自欣賞過呂山川在李安姿當代空間的個展後，我才領悟到自己對抽象派的瞭解是如此狹窄。《虛擬的真實》為藝術家第四次在此畫廊空間的個展。踏進空間的一刻，色彩奪目的畫作整列掛鉤在雪白的牆上，陪襯靜謐的氣場。
在空間深處的螺旋階梯背後，安放了一幅扣人心弦的暖色系畫作。明豔的橙紅色及金絲雀黃厚涂在畫布上，層次細膩分明。顏料在畫布上奔放滑翔，靛藍色乃是要從暖色系裡突圍而出。其外，藝術家彷如無視尺寸和顏料限制，毫無保留地往畫面的邊緣前進，把流質的顏料逐漸加厚，接著隨意固定在畫布表面，達致波濤洶湧的視覺效果。二零一九年完成的《孔明燈 No.2》尺寸較小，只有90 x 120釐米, 可是此因素卻沒有限制藝術家展露他對現實與象徵的研究成果。故此，我希望將要欣賞的你能夠以開懷的心態去感受呂山川系列所告訴你的話。
在呂山川的作品集中，現實與景象的關聯是藝術家長期研究的主題之一。現實能解釋為日常觸碰到的事物。然而，我們對景象的理解是源於我們如何賦予物件一個特定身分而來的。前者和後者的微妙關係乃是抽象派裡重要思想之一。哲學家吉爾伯特·哈曼曾經提及：「『意思』包含非平凡的內容。例如：一幅男性人像照片可以直指照片內的某人，或者代表自稱男性的人士。從以上例子得以瞭解意思多元化的可能性，並吻合佩里斯的標誌理論。其理論提出標誌應有三種解讀方法。第一種來自預期意義理論。第二種解讀源於我們如何看待物件。第三種解讀是源於社會對物件的標籤及普遍理解。」1
藝術家向來以強烈抽象筆觸來抒發無限的思想靈感。其中，此系列以新聞媒體作為靈感來引導觀眾去反思現實與景象之間的聯繫。無可否認，當藝術家特意省略帶有象徵性的物件時，便會導致一般受眾無法容易看透抽象畫作背後的意思。反之，在這個以電子科技作主導的時代，我們習慣用電子產品來接收各種新聞信息，但諷刺的是，我們同時會受信息而影響，盲目地相信一種角度而視為現實。聲音越多，信息的可信度卻被質疑。因此，《虛擬的真實》以抽象畫派綜合了現實和景象，強烈顯示當中的矛盾。系列更提醒我們要謹慎分析及理解新聞媒體，方可真正分辨真實與否。電子科技可廣闊清晰度，或增強模糊性和產生懷疑。或許我們所認知的真實是建於我們賦予事物的身分和意思，從來沒有完全的真實…….
ARTCIPE: COULD ABSTRACTION BE A TYPE OF REALITY?
Last week, upon a visit to Contemporary by Angela Li, I was utterly surprised by Lv Shanchuan’s Simulacra series, his fourth solo exhibition at the gallery. As I entered, I was attracted by a particular daring impasto painting by the staircase. Exuberant colour sprawls across the canvas and rifles by the edge. Its dense and interwoven layers of colour rises upon the canvas, as if to defy the law of physics. Hues of crimson red, tangerine and canary yellow cascades in all directions, while the deep blue attempts to find an opening just to state its existence. Completed in 2019, the particular small scale painting titled Kongming Lanterns No.2 measures at 90 by 120cm. Despite small in size, the sheer presentation of the abstract work wholly captures my attention, as I am certain it will capture yours just as much.
Indeed, Lv’s latest series Simulacra unequivocally encompasses the beauty of abstraction. As a collective, the series is inspired by news media, and Lv invites viewers to reflect their understanding of reality versus the imaginative. While it is nearly impossible to see a direct correlation with the topic of news media through its surface, but Lv’s abstract oeuvre does evokes an exciting dialogue between reality versus the imaginative. By intentionally distorting the image into almost pure abstraction, he blurs the line between reality and representation, as what we perceive as truth could be unequal to its represented meaning, known as a symbol. As Gilbert Harman explained “there is no ordinary sense of the word ‘mean’ in which a picture of a man means a man or means that man. This suggests that Perice’s theory of signs would comprise at least three rather difference subjects: a theory of intended meaning, a theory of evidence, and a theory of pictorial depiction.” (Harman, 1977, 214)1.
As we live in a digital centric society, it certainly explains Lv’s dedication in redefining reality and representation. With the amount of news on our digital screens, each footage is merely presenting one perspective. Interestingly, as opinions begin to surface, the certainty on whether the footage is an absolute truth decreases. Speculations and fabrication appears, which diminishes credibility. Thus, Simulacra is undoubtedly a synthesis of reality and representation. Strikingly, the series conveys the artist’s response to Jean Baudrillard’s ideology of representation. It invites us to question how much reality is infiltrated into an art. Additionally, it echoes how we engage and understand news media through the age of digital technology. The boundless digital world can amplify clarity, or enhance obscurity and skepticism, making it more difficult to fully identify reality from any representation that proclaims reality.
*
Simulacra is a term used since the 16th Century to describe any form of representation that emulates a person or an object.
1
Blumson Ben, Symbol Systems, “Resemblance and Representation: An Essay in the Philosophy of Pictures”, 2014, pp.85
Sources:
1)
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1287k0p.10%3A111259d372db9ec4cdcc0f3c03c76e80&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
2)
https://www.artsy.net/…/contemporary-by-angela-li-simulacra…
Image courtesy of Contemporary by Angela Li and the artist
#呂山川 #抽象派 #虛擬的真實 #當代藝術 #藝術展覽 #ContemporaryArt #LvShanchuan #Simulacra #representation #ArtExhibition
