媒介， 於「克 力架」展出 作品， 2006 年。

Solomon Yu Press Painting (Installation View), mixed media, exhibited in "Crackers' 2006

—

n—ÿ

事後，筆 者卻意 外地在其中一 位參展 人的網 誌上找 到另類顛覆: 方向 曰報來 電詢問 Crackers 是 否真的 用克力 架餅乾 來創作 藝術品。我 們的半 官方回

應其實 是一群「粉 餅」胡 亂拼湊，將 未完成 的功課 集體展 示而已。策 展的老 師很聰 明， VVoM //? /?rÿflrress... 是 此展覽 的註腳，所謂 的學生 藝術家，只 是未 臨死線也不

趕工 的混蛋 ( 註十六 )。 由 此可見，部份 參展人 並沒真 正理解 「工 作進 行中」與「學 生藝 術家」可堪玩 味之處。而 這 個可貴 的襪遇，到頭 來又成 為一次「正正 經經」的展 覽。 若然再 有機會，策 展人 有必要

在更早 的階段，促 使參 展人認 真地思 考究竟 如何去 發展一 個認受 性與實 驗性俱 備的展 不平台。

後記：文章中 提及的《克 力架》展覽由白管 子主辦，香 港藝術 學院全 力支持， 2006 年三月 九日至十六日 於香港 視覺藝 術中心 舉行。 參 考香目 Efland, A.D. Teaching and Learning in the Arts. Arts Education Policy Review, 1993.

Feldman, E.B. Philosophy of Art Education. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1996.

Freedman, K. Teaching Visual Culture: Curriculum, Aesthetics, and The Social Life of Art. New York: Teachers College Press, 2003.

Trefflinger, D.J. On the Edge (and keeping on the edge) about Teaching Thinking. In E.P. Torrance (Ed.), On the Edge and Keeping on the Edge. Westport, Connecticut; London:

Ablex Publishing, 2000. 陳瓊花：〈視覺 文化的 品鑑〉，輯於《文化 與藝術 教育- 當代的 觀點》 香港：香 港教育 學院藝 術系， 2004 年。 郭禎祥、趙 惠玲：〈視 覺文化 與藝術 教育〉，輯於《藝術 與人文 教育》台 北：桂 冠圖書，上冊，2002 年。 (註十六）

由於網 誌的連 結上有 參展人 的姓名，機於私人 理由， 請恕不便公開 來源。

? 張康生

enocheung01@yahoo.com.hk

張氏畢 業於香 港藝術 學院與 澳洲皇 家墨爾 本理工 大學合 辦的藝 術文學 士學位 (純藝 術課程 )ÿ及後 在澳洲 皇家墨

爾本理 工大學 完成其 藝術碩 士學位。現 為香 港藝術 學院兼 任講師。作品 於香港、日本、韓 國等地 展出。

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"Crackers" Exhibitionintrospection on the Process of the Study of Art from the "Crunchy" Crac|<s *Enoch Cheung

From the anecdote that the press enquired whether crackers had been used to make the exhibits in the "Crackers” exhibition, one can tell that this exhibition title is not a straightforward one. As the exhibition observer, however, I once had misunderstandings about the correlation between the exhibition title and its concept too.

The exhibition, organised by Hong Kong Art School and White Tube, was a programme of

the Hong Kong Art Biennial 2005. Participating artists were all students (participants) of

Hong Kong Art School, and the concept was proposed by lecturers (curators) of Hong Kong Art School. "Work in Progress” was used as the framework to emphasize the whole

process from creation to exhibition instead of focusing on the finished works alone. A high degree of autonomy was given to the participants, from interpretation of the concept, selection of materials to the management and promotion of the exhibition.

Although the participants all came from the Fine Art Department of the same institution, the curators deliberately chose a range of representative but not elitist students from various courses and study modes, from Diploma to Master students, day-time to evening

part-time students. It was believed that the relatively diversified background could bring about more possibilities.

Artists or Art Students?

Since the involvement of students from different levels was a strategy of the exhibition, it was inevitable to introduce participants' student identity. However, it might convey an

impression that it was yet another departmental exhibition, which was apparently not the participants’ intention. If they participated in the exhibition as artists, however, how

could the embarrassment caused by the authority of the school in selecting participants and lecturers' involvement in the exhibition be diluted? In this regard, there had been discussions about the neutral identity "Student Artist" in the preparation process.

The rapid development of tertiary art education in recent years, as a result of the expansion of art courses and art departments, has produced a large pool of art students. Students

actively look for opportunities to exhibit their work, or collaboratively form studios to display their work to the public regularly or irregularly. Quite a number of students have received various recognitions in the course of their studies, e.g. participating in international

exhibition and receiving local and eve ? overseas awards. Yet these exhibits are still

inevitably influenced by the topics set by the academy or the lecturers' guidanceWofe/).

Even though we do not need to add a footnote to the works because of this, nor are we bothered by the issue of artist/art student because it is just a matter of title. However,

{Note”

Take the Hong Kong Art Biennial 2003 as an example. Cheng Kwong-chuen's award-winning

piece This is an Orange was taken from the 2D Visualization, one of the courses from the Diploma in Fine Arts programme of Hong Kong Art School.

behind this there is a certain understanding and condition of teaching and learning, and the "Student Artist” deserves further discussion.

In general, the public is more lenient towards students' works, because in the process of

art education, commenting on students' works is only a way of actualizing democratic education. Such mode of education has represented democracy on three levels: 1) Artistic

creation will be introduced to the public under the protection of the academy; 2) The value and effect of artwork actually depend on the responses of people other than the creators themselves; 3) Students' artworks are first assessed by an adjudication panel formed by

classmates and U\en6s(Nÿte2). Therefore, not only will we be demanding on the standard of work in a "student exhibition", the public (including those who are familiar with art and the general public} may be surprised by the works. To artists, however, especially those

who are famous or well known, it is inevitable that the public has certain expectations of

artists. On the other hand, students may not be satisfied with their works being classified

as students’ works. As such, the main reason for discussing "Student Artist” originated from public pressure and expectation.

One of the participants, Movana Chen,(Nÿte3) interprets this term in a most straightforward

way. She thinks that one is a student artist if one is still studying; and one becomes an artist when one’s studies are completed. However she also thinks that an artist can be

self-taught and does not necessarily need to go through the student phase. This definition

by time and study phase seems reasonable but paradoxical. Shouldn’t the definition of an artist be based on the quality of work instead of qualifications? On the contrary, if qualification is ignored, how can one classify the progressive studies from diploma to bachelor to master and then doctor/PhD level?

Actually in recent years, local art organizations have accustomed to calling exhibition

participants artists, probably it is time we let go of the admiration once dedicated to the

(Note2)

E.B Feldman, Philosophy of Art Education (Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Prentice-Hall, 1996),

pp. 50-51 (Note3)

When I interviewed Movana Chen, she had already finished the course but had yet to

complete the graduation exhibition and to obtain her certificate. During her study, her work Wearable Art, Body container was picked up by UK-based curator Julie Wu and Chen was invited to participate as a fashion designer in a fashion show titled You make me. More

information is available from http://www.juliewudesign.com.

term "artist". As the exhibition coordinator, Damon Tong, said, artists were not superior to others; they were no more than any other person living in the same world and breathing the same air as the rest of us 6\6(Note4). I agree to this view, but from another perspective

as in the above discussion, when students regard themselves as artists and attempt to tone down their student identities, they are exposing themselves to public pressure and expectation. As a result, when students participate in an exhibition, they demand themselves to present finished work that qualifies to be called "work”. This not only

hinders students 什 om presenting to the public some "unfinished” work, it also in a way

shortens the privileged period when students can experiment with their creation and

receive comments from their contemporaries. In response to this, Damon Tong's view on "Student Artist” deserves our attention: There is no need to rush for "finished work" when one is still learning, nor do we need to hurry in figuring out one's position. Above all, one should take the chance to be actively involved in the learning process, to experi¬

ment no matter in the creative process or theoretical study or administrative method or

curatorial planning.

It is very positive and ideal to try as much as one can during the course of studies. But in

practice there are still limitations. Moreover, people learn in different ways, the ways students look at their own work can be totally contrasting. In general, students tend to have a negative view on "students' work", especially when art education is linked to visual

culture nowadays(A/ofe5人 when emphases have been put on students' individual thinking

and judgement. Attitudes towards artwork have also changed from appreciation-oriented to dual emphases on both appreciation and cnt\que(Nÿte6). Students already have a

standard towards their work based on their own judgements and their contemporaries’. In

reality, the academies and lecturers also have a set of criteria in assessing students' work.

The difficulty, though, is that knowledge in art is different from other disciplines; it is an

ill-structured domain to be differentiated from other schools of knowledge. There is no standard interpretation to the concepts of art but only a case-by-case approachÿ/VofeZÿ.

While lecturers are trying to stimulate students' creativity, they cannot help but criticize (Note4)

When I interviewed Damon Tong, he talked about the incidents before and after RE: Wanchai,

International Artists Workshop, his thoughts on interviewing overseas artists and his experience in

coordinating the "Crackers” exhibition.

