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Stillness

2018 -Jindu Art Center - Beijing

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Sound of Stillness

By Rongjian

 

Heidegger once said that the sound of stillness (die ruhe) was more volatile than all motion. Does that statement defy common sense? Dophilosophers deliberately challenge public opinion with their meditations? In fact, Laozi had said: “By keeping the inner world perfectly calm and uninfluenced, I can observe how the world repeats itself as things evolve.” That is an awakening of humanity. In the thunderous din of the world, it is no easy matter to remain calm and unperturbed. According to Heidegger, men’s journey from cradle to grave eventually turns into stillness, while the nature of language is also stillness, which is the ontology of life, with tragedy being its ultimate form.  

When examining Loy’s works, which look kind of familiar, I was at a loss for words, as if I had stumbled into a still and gloomy night. The artist was trying to depict the entanglement between life and death, drawing the audience to her inner thoughts, which are either joyous or blue. However, the stillness I felt had little to do with her emotions, state of mind or subconsciousness. What I felt was transient, something that got solidified instantly or, to put it in another way, electrified; and there was no going back, no digression possible. The momentary stillness may be the most authentic feeling of existence. Through the dialogue in the work, the artist and the viewers engage not in a dialogue but in monologues of their own. In the stillness, soul’s volatility freezes, the language becomes hollow and the thoughts evasive. Alone do I exist.

Stillness reigns supreme but the sounds of bells linger. The ancients say that calmness leads to space anddistance but how far is far? Is the heart far enough? Looking up, we see the vast, expansive, dark and still universe, and my heart feels likewise. Putting aside the secular world and standing in front of Loy’s paintings, can you hear the sound of stillness?  

 Stillness isn't about Emotions(Video)

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Stillness, this is not about emotions

By Loy Luo

 

Existentialism is the gravest rebellion against metaphysics. Originally, pure abstract art is the logical veil of metaphysics but abstract expressions seeks a middle way between existentialism and metaphysics, while minimalism indulges itself in the self-perceived “god and man in one”. These theories seek to battle for dominance but all inevitably lean towards the doubt of the void, in the pure sense of existentialism. I insist on the entanglement between life and death of the existing beings but walk towards the stillness discerned by other people’s eyes, which is not connected with feelings or emotions. Following Kant and Heidegger, I once thought that my spiritual journey was similar to that of Kierkegaard, who believed in Christian existentialism. Only I was not sure if his god was overly protective of humanity while I was less fervent and more moderate. After all, life is not a material product or a slice of time. Rather, it is a chance or inevitable meeting of infinite matters in an endless process. Art walks hand in hand with life, growing or waning with it; while life as a whole eventually becomes selfless, emotionless, without sorrow or joy. Entrusting itself to the care of the unmoved and unfeeling god, and without perils or danger, life repeats itself over and over again. Something ushers in nothing and vice versa. And postmodern tricks are the solution to the anxiety of the time. Developing, I naturally discern the intrinsic secrets while instinctively opposing trickery. After transcribing the sutra for almost one hundred times, I suddenly found enlightenment and hence started to read it backwards. Life is death; dirty is clean; up is also down. All things therefore are in themselves both good and bad, both increasing and decreasing.Therefore one may say there are such things as form, perception, concepts, thinking process, and consciousness. Our senses such as eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind are leading us to illusion; thus one may also say there is reality in visible form, sound, smell, taste, touch and mind knowledge. There are also such things as the realms of sense from sight up to mind, and such things as the links of existence from ignorance and its end to old age and death and their end. Also the Four Noble Truths are existent, just as there are such things as wisdom and also gain. 

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贾方舟:羅一是一个很复杂的人

2019-10-28 22:15:04来源: 原创讲稿作者: 贾方舟

(按:本文是根据2018年5月贾方舟先生出席羅一在北京锦都艺术中心《静穆艺术展》时的讲话稿,事后贾先生经过认真的核对修正。)

 

贾方舟:刚才荣剑已经把他对羅一艺术的看法、感受说得很清楚了,我首先想说的一点是,荣剑这些年来,在学术上把握着一个方向,一直做到今天还是不多见的。荣剑始终看好了中国抽象艺术的这一块,所以在艺术上一直在关注这方面的作品,一直在发现这个领域的艺术家。刚才他讲了,其实有很多抽象艺术家,都在他这个空间里经过他的一番洗礼。羅一又是他最新瞄准的一位,这应该是羅一的荣誉。因为汇聚在此的一批抽象艺术家,是中国当代艺术中很重要的一支力量,在这个意义上来说,荣剑做了非常重要的工作。他把它叫做第三空间,给了这么一个说法,我很赞赏第三空间这个说法。

   为什么这个领域成为中国当代艺术的一块呢?因为中国的当代艺术和西方不一样。中国从80年代西方文化、西方哲学、西方各种各样的流派一股脑涌进来以后,中国出现了新潮美术,新潮美术里面既有西方的现代艺术,也有西方的后现代艺术。西方的现代、后现代是非常有历史脉络的,是一个循序渐进的过程。但是到了中国以后,一股脑全倒出来了,艺术家就自我选择,有些选择这样的倾向,有些选择那样的倾向,根据自己的不同选择出现了各种各样的流派和体系。

虽然在西方抽象艺术已进入学院、已是历史,是一个过去式,不再是被当前潮流所关注的部分。但是在中国,抽象艺术并没有走完它要走的那一步。它正方兴未艾,正有好多艺术家在这个领域里施展自己的才华,羅一实际上就是在这个背景下出现的一位艺术家。

