王澈写刘商英：谁的绘画

文摘 2023-01-08 12:36

王澈（左）与刘商英（右）

Wang Che (L) and Liu Shangying (R)

自2011年至今，刘商英已经在西藏阿里、内蒙古额济纳旗、新疆罗布泊、阿尔金山无人区进行了四次野外绘画项目，并在内蒙古额济纳红城遗址、新疆托克逊红河谷完成了两次自然场地的个展。在这十年的经历中，刘商英建立了在自然中进行创作的形态，他的作品在一定程度上关联了自然的造化，画面沾染着四季的色彩、带着尘土与风雨、呈现着荒野的气息。

从阿里、额济纳到罗布泊，今年他开启的新项目在阿尔金山无人区，这个路径从经验上逐渐变得“不可控”，但对于一个完全热爱荒野的人，会把对于自然的挑战，自然的惩戒、危险，甚至是它无言的冷漠都视为价值。不可控带来的不确定成为真正的结果，这便使过程变得有价值，这种价值展现了艺术创作丰富的一面，也展现了艺术家与艺术作品之间紧密的关联。过程作为呈现刘商英创作的重要元素，它能详细表现艺术家与自然遭遇时获得的价值以及作品创作时艺术家的处境，往往这种价值不会在文化中积累，也不会在文化中传承。面对罗布泊里的旷日沙尘能使刘商英获得宝贵的力量，这些痛苦的折磨（精疲力尽、寒冷、无助、不知所措）让人看上去就惊叹不已，但往往也是这些时候能很切实地感受真理，不能说荒野就是危险的，它只是对错误毫不留情。在阿尔金山无人区的项目中我曾陪伴前往他的创作现场，我们一起行走讨论，我也在他创作的时候独自长时间观看，整个绘画现场在自然中发生时，像是把生命推到极致的表达，它更像是一场硬仗，反复刮、刷、拍、涂中画着一些不存在的东西，风暴握住了他的手，身体与烈日和解。为什么要做这样的行动？我觉得这是一种把普遍文化化为自己的、有个性的过程，这就像刘商英在他的罗布泊随笔中写的那样：“肉身回归本源，一口水和一块馕饼，就可以让它充满能量。没有多余的浪费，原始的生存状态可以调动人的本能，和自然中的一切平等，没有多余的欲望。望着天，看着地，原本的感知，多一点的计划性考量都是多余的，那是一种彻底的回归，自由看似没有边界，但实际是一种被限制到极点的顺应，没有任何退路。我一步步被带入到真空地带，越是没有选择就会越发体验到以前没有体验到的东西。”同理，进入荒野创作并不是要抛弃文化，而是要从文化中挑取最基本的东西，在精神上给自己提供营养，往外出走的人都知道一个道理，文化只是为我们独自走向思考和实践做的某种准备，最终每个人都要离开文本的经验而独自前行。

刘商英在罗布泊创作现场，2019年

Liu Shangying's working progress at Lop Nor, 2019

文化容易让我们忘记自然中的野性与自由，在荒野中行走和展开项目却能让我们想到这一点。野性与自由在我看来是刘商英进入自然创作得到的深刻体验，也是他绘画的面貌。刘商英曾形容罗布荒原是自然的废墟，在我看来这是野性在自然中造就的差异，自然的历史成就了一个绵延、恒长的整体概念，但它又是多种生命和多样形态的共同体，每一片荒野都是独特的，之所以我们在不同地点、不同地貌进行创作或策划项目，正是对于自然多样性的感知，同时在精彩的自然历史中反思有序和系统性的问题。额济纳的胡杨林使那片荒凉之地有了生动的变化，就像时间具象地横躺在沙地中，我们需要的正是这种带有偶然的恒常性，这将使我们能够认知每个地方与其他的地方不同，这个差异也使得每一个生态系统都成为特别的存在，野性到处造就的正是这样的差异，从而体现出更多的价值。刘商英绘画中的野性也得益于此，自然对于画面的介入使得艺术家可以从既定绘画理念和方法中抽离，“极度放纵”、“竭力挣扎”、“野蛮自由”、“自然而然”，我们已然无法从艺术系统中对其加以归纳，一个艺术家和他的绘画像是获得了自由，这是他置身于最简朴的生存环境中，面对野性赋予的变化无常而得到的自由自在，因为在一个固定不变的世界中是没有自由的，我们始终被规训在既定的语言和形式中，就像文明无法容忍野性，常常将野性与无序、混乱、暴力联系在一起一样，这种对于野性的界定大多是从人类的立场出发，而刘商英与自然互动产生的绘画并在自然中展示的时候，我发现绘画像是突然有了自己的土地，自己生长的环境，也为我们提供了另一种界定野性的方式，它就像一个自由主体，并且每一个都具有殊异禀赋，生活在自然系统中，单纯的、自由的、自然的、绝对的，极其富有表现力。

《荒原计划2号》，布面油画，160×240 cm，2019，罗布泊

Wilderness Project No.2, Oil on canvas, 160 × 240 cm, 2019, Lop Nor

对于在自然中的艺术实践，漫长而反复的介入是关键，身体和周围环境保持连续性才能不断产生交流，在这个过程中自然唤醒着我们的心智，从而使我们最初对自然被动地作出反应，逐步将这种反应提升成一种能动的行动。刘商英早在阿里进行行走创作时便产生了这种思考，在进入自然时如同遭遇一个与他相异的世界，面对的是一种离心的野性，如果不去沉思，这种离心力会使他的心理在自然中消融，而承受住这种离心力，便能将其容纳。选择进入荒野去创作，刘商英找寻的也正是一个与他相异的世界，这能使他的心智回到与它互补的自然中，在对自然的沉思、凝视和行动中，心灵得以在漫漫长路中回归。在这个过程中他没有选择去真实表现风景，而是将自己深陷景致中，通过画布展现他与自然的摩擦，更多地反映出他的状态与感觉。这也使得他行动中的自然之地变成了经验之地，给我们能够看到的也不是景观外在的真实性，而是让我们在画面上感受一种 “不可见”和“无法表达”时的心理处境。

刘商英喜欢用对话来形容他的一些创作，比如和雅丹、胡杨、岩石、牦牛等等，这种对话不像我们在城市中用复杂而发达的语言去交流，大多是肉身的摩擦和较量，是一种具有创造性的斗争姿态。从整个艺术创作中来看，我们的精神并非在自身内部，而是在于我们和世界的对话中。我们在表达艺术的整体性时是通过与环境的互动而获得，比如在进入自然中开展艺术实践和创作时，也不仅仅只是大家认为的自然不需要艺术，人类表达自然时，自然才存在价值等观念，这种角度只代表了事实的一半，是颇具文本经验去理解自然的表述，忽略了真实体验的结果。真实体验是：人性深深地扎根在自然中，每个人的自然情结或者野性的行为都不同，我们受惠于自然，也受制于自然，人类对于自然的评价就像我们对于自然的感知一样，是从与自然的交流过程中抽取出来的，而不仅仅只是我们强加给自然的。那么，能否达到一种融合，在人和自然之间既能体现人的价值又能体现自然对于我们的深刻影响，这在我看来是刘商英这种工作方法的结果，在艺术家与自然相互补充的关系中，我们对于自然的控制和对于它的服从相互渗透着。

刘商英在罗布泊创作现场，2019年

Liu Shangying's working progress at Lop Nor, 2019

谁的绘画，并不是针对于绘画的研究与解读，绘画本身也并不存在什么艺术的问题，问题是艺术家如何去创作他的绘画，创作的过程是什么，他为什么这样创作，他到底思考了什么。当我第一次看到刘商英在自然中创作的纪录片时，脑中便蹦出这是谁的绘画的疑问，后来我们一起行走自然，讨论感受，漫谈感知，我也跑去他在自然中创作的现场观看，越来越清楚他在自然中工作的方法、处境和结果，这是他与自然深刻的关联和互动。当刘商英将他的艺术走向自然的时候，把荒野视为有价值的时候，不但不会返回原始的水平，反而会提升艺术家及作品的精神价值，荒野中毕竟还是有很多文化经验所不能把握的价值，在这种文化经验与身体体验不对称的状态下，理想的创作也将不再是一成不变和能完全预测的，这就像我们拥有更多千篇一律的观念，其价值不如我们实际有这样一个带有野性的自然，这样的自然有更多的故事，因而也就更理想。

2021年9月17日

刘商英在额济纳旗创作现场，2015年

Liu Shangying is working at Ejin Banner, 2015

Since 2011, Liu Shangying has made four trips into the depopulated zones of Ngari (Tibet), Ejin Banner (Inner Mongolia), Lop Nor (Xinjiang), and Altun Mountain (Xinjiang) to carry out his field painting projects, and has held two outdoor exhibitions in the Hongcheng relics in Ejin Banner and the Red River Valley in Toksun respectively. Over the past ten years, he has developed a nature-based painting style characterized by a fairly close tie with nature's creations. His paintings, carrying the colors of the four seasons and the traits of dust, wind, and storm, fully capture the spirit of the wilderness.

