Time Scene
孤独的慰籍
——沈小彤的艺术历程
吕澎
1988年，在四川省展览馆里举办的“西南1988现代艺术展”上，人们看到了一件题为《三个吃茶的人》的油画。画面调子阴郁，人物明显变形，呈现出惊惧的情绪，构图似乎也没有遵循写实主义的要求，尽管我们能够清楚地看出画面中的一切，但是，这个作品里呈现出来的“茶馆”是破旧的、人物之间的关系也是奇怪与多少有些莫名其妙的。让观众感到特别的是，作者在画面的技术处理与习惯的图绘不同，色彩下面的底子是经过事先制作的。在色彩富于个性的涂抹下，作品呈现出区别于之前的许多表现主义绘画，同时也与人们熟悉的“伤痕美术”拉开了距离。在1988年这个商业躁动、社会面临危机的年月，所谓的理想主义的目的性已经发生问题，这样的结果是，在学校附近的茶馆坐着的年轻人在动态、眼神以及色调的情绪上就表现出心理上的游移。
作为《三个吃茶的人》的作者，沈小彤（1968— ）这时还是四川美术学院的学生，他是因为偶然的原因参加了在成都举办的有许多现代主义艺术家举行的展览。这个时候，轰轰烈烈的“’85美术运动”已经接近尾声，观念主义在其他城市已经出现。尽管四川的艺术家因8年前的“伤痕美术”而闻名于全国，但是，在80年代的中期，四川的现代主义被部分其他城市的批评家认为属于末流，甚至有批评家使用“乡土”的概念来表述西南的艺术家。事实是，在“西南1988现代艺术展”上，张晓刚的三联画《生生息息之爱》、叶永青的《逃逸者》以及毛旭辉的《家长》显露出了现代主义的困境，之前，杭州的“新空间”的代表艺术家张培力、耿建翌，厦门的“达达”分子例如黄永砯，以及完全解构了汉字的谷文达、吴山专的艺术已经提出了对本质主义的质疑——尽管在姿态上仍然是现代主义的。
沈小彤显然接续了70年代末之后的现代主义逻辑。在他进入四川美术学院的时候，他不仅熟悉了“伤痕美术”、’85美术运动的态度与方法，也同样在印刷品中充分了解了西方的现代主义运动。如果说张晓刚、周春芽这些艺术家是在1977年之后才了解到从印象派开始的西方艺术，那么，作为学生的沈小彤就在80年代中期已经完成了从对历史问题的反思到现代主义观念转变这样的过程。也就是说，60年代出生的人在80年代就全面接受了西方的艺术思想与观念。
如果了解50年代出生的艺术家的艺术状况，很自然地就能够理解“伤痕美术”中的精神指向——怀疑的、深沉的和关注现实的——为什么有很长的时间影响着更为年轻的一代。在制作《三个吃茶人》、《自画像》的那个时期，画家的作品具有表现性的语言倾向。可是，与学校老师比如说叶永青的轻松的笔触和针对性不同，沈小彤是以复杂的程序来完成他的表现性的；同时，与张晓刚的“格列柯式的”精神性来自对灵魂问题的追问的出发点也相异，沈小彤的阴郁情绪与他熟悉的环境，甚至就是学校附近的茶馆所呈现的气息有关。当叶永青追问都市文明与田园的关系问题时，沈小彤却本能地沉溺于受到都市污染的边缘地带。自从“伤痕美术”之后，四川的色彩就很少鲜艳夺目了，因为，画家事实上接受的是灰色的甚至是肮脏的环境。在现代主义运动的影响下，艺术家有条件轻松地选择更加适合自己的方法，尽管画家本人曾经否定过“美术界的各种现象”对他有冲击，但至少在可能性上，影响是明显存在的。也就是在这个时期，画家作品里已反映出一种特殊的语词兴趣。通过做底与实际最后罩上薄薄的色彩的肌理效果，而题材也总是私人化的、个体性的。色彩的沉重与偏冷将情绪固定在下面，实际上是在冷静乃至漫不经心的状态下制作出的形象上。所以，沈小彤的绘画一开始，就体现了抑制表现，又回避写实的倾向。
沈小彤很早就表现出对“时间”的敏感性。人们相信时间的原因，是因为有一些客观的物体及其变化被我们持续感知，可是，我们如何去评价这些客观的物体时就只能再次回到我们自己，在很大的程度上讲，要回到上天赋予我们对经验与目的的关系的判断。在1988年的时候，沈小彤就已经在他的《茶馆》、《静物》这类作品里敏感到时间的问题。在《静物》里，处于构图中央位置的杯状物体显示出极端的不稳定，因为它被一种看不见的力量推起，类似于漂浮在空中。所以我们很容易从心理上去接近艺术家的状况，关于物体的线型运动的时间观念事实上已经被忽略了，沈小彤敏感到的是心理的时间故事。客观环境的参照性变得不重要，他希望将所感受到的时间问题凝固在一个不现实的空间中，借用康德的概念就是，将感觉经验先验地凝固或者综合在目的性上。这里丝毫不是在讨论过时的哲学概念，或者神学观念，在对“终极目的”失去把握的时期，我们应该重新回到感觉世界里，这个感觉世界与经验有关，但是，我们相信仅仅靠对经验的一般归纳是不够的。因此，即便我们不使用让人腻烦的哲学术语，也应该通过将感觉的微妙点用一个自己也能够理解语言表达出来，这就是说，我们相信来自经过我们自己判断之后的感觉真实。1989年2月，沈小彤参加“中国现代艺术展”的三联画《椅子》是这种感觉现实的更为清楚的表现，艺术家告诉我们，物体在不同的时间里，它所体现出来的形态是不一样的，并且与现实的一般经验无关。栗宪庭说他曾把《茶馆》“归入玩世写实主义”，可是他注意到艺术家在“画面的人物处理，不像北京的方力钧和刘炜等人作品中的那种嬉皮笑脸和泼皮味道，而是神情恍惚、茫然和有点做梦的感觉”。在面对现实问题方面，标准的玩世写实主义摆开了对现实的明确态度，以“不抵抗”的自我嘲笑的方式，给予了经验主义式的评价。可是，沈小彤不愿意“泼皮”的立场，他的态度是，即便我们不清楚那些琐碎的经验的来龙去脉，也应该保持一种“不确定”的警惕性。保持道德感的人的基本生活态度是：道德的纪律是不会因为经验世界的变化而发生改变的，因此，轻易地表达对经验的看法是危险的，除非我们对自己的行为进行过事前的严肃判断。
The Comfort of Solitude
By Lv Peng
At the ‘Southwest Modern Art Exhibition’ in 1988 in the Sichuan Museum a painting called Three People Drinking Tea drew our attention. Fear and darkness characterized the atmosphere. The human figures were somewhat deformed and the composition did not follow the lines set forward by realism. Although we could get a clear view of the whole picture, the ‘teahouse’ in the painting was in bad shape and the relationship between the figures was utterly strange. What caught the interest of the viewers was the applied technique which was different from the normal painting practices. The undercoat was done in advance and not at the same time. This special use of colours diverted the work not only from former expressionist paintings but also from the so-called “scar art”. 1988 was a year of commercial restlessness and social upheaval. The idealistic discourse was slowly being eroded, resulting in doubt and indecisiveness in the behaviour and minds of for example the young people sitting in the teahouses close to the school.
As the painter of Three People Drinking Tea, Shen Xiaotong (1968- ) was clearly a student of the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts. His participation in the ‘Southwest Modern Art Exhibition’ was more a coincidence. At that time, the dynamic ‘85 movement was nearing its end with conceptualism becoming a popular trend in the cities. Scar art that had appeared eight years ago was now widely acknowledged as an artistic movement. In the middle of the 1980s, Sichuan’s modernism was recognized by some art critics in other cities as a later development. Some critics even used the term ‘native soil’ to describe the art of the South western artists. At the ‘Southwest Modern Art Exhibition’ in 1988, the paintings Growing Love of Zhang Xiaogang, The Escapers of Ye Yongqing and Head of Family by Mao Xuhui all revealed the predicaments of realism. Before this, the representatives of ‘New Space’ Zhang Peili and Geng Jianjun, the Dada group of Xiamen with artists as Huang Yongping and with Gu Wenda and Wu Shanzhuan who had completely unravelled the structure of language, had already expressed their doubts about the validity of essentialism, although their attitude was explicitly realistic in nature.
Shen Xiaotong has clearly continued the logic of the post-70s modernism. When he enrolled in the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, he was not only familiar with artistic movements such as scar art and the ‘85 New Wave, but he also possessed a broad knowledge of Western modernist movements. Whereas older artists such as Zhang Xiaogang and Zhou Chunya only came to a thorough understanding of Western art after 1977, the young student Shen Xiaotong had already grasped the historical evolution of Western art from impressionism to realism in the middle of the 1980s.
When one is acquainted with the situation of artists born in the 1950s, one will naturally understand why scar art, driven by doubt, existential darkness and realistic concern has come to influence the younger generation of artists. When painting Three People Drinking Tea and Self-Portrait, Shen Xiaotong was clearly drawn towards the use of an expressionist language. Contrary to the relaxed but focused brushstroke of for example his teacher Ye Yongqing, Shen Xiaotong used a more complicated style for his particular language. He also distances himself from the introspective ‘El Greco’ painting style of Zhang Xiaogang. His sombre atmosphere is more related to the surroundings that he is familiar with, for example the teahouses close to the university, than that it reflects his spiritual struggles. While Ye Yongqing studies the differences between urban and pastoral civilization, Shen Xiaotong only abides in the twilight of urban pollution. Since Scar Art, Sichuan artists have rarely used bright colours in their painting, submerged as they are in the grey and filthy cityscapes around them. Under the influence of modernism, they slowly developed their own style. Although artists in general don’t like to admit that they have been influenced by any existing artistic movements, the impact of previous styles on Chinese artists can not be denied. It is in this period that Shen Xiaotong starts to show a special interest in language. The organic effect of the thinly applied colours adds a personal and individual touch to the paintings. The tension and coldness of the colour palette pins the mood of the painter to the canvas, thus reflecting his rather nonchalant attitude. Seen from this point of view we understand why the expressionism of Shen Xiaotong is a restricted expressionism with no realist concurrence.
From the very beginning Shen Xiaotong has shown a certain sensitivity to time. People’s affinity with time arises from their ability to relate changes in their environment to time. Our observation of these changes is not an objective process but depends for the most part on our own experiences and judgement of those experiences. Already in 1988, Shen Xiaotong has developed a delicate time consciousness in his works Teahouse and Still Life. In Still Life the cup-shaped object in the middle of the composition is extremely instable. It is floating in the air as if driven by an invisible power. We easily discuss Shen’s work by referring to his mental disposition. His sensitivity is intelligibly more perceptible in his spiritual approach and less in his technique. A reference to objectivity is not necessary; he only hopes to solidify his experiences related to time in a non-realistic space, or to say it in Kant’s words, emotional experiences a priori unite in one goal. This goal is not a philosophical or theological concept. When we have lost control of our final goal, we should go back to the empirical world of our experiences. Only relying on the conclusions of our own experiences is however not sufficient. Even if we do not use some tiring philosophical statements, we still have to give expression to our own feelings using a language that we can understand ourselves. We believe that the emotions entailed by our own judgement are correct. Chair exhibited at the China Avant-Garde Art Exhibition of 1989 reveals this sensitivity. The artist tells us that objects manifest themselves differently depending on the moment they appear. These manifestations bear normally no relation to the ordinary experiences of reality. Li Xianting has once categorized Teahouse as a cynical realist work but he noticed that the rendering of the human figures on the painting was different from for example the laughing faces of Fang Lijun and Liu Wei. The faces of Shen Xiaotong have a dreamy and ignorant expression as if their mind is somewhere else. When facing reality, cynical realism deploys a very clear standpoint on reality. With a smile of non-resistance they criticize their surroundings. But Shen Xiaotong does not want to take up this position. According to him, we should still preserve a certain non-defined vigilance, even if we are not certain about the exact origin of our experiences.
