VSPACE｜吕松策展《引桥》
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吕松策展《引桥》
2021年12月4日至2022年1月27日 +852 2613 8062 ALBERTINI@MASSIMODECARLO.COM |
MASSIMODECARLO线上VSPACE空间荣幸呈现艺术家吕松策划的最新展览《引桥》，该展览将艺术家的研究项目转化为真实的视觉体验，可以在官网massimodecarlo.com观看。
关于引桥
“……这回，并非我去寻找它，而是它从景象中，仿佛箭一般飞来，射中了我……”
罗兰·巴特《明室》
当女主在悬崖边遇见失魂落魄的男主时，开始了一段美妙的邂逅。这是希区柯克电影《蝴蝶梦》中的一段情节。除去片头的陈述，最先出现在屏幕上的，是男主那张迷茫的脸。他呆滞地望着悬崖底部，似被一种强大的力量驱使，等待着一跃而下的、某种神迹的召唤。伴随着音乐起伏，片中一路铺垫营造的紧张情绪，被女主的出现打断。最后，这位生无可恋的男性被营救。
影片中出镜频率最高的男女角色，都不影片的主体。而主体Rebecca，甚至未在影片中出现。导演的用意为何？我们暂且不展开这个问题，首先关注一下其中提到的重要概念。假设在现实生活世界，我们需要在两块陆地间建造一座桥梁。这个建筑体可分为两部分。第一部分为主桥，指的是横跨大陆两端中间的部分。它是桥梁的主体，也是最重要的部分，独立于两块岛屿之间，起着主要支撑作用。第二部分是两边陆地与主桥连接的部位——引桥。它的目的是连接主桥与路堤，也可以被看作“桥和路之间的过渡”[1]。
约瑟夫·马洛德·威廉·透纳 (JOSEPH M. W. TURNER)
湖边落日
1840年，布面油画
91 × 126 厘米
图片由MDC画廊提供
正如我信服的，艺术是人与人之间最短的距离。一件作品所起的作用，如同桥梁一般，连接作者与观者；亦可是连接观者与另一个观者。它是交流的渠道，可以理解为一种语言形式。它是可被视觉捕捉的，亦可被阅读。而引桥就是作品结构的一部分，或者说是被观看的顺序。
一张画面可以出现数个引桥。而它们之间也相互关联，就像一座城有若干个中心。而每个中心，又有不同的地标性建筑。所以，引桥分主次。它虽为本文描述或分析的重点，但在作品中担当的，却不是主要角色。引桥是最先被观察到的，却不是画面的重心，而是辅助观者欣赏作品的牵引物。这种类似结构体现在威廉·透纳的多件作品中，旗帜、桅杆、人物均被放置到次要位置；但它们相对于抽象的天空与海浪来说，则是一种参照物。如果没有这些具象的事物，观者甚至无法辨认那骇人的巨浪。由此可见，引桥是一种线索，或一种引导。
在抽象作品里，也可以看到引桥。罗伯特·马瑟韦尔的作品中，应证了人类的视觉，总是先捕捉到明暗即黑白部分，而颜色居于其后这一说法。而在佩尔·柯克比笔下，我们首先看到的是反差最强烈的区域，例如明黄色背景下黑色的线、绿色灌木中少量肉粉色块面等。它们就像利剑，穿透观者的视网膜，跟随色阶的变化，直抵观者的大脑深处。
吕松作品
罗兰·巴特在《明室》中，曾将照片里偏离主题的细节称之为“刺点”[2]，即一处足以改变其阅读的、具有优越价值的细节。这个点打破了图像的呆板状态，使得观看耳目一新。但相对于主体“知面”而言，刺点又是“一个额外之物”[3]。
在音乐创作中，有一个相似但并不完全一致的概念，即“动机”：
“主导动机一词源于法语’Leitmotif’, 本意是中心思想，在音乐术语中也称固定乐思，指用短小的音乐词汇（通常是一两个小节的旋律）构成的一个贯穿整部音乐作品的动机。”[4]
1933年阿诺德·勋伯格移居美国，在次年的文章中，指出动机的意义在于统一：“调性关系的统一，音型的统一，构思的统一，以及乐曲的整体统一。”[5]并于1948年的文章中表明动机的目的，即作品每部分的连接与发展：
“……不仅如此，它们还可以发展，加进新的特点，转变为过渡。过渡必然有目的，像一座桥一样，为的是它从河的一边通向另一边。”[6]
随后两年间，他进一步阐明如果一个动机不能发展与变化，它便不应该出现在作品中，且不能只作为曲式结构的目的使用。这貌似与罗兰·巴特针对摄影图像中的“额外之物”，产生了分歧。但是他们的共同点，在于运用作品中某些特殊细节，连接作品的每一个部分。这其中的“连接”既矛盾又统一，并在各部分之间的“对决，间离，骚扰”[7]中形成层次关系。
马轲作品
左1：痛3，2011年，布面油画，109 x 78.5 厘米
左2: 伊凡雷帝，2020年，布面油画，50 x 38 厘米
左3: 姿势，2021年，布面油画，40 x 33 厘米
右3: 行走的房屋（一），2021年，布面油画，40 x 30 厘米
右2: 钟馗，2020年，布面油画，50 x 38 厘米
右1: 无题，2012年，纸本油画，43 x 31 厘米
图片由艺术家提供
另外，在电影艺术中，我认为一名出色的演员，不仅要把角色诠释到位，也要成为观众的代言人，即把观众的感受表达出来。可以通过在观众和角色中建立一个连接物所达到，这样他/她便成为了观众与影片的引桥。在娄烨的《春风沉醉的夜晚》中，秦昊所饰演的角色就在被受害者夫人偷袭的一瞬间，嘴角上扬无奈地发出了“嗞”的一声，似乎在暗示一种难以名状的情绪，恰恰所有人在此刻都会做出同样的反应。这样的表演动作，仿佛在镜映观者。
一件缺少引桥的作品，像是一位魔术师背对着观众表演。虽然偶尔也会出现神奇感，但观众并不清楚他在做什么。出色的魔术师，会在表演之前，向观众充分展示他那些平淡无奇、司空见惯的道具。这个环节，就是利用人人可知的事物作为与观众的连接，从而使魔术变得更加神奇。
《蝴蝶梦》中，希区柯克亦设立了多个引桥。Rebecca终未露面。但这并没有影响观众对主体形象的认知，反而使形象本身更加神秘与开放。绘画虽不像电影或音乐，有线性阅读的局限，但人类的视觉有焦点与虚焦点之分。而往往焦点之外的，被观者忽略的，所谓虚焦部分，才是最能体现作者性格与风格的主体，从而被每一个有所警惕的创作者，格外重视。也因为这些本能的、感性的、毫无逻辑性的笔触，构成了他们与生俱来的魅力。
[1]见百度百科“引桥”。
[2]罗兰·巴特著、许绮玲译《明室》第36页，台北：台湾摄影工作室出版，1997。
[3]同上，第67页。
[4]付龙《浅析电影音乐与“主导动机”》，《电影评介》2010年01期第23页。
[5]阿诺德·勋伯格著、茅于润译《勋伯格：风格与创意》第175页，上海：上海音乐出版社，2020。
[6]同5，第182页。
[7]同2，第50页。
以下为此文章英文版。
Lead
“...This time it is not I who seek it out. It is this element which rises from the scene, shoots out of it like an arrow, and pierces me...”
Roland Barthes “Camera Lucida”
A beautiful encounter starts when the female protagonist meets the dazed male protagonist on the edge of the cliff. This is a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s film Rebecca. After the opening scene, the first thing that appeares on the screen is the confused face of the male protagonist, staring at the bottom of the cliff, seemingly driven by a powerful force, and waiting for the call of a certain miracle to jump down. With the ups and downs of the music and the tension that has been accumulating along the way, the heroine came and saved the life of this unlovable person.
