「真真：當代超常經驗」入口主視覺（照片來源：台北市立美術館官方網站）
台北市立美術館於今年一月到五月展出「真真：當代超常經驗」，其中吳天章的《戀戀紅塵II-向李石樵致敬》，結合繪畫的「真實若幻」與影像的「虛幻擬真」，詮釋一種創作與觀看上的「超常」經驗。
走進台北市立美術館的展場中，當筆者作為觀者，就近觀看吳天章的作品《戀戀紅塵II-向李石樵致敬》時，展場便轉變為一個暗室，天花板的霓虹燈開始轉動，並隨著音樂亮起舞光十色的燈光。此時，原先的畫作已被影像取代，畫中人物從一位旗袍女子轉變為偽娘的扮裝男子，伴隨著歌曲《紅玫瑰白玫瑰》走向前並婆娑起舞，等待歌曲結束再緩緩離去。
吳天章，《戀戀紅塵II-向李石樵致敬》，油彩、玻璃光學、錄像，218x206cm，1997
（圖片由吳天章提供）
（圖片來源：http://tw-teachartwiki.wikispaces.com/file/view/c860-1945.jpg/115667227/338x376/c860-1945.jpg）
跨時代的歷史敘事
《戀戀紅塵II-向李石樵致敬》是吳天章挪用李石樵的作品《市場口》，重新繪製並加上錄像裝置的展示型態。此作品距離《市場口》已有五十二年，吳天章以錄像裝置的呈現而形成詭魅的「招魂術」，似乎藉由影像的儀式性舞台將人物的這些傷痛視覺化，使觀者重新凝視創傷的記憶。《市場口》以台北市太平町（今日延平北路、永樂市場一帶）繁華的市場街景為主題，描繪出台灣光復後的景象。
一九四五年的台灣因日本投降而光復，而脫離日本殖民統治，人民滿懷期待重回祖國懷抱。然而，當時國民政府在紛亂時局接手的種種問題，導致人民對於原先的高度期望產生落差，恰巧的是，《市場口》創作完過了四年，台北市太平町附近就發生了震驚全台的二二八事件。而《戀戀紅塵II-向李石樵致敬》創作於一九九七年，此時距離「解嚴」剛好滿十年；距離「戒嚴」已有四十八年，筆者認為吳天章選擇在一九九七年這個時間點以《戀戀紅塵II-向李石樵致敬》做為歷史的回顧，原因可能包括各種認同的反思與當代脈絡的觀點呈現。
首先，畫面場景的選擇皆為台北市太平町，吳天章在場景的挪用上並沒有更改，而是改變了各種細節以呈現新的脈絡觀點。台北市太平町在一九四五年可以說是最熱鬧的市集之一，李石樵當年在創作《市場口》時可能有意將穿著改良式旗袍的女子安排於畫面中央，對照於周邊的市集人民，而呈現出社會中的「貧富」差距。我們可以看到旗袍女子身旁的小男孩背著小箱子沿街販賣，眼神顯示出憂鬱與茫然；旗袍女子的左後方，有一位似乎眼盲的禿髮老人，一手扶著盲杖、一手向市集的人們乞討；畫面下方的黑狗以及汗衫破舊的米販，皆顯示出當時光復初年民間物資貧乏的狀況以及貧富差距的現象。另外，從畫面中人物的服飾可以看出「新舊」時代的交替與變遷。旗袍女子右後方的婦人穿著傳統的旗袍樣式，以及傳統的「龜仔頭」髮式為舊時代的象徵，而髮型時髦、且穿著改良式旗裝的時髦女子則為新時代的代表，兩者顯然在畫面中形成強烈的新舊對比。
「身分認同」的多重思考
《市場口》中旗袍女子的「墨鏡」其實具有一種沉默的敘述，雖然她的神情已被遮蔽，觀者仍可以看出她的猶豫與些微的不自在。「底層人民研究」認為（Subaltern Studies）透過研究、挖掘，呈現底層人民，如農民、工人、女人等的歷史經驗，深入探討歷史而不受到菁英階層論述機制的限制，這一派的研究質疑透過菁英論述的媒介過程所呈現的觀點的真實性。從這樣的觀點來看，《市場口》的角色設定可能有意顯示出女性的沉默或無法走入歷史的事實，但是藉由藝術作品的描繪，女性得以自由地發聲。
「身分認同」是關於自身的一種思考，對於自身的想法會因時空變化與脈絡的差異而有所不同。在這其中，個人嘗試對他自己的生涯經驗進行反思之後所了解的自我是為「自我認同」；「社會認同」則是與規範權利、義務與認可息息相關，它可以說是全然社會與文化作用的結果，並在特定的集體中形塑著角。而《戀戀紅塵II-向李石樵致敬》中的主角則藉由「扮裝」來為自我發聲，筆者認為，吳天章安排具有偽娘傾向的扮裝男子自由地穿梭於熱鬧的市集中，重點在於時代脈絡的不同。過去戒嚴時期，同性戀者、偽娘者等，甚至是任何情慾的表現都是較不被社會大眾所接納的。吳天章的挪用雖然延續了李石樵的觀點，卻將女子轉變為男扮「女裝」的男子，這樣的「扮裝」似乎是透過對「性別」理想的重新表意，以此來顛覆和重塑性別規範。由於「扮裝」本身具有展演性質，因此，藉由男扮女裝的男子一方面不僅可以反思認同的無力感以及性別的認同，另一方面反映在不同時代下的「自我認同」與「社會認同」。
