Monthly Archive for March, 2008
To Explore the Spiritual Root in Wild Weald
–A Talk among Guan Yuda, Luo Fei and He Libin
Keywords: Weald Wildness Regression Factors beyond civilization Observation with distance
In the talk, Guan Yuda thought that discussing art in Yunnan can’t go without the nature. Although there was some relationship between He Libin’s painting ‘Weald’ and the natural sceneries, this painting should be put in a even broader contemporary cultural vision, and He Libin is not a scenery painter. In Luo Fei’s view, the first time when modernism regressed to weald, what was got were vanity and desperation. Today if weald is going to be the subject again, either go back to modernism or create the classic for the second time. As far as He Libin is concerned, he thought painting was to solve the ultimate problem of human beings: ‘where to come and where to go’. Going back to the spiritual original weald was exactly the factors beyond civilization, which were more natural, distant and clearer solutions to many problems in today’s city life.
Nostalgia and Walking in the Field
——Preface of He Libin’s exhibition “A Traveler’s log”
Guan Yuda
It was from 2006, I think, He Libin has made some obvious changes in his art works. A lot of works have been painted in the theme of “field” and “wasteland”. They are mainly in the tone of black, white and gray, and have a wild style of drawing, presenting the feeling of sorrow and emotion, which could be found similar to the film of Tarkovsky, a master of cinema from former Soviet Union, and literature of Russian, such as the “light nostalgia” in the fiction of Иван Алексеевич Вунин. But in the same time, they also shows that he is a walker in the dark, angrily and impetuously, wandering around without reason and knowing nothing about the way back home. That is what “A traveler’s log” is.
They are a series of works, emotional and deep, which could be thought as the record of what the artist had experienced those years. Like how cardiogram works, they show the pulse, temperature and heartbeat of the artist when he was painting. Although the image, such as wasted field, felled forest, wild grasses, harvested farm, land, sky and mountain and so on, could be found in them, I still don’t think they are a series of landscapes. He refers to the definition of “landscape” in the modernism and paints many images of it in fact, moreover, the basic elements of the works are related to the “landscape”, however, what they have indicated are far beyond what is called landscape. If I have to use the concept of “landscape”, I would prefer to call it “big landscape” or “post landscape”, which expresses a will to be back to the harmony with the power of the original nature and the freedom of life. In the history of modern art, from Cezanne and impressionism, it was the weapon to help the artists to defend the “civilization” and “mechanization”.
The most typical representative of it is Gauguin, of course. He hated himself for belonging to the culture of Bourgeoisie and regarded himself as a self-consciously original people and the survival of romanticism. In order to break from the café and salon in Paris, which was the symbol of “civilization”, he escaped to the torrid Tahiti Island in the South Pacific.
The experience of traveling to the west part of China, west north Sichuan, Gansu, Xinjiang, Shanxi and inner Mongolia, in 1994-1995 maybe the reason why He Libin got the idea of the works. During a talk after it, he told me his motivation and said: “Many artists will in pursuit of the life itself in all kinds of ways. And I think I have to go back to the origin. The origin nature ranks higher than the humanized one, I should go inside and feel it.” He mentioned “back”, “origin” and “origin nature” here, which are similar to the intention of origin in forepart of modernism art and philosophical system developed by Chuang-tzu from China.
But, the question is if there is a way to be “back”? It is broken in the thought of western modernism. As a classic theme in modernism, “wasteland” was used by Thomas Stearns Eliot and Hermann Hesse, which was seemed as a prison and having no life existed. Their animadversion caused from the deep pain, disappoint and sorrow to the western civilization. Spring should be the time that everything grows up, but from Eliot’s point London, the symbol of modern, was a wasteland. In that dying world, people were dead although they were still alive, having only the feeling of desperation and flesh in their heart. The philistinism and contemptibility filled the world, and people were going to death ignorantly under the obituary dark cloudy sky. The reality was like the hell, and modern people were a group of soulless ghosts.
He Libin is living in Yunnan, which is a beautiful and peaceful place full of romantic atmosphere. The tradition of Naxi people in his blood also attaches him to the pure nature. So what he describes in his works should be different to the above. I think, given the personality, experience and the pursuit of culture of him, the opinion, that the essence is consistent with the nature from Daoism, might has made more impression to him. From Chuang-tzu’s point of view, the beauty of sky and land, the order of seasons and the vicissitude of everything are all made by the power of nature, which is the principal of the universe and affected by nothing. In front of it, people can’t do anything but to show their reverence. That is the reason why He Libin often arranges a people walking in the vast scenery, which is like the pattern of Chinese traditional landscape, such as the《Traveling amid Mountains and Streams》by Fan Kuan.
But this time, the traveler is not so easy and free compared with the ancient Chinese intellectual. On the contrary, he is a little bit anxious, worrying, sad and lonely. The conflict fills the works and makes it to present the feeling of sorrow and nostalgia which is not so severe. The feeling is not under control when walking in that kind of field. A poem said “life has no homeland, heart is the direction.” Being different to the fictitious Tahiti and tarnished Eden described by Gauguin, who insisted on getting on the way “back” last century in France, He Libin’s works are sad, emotional, romantic and sorrow, which is deep to the heart and like the wolves’ crying in the field. It recalls me that last autumn He Libin and I had some drink in a Naxi people’s village near La Shi Lake in Lijiang. It was a night with many stars on the sky, we were drunk, walked around and couldn’t find the way home, which is like the traveler, helpless but still being forward, in his paintings.
I suddenly feel it coincidental when my words come here. It seemed to be a real metaphor that, in fact, everyone including me is a “traveler”, we are all on the way “back home” through the field. We all want to go back “home”, but have not the direction, nor the answer.
Mar. 22, 2008 night
Kunming
回头是荒原
——有关和丽斌“荒原”系列绘画
文/罗 菲
今天我们所谈论的当代艺术事实上主要是关于都市的艺术，它在题材、风格、思潮、经济体系、受众等方面都明确地指向都市这个现代性社会系统，虽然这样的观点并不能囊括今天当代艺术的全部，但我们以各国际双年展近些年的主题为参照，便可发现这样的类型化倾向影响着主流艺术界的趣味和当代艺术家的创作。诚然，当代艺术作为文化事件对都市生存展开叙事有其当下文化针对性、存在批判性和关怀性，并维系着与受众群-都市人之间在文化心理、感官体验并生存经验上的共鸣关系。但这种类型化的关于都市的宏大叙事却因其身在其中在一定层面上并不能对当代人的生存状况提供一种对先见性的批判立场，甚至有时适得其反，产生出一种媚俗风格，比如90年代后期的艳俗艺术，今天的大脸画派，泛滥的青春残酷日记风格，以及风靡雕塑界的汽车烤漆质感等等，艺术家为了表达虚浮媚态的现实于是决定把自己连同自己的艺术变得更加虚浮和媚态，这样的所谓批判性只是隔靴搔痒。
而有关都市外部的诸如自然风景等题材，也被现代艺术运动中的各种流派占领了至高地，以至今日鲜有人愿意真正面对自然去追寻点什么，风景艺术成为一个学科概念，只是学院派里陈腐的方法论练习，或者自然主义下的风情画，它们在当代文化艺术中只是保守地蹲守据点，与当代人的生存状况、精神呼求无涉。
在这种当代艺术都市化，非都市-风景艺术陈腐化的历史环境下，人们既不甘心却又乐意地远离了“大地”这个上世纪80年代很流行90年代至今都被视为愚蠢的词汇，以及与它有关的词汇表。深度模式在艺术市场大潮中被清理得一干二净。
然而就在这个人们极易被都市、名利、权力所异化的今天，却仍有一些忠实于人性深处真实呼求的艺术家，从都市中退出来，返回自然、返回大地，到那里争取一点属于自己的时间与空间，争取一点和都市之间的距离，去审视自己也审视当代人-都市人的生存危机。这里我们以艺术家和丽斌的近期油画“荒原”系列为个案展开阐述，来看看艺术家是如何面对自己的内心和当下的精神家园。
和丽斌最早从事油画创作，但在过去近十年的艺术生涯中，他主要是以架上综合材料进行观念图式的实验，以泥土、钉子、烧焦的报纸拼贴成中国传统山水图式，以及扭曲报纸成条状镶嵌成书法样式这两类作品为这一时期的代表作，以此关注中国传统自然观及其图式在当代的处境。2005年底他又因着他对绘画的热爱和执迷返回架上绘画，其间画了大批量的乡村、城市风景的黑白油画小稿，2007年夏天他甚至运着大尺幅画框去到虎跳峡面对气势磅礴的山壁实地写生，由此可见和丽斌对绘画和大自然有着特别的眷恋之情，他极其在意直面自然时的现场感对绘画的影响，而短时期大批量的写生作品也预示着他内心深处酝酿着的巨大能量。
和丽斌是在2006年开始创作“荒原”系列油画的，这里我所要讲的“荒原”系列其实是涵盖了以《荒原》系列为代表的三组作品，另外两组数量相对较少，一组是以《山海经》中的著名神话《夸父逐日》为蓝本创作的《逐日》，另一组是关于不明之火的《幻灭》景象。由于这两组画面依然发生在荒芜的野地，且在方法、风格并精神诉求上与《荒原》系列有着一致性和延续性，故将它们一并纳入“荒原”系列来进行阐述。
这批主要以黑白调子构成的风景画，以粗犷、凝炼、极富表现力的笔法描绘着乡村树木、小径、荒原一隅、风中的野草、芦苇，以及荒芜的旷野之地，堆积着厚实的尚未调和的油画颜料在画布上形成特别的质感：鲜活而敦厚，从画面的用笔中甚至可以看到艺术家作画时涨红着脸、迅速运笔时的体态，看得出和丽斌对画面鲜活感的追求与书写行草时对气的把握有着某种共通性。“荒原”系列在视觉效果上延续了他在综合材料实验阶段所积累的视觉经验，通过斑驳的黑白关系削弱形体间的界限，使得画面呈现出焦灼而沉凝的气氛。有意思的是，和丽斌在许多画前都预先为自己设定下不同的表现手法，根据画面场景需要和感受来挑战自己，可以说这个系列并没有一个完满的方法论，他更注重面对景物时所获得的触动和创造力：有的是对景物的书写勾画；有的是以简练笔触概括景物的体-面；有的是表现奔跑中所看到的虚幻的影象；有的则是靠堆积覆盖颜料来呈现大地的原始质感；有的则是以磨砂般的画面质感呈现旷野的气息……虽然很多画之间都略有不同的表现手法，但就“荒原”系列的总体风格而言，他还是秉持了表现主义风格的精神原则：忠实于自己作画时的内心体验和精神状态并赋予画面相应的表现力。而画面中大量黑白、冷灰色调子的营造仿佛梦境，也仿佛远逝的记忆，而这样的黑白画面同时也强化了作品中理性追问的冷峻色彩，那一个个微乎其微的人影在荒原中兀自站立、奔跑，这种小人物与大景观的比例关系使人不禁联想到中国传统山水画中人与自然的关系，一种豁达的自然观-宇宙观得以呈现。与传统风景图式不同的是，和丽斌的画面仍然是焦点透视而非散点透视，也就是说，他是以第一人称的视角进入“荒原”的。
在《逐日》系列中这种第一人称视角因其典故的缘故显得十分明确。艺术家进入夸父的角色亲临逐日这一荒诞而又神圣的现场，站在野地里直视那刺目得令人眩晕的太阳，历历在目的是无法推诿的光照——可谓《夸父逐日》神话中被定格的一帧。夸父作为中国文化里第一个理想主义者因为追逐太阳而死有着强烈的悲剧色彩和象征意义。当然，今日人们对夸父之死还有着诸多不同的看法和难解之谜，但在和丽斌看来，“夸父逐日”并非“飞蛾扑火”般的简单含义，他深信其中必然暗含某种启示，于是他决定亲临逐日现场，面朝太阳，按下暂停……黑格尔认为原始悲剧的真正题旨是神性的东西，这里指的不是单纯宗教意识中的那种神性，而是显现在尘世间个别人物行为中的具有神性的伦理因素——即理想(2)。但在地上、理想与天堂之间却设有“疆界”——追逐太阳却并不可能成为太阳，这就是上帝为理想主义所设的“疆界”。越界的结果就是死，这是《夸父逐日》神话中的基本启示。
在和丽斌看来，绘画是为了解决人自身的问题，“从哪里来，到哪里去”的终极问题。这里他所指的“人自身”并非一个普世的人类对象，而是作为个体的一个人——或者，他自己。他认为只有回到精神的原点——荒原，恰恰是在那里除去了现代文明因素，可以更本质更清醒和有距离地面对和解决今天都市生活中的诸多问题(1)。于是和丽斌决定独自进入荒原-旷野，去追寻自己心中的疑问。
荒原-旷野曾在古代是作为流放犯人的蛮夷之地，而后在现代主义文学中被树立起一种经典的意象，无论是艾略特(T.S Eliot)的抒情长诗《荒原》(The Waste Land)，还是乔伊斯(James Joyce)的《尤利西斯》（Ulysses），它们都以现代都市的罪恶和没落为题材，以神话类比为作品的基本结构，以对人类命运的思考为基本主题。人因何存在？人归根到底应该把什么作为价值目的？是理性还是非理性，是自明还是信仰？在西方理性主义传统的土壤上固然诞生了现代化的工业文明和现代科技，但是为何尘世中还充斥着恶？为什么人还要悲哀、哭泣、流血？莎士比亚说：“这时代纷乱无绪。”而这样的问题如同在夸父所直面的太阳光下飞扬的尘埃一样挥之不去。
和丽斌进入了一片粗放狂野杂草丛生之地，荒芜的旷野，那都是长久没有人治理过的地方，这正是他所期盼的“原点”。按犹太经典《圣经·创世纪》记载，在创世之初亚当夏娃偷食禁果前，这地也是一片荒芜的野地：“野地还没有草木，田间的蔬菜还没有长起来”（《圣经》创2:5）。那么这是否意味，在恶发生以前这本是一片没有善恶的原点之地呢?(3)
和丽斌以第一人称视角进入这片原点之地：荒原，也以局外人的眼光注视着画面中兀立观望沉思的自己。我曾在第一次看到“荒原”系列后产生了这样的感悟：
当人从世间各样事务中抽身出来，离开喧嚣纷繁的世界，退到一片无人之境——荒原-旷野中独处时，天地间渺小身躯的人，不再只是一个短暂存活于地上有呼吸的动物，人直面太阳和大地时重新获得那关乎永恒与真理的思考，人重新省察自己的价值，身体与意志也不再容易受世界的欲望所引诱。独处者的心平静如止水，独处者的灵得到安息，不再纷乱，独处者在荒原与旷野中默观，单单的默观，默观自身，默观所处的世界，默观自己作为天地万物之中的人在这世代的境遇。在默观的过程中，独处者的心和灵都得以敞开，得以释放，去体验那“我在万物之中，万物在我之中”的荒原独处的默观之境。）那么，对于一个艺术家而言，为何要选择默观独处呢？我想，艺术家乃是作为活在这个世界上，却不属于这个世界的人。他是人类心灵的看护者。(4)
按和丽斌的初衷，从都市中抽身到荒原-旷野中有一段时间的独处是为了获得与世界的距离感，以及内心的平静，我认为这是要进入一种可能获得先见性认知的场域。如同《圣经》中耶稣论到先知施洗约翰(John The Baptist)时对人们说：“你们从前出到旷野，是要看什么呢？要看风吹动的芦苇吗？你们出去到底是要看什么？要看穿细软衣服的人吗？那穿细软衣服的人在王宫里。你们出去究竟是为什么？是要看先知吗？我告诉你们，是的，他比先知大多了”（《圣经》太11:7-9）。在这里，人们去到旷野是要去见先知去跟随先知，而在今天大道隐没先知缺席的时代，去到旷野中反思默观，便是可能获得一种先见性的认知与批判立场。和丽斌自认为是一个怀疑主义者，他的怀疑论是针对现代工业革命之后城市化进程中的理性至上和进步论所展开的。这样的质疑难能可贵，正如德语历史学家雅各·布克哈(5)特所说：“在某些时期，虚假的怀疑主义到处泛滥……而真正的怀疑主义总是不够。”和丽斌最近的《幻灭》系列也同样是基于这样的精神线索，那团荒原中熊熊燃烧的烈火，是意外？是灾难？是愤怒？是异象？是不可言说的荒唐？
和丽斌退到荒芜的旷野在他看来是一种回头，这不仅意指他14年前就从荒野题材开始他的艺术生涯，现在又因那些尚未澄清的问题再次回过头来直面荒原。另一方面这次回头也体现着一种我们今天普遍需要的反思与平静，而这其实正源于我们对自然和理想的眷恋之情，以及来自荒原的呼告。
在我们的文化里，隐遁是一种完美的处理现实与理想之间矛盾的方法。但在和丽斌那里，去到荒芜的旷野并不是独善其身的隱遁，因那荒芜之地并无好山好水，因那好山好水早已在城市化进程和工业革命中岌岌可危，哪里有“采菊东篱下，悠然见南山”的闲情逸致，因此回头-隱遁并不意味着一劳永逸的逍遥，却是要面对内心深处杂草丛生荒芜已久的精神荒原。他说：“有一种强烈的自我放逐的心境，特别在这个众声喧哗的年代，向荒野的放逐与回归，回到内心深处最清冷、最孤寂的状态，能让自己更清醒地面对当下的现实。”
令人可敬的是，在这组“荒原”系列里，既要在荒原中追寻终极的答案，又要在绘画技法、风格、图式上获得突破，和丽斌实在是给自己设下了巨大的挑战。
无论如何，我想，是荒原，而不是庭院美景，这是中国文人画的真正进步，是对当代艺术都市化媚俗化的深刻反思，也给风景艺术提供了一个鲜活的当代范本。
2008年3月18日夜写就于昆明梁源
注释
(1)《在荒芜的旷野探寻精神的根源：管郁达、罗菲与和丽斌的谈话》，2008年。
(2)黑格尔《美学》第三卷下册，朱光潜译，商务印书馆1991年版。
(3)按《圣经·创世纪》记载，人类因始祖亚当和夏娃偷食善恶树上的禁果而被逐出伊甸园，从此人类堕落，基督教称之为人类的原罪。
(4)笔者2006年12月31日博客日志《在荒原独处中默观》http://luofeiart.blogbus.com/logs/14404545.Html
(5)雅各·布克哈特（德文：Jacob Christoph Burckhardt，1818年5月25日－1897年8月8日），生于瑞士巴塞尔，并在出生地终老，杰出的文化历史学家，他的研究重点在于欧洲艺术史与人文主义。最着名的著作是《意大利文艺复兴的文化》（Die Kultur der Renaissance in Italien: ein Versuch）。
本文为和丽斌2008年在TCG诺地卡个展“行者日志”而写
From ‘The Way to Come and Go’ to ‘Overlapped View’
–A Talk between Cheng Changwei and He Libin
Keywords: Earth Fantasy and reality Contrast Material experiment
In the talk, He Libin depicted the relationship between his own artworks and life, and an important one was the relationship between human beings and the earth. In 1994 and 1995, He Libin traveled to the west of China, such as Gan Su, Xing Jiang, Shan’Xi and Inner Mongolia. He was deeply touched by the desolation and emptiness in the west and created his first series about that: ‘Views in the West’. During the following years, He Libin has also been expressing the relationship between human beings and the environment by his artworks and doing material experiments in accordance to the changes of his feelings. He Libin answered some questions like what was the relationship between painting language and art history. In the talk, the ideas about contemporary art in Yunnan were also mentioned. According to He, contemporary art in Yunnan was dynamic and with very strong inclination to be experimental, and existed in a free and loose atmosphere to build itself.
Thoughts in Lapse
–A Talk between Zhang Guanghua and He Libin
Keyword: Skeptic Forgotten views Lost world Lapse Inspiration
In the talk, He Libin explained the reason why he created ‘The Lost Writing’ and ‘The Forgotten Views’ by newspaper. Newspaper is of mass production, cheap and with rough touch. After being folded and twisted, the change of black, grey and white of newspaper is what He Libin wanted to express about the forgotten views. In He’s opinion, ‘Everything in the world is wearing away’, and he wanted to express the lapse of time by his artworks.
To Explore the Spiritual Root in Wild Weald
–A Talk among Guan Yuda, Luo Fei and He Libin
Keywords: Weald Wildness Regression Factors beyond civilization Observation with distance
In the talk, Guan Yuda thought that discussing art in Yunnan can’t go without the nature. Although there was some relationship between He Libin’s painting ‘Weald’ and the natural sceneries, this painting should be put in a even broader contemporary cultural vision, and He Libin is not a scenery painter. In Luo Fei’s view, the first time when modernism regressed to weald, what was got were vanity and desperation. Today if weald is going to be the subject again, either go back to modernism or create the classic for the second time. As far as He Libin is concerned, he thought painting was to solve the ultimate problem of human beings: ‘where to come and where to go’. Going back to the spiritual original weald was exactly the factors beyond civilization, which were more natural, distant and clearer solutions to many problems in today’s city life.
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Some comments about He libin’s arts:
He Libin is good at using the integrated materials in a plane to imitate the model of Chinese ancient landscape paintings, expressing a deep rusting memory as well as the rejection and disappointment of the reality.
- Mao Xuhui,The prologue of “Altitude Reaction - Yunnan Young Artist Joint Exhibition”, 2003
The language pattern of He Libin’s works is an approach with multiple parallel language layers. The main scene comes from the traditional Chinese landscape painting but its underlying media is the background that combines calligraphy, printed texts, as well as modern synthetic-coated paint, which displays a more self-expressed narrative text style.
- Wu Jun,”Creativity and Cultural Significance of Contemporary Institute” (Review On The Second Biennial Guiyang Painting Exhibition), 2003
The work (”Lost writing”) is made up of strongly distorted newspaper that is turned into long sticks and in a smart way be neatly pinned together with nails, and the calligraphy comes from the distorted newspaper is embedded in them. These materials and methods make the exciting writing process suffocated, and traces of abstract cursive handwriting become vaguely visible.
- An Li (East Asian Media Anthropology Institute, Germany) ,”Wandering Lives - Individual Disasters & Non-art Uncooperative”, Experimental Art Exhibition Review, 2005
The Naxi Minority artist from Lijiang is known for his deep and internal artistic style, whose painting materials and topics are full of the artist’s inherent personality and great creativity.
- Lin Qingquan”New Living” B42, July 14, 2005
From the naming of the “Western Landscape” in 1995 to “Memories”, “The Come-and-go Road” to “Drifting Shadow”, “The Duplication of Sceneries”, “Lost Writing”, “Dedicated to my Hometown of Lijiang - the 100 moments on December 24, 2005″, such titles are throughout his all works in the past 10 years, including the naming of the exhibitions that he organized or participated, such as “A Tale of Two Cities”, “Mirage”, all expressing his memorial feelings. He has always been careful to find, in his stirring heart, the bygone years and time. It is precisely this consanguinity of historical awareness and the sharing of space-time that consists of the scenery with the preciousness of multiple significances.
- Lin Shanwen,”Art Cases”, April 2006
Walking away from various temporal issues, leaving the noisy and complicated world behind and coming into a no man’s land, when a man is with himself in the wilderness and solitude, he, so small under the sky, is no longer just a short-lived breathing creature on the earth but getting started to regain the thought of eternity and truth; he will rethink his own values and his physical body and mind will no longer be vulnerable to temptation of desires. The lonely heart stays calm and the lonely soul rests at peace without any confusion but with contemplation at the empty land and wilderness, the sole contemplation, the contemplation of himself and of the world around himself and of his conditions as a man who lives in the world. In the process of contemplation, the lonely heart and soul are fully open and released to experience the contemplation condition of “I am in the world and the world is in me” in the empty land and wilderness. However, as an artist, why does he choose to live lonely and in contemplation? I think that an artist has to live in the world where he is not belonged to, since he is the watcher of human being’s soul.
I think that is a link between the deep soul experience and He Libin’s recent works – the “wilderness” series, and the experience can be created and shared between every lonely person who lives in contemplation.
He Libin has walked away from the landscape model, and out of the symbolism of materials and signs. In my opinion, that is a qualitative leap for his artistic life. He once entered a world, looking around in the widely spread images and signs, then he retreated into wilderness full of weeds to contemplate; entered a world of traditional Chinese academic landscape images, then retreated into this world’s paintings of contemplation; entered a mixed signs and materials to have the meanings of culture expression, then retreated into a life experience of the dialogue between himself and soul wildness. As I once said, Libin is that kind of artist who seeks for dual dialogues. Today, the dual dialogues are no longer the dialogues of history, images, signs and materials, but the dialogues between him, as a person who have real lives and feelings and the world. This is gradually emerging through the dialogues about the history, images, signs and materials. Although there are anxieties and struggles during the contemplation in the wilderness, it is the real soul experience for a person who gets started to walk into the way of contemplation and loneliness. The loneliness and pain during the contemplation and loneliness will return eternal soul relief.
I think that it is the wilderness, rather than the yard beauty, that represents the real progress of Chinese academic landscape paintings.
- Luo Fei,”The Contemplation Conception in the Wilderness”, December 31, 2006
Recently Li Bin and Lan Qingxing went to the Tiger Leaping Gorge, where I had been in 2003, for sketching and drew a number of landscape paintings, all of which are pressing stone mountains where clouds are flying around, and that is cool. You will always feel the fragile and short lives when you face the steep mountains. I was wondering why Li Bin and his companies would transport frame canvas so far for sketching under the hot sunshine and in the rain. Nowadays, although there are countryside going and materials collections during an art course, few students can truly comprehend the wonders of the Nature, since the countryside going and materials collections have become formalized and superficial teaching mode: there are no emotional dialogues with the locals during the countryside goings, and the sketching have not built a link between the students’ heart and world, or the Jingjie (state or the level of one’s perception).
We once talked about the importance of the wilderness experience for individual lives and ethnic groups. Although Li Bin does not understand Christian spiritual theology, his deep experience of wilderness/empty land makes him know about the need for soul building and makes him understand the meaning of loneness in this noisy and complicated world, which makes him understand that the wild is the source of power. It was the end of last year when I first saw him getting started to paint the two or three of the “wilderness” series, then I wrote down my feelings about that when I came back and sent the article to him with uncertainty, since I do not understand why he was concerned about wilderness. I only turned my experience at the belief and spiritual level into artistic language to describe the “wilderness.” Later on, he said: “Although the words are very short, it was very in line with my mood.” I think the real soul experience on art and religion is the same.
The Jews are very familiar to wilderness since their ethnic history is generated from the wilderness, and nowadays they often live outside with the whole family. But for Chinese, especially intellectuals, wilderness is so far away that there are many pretty hills, green waters and pleasant courtyards in our traditional culture but no a barren wilderness.
On the going into wilderness, there are two points must be explained. Firstly, living alone in wilderness is not escaping but regaining strength and listening to the voices of his own soul, whose charming can not be understood by those who do not have the deep lonely living experience. Chinese literati like to go to beautiful landscapes being with themselves, but as I once said, it is the wilderness, rather than the yard beauty, that represents the real progress of the Chinese academic landscape paintings, because it surpassed the transmigrate fate that Chinese literati can not avoid: escape and seclusion. Today, there are still many artists who agree with this idea and value - “studio artists”, who make works in the studio working with workers or assistants and let the finished works sent to the agents for high money rewards, then continue to their next studio works. This very safe and hidden way is very appealing for some young artists, since it will make them happy and famous without at lower prices. Secondly, going out into wilderness is not resulting from himself but for the calls from the wilderness and the attraction to our spiritual personality from the personification of the wilderness. Libin agreed with me by saying that we need to repeatedly return to the original point looking up to the light of spirit; otherwise we will be lost in this era.
Libin asked me, “Is there a word to describe my art and thought?” I thought for a while and said no, especially today - there are not so many people who are willing to climb up to barren heights of solitude of the spirit and soul to contemplate. If we have to use a word to describe his art, the word should be “spiritual art” (it is not about the art of spirituality, but about the spirituality of art). It is not a rapid and fashionable response to the current mainstream but the experience of an individual living alone to seek for the universal human spirit of the ultimate brilliance. I said to him, your works is so very close to God!
Every time I talked to Libin I was astonished to see the two light beams of thought that are repeatedly staggered to integrate and bring out the new beams in the dark.
- Luo Fei’s blog “The Spiritual Level in Arts”, 5 September, 2007
In “Western Landscapes” series 12 years ago and current “wilderness” series, He Libin has been trying to “seek for a kind of strong self-exile”, and go back into “coldest and most lonely stage of heart” to liberate the human being’s soul from the heavy shackles of the various desires that derive from the modern material civilization, going back to the calm and natural soul stage, going into the deeper realm of human being’s life to look at themselves, then to face current realities with clearer mind.
In his works, two color modeling elements, which are flowing brushwork full of life passion and the simple black-and-white color, have the dominant position with the light and shape at its services. Shapes are fading away from highly dynamic brushworks that were distorted and rolling, “broken” but not losing its overall internal structural changes. These brushworks, which are full of life energy and touching, learned from Chinese Painting’s conception of “using ink to replace color” to display the meaning of nature by using the black-and-white color, “broken” but not losing the overall body shape, as well as rocks, treetops, and the dramatic flashing lights from the grass, which built a single and unified scene of the whole world.In his “wilderness” series, the man’s body wrapped for a long time and the stillness of everything in the wilderness has been opened completely. Human being, as presence of the world, is linked to the whole world. The visual world that was experienced by He Libin but was often “forgotten” by the busy people has been reopened.
- Zhu Jun,”The Beard of Realism” (The Preface to “Color World” Exhibition), February, 2008
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