Ironically the two characters that appear most frequently in the film does not include the main protagonist -- Rebecca -- in fact, she does not appear in the film at all. What is the director’s intention? Let’s not delve into this issue and focus on the ideation instead: suppose that in the real world, we need a bridge to be built between two lands. The construction can be roughly divided into two parts. The main part is what spans across two lands. This is also the most important part, independently existing between the two islands and playing the supporting role. The second part is the bridge approach connecting the lands and the main bridge – the lead. Its purpose is to connect the main bridge and the embankment, as “a transition between the bridge and the road”. [1]
As I believe, art is the shortest distance between people. An artwork is like a bridge between the author and the viewer, or between one viewer and another viewer. It is a form of communication, a language, which can be read and visually attracted. The lead, therefore, constitutes part of the work, or the order in which it is viewed.
Several leads can appear in the same painting. There are connections among them, just like a city has several city centers, and each city center has different landmarks. Hence, the lead can be divided into primary and secondary. As the theme of this article, lead remains secondary in an artwork. Although it is the first to be observed, it is not the focus of a picture, but a trigger that assists viewers to appreciate the works. This is reflected in most of Turner’s works, whereas flags, masts, or figures are described as secondary, but as the sky and waves are relatively abstract, they become important references. Without these concrete forms, viewers cannot identify the terrific waves. The lead provides a clue, or a guidance.
Lead is also present in abstract works. In Robert Motherwell’s works, it is proved that in human vision, we always see light and shade, or black and white at the first stance, followed then by color. For Per Kirkeby, the most contrasting part is often seen first, such as black lines on a bright yellow background, or a small amount of fleshy pink patches under green bushes. They are like a sharp sword penetrating the viewer’s retina, while following the change of color scales to the deepest of the viewer’s brain.
In Camera Lucida Roland Barthes names the details deviating from the theme in a photo as punctum [2], that is, details with the superior value that can change viewers’ attention. A punctum breaks the rigid state of the image and makes it refreshing. However, compared with the subject’s studium, the punctum is extra. [3]
In music creation, there is a similar but not completely consistent concept, namely motivation:
“The word ‘leading motivation’ originates from the French term ‘leitmotif’, meaning the main theme. It is also called “Idée fixe”, referring to motivation, or a recurring theme formed by short music clips (usually a melody of one or two bars) that runs through the whole work.” [4]
In 1933, Arnold Schönberg moved to the United States. In his article published the following year, he pointed out that the meaning of motivation lies in unity: “the unity of tonal relations, the unity of sound patterns, the unity of ideas, and the overall unity of music.” [5] In his article in 1948, he indicated the purpose of motivation, that is, the connