看而不识
——“一袋泥土”展评
文/Jacob Clayton
Looking, but not Pointing
A Review of Exhibition A Sack of Dirt, 2024
by Jacob Clayton
简介:英国艺术家兼作家Jacob Clayton分享了他对最近由策展人李雨晖（Catherine Yuhui Li）在伦敦Lot Projects空间策划的展览“一袋泥土”的评价。本次展览展出的作品来自意大利华裔画家Dien Berziga和在中国北京工作和生活多年的英国艺术家James Lang。
Introduction: British artist and writer Jacob Clayton shares his review of the recent exhibition “A Sack of Dirt” curated by London-based Chinese curator, Catherine Li, at Lot Projects in London. The exhibition showcases paintings by Dien Berziga, a Chinese-Italian painter, and James Lang, a British artist who has spent many years working and living in Beijing, China.
In The Freedom to Be Free, Hannah Arendt postures a perceptively oligarchical notion of truth rooted in Christianity;
‘one comprehensive principle to establish an order among the human faculties, a truth moreover which was understood as revelation, as something essentially given to man, as distinguished from truth being either the result of some mental activity – thought or reasoning – or as that knowledge which I acquire through making.’ [1]
In making a clear distinction between what is learned firsthand and what is learned secondhand, one might think of the existential discussion in Modernist painting, the conflict between what comes from within and what comes from without. Presently, as situated within a prism of multiple realities, the artist’s role is more than ever a navigation of these competing arenas of information. Encountered today, in an age of fake news and tactical politics, it would seem that the latter — this truth coming from without — is becoming increasingly fallible in its potential for corruption. How then can we re-approach the idea of revelation? — Which we have so rightly become sceptical of — through our experiences of viewing art?
Image: Exhibition view of A Sack of Dirt © Catherine L
In A Sack of Dirt, Catherine Yuhui Li approaches this question through her curation, reminding us that for revelation to ever feel like truth, we require faith, and that faith itself simply comes from our genuine experience. This exhibition is an invitation to return to the genuine experience of looking, a looking that is only for the sake of looking. Instead of presenting a curatorial statement, Catherine's role here may be seen as that of a catalyst. She creates a space where the viewer's mind can wander freely, fostering an intimate exploration. Her approach sets up a subtle game, hinting at but not directly pointing to those areas where revelation may be found. In the painting works of both Dien Berziga and James Lang, language, labor, history, and technology are intricately crafted together. We witness the clashes of ancient archetypes such as Roman architectural façades and undiscovered islands. We encounter an inhabitable field for adventure, imagination, and contemplation. We slide into the realm of looking without knowing. Within this space, we are provoked to re-learn what it is to discover, observe, and have faith in what comes through. When it gets to an unconscious sensitivity for harvesting, containing, and preserving, we thus enter the territory of a liberating and honest fiction where the story is ever ongoing— so simply phrased in the words of Ursula K. Le Guin:
‘Conflict, competition, stress, struggle, etc., within the narrative conceived as carrier bag/ belly/ box/ house/ medicine bundle, may be seen as necessary elements of a whole which itself cannot be characterised either as conflict or as harmony, since its purpose is neither resolution nor stasis but continuing process.’ [2]
Image: Dien Berziga’s works at exhibition A Sack of Dirt © Catherine Li
The artists, too, are faithful to their personal experiences. Dien and James are playing the roles of archaeological excavators within their respective canvas territories, rather than mere conveyors of information. Dien’s laboriously handcrafted 3D printed frames, along with his experimentation with painterly and unpainterly materials, create an illusion of old master’s work using cutting-edge technology and promptly shatter it with tactless techniques. Through his intentional transformation of 3D prints, his works perhaps unintentionally mirror our contemporary condition, situated at the conjunction of the past and the future.
In James’ paintings, the collage textures and contemporary reinterpretations of historical references contextualise fairy tale narratives with a serious retrospection. The artist carries both a solemn sense of historical responsibility and a playful innocence simultaneously. We are reminded of our present thirst for truth, yet its infinite evasion of capture. Within the sensitivity of these two painters, who seem to independently travel the endless chambers of history in search of divining the present, we awake in a playground of innocence and full perception. Echoing Catherine’s sentiment: it feels like returning to childhood; a time when one sits in the playground, free from external directives. Alone, with the freedom to be free, every element in the surroundings is alive and breathing—the shape of a stone, the vast sky, or the leaves that are blown away.
