有幸在一个几乎冷清的下午去到谢素梅个展“安棲”的展厅。艺术家对自然物的沉思与呈现，对物质肌理的强调与归返，正好需要一个空荡的氛围来衬托。面对其作品所营造的冥想空间，最后竟让人生出某种感慨——礼失求诸野；换言之，丢失的东西，可以到别处去寻回。在采访中，谢素梅认为自己之于中国，不如说仍是异国人，但通过这个展览，我作为一个在地的中国人，却获得了一些曾经缺乏的体验。“安棲”在余德耀美术馆将持续展出到3月24日。
With the title Stone Collection, I like to refer to a very simple gesture, a natural reflex that we had in childhood and even later to collect found stones while longing a path. The quality of choosing is very personal, intuitive. Here the idea is the same, just with a different scale and presenting a found object in the idea of an objet trouvé. As in previous works, I’m not interested in inventing something new but rather pointing on the existing, bring it to the foreground and create a visual composition.
For me the presence of a scholar rock, as it traditionally did in a scholar’s room referring to nature and inspiring the creation, also confronts us (physically) to the question of scale. Scale not only in terms of dimension and weight but also in terms of time. These stones which have been washed and shaped (often by the stream of a river) during hundreds, thousands of years relativize our existence and brings a new perspective to the lapse of time that we have. In another work Red Ladder (The Scale) I present the same concern but with a certain smile. This laboriously forged object (sculpture) is less important for its material existence, but rather a (jokingly) link to its title and theme about scale. A kind of French word play: c’est une question d’échelle, it’s a question of scale (échelle means ladder but also scale). A reflexion I developed in different ways these last years.
The way to present these stones (and my work in general) is important for me. Here trying to create a meditative composition, a space for quiet contemplation and at the same time adding a “painterly” quality, renouncing any ornamentation but create a minimal background for each stone. The choice of color is carefully selected to vanish the obsolete, the “dust” and give a personal and playful note to this tradition that I appropriate into my work. I want to evoke the meditative moments through these works. My cultural background has to do with that interest and affinity in silence, but it is also a personal need. Already in 2003, I worked with our condition to be exposed to noise, speed, and stress. Being overwhelmed by information and impressions, the noise from outside but also noise inside us, provoked by our thoughts, restlessness, and agitation seriously affecting our life. That was also the reason I decided to create the “radical silence” for my solo exhibition “Air Conditioned” in the Luxembourg Pavilion at the 50th Venice Biennale.
Natural materials are also important in my creations. At the one hand, I like to work with natural elements for their visual and haptic quality. For example, in the series of “Moons”, I used marble as paint attracted by its deep and precious texture. At the same time, the use of marble has to do with my time in Rome, its unconscious influence on me but also its historical reference in Roman art. Then there is this red resin, in opposition to create a tension between marble and the strong red color treated in relation to the Japanese tradition of lacquer ware. So in a second reading, there’s a tension underneath the work between two countries and two cultures. This kind of tension relating to nature also embedded in the work Trees and Roots. I started it with a series of photographs of “everyday” moments of these trees with their wrapped roots waiting to be planted before adopting their new environment, the ground, being “rooted” again. I was touched by the fragility (and force) of this “exposed” situation, the beauty of the wrapped roots and the idea (and image) of the growing roots, “taking” the ground and gradually anchor themselves. Later I developed that image into bronze sculptures, working with the scale and space. Beside being inspired by nature and natural elements, I’m interested in the nature of the human being, the physical body and, especially, his spiritual soul. Through my work, I try to get closer to our intuition, to the essence of humankind and reflect to our existence in time and on earth.
My works often refer to words, language, literature, and books. So that people can see the paragraphs on the wall for corresponding works presented in Yuz Museum. During the preparations of the exhibition (the first venue of the touring show was in Luxembourg at the Mudam) I exchanged a lot with Christophe Gallois, the curator who has not only a sensitive reading and understanding of my work but also a deep and rich body of references. This vivid exchange has led to these “notes”, giving like a second layer of meaning. Besides of this, music also plays equivalent role in my creation. I think the most important for an artist is to use a personal language, to express ideas in the most honest way. As I grew up in a musical family, for me, music and sound are the “tools” to use to create images or to get inspiration from and express myself with that language I feel familiar with.
“Nested” is my first solo show in China, which composes interesting dynamics beneath the exhibition. The influence of oriental culture keeps floating in my works for last years. When I visited China (my family is in Hong Kong, to be precise) as a small child, I was fascinated by the landscape and the contrasts between the modern (contemporary) architecture and the tropical natural environment. The loud, busy and “wild” crowds, the smells on the markets and the excitement in the Cantonese language. When I visit China now, I can not speak of a “real” China still being a foreigner feeling that “wildness” in a way, but at the same time feeling very familiar, close the way of feeling, eating and perceiving. Maybe it remains in my works in some way.