從兩件作品在對於過去歷史的詮釋，我們可以看到兩者之間跨時代的歷史敘事，而《戀戀紅塵II-向李石樵致敬》也可以說是對《市場口》中的女子重新「招魂」，從媒材的呈現而言，同樣是油畫作品，《市場口》畫面中的光源雖然來自右上方，並且投射在旗裝女子身上，以及畫面左方的人群與牆面上，而呈現出近似舞台燈的打光效果。相較之下，《戀戀紅塵II-向李石樵致敬》的舞台效果則更加顯著，並且在展示方式上更結合數位錄像與聲音裝置，打破傳統繪畫所擺放的白盒子空間而表現出作品另類的劇場風貌，這樣影像裝置的劇場性與觀者的身體存在實則有很大的關係。
吳天章，《戀戀紅塵II-向李石樵致敬》影像完整截圖
（圖片由吳天章提供）
「超常」的身體經驗與存在
「真真：當代超常經驗」中，論述發想自中國小說《聊齋誌異》與《太平廣記》。其中，《太平廣記》裡的篇章〈畫工〉描述唐代進士從畫工買回美女屏障，並日夜喚其名為「真真」，而後美女竟從中而出，與進士結為連理且育有一子。此次展覽中，策展人余思穎以「真真」的故事對應到藝術創作所具有的一種「幻術」，得以感神通靈，而這樣的概念更與影像的「靈光」（aura）環環相扣。
攝影發展初期，拍攝一張相片需要長時間的曝光，過程中被攝者的一舉一動皆被拍攝進影像當中，猶如班雅明（Walter Benjamin）認為早期的人像皆具有一道「靈光」圍繞，像是「靈媒物」一般的潛入，暗示攝影在初期仍存在祭祀作用的神祕感受。
對吳天章來說，攝影影像是矛盾的，因為按下快門的剎那，時間就死了，但它留下來的畫面仿彿又是永恆的。至於被拍攝的對象，一方面是承受的對象，同時也是模擬之對象，似乎在拍攝過程中，此對象也是以「亡靈」的身分居住在影像之中。這樣的過程類似一個預設的死亡過程，在攝影者按下快門時，那剎那間的機械聲，猶如羅蘭‧巴特（Roland Barthes）所言：「是一個死亡的鐘聲。」經過這個聲音後，被拍攝者已成不能復返的影像，軀體已不存在；時間也已過去。
中國古代思想認為「魂魄」構成了生命，「魂」是精神性，是思想和記憶；而「魄」是物質性，是人的身體和器官。《戀戀紅塵II-向李石樵致敬》的外框由台灣喪葬儀式的塑膠花所組成，而呈現肖像照中的「遺照」形式，藉以凸顯影像本身的祭祀作用，召喚了畫面人物的「魂魄」。「魂魄」的召喚帶給觀者強烈的身體經驗，如同「真真」從屏障中走出來一般，似乎影像所帶來的幻術可使觀者產生另一種時空連結與生命經歷。觀者所接收到的身體經驗與影像的「劇場性」息息相關，而作品與觀者之間的關係，在影像中更是證明其身體存在的重要元素。原先的畫作是將時間與記憶壓縮在平面，而影像則是將時間與記憶召喚，而經由觀者的參與，作品則在這個裝置劇場中朝向內部的身體經驗與內在互動。
作品與觀者的內在連結可由巴特的「刺點」來討論，影像中的某一細節就如同「刺點」一般具有擴展力，可使整個影像佈滿敏感性的細節，以激起某一觀者的強烈興趣，同時「刺痛」著觀者。當觀者看著畫中人物漸漸走向自己，此時，觀者處在因刺點而起的狀態，自己似乎是那個召喚者；也是被召喚的魂魄之一。由於肖像本身的指涉性，便可召喚其指稱對象，加上錄像裝置在展場中的情境與人物的偽娘扮裝，兩者使展場空間如同一個「劇場」，在這個空間中，觀者的進入亦為「劇場」的一部分。
觀者在觀看的同時，也找到了自己真實的參與，藉由作品所帶給他的「刺點」，強烈地回到自己的身體經驗，同時觸發心中的各種記憶型態。假設觀者曾經歷過戒嚴時期，便可能喚起他對於那段時期的「集體記憶」。然而，被喚起的記憶可能並非親身經歷，而是通過各種管道與他人而想起，這個他人的記憶便是「歷史記憶」，相對於「個體記憶」而言是較為集體性的。在此，觀者經由作品本身所帶來的身體經驗，勾起內心的三種不同記憶，如同一位演說家為聽眾所營造的錯覺，觀眾所被喚起的感受並非只是被動地來自外部，更來自於他們由內而發的身體經驗。
在「真真：當代超常經驗」展覽中，筆者認為策展人企圖在較多新生代藝術家的作品中，穿插了吳天章九○年代的作品《戀戀紅塵II-向李石樵致敬》，試圖討論影像創作本身所反映的「超常」經驗，更在內與外的層次之中，喚起觀者的身體經驗，如同筆者在觀看的同時所喚起的各種記憶，而我們似乎也如同〈畫工〉中的唐代進士一般，在影像中看見了「真真」的存在，而究竟是我們召喚了「真真」的魂魄，還是「真真」召喚了我們每個人？
