曾健勇：制造“童年藝術(shù)”的陌生感

文/陳榮義

曾健勇

中文：

　　在中國當(dāng)代藝術(shù)發(fā)展的進(jìn)程中，以兒童為創(chuàng)作題材的藝術(shù)舉不勝舉，就架上繪畫而言，大體有這三類：一，當(dāng)代藝術(shù)中部分主流畫家;二、擁有集體面貌的“卡通一代”中部分畫家;三，部分風(fēng)格和年齡不統(tǒng)一的非主流畫家。根據(jù)目前這些藝術(shù)家的陣容和創(chuàng)作的效果史來看姑且可以把這一現(xiàn)象稱作“童年藝術(shù)”?！巴晁囆g(shù)”的價值從藝術(shù)的效果史來看主要來自第一類藝術(shù)家的創(chuàng)造，“卡通一代”畫家由于喪失任何的文化針對和當(dāng)下關(guān)懷而淪為庸俗的社會反映和膚淺符號置換的藝術(shù)，價值微乎其微;風(fēng)格和年齡不統(tǒng)一的非主流畫家大都是跟風(fēng)的盲從者，幾乎不值得討論。“童年藝術(shù)”的第一類藝術(shù)家像張曉剛、方力鈞、唐志岡、劉野、曾梵志、王興偉、李繼開等等的創(chuàng)作具備強(qiáng)烈的文化針對性和當(dāng)下關(guān)懷以及作品具有敏銳的感覺、深刻的思維、嚴(yán)肅的判斷和智慧的創(chuàng)造。正是因?yàn)橛泻笳叩乃囆g(shù)，“童年藝術(shù)”已成為中國當(dāng)代藝術(shù)發(fā)展中的一條重要的暗線，它折射出“兒童”在中國當(dāng)代藝術(shù)表達(dá)中已成為一個重要的符號以及這個符號自身力量的強(qiáng)大。

　　曾健勇的繪畫正是取材于“兒童”，從2007年開始創(chuàng)作的《大隊長》系列到后來的《成長》系列和最近的《少年時代》系列等作品，在這些作品中他努力使得自己在中國的“童年藝術(shù)”中擁有一席之地。事實(shí)上，曾健勇已經(jīng)做到了這一點(diǎn)，如今，人們看到那些一臉稚嫩，大大的眼睛如同玻璃球般透明，臉上和身上部分皮膚有著像疤痕或污垢，胸前戴著黑色紅領(lǐng)巾和手臂上戴著三道桿的大隊長身份袖章的少年兒童的畫面就明白是他創(chuàng)作的作品。曾健勇在這些看似符號化的作品中成功地塑造了屬于自己的少年兒童的鏡像以表達(dá)畫家對個人童年史的記憶和現(xiàn)實(shí)想象。

　　作品《大隊長》系列與畫家個人的童年史記憶有關(guān)。畫家曾對自己的童年是這么回憶的：“我小時候連大隊長都當(dāng)不上，覺得大隊長不像學(xué)生，覺得學(xué)習(xí)好的女生都漂亮，我的童年不太清晰，很模糊地就過去了?！憋@然，大隊長是畫家童年記憶的一個心結(jié)。畫家作品中出現(xiàn)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)像的擁有大隊長身份的少年兒童，這些孩子從精神面貌上看起來天真無邪、懵懵懂懂、愣愣中帶著疑惑甚至無辜的眼神。顯然大隊長并不是畫家自己，而是與他有關(guān)系的人：可能是他的同學(xué)、進(jìn)而可能是他兒時暗戀的對象或者情敵、或者瞧不起他的人。出生于文革后期的畫家把學(xué)習(xí)優(yōu)秀和女生的美麗都和大隊長掛鉤象征高不可攀的權(quán)力和等級制度的同時也很容易把他和她看作同一階級的敵人。進(jìn)而表達(dá)自己(還有別的同學(xué))對大隊長充滿嫉妒、自卑、仇恨等等復(fù)雜的心態(tài)。而這一切對于處于懵懂、純真并不十分知道自己扮演的角色的大隊長來說是那么的沉重和無辜。畫家以今天大人的角度對他們的追憶顯然是還原和想象兒時的心境，在這里主要表達(dá)了童年歷史人們對大隊長的人性誤解所帶來的傷害，以同情表達(dá)批判。在接下來的《成長》和《少年時代》等系列作品中表達(dá)了畫家對童年的現(xiàn)實(shí)聯(lián)想。畫家對兒子的童年生活進(jìn)行觀察和表達(dá)。兒子剛剛當(dāng)上中對長有可能不久以后就當(dāng)上大隊長了。這對于沒有大隊長人生經(jīng)歷的畫家來說也許充滿期待，但是有一天他看到了外表強(qiáng)悍的兒子在半夜夢醒時是那么的無助的樣子，他才發(fā)現(xiàn)兒子的內(nèi)心沒寫在臉上。那么，哪天兒子當(dāng)上了大隊長后半夜夢醒時有可能還是那么無助的樣子。他下意識的認(rèn)識到“大隊長”只是一個身份外衣，大隊長和所有的少年兒童一樣具有生理和年齡的規(guī)定性。這樣一來，畫家在《成長》和《少年時代》等系列作品中，少年兒童的表情和形象發(fā)生了微妙的變化：《成長》系列中，兒童的眼神開始變得憂郁，知道了自己受傷的痛，《少年時代》系列中，孩子的眼神中開始不信任，他(她)們的身體往后退縮、收緊或者相互擁抱，他們顯得無助、尋找安全等。畫家在這兩組作品中，揭示了包括大隊在內(nèi)的少年兒童的人性的真實(shí)那一面，表達(dá)了畫家對大隊長的寬容和理解，正如畫家自己所說：“作為藝術(shù)家，我珍視人類本性中的弱點(diǎn)，如非理性和脆弱，我試圖在作品中面對這些特質(zhì)?！痹∮碌淖髌房傮w上制造了少年兒童單純的鏡像，并在他(她)面前籠罩上一層模糊的面紗，帶著人類童年的歷史和現(xiàn)實(shí)隔膜的神秘。