我想用“藏石”系列指涉一个十分简单的动作,一种我们在童年就有,甚至延续到成年的条件反射：在路上散步时收集发现石头。选择是一个非常个人化与直觉性的过程。“藏石”系列的理念也是如此，只不过尺度不同，而且是在“拾得艺术”（objet trouvé）的概念下呈现这些现成物。我一直对发明新的东西不感兴趣，我更关注指认现有的事物，将它们带入前景，并创造出一个视觉上的构图。
在我看来，供石不仅如它在文人书房中的传统功用那样，隐喻自然并激发创作灵感，同时还使我们（在身体上）直面尺度的问题。尺度不仅指尺寸和重量，也包括时间。这些经过河流千百年洗炼的石头使我们的存在相对化，并为我们所经历的时间流逝带来新的视角。在另一件作品《红色梯子（比例尺）》中，我表达了同样的关注，但多了一些幽默感。这件费心锻造的物品（雕塑）最关键之处可能并不在于其物质存在，而是它的标题和与“尺度”概念之间玩笑式的联系。它是一个法语的文字游戏：c’est une question d’échelle（这是一个尺度的问题）。échelle既指梯子，也有“尺度”的意思。
此次展览，我尝试创造一个冥想的结构，一个安静沉思的空间，同时在其中加入一种“绘画”感，放弃任何装饰，给每块石头创造一个最极简的背景。颜色都经过精心挑选，以消除过时与“尘土”的感觉，为这一被我挪用进自己作品的传统增添一种个人化和俏皮的意味。我对“寂静”的兴趣和亲近很大程度上与我的文化背景有关，但它也是我的个人需求。早在2003年，我就开始在作品中处理我们日常面对的噪音、速度和压力问题。我们无时无刻不被各种信息和观感淹没，噪音不仅来自外部，更来自于内心，它严重影响着我们的生活。这也是我选择在第50届威尼斯双年展卢森堡馆的个展“空气调节”（Air Conditioned）中制造“极端寂静”的原因。
天然材料在我的创作中非常重要。一方面，我喜欢自然元素在视觉和触觉上的质感。例如，在“月亮”系列中，我被大理石深沉且珍贵的肌理吸引，于是将其当作“颜料”使用。与此同时，使用大理石与我在罗马驻留的经历有关，不仅反映了那段时间在潜意识里对我的影响，也在历史层面上指涉了罗马艺术。而使用红色树脂则是为了让大理石与常见于日本传统漆器的那种大红色之间形成对照。因此，对这件作品的另一种解读也可以指向其背后两个国家和两种文化之间的张力。这种与自然相关的张力同样深嵌于作品《树和根》中。该作品源于我的一系列日常摄影，最开始我拍了很多等待被移植到新环境的树及其被包裹起来的树根。我被这种暴露状态下的脆弱与力量所触动：被包裹着的树根的美，以及树根不断生长、慢慢“占领”一方土地并在那里扎根的景象。后来我将这个想象中的图像发展成青铜雕塑，让它们与空间、尺度相互作用。
我的作品经常涉及文字、语言、文学和书籍。在余德耀美术馆的这次展览中，观众可以看到墙上的段落与展出作品相互对应。在准备展览期间（巡展第一站是卢森堡的MUDAM美术馆），我和策展人Christophe Gallois交流很多，他不仅对我的作品有敏感的解读，还给出了深刻而丰富的参考文本。我们之间的交流生成了这些“笔记”，为作品编织了第二层意义。当然，音乐在我的创作中也很重要。我认为艺术家最重要就是使用个人语言，以最诚实的方式表达想法。我出生于一个音乐世家，对我而言，音乐和声音就像“工具”，我借由它们制作图像、获取灵感，用最熟悉的语言述说自身。
“安棲”是我在中国的首次个展，过去的几年里，东方文化的影响在我的作品中不断浮现。小时候来中国（确切地说，我的家人在香港），那种现当代建筑与热带自然环境之间的对比令我着迷——喧闹、忙碌甚至“疯狂”的人群、市场的气味与粤语对话间的兴奋情绪。如今再来中国，我感觉自己还无法谈论一个“真实的”中国，因为之前那种“疯狂”感还在，但同时又让我觉得非常熟悉和相近。或许这些都以某种方式保留在了我的作品里。
Jenny CHEN 陳嘉瑩 