參考資料
Roland Barthes著，許綺玲譯：《明室．攝影札記》（台北：台灣攝影工作室，1997年）。
Halbwachs Maurice著，丁佳寧譯〈集體記憶與個體記憶〉，《文化記憶理論讀本》（北京：北京大學出版社，2012年）。
Walter Benjamin著，許綺玲譯：《迎向靈光消逝的年代》（台北：台灣攝影工作室，1999年）。
蔡佩桂：〈影像裝置中的身體存在〉，《現代美術學報》2008年第15期。
台北市立美術館網站(http://www.tfam.museum/)
Spiritism and Image
Illusions of the Memory
“True
Illusion,Illusory Truth:Contemporary Art Beyond Ordinary Experience” was exhibited from
this Jan. to May in Taipei Fine Arts Museum, in which Wu-Ttien Chang‘s
work “Unwilling to Part from Worldly Life II ” combined with “real
as if magic” for the painting and “photorealistic” for the image for
interpretation of a “supernormal” experience between creation and watch.
As
soon as the writer as a viewer walked into the exhibition and got close to
watch “Unwilling to Part from Worldly Life II ”,
the exhibition was changed to a darkroom and the neon lights of the ceiling
began to turn with multicolored lights on along with the music. At this moment,
the original picture was replaced with the images. The character in the picture
turned into a ladyman, walking forward to start dancing accompanied by the
music “Red Rose and White Rose ”, and slowly leaving until the end of the
song.
A Generational Historical Narrative
“Unwilling to Part from Worldly Life II”, an exhibition type
was that Wu-Tien Chang quoted Li-Shih Chiao’s work “Market Entrance” to redraw by adding video installation. It has been
52 years since “Market Entrance” was made. It seems that Wu-Tien Chang’s amazing “spiritism” presented by video installation was trying to make the
viewer to gaze traumatic memory again as a way of visualizing people’s pains through ritual stage of the image. It was
painted in the work based on the subject of prosperous market street scene in Taipei city Taipingding after the period of Taiwan’s Retrocession.