Image: Exhibition view of A Sack of Dirt © Catherine Li
In other words, taking a cue from Lang’s featured painting, we find the intriguing formation of an alchemical Rebis, a mythical body in which we are actually looking at, a body crafted by the myths of the past and the artist of the present. [3] Colours, structures, and pseudo-historical prompts entwine to form a net which reaches outwards and inwards, searching the connection of past and present. It’s a simulacrum, a container, a mirror; what’s harvested remains elusive, but what is not elusive is the searching itself — an age-old obsession and one with no end. Held within Berziga’s fields of colour for example, we all the sudden lose the usual language of social communication, instead, we are picking up an unlimited, associative language—a language of eternal, a mother tongue. Even so, looking deep into these landscapes I am reminded of the childhood argument; ‘is the green I see the green you see?’
Image: Exhibition view of A Sack of Dirt © Catherine Li
Through revisiting this primitive sensation, ‘A Sack of Dirt’ embodies a constant materiality, while interpretation and meaning grow and decay like a breathing organism. Yet, it seems like we are trapped in the worlds of interpretations and meanings, while forgetting the worlds of our own making. In this field of endless wandering, witnessing these numerous assembled but inherently elusive interpretations and meanings, what these artists try to figure out is simply how to leave their footprints on this unpaved, endless road. It tells us that to look and feel is to know; then, revelation is not something to be separated from experience, but rather it’s ourselves, all along, unearthing.
‘A Sack of Dirt’ is on view at Lot Projects, London, from 21 to 23 March 2024.
[1] Arendt, Hannah. Freedom to Be Free. Penguin Books, 2020, p. 4.
[2] Le Guin, Ursula K. Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction. Ignota Books, 2020, p. 35.
[3] Lang, James. Rebis. 2023. acrylic and collage on canvas. Private collection.
Catherine Yuhui Li is a Curator based in London, working at the intersection of exhibition and event. Influenced by her academic research in art history and theory, her curatorial practice focuses on social critique and how it can reconstruct dialogue in public sphere.