   羅一最早曾经在上苑艺术区待过一段时间,认识比较早,对她也比较了解。我觉得她是一个很复杂的人,这个展览只能了解她的一面,她有很多面。她在艺术上表现出很多取向,她走这条路,可能走成功,走另一条路,也可能走成功。在读研究生的时候,她学的是雕塑专业,但是她真正的兴趣是对问题的思考,她是一个思辨型的艺术家。

   在女性艺术家里,像她这样一种类型的不多,最多占到10%。她有一种反向思维的习惯,你提出一个观点,她马上会从反方向回击你,出于这样一种思考,她总能找到你的弱点,找到你的问题。我曾经跟她合作过一把,我有一本关于吴冠中的书,让她帮我做编辑、整理文稿。后来我发现她根本不是一个编辑的料,她在整理这些文稿的过程中,不断的在跟我叫板,不断的跟我讨论、辩论,由此她整理出三篇对话。后来我就把其中两篇对话放在了这个文集里,就是去年由北岳出版社出版的《此岸·彼岸:吴冠中研究》。

这件事足以反映出她的本性,编辑这个角色是不适合一个喜欢思考问题的人来担任的,编辑就是按部就班、非常忠实地“替他人做嫁衣裳”。但她在编辑过程中更多的是考虑这里的问题,她更感兴趣的是你的文稿涉及到的理论问题、艺术问题,不断的跟你纠缠、辩论。所以我把她整理的两篇“对谈”分别取名为《是非得失吴冠中》和《吴冠中不是一个形式主义者》。

所以我觉得羅一最适合做的是批评家、理论家或者是研究哲学的学者,她在这方面的天分很高,只是她在这方面没有条件进一步展开。她根据自己的情怀和内在的需要,这些年来全身心投入创作抽象作品,她在抽象艺术中找到了她的精神出口,即我们现在看到 的这样一些作品。这些作品在抽象艺术领域里可以说能归为一个类型,荣剑先生感觉在她的作品中看到了静穆,我看到的是一种内在的矛盾性。就是她有一种生命激情,这种生命激情不断的被理性所压抑,压抑到最后自己把自己压抑到安静下来为止,就是我们能看到的这些画面。但是这当中还有一些不安的因素,就是她的画面不是平平的涂一块颜色,我们在羅一的作品里看不到平的颜色,每一块颜色里涌动着生命的激情和能量,随时都有可能爆发,这种东西又强有力地被她压住了,让我们看到了表面上平静安宁。但她这个人的内在生命力,同时也在她的作品中呈现了出来了,所以她的作品给我们的感觉也是多向度的,不同的人会看到不同的侧面。

   我还想说的一点是,我最近在给一个大学做讲座的话题。现在很时行简史,什么时间简史、天堂简史、未来简史、人类简史等等各种“简史”。于是我也就赶时髦试着做了一个“艺术简史”的讲座,用90分钟给大家讲了中国艺术史和西方艺术史的演进过程。我用什么办法来讲呢?我把人类艺术的发展归结为几个段落或几个语系的演进,即从外在的客体世界转换为内在的主体世界,又从主体世界转化到艺术的本体世界,最后又转化到观念世界,是这四个大的段落,如果从语言形态的角度看,就是具象语系、意象语系、抽象语系和物象语系。这基本上可以概括人类迄今为止艺术发展的一个大体走向,大体路线。最后这个“物象语系”即是由“物”(现成品)来体现观念,所以它是一种“物像”形态。

   用这四大语系来看羅一,她处在第三个段落,即抽象语系。抽象是什么阶段呢?就是艺术家表达外在世界觉得再无法走下去了,像古典主义那种细腻深入的程度再怎么往下走?所以就从客体回到了艺术家主体,不再把客体作为关注的主要对象,而开始关注艺术家自身,关注自身的精神表达,这就是西方的表现主义。在中国就是文人画的兴起,中国从客体走向主体,已经有一千多年的历史了,在西方只有一百多年的历史。

   从主体转向本体就是抽象主义、形式主义的出现。形式主义是什么呢?既不研究客体也不研究主体,只关心绘画这张画布上的问题,所有的学问都在绘画自身中寻找。参透艺术本体的学问就成了最高形态,这就是抽象艺术。所以在抽象艺术这个领域里,我们看到的是人类撇开对象在一块布上还能做什么?到后来为什么抽象艺术在西方没落了呢?就因为抽象艺术最后发展到极少主义后,把一个画面抽象成一块颜色,甚至画面就成了一块白布或者一块黑布,走到死胡同出不来了,所有绘画技巧都归零了,才有了第四个阶段的物象语系,走向了新的空间。

从这个意义上看,抽象艺术在整个西方发展史上已经了结了,但是在中国还是一个“未完成式”。所以很多中国艺术家在这个里面还要做很多努力。

其实说起来中国人的抽象意识,对抽象理解早就有了。为什么说中国意象语系阶段已经有一千多年的发展呢?因为中国艺术家或者中国人对抽象的认识很早,比如中国人形容一个人的几种姿态:站如松、坐如钟、卧如弓、行如风。站如松,一条挺拔的垂直线;坐如钟,上窄下宽,像钟一样稳定;卧如弓,躺下就是一条曲线嘛;行如风,人在速度中形变得不清晰了,只留下一种速度感!这不就是一种抽象的形式表达吗?不就是一种抽象的观念吗?所以我觉得抽象艺术对中国人来说一点都不陌生,中国的抽象艺术家在这个领域里完全可以施展他们的才智,走向一个新的境界。

 

谢谢大家!

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