(Note5)

陳瓊花：〈視* 文化的 品鑑〉，輯於《文 化與藝 術教育

當代的 觀點》

(香 港：香 港教育 學院藝 術系， 2004) , 頁 76。 (Note6)

郭禎祥、趙 惠玲：〈視 覺文化 與藝術 教育〉，輯於《藝術與人文 教育》（台北：桂冠圖書， 上冊， 2002)， 頁325-366。

students in assessment. The question is, while emphasizing the importance of contempo¬

rary cultural context, it is not easy to judge what is

and what is ''bad'' (Note8).

Lecturers are caught between the academy’s criteria and students' self-assessment.

Should there be a discrepancy between the two, students tend to blame the power and

authority exercised by the academy and the lecturersWofeÿÿ. Conflict and misunderstand¬

ing still exist in teaching and learning after all.

"Crackers" Exhibition: Opportunities and Functions In my opinion, the "Crackers” exhibition has provided an opportunity to discuss the above issues.

programme of the Hong Kong Art Biennial 2005, distinguished itself from an ordinary departmental art exhibition. The venue, a gallery away from campus, was undoubtedly a recognised open platform. The curators tried their best to detach from their roles of lecturers and only gave "Work in Progress" as a guideline to give more 什 eedom to experiment. The exhibition was not labelled as a "student exhibition”ÿnor did it try to conceal students' identities. Set in a public art gallery, yet it discouraged the "Crackers”, as a

display of finished works. All these exceptional conditions further drove participants to contemplate not only about their work, but also about the nature of this exhibition.

Artistic creation is a journey of thinking and problem solving. Other than creating the

physical "artwork", one needs to consider the display and use of space to make the work

complete. Furthermore, by participating in the curatorial work, it is easier for students to

gain more understanding about what it means by "public” and how to establish an //artwork,/, and even to reflect on issues such as how to counteract the authority of muse¬

ums. The sophisticated way of thinking cannot be taught simply through theories, but has to be experienced by actual participation in the problem-solving process Wofe/OA The curators passed the important task of coordinating "Crackers” to the young participants (Note7)

A.D Efland, Teaching and Learning in the Arts. Arts Education Policy Review, 1993, pp. 26-29.

(Note8)

K Freedman, Teaching Visual Culture: Curriculum, Aesthetics, and the Social Life of Art

(New York: Teachers College Press, 2003), pp. 51-55.

(Note9)

E.B Feldman, Philosophy of Art Education (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1996), pp. 45-49.

(NotelO)

D.J Trefflinger, On the Edge (and keeping on the edge) about teaching thinking. In E.P. Torrance (Ed.), On the edge and keeping on the edge (Westport, Connecticut; London: Ablex Publishing, 2000) pp. 34-52.

and exhibition coordinators, leaving room for them to interpret this process-oriented theme, through which experience was accumulated. Under this exceptionally "flexible"

framework and with the exceptional identity as "Student Artists", participants avoided the conflict of being assessed. If they are not happy about their grades in school, this was

the best time to challenge those in power and authority.

In terms of the exhibition format alone, since the participant’s choices of medium and

topics were so different from each other, on top of the workshop format proposed by the curators, participants could also make reference from Process /KiX(Note11), Happening (Note12)and Live ArtfNote13), or seek inspirations from teaching and research in Process as art(Note14)

and Art-in-progressWÿfe/5ÿ. For example, making use of the emphasis on

"Work in Progress”ÿ one could further explore issues like exhibition period, location, (Note11)

Process Art: Emphasizes the experience of the transience of time in observing still and lasting objects.

As a result, artists tend to use soft materials that are easy to embody change of time. They think that the process of art making is more important than the planning beforehand. This idea first came to Jackson Pollock and Helen Frankenthaler when they arbitrarily splashed paint onto their work.

Representative figures include Robert Morris and others.

(Note12)

Happening: Uses the presentation of sporadic incidents or chances as means to represent human behaviours to explore human instinctive response. This term came from Allan Kaprow’s works at the 1959 exhibition 18 Happenings in 6 parts, in which the performer and the audience created an

environmental artwork together. Kaprow thought that this kind of artistic concept discarded

techniques and eternity in traditional art forms and emphasized chance and spontaneity of artistic activities.

(Note 13)

Live Art: Developed in the U.K., Live Art is a form of individualized live performance. There is no clear definition of Live Art, for it aims at blurring the categorizations about performances in the past so that

it can cross over to various forms of art and performances including behavioral art and body art. Live

Art Development Agency in the UK is the most representative civil organization. More information is available from http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk.

(Note14)

The Teacher Advisor Program at the University of Vermont once offered courses with Process as art

as experimenta卜oriented module. More information is available from http://www.uvm.edu/~artclass/process.html.