　　曾健勇不是兒童心理學(xué)家，也不是社會學(xué)家和人類學(xué)家，而是一個畫家，他清楚自己的“童年藝術(shù)”必須要落在相匹配的風(fēng)格和語言上面。對于風(fēng)格上的考慮，曾健勇一直擅長繪本圖書、三維動畫，作為70年代出生的藝術(shù)家很容易照搬本已輕車熟路的卡通風(fēng)格，但他要避免卡通徒有視覺的外表而缺少內(nèi)涵。另一方面，他很清楚具有文化針對性的兒童形象，最后通過對現(xiàn)實(shí)中的小孩形象和藝術(shù)效果史中的小孩形象的進(jìn)行雜糅、歸納和修辭達(dá)到自己畫面中理想的少年兒童形象，這種形象介于卡通和現(xiàn)實(shí)之間，手法上則介于寫實(shí)和意象之間，制造了兒童形象的繪畫陌生感。在藝術(shù)語言的應(yīng)用上，“童年藝術(shù)”中語言的運(yùn)用涉及油畫、雕塑、水墨、圖片等等。曾健勇同樣對這些語言很熟悉，他經(jīng)過理性分析后選擇了水墨。對此曾健勇說：“武術(shù)可以和拳擊、柔道、跆拳同臺比試，水墨也是中國功夫，軟刀子也可以殺人?！彼谶\(yùn)用水墨時做了綜合使它顯示出油畫般的效果，其中傾向?qū)憣?shí)的手法有效傳遞形象的感染力。這些對于中國的水墨藝術(shù)界來說感到奇怪和陌生。反過來，西方藝術(shù)界在看懂他作品的內(nèi)容和精神的同時對水墨這種新媒介如何能產(chǎn)生這種效果也產(chǎn)生了好奇。曾健勇的這種做法好比中國旅法藝術(shù)家黃永砯在威尼斯雙年展中的作品，其中中國戰(zhàn)國時期的戰(zhàn)車盡管是套用的是西方的裝置概念但實(shí)物的元素卻是中國的，正是這種中國元素讓西方觀眾感到神秘不已。

　　以上陳述證明曾健勇自己自覺地納入當(dāng)代文化的體系并在中國當(dāng)代藝術(shù)發(fā)展的坐標(biāo)中尋找自己藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作的獨(dú)特坐標(biāo)點(diǎn)，他在《大隊長》、《成長》、《少年時代》系列作品中所創(chuàng)造的形象和手法以及它們與個人心理的關(guān)系形成自己獨(dú)特的“童年藝術(shù)”面貌給中國當(dāng)下流行的“童年藝術(shù)”帶來新鮮的陌生感。（靜篤齋2012）

English:

Zeng Jianyong:To create the strangeness of “Childhood Art”

Chen Rongyi

　　In the process of Chinese contemporary art development, it is full of works that are created with the children as the material. List goes on the shelves of painting, which generally have three categories: first, the mainstream of contemporary art painter; second, a part of the artist of the collective face of the "cartoon Generation, "Third, part of the style and age is not a unified non-mainstream artist.

　　According to the current number of the artists and the effect of their creataion,we can call this phenomenon

　　"Childhood Art." "Art childhood," the value of the effect of the history of art from the point of view from the first category of artists to create, "cartoon generation" artist because of the loss of any culture and against the current concern of the community and has degenerated into a vulgar and superficial symbols reflect the replacement of the Arts, Minimal value; style and age is not a unified non-mainstream artists are those who blindly follow the trend of almost not worth discussing.

　　The top-class of the ‘childhood art’ artists, such as zhangxiaogang, Fanglijun, Tang zhigang, Liuye, Cengfanzhi, wangxingwei, Li Jikai and so on. Whose creation has a strong culture of immediate concern, as well as targeted and works with a keen sense of profound thought, to judge the seriousness and creatation of wisdom. It is because of the latter's art, "art of childhood," has become an important development of the dark line of Chinese contemporary art, it reflects the "child" has become an important symbol in the expression of Chinese contemporary art, as well as the symbol of its own become strong .

　　Zeng Jian Yong's painting is based on the "children", from the "captain" series which he created in 2007 to "grow up" series and the recent series of "youth", and other works, in which he try to make him find a place in the "art of childhood” of china.

　　In fact, Zeng Jianyong has already done this now. At present, people who see the look of tender, eyes as big as a transparent glass ball, his face and body as part of the skin has a scar or dirt, his chest, wearing a black and red scarf 3, wearing arm-bar armbands in his capacity as leader of the children on the screen is aware of his creative work. Zeng Jianyong successfully created the image of himself in these symbols of his works to express his own personal history of childhood memories of imagination and reality.

　　The "captain" series have some relation with the memories of the childhood of the artist.

　　The artist once recalled his childhood like this: when I was young, I don’t have the ability of the captain. I thought that the captain is not a student, and in my mind the girls who are good at studies is beautiful. The memory of my childhood is not clear, it went past quickly.’ Obviously, the captain is the confused feeling of the artist’s childhood.

　　The children emerged as the standard captain in his works. Those children who looked from the appearance of spirits is innocent, confused. Obviously, it is not the artist himself, but the person who has relationship with him. Maybe his classmates, the loved in his childhood or his rival, or who look down on him.

　　Burned after the Cultural Revolution, the artist linked the beauty of girls with good study and the captain is the symbol of power hierarchy and at the same time is also very easy to him and her in the same class as the enemy. To express themselves (and other students) on the head, which full of jealousy, inferiority, hatred, and so complex state of mind? All of these are for the captain who knows nothing is so heavy and innocent. In this time’s point of view of adults and artists recall the state of mind as a child. It is mainly talking about the hurt which was brought by the misunderstanding of the captain in childhood, and express sympathy for the criticism.

　　Then in the next, and < adolescent age >and other series of works express the reality imaginary of artist towards the childhood.

　　The artist observed the life of his son to express his own feeling.

　　The Son has just become the chief and has the possibility to become a leader in the near future. This is maybe full of expectations to the farther who has no experience of great captain, but one day he saw the appearance of helpless of his son who wake up in the middle of the night , though the son is tough in appearance. He found his son's heart was not the same in his face. Then, on a day when the son of leader when the night is likely to wake up of helpless. He subconsciously aware of the "great leader" is only in his capacity as a coat, the captain and all the children have the same physical ages and the nature of the provisions.

　　As a result, in the "growth" and "youth" and other series works, the children's faces and the image have taken place subtle changes: in the "growth" series, children's eyes started to become depressed, aware of his injuries Pain, in the "youth" series, the children's eyes become have no confidence, her (his) body go to back, or tighten or embrace each other, they are helpless and want to find safety.

　　In the two groups of his works, they have revealed one of the real human nature of the children including the captain. And expressed the patience and understanding the artist to the captain. it just like the artist said that : “ as an artist, I cherish the weak point of human nature, for example ,the unrational weakness, I try to face them in my works.” On the whole, the works of Zeng jianyong created the pure image of the children, and veiled them, in the mystery of the memory of the history and reality of the childhood of the human.

　　Zeng Yong is neither a child psychologist, nor is it an anthropologist and sociologist, but a painter. he know that his "childhood art" must fall to match the style and the level of language.

　　According to the consideration of style, Jianyong have been good at picture books, three-dimensional animation. As the artist who was in the 1970s could easily copy the cartoon style, but he only has to avoid the cartoon's visual appearance ,not to avoid lacking of connotation. On the other hand, he clearly has targeted the cultural image of the child, through the image of the child in the reality and the effect of art history in the image of a child for miscellaneous, summed up their own rhetoric and the screen image of the ideal of children, this is between reality and image of the cartoon, is on the way between realism and image, create a children's painting with the image of strangeness.

　　In the application o language on arts, "Arts of childhood" in the language relating to the use of oil painting, sculpture, ink, pictures and so on. Jianyong have the same familiar with these languages . through rational analysis, he chosed ink. He has said: "wu shu can compete with boxing and judo. Ink is also a kind of kongfu, just like the weak knife also can kill people."

　　He made use of ink when it shows the result of integrated oil painting, which tend to realistic and effective means of transmission of the image of the appeal. For those of Chinese ink painting and art is very strange and unfamiliar. On the other hand, Western art in his work understand the content and spirit of this new media of ink on how to produce this effect of curiosity. Have the courage to build such an approach can be compared to Chinese artists in France HUANG Yong Ping in the Venice Biennale in the works, of which China's Warring States period, although the vehicles are applied to the Western concept of the device but the physical elements are China, which is China kinds of elements to allow viewers in the West felt the mysterious of china.

　　Above statements demonstrate that he has his own get in to into the system of contemporary culture and to find his unique place in the development of Chinese contemporary art .in his "captain" and "growth", "youth" series works, the Created image and the way they are painting , as well as personal and psychological relationship to form their own unique "art of childhood" to the face of China's current epidemic "of childhood art" brings fresh strangeness.(JingDuZhai2012)