After Ngari, Ejin and Lop Nor, Liu has started a new project this year in the unpopulated zone of Altun Mountain, and trekked along a path that has become more and more “out of control” as far as his experience is concerned. However, as one totally in love with the wilderness, he values his challenge to the nature, as well as the discipline, danger, and even the silent indifference from it. The indeterminacy due to his inability to control turns out to be the real result of his working process and makes it valuable. It not only highlights a wider dimension of Liu's art but also reveals the close connection between the artist and the artworks. Employed as a fundamental element to bring out his art, Liu's working process demonstrates adequately the value he acquires through his encounter with nature, as well as the condition he was in while the works were made. Such value, in most cases, does not accumulate or is passed down in culture. In Lop Nor, the constant sandstorm lent him a precious power: the tortures he has endured (exhaustion, coldness, helplessness and disorientation) are already breathtaking when one sees them, but only when one stands amid them can he really feel the truth that wilderness is more intolerant of error than just being dangerous. I accompanied him to his working site in the unpopulated zone of Altun Mountain, where we walked and exchanged ideas. I used to be the only witness of his working there for quite a long time. It seems that painting, when happens in nature, is a way of expression that pushes life to an extrem. It's more like a tough battle. When he kept scraping, brushing, patting and applying to capture something invisible, windstorms gripped his hands, and he reconciled with the scorching sun physically. What's the point of such an action? I believe it is about personalizing the common culture, just as Liu Shangying has written in his Lop Nor logs - “Returned to its origin, the corporeal being needs no more than a little water and a piece of flatbread to be fully charged. There is no more waste, as all the human instincts are mobilized in the primeval state of being, where everyone is equal in front of nature, in need of no extra desire at all. Looking up into the sky and looking down at the earth, the original perceptions. Even the minimum planning seems unnecessary. It is about a downright return. Here, the seemingly boundless freedom actually represents the highest level of compliance. There is no room to maneuver. Step by step, as it was being reduced to a vacuum, the fewer choices I have, the more brand-new experiences will I get.” Painting in the wilderness, likewise, means picking out what is essential from culture to nourish oneself spiritually, rather than giving up culture. As known to those who have left their familiar contexts, culture does nothing more than preparing us for our independent thinking and practice. Eventually, everyone has to stop referring to the textual experiences and forge ahead alone.

搬运作品过程，罗布泊，2019年

Carrying the work, Lop Nor, 2019

Culture is inclined to tear us away from the wildness and freedom of nature, but walking in the wilderness and conducting a project there remind us of this fact. In my eyes, wildness and freedom, the bearing of Liu's works are the gifts of profound significance that he has got from painting in nature. Liu once compared Lop Nor to nature's ruins, but I'd rather take it as the difference that wildness has made in nature. The history of nature has given form to a long-lasting integrated concept while it is also a community encompassing various lives and forms. Therefore, each and every piece of wilderness is unparalleled. The reason why we create art or carry out art projects in places of different landscapes is that we would like to perceive the variety of nature and examine our order and systemic issues in the splendid history of nature. Like time literally lies in the sand, the desert poplars in Ejin have added liveliness to such a bleak piece of land, and that's exactly the random constancy that we need, for it enables us to understand that one place is so different from another that every eco-system is special in its own right. The value of wildness, which is the cause of such differences everywhere, has thus been better recognized, so has that of Liu Shangying's painting. Nature's engagement with painting has enabled the artist to detach from the established concepts and methodology to be “extremely indulgent”，“desperately struggling”，“wildly free” and “compliantly carefree”. We can hardly come to a conclusion of such a state in the framework of the present art system. It's likely that an artist and his painting have achieved a kind of freedom, something he has gained by putting himself into the environment barely enough to survive so that he could face the volatility endowed by wildness. He had to do this because in a fixed world where we are always disciplined by rigid languages and forms, there is no freedom. Since civilization, which does not tolerates wilderness, has to associate it with disorder, chaos, confusion and violence, such definitions of wildness are usually anthropocentric. From the artworks that Liu Shangying has made while interacting with nature and exhibited in nature, I found that painting has suddenly gained its own stand and its own environment to grow, thereby giving us another way to define wildness. It is like an autonomous collective body in the system of nature, pure, free, natural, absolute, and outstandingly expressive with every one of it being gifted in its own way.