(Note15)

A PhD candidate at Jagiellonian University in Poland used Art in process as a type of the open work of art as his/her thesis and Umberto Eco's Open Work concept as blueprint to research into the

possibility of Art in process. More information is available from

http://www.filozofia.pl/zf/en/7nzw = uz&nr = 1 21•

譚家榮 .《紙 皮箱》，攝影，於「克 力架 j 展出 作品• 2006 年。 Tam Kar Wing, Carton Box, photography, exhibited in #,Crackersw, 2006.

陳麗雲•《閱 讀雕 塑》， 裝置， 2006 年,

Movena Chen, "Reading Sculpture", installation, 2006.

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interaction with the viewers and openness of creation. Twelve participants should have

twelve different kinds of experiences. Moreover, participants enjoyed high degree of

autonomy in planning, design, construct, installation, use of space and correction of mistakes. Mook forward to seeing what kind of "biscuit" would be made out of this kind

of specially blended "flour mix".

"Result" instead of "Process" Surprisingly, the outcome was extraordinary.

Most of the participants had opted to display finished works - a collection of rather

sophisticated works. The //process/, on the other hand had been concealed with perfection. Some exhibits were even direct transfers from the graduation exhibition, and the

work-in-progress turned out to be a collection of proposals and visual diaries. Some exhibits, such as Meipo Yuen’s "Forever River”ÿshowed a collection of small boats crafted

from soap; despite the neat order of display, the viewers could still experience the creation

process by looking at each and every marks differed in strength. However, the process from start to finish was foreseeable which made further discussion difficult, just liked

passengers on a bus knew where the terminal was. Movana Chen shredded her collection of international magazines into strips of paper to weave into a big piece of banner, and invited the viewers to take part in the cutting and weaving process. However, the magazines had already been processed, and the exhibits had already been properly hung. When it came to inviting the viewers to cut and edit her work with ready scissors, viewers’

participation became nothing but a formal gesture. It was just an anecdote when some viewers ignored the instruction and damaged the work towards the end of the exhibition.

Solomon Yu repainted international current events from an artist’s perspective. The

paintings themselves were rather complete. By adding newspaper clippings and changing the location every day, it was just an act of adding value to match the theme. Denise Chen’s "The Ultimate" was the most revolutionary. She wrapped an unfinished ceramic

work in a plastic bag, and used printing to make a three-dimensional work two-

dimensional, conveying an implication of

"What does one create with?" and "Who is

creating?" When compared to her work at the Master of Fine Art Graduation Show, one saw a huge difference in the creative direction, and could not tell which was her real intention. These works were probably adjusted to match the exhibition theme, but the

meaning in the long run was lost in the exploration of self-development and identification.

In terms of responding to the exhibition concept, the participants, despite showing their

strengths, did not show their true identities.

Afterwards, I accidentally found an alternative subversion on one of the participant’s online journal: The O-daily called and asked me if the Crackers Exhibition was really made of crackers.

Our semi-official reply was that it was an exhibition of unfinished assignments, just like

putting together a group of dough. Our curator teachers had been very smart in using JJWork in Progressÿas the footnote to that exhibition. The so-called Student Artists were only a group of idiots who would not rush to finish their assignments until the deadline

was near(Note16).

From this, we can see that some of the participants have not truly grabbed the trick of

"Work in Progress” and "Student Artist". This precious opportunity turned out to be yet another "formal" exhibition. Given another chance, curators should urge participants

from the start to seriously think about how to develop a display platform that is both

recognisable and experimental.

Reference List Efland, A.D. Teaching and Learning in the Arts. Arts Education Policy Review, 1993.

Feldman, E.B. Philosophy of Art Education. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1996.

Freedman, K. Teaching Visual Culture: Curriculum, Aesthetics, and the Social Life of Art. New York: Teachers College Press, 2003.

Trefflinger, D.J. On the Edge (and keeping on the edge) about Teaching Thinking. In E.P. Torrance (Ed.), On the Edge and Keeping on the Edge. Westport, Connecticut; London:

Ablex Publishing, 2000. 陳瓊花。〈視 覺 文化的 品鑑〉，輯於《文化 與藝術 教育一 當代的 觀點》 香 港：香 港教育 學院藝 術系， 2004 年。 郭禎祥、趙 惠玲： 〈視 覺文化 與藝術 教育〉，輯於《藝術 與人文 教育》 台北：桂冠 圖書， 上冊， 2002 年。

Post-Script: "Crackers", presented by White Tube, supported by Hong Kong Art School and held in Visual Arts Center on March 9-16,2006 (Note16)

Apologies for not revealing the source to protect the students since the online journal includes students' personal information.

o Enoch

Cheung

enocheung01@yahoo.com.hk

Enoch Cheung graduated from the Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) programme which is jointly

presented by Hong Kong Art School and the RMIT University. He then received his Master degree in Fine Art at the RMIT University, Australia. Currently he is a part-time lecturer at the

Hong Kong Art School. His work has been widely shown in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea etc.

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