Taiwan broke away from Japan’s
colonial rule to be retrocession in
1945 when Japan surrendered in the war, and people were looking forward to
returning to the embrace of the motherland. However, KMT Government had many
problems to take over such a chaotic political situation, causing
people’s wide gap from original highly expectation. Fittingly, 228 Incident
shocked the whole island was occurred around Taipei
city Taipingding just four years after the creation of “Market Entrance”. The work “Unwilling to Part from Worldly Life II” created in 1997, just full ten years from
“Abolishment of Martial Law”, forty-eight years from “Declaration of Martial
Law”. The writer thought Wu-Tien Chang chose time
point in 1997 for historical retrospect with “Unwilling to Part
from Worldly Life II”, the causes of which may include various reflection of
identities and presentation of contemporary context view.
First of
all, Taipingding was selected as the scene of the picture that Wu-Tien Chang didn’t
change the diversion of the scene but change every detail to present new
context view. Taipingding was the most prosperous marketplace in 1945. Li-Shih Chiao might purposely arrange a lady dressed in improved cheongsam in the
center of the picture to contrast with surrounding people in marketplace,
showing gap between the rich and the poor in the society. We
can see a little boy by a lady dressed in cheongsam, who
carried a small case on back selling along the street, depression and vacant
expression revealed in his eyes; a bald old man seemed to be blind on the left
behind the lady was holding a tactile stick with one hand and begged for money
to people in the marketplace; a black dog and a rice vendor wearing an old and
shabby T-shirt on the bottom of the picture showed scarcity of folk privations
and wealth gap in early Taiwan’s retrocession.
Additionally, alternation and
change of “new and old” era can be seen from clothing for the character in the
picture. A woman on the right behind the lady dressed in cheongsam wore a traditional cheongsam, combing her hair with
a hair style “Turtle Head”
for old times while the lady combing a fashion hair style and wear an improved
cheongsam represented a new times. Strong contrast between new and old was
significantly formed in the picture.
Multiple
Thinking of “identity”
In fact, the lady wearing cheongsam in “Market Entrance”is a silent narrative. Although her expression
was shaded, the viewer still can see her hesitation and little uncomfortable. “Subaltern Studies” believed that experiences of subaltern people
such as farmers, labors and women, etc. are presented through study and
discussion to deeply explore history without being limited to narrative
mechanism of the elite class. The research of this faction doubted authenticity
of the view presented in the media process through narrative mechanism of the
elite class. Standing at this viewpoint, character setup in “Market Entrance” may intend to show
female’s silence and the fact they couldn’t walk into the history but could
freely speak up through drawing of art works.
Identity” is
a kind of thinking about oneself that one’s own idea may be varied for the difference
between spatial changing and context. What oneself an individual understands in
one’s own career experience after rethinking is “self identity”; “social
identity” that is closely relating to specified rights and obligations can
almost be said the results of entire social and cultural process, and shaped a
role in specific group. The role in“Unwilling to Part from Worldly Life II”produced his own voice by “cross-dressing”.
The writer thought Wu-Tien Chang arranged a man who
has tendency of “ladyman” freely shuttle the crowded marketplace back and
forth, focusing on different era context.
During the period of martial law,
homosexual person, ladyman, or even any erotic expression were not acceptable
to the general public. Although Wu-Tien
Chang cited Li-Shih Chiao’s view, he
converted female into a male transvestist. It seemed that such a “cross-dressing” would overturn and reshape gender
norm through ideal re-expression of “gender”. Considering “cross-dressing” in
itself has performance properties, a male transvestist can not only rethink
powerlessness of identity and gender identity, but also reflect “self identity”
and “social identity” in different eras.
We can see cross-generation
historical narrative from interpretation of both works on the previous history.
“Unwilling to Part from Worldly Life II” can
be said to make spiritism again for the lady in “Market Entrance”. For presentation of media
material, the light source on the picture of “Market Entrance” as same as an oil painting even
came from the top right and project onto the lady dressed in cheongsam, crowd on the left of the picture as well the wall
space, but presented lighting effect similar to that from the stage lamp. By
contrast, stage effect of “Unwilling to Part from Worldly Life II” is
more significant. Combined with digital video and audio device in the
exhibition manner, an alternative theatre style of the work is displayed by
breaking white box space placed in a traditional theater. Theatricality with
such a video installation has great relationship with the existence of viewer’s
body.
“Supernormal” Body Experience and Existence
Ideation for the discussion in “True Illusion,Illusory Truth:Contemporary Art Beyond Ordinary
Experience” came from Chinese novels "Strange
Tales of Liaozhai" and “Taiping Guangji”. “The Painter”, one article of
the latter described a Jinshih (a successful candidate in the highest imperial
examinations) in the Dang Dynasty had bought a screen with a beauty painted on
it. He called this beauty’s name “Zhen-zhen” day and night.
Finally, this beauty came out of the screen to get marry with him and had a
son.The curator in this exhibition corresponded the story of “Zhen-zhen” to an “illusion”
provided by artistic creation, interlocked such a concept with “aura” of the
image through telepathies.
In early development of photography, shoot of one photo
was required exposure for a long time. Every movement of the subject in the
process was taken into the image as if Walter Benjamin thought the early portraits were surrounded by a “aura”. It looked like “spirit medium matters” slipped into
the image, implying the early photograph still had sacrifice effect with
mysterious feeling.
For Wu-Tien Chang photographic image was contradiction as time had died at
the moment of pressing down the shutter but the picture left seemed to be
permanent. As regards the subjects, they were objects borne and imitated by
others. It seemed that they lived in the images as “ghosts” status. This
process is similar to a preset process of death. As soon as the photographer
clicks the shutter, that mechanical sound in an instant just likes what Roland Barthes said
“a death bell”. The
subject, an inexistence body has become an image that couldn’t return; time has
gone as well.
“Hun (Soul) and po (body)” in ancient Chinese
thought made up the life, which “hun” means spirituality for thoughts and
memories and “po” materiality for human’s body and organs. The frame of “Unwilling to Part from Worldly Life II” made of
plastic flowers used in Taiwan’s funeral ceremony presented “a portrait of the
deceased” in portrait photography, highlighting sacrifice effect of the image
itself as if “Zhen-zhen” came out from the screen, seemingly to bring an illusion to
produce a space-time connection with viewer’s life experience. Body experience
received by the viewer is closely linked to “theatricality” of the image while
the relationship between the work and the viewer is all the more important
element to prove the existence of the body in the image. The original paintings
compress time and memory in a plane, and the images summon time and memory
through viewers’ participation, making the works toward internal body
experience and internal interaction in this device theatre.
The internal
links of the works and viewers can be discussed through Barthes’s “Punctum”,
which a certain detail in the image has same extension force as “Punctum”,
leading the whole image full of sensitive details to arouse a certain viewer’s
strong interest and “prick” the viewer. When the viewers are watching
characters in the picture gradually go straight to them, they seem to be
summoners at that moment of the state resulted from Punctum, and ones of hun
and po being summoned. As Portrait is self-referential, it can summon the
referent with the addition of video installation in an exhibition scenario and
persons dressed as lady-man, making the space as a “theater” where the viewer
also get in to be a part of it.
At the same time
when a viewer is watching, he/she also find his/her actual participation to
strongly return to his/her own body experiences through “Punctum”
brought by the works and trigger many kinds of memory types in the mind.
Supposed a viewer has been experienced the period of Martial Law, his “Collective memory”
during that period could be aroused. However, memories aroused maybe not personal
experience but recalled through various channels and other people. Other
people’s memories are “Historical memory”,
much collectivity relative to “Indivisual memory”. The viewer’s body
experience hereby caused by the works will call up his/her three different
memories in the mind as if a speaker can create an illusion that the audiences’
feeling not only passively comes out from outside but also come from their
inside body experiences.
In the
exhibition “True Illusion,Illusory Truth:Contemporary Art
Beyond Ordinary Experience”, the writer
thought the curator attempted to alternately display “Unwilling to Part from Worldly Life II”,
a work of Wu-Tien
Chang in 90s, trying to discuss
“supernormal” experience reflected by image creation itself among those works
of younger generation artists, arousing viewers’ own body experiences in
internal and external levels as same as various memories aroused to the writer
on the watch. It seemed that we saw the existence of “Zhen-zhen”
in the image as a Jinshih in the Tang Dynasty in the article “the Painter”.
What actually happened is we summoned “hun and po” of “Zhen-zhen”
or “Zhen-zhen” summoned us?