Jacob Clayton is an Artist, Writer, and Co-Director of Lot Projects in East London. His research considers Science-Fiction as the nostalgic ancestor of what he terms ‘Modern Assemblage Practice’. His work perpetuates a sensibility towards material experiments as speculative actions.
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在《成为自由的自由》(The Freedom To Be Free)一书中，Hannah Arendt 提出了一个富有洞察力的真理概念，根植于基督教；“如果有一个可以在人类能力中建立秩序的综合准则，而且这个真理被理解为启示(revelation)。这个真理是一种从一开始就赋予人类的东西，不同于真理作为一种思维或推理的结果、或是通过制造获取的知识。’ [1]
在明确区分直接学到的东西和间接学到的东西时，人们可能会想到现代主义绘画中熟知的存在主义之争，即来自内部的东西和来自外部的东西之间的冲突。在当下，置身于眼花缭乱的种种社会现实中，艺术家的角色确实比以往任何时候都更像是是这些相互竞争的信息领域的引航员。 今天，在假新闻和战术政治盛行的时代，似乎后者——这个来自外部的真相——在其腐败趋势上日益变得不可靠。那么我们如何重新接近前文中的启示观念？—— 通过我们观看艺术的经历，我们有理由对艺术带来的启示产生怀疑吗？
在展览“一袋泥土”中，李雨晖（Catherine Li）通过她的策展来回应这个问题，提醒我们，要想让启示感觉像真理，我们需要信仰，而信仰本身其实就来自于我们真实的经历。这个展览便是一个尝试：邀请我们回到真正的观看体验，一种仅仅为了观看而观看的观看。Catherine在这里的角色更像是一种催化剂，而不是一种策展宣言。她创造了一个观众可以自由漫游的空间，引导了一种亲密的探索。在一种微妙的游戏设置中，她给出暗示但不明确指向那些可能发现启示的领域。在Dien Berziga和James Lang的绘画作品中，语言、劳动、历史和技术被复杂地融合在一起。我们见证了古罗马建筑和未被发现的岛屿等古代原型的冲突；我们遇到了一个适合冒险、想象和沉思的领域；我们不经意间开始不假思索的去看，去观察，但不试图去弄明白。在这个领域里，我们被激发去重新学习什么是发现、观察，并对所发生的事情充满信心。当一种想要去收获、包容和保存的意识变成惯性，我们就无意中进入了一个松弛而真挚的叙事领域，而故事一直在进行——用乌苏拉·K·勒奎恩的话说就是：“冲突、竞争、压力、斗争等，在被放置在像手提袋/肚子/盒子/房子/医药包一样的叙事中时，可能被视为一个整体的必要元素，而这个整体本身既不能被描述为冲突，也不能被描述为和谐，因为它的目的既不是解决，也不是停滞，而是持续的过程。”[2]
艺术家们也忠实于他们的个人经历。Dien和James在各自的画布领域扮演着考古挖掘者的角色，而不仅仅是信息的传送者。Dien的3D打印框架是他的辛勤手工劳动的产物，也是他将绘画和非绘画材料结合的实验产物。尽管能够使用前沿的技术创造出大师艺术的幻觉，但是他会迅速用最笨拙的技法将这一幻觉粉碎。通过他对3D打印的有意改造，他的作品可能无意中反映了我们的当代状况，在过去与未来之间交汇的状况。在James的画作中，有一种对古老童话的当代语境化，他将画布的拼贴纹理和他对历史参考的认真回顾结合起来。我看到艺术家是如何同时承载着严肃的历史责任感和玩乐的童真。这提醒我们对真理是多么的渴望，以及真理又是多么的难以捉摸。在这两位画家的营造的环境中，他们似乎能够独立地在历史的无尽的空间中旅行，以寻找对现在的预言。而作为观众的我们，仿佛来到了在一个天真和充满感知力的游乐场。呼应Catherine的表达，这种感觉像是回到了童年：一个人坐在操场上，不受任何外界指示的时刻。独自一人，自由自在，周围的每一个元素都是有生命的、呼吸着的——不管是石头的形状，辽阔的天空，或者被风吹走的树叶。
从James的一幅绘画的角度出发，我们可以看到炼金术的同体者《雷比斯》（Rebis）的神奇构图——这是一具我们可以亲眼观看到的神秘躯体，一个被过去的神话和当今的艺术家精心打造的身体。颜色、结构和伪历史线索交织在一起，形成一个网，向内外延伸，搜索着过去和现在的联结。如同一个拟像（simulacrum),一个容器，一个镜子；究竟收获了什么，难以捉摸，但可以确定的是探索本身——一种古老的痴迷，也是一种永无止境的痴迷。举个例子，在Berziga的色彩世界中，我们仿佛失去了惯用的沟通语言，取而代之的是一种自由的、充满联想的语言，一种永恒的语言，一种母语。尽管如此，当继续观察这些景观时，我还是会想起童年的争论：“我看到的绿色和你看到的绿色是一样的吗？”
通过重温这种原始的感觉，“一袋泥土”体现了一种不变的物质性，而阐释和意义就像呼吸的有机体一样生长和腐烂。然而，我们似乎被困在解释和意义的世界中，而忘记了我们自己创造的世界。在这片漫无止尽的田野里，见证着这些纷繁而又难以捉摸的诠释和意义，这些艺术家们想要弄明白的只是如何在这条无尽的野路上留下自己的足迹。这告诉我们，如果想知道，那就去看和触摸;这样的话，启示就不是与经验分离的东西，而是一直以来正在挖掘的，我们自己。
展览‘一袋泥土’于2024年3月21日至3月23日在伦敦Lots Projects 画廊展出。
李雨晖（Catherine Yuhui Li）是一位驻伦敦的中国策展人，致力于展览和事件的交叉领域。她的策展实践受到她在艺术史和理论方面的学术研究的影响，专注于社会批判和公共空间重构。
Jacob Clayton是一位英国艺术家兼作家，同时也是伦敦东部Lot Projects的联合项目主管。他的研究将科幻视为“现代艺术组合性实践”的怀旧典范，他的作品通过对媒介和材料的实验来探索未来。