托克逊红河谷展览现场，2019年

Installation view at the Red River Valley, 2019

For the art practice carried out in nature, prolonged and repeated intervention is crucial. Only when the body and the surroundings are in step can real communication take place continuously, during the process of which nature awakens our mind, and our initially passive response to it is gradually promoted to an proactive one. Liu Shangying has got the idea as early as he conducted the walking project in Ngari. Entering nature, he found himself in contact with a world almost alien to him. Immersed in the wildness featuring a centrifugal force, he could have lost his psyche had he not contemplated. But he sustained this force and managed to accommodate it. When he decided to work in the wilderness, Liu was searching for a world so alien to himself that he could return to nature as the complement to his mind. Continuously reflecting on nature, observing it and carrying out projects in it, the soul will eventually find its way back. The artist, instead of presenting the landscapes realistically, has chosen to immerse himself into the scenery deep enough to translate his friction with nature onto the canvas to highlight his state and feelings. In this way, the field of nature, where his action took place, becomes a field of experiences. What we see from his painting is no longer just a realistic depiction of the surface of the landscapes, but a psychological state that allows us to feel “the invisible” and “the ineffable”.

Liu prefers to describe his artworks as dialogues he has made with yardang, desert poplars, rocks, yaks, etc. Unlike the communication we make in cities via complicated and developed languages, these dialogues are mostly based on physical frictions and competitions, displaying his creativity in combat. Considered within the frame of the overall art making process, our psyche does not stay within our body but exists in our dialogue with the world. We express the integrity of art amid our interaction with the environment. When we make art in nature, for example, the accepted notions that nature does not need art, and that the value of nature is only validated in human's expression of it are only half the truth. Such interpretations are the result of understanding nature only with the help of textual experiences instead of the firsthand ones, in which one will find that humanity takes deep root in nature, that everyone's complex about nature or behavior in the wild varies, that we benefit from nature and are restricted by it at the same time, and that like our perception of nature, our view of nature comes from our communication with it, rather than something we impose on it. Then, will there be a kind of fusion between human beings and nature that can, on one hand, embody human values and, on the other, reflect nature's profound impact on human beings? To me, Liu's working method is aimed at realizing such fusion - within the complimentary relationship between the artist and nature, our control of nature and our submission to it are interwoven with each other.

刘商英在玛旁雍错，2014年

Liu Shangying at Manasarovar, 2014

“Who's Painting” is not about exploring and explaining painting. Painting itself does not have any artistic issues to debate either. The question is how an artist should engage himself in painting, how the process goes, why he chooses to work this way, and what on earth he is thinking, etc. When I watched the documentary showing Liu Shangying working in nature for the first time, the question of “who's painting” came to my mind. Later, as I walked with him in nature, exchanged feelings and perceptions with him, and watched him painting in the wilderness, it became clearer to me that the method, context, and result of working in nature are all based on his in-depth connection and interaction with it. When Liu takes his art to nature and regards wilderness as something valuable, he is not retreating to the primitive; instead, he is elevating the spiritual dimension of the artist and his art, because after all, there is still a great deal of value in the wilderness that is beyond the realm of cultural experience, and in such an asymmetry between cultural experience and physical experience, making satisfying art will not continue to be the same or predictable. It is comparable that we might stick to a sea of stereotyped ideas, while actually owning the wildness-bearing nature is more valuable, for it has more stories to tell, and is thus more satisfying.

Sep. 17, 2021

《谁的绘画》展览现场，星空间，2021年

Installation views of Who's Painting, Star Gallery, 2021

原文首发于“星空间StarGallery”公众号

莽原wildlands

一个漫长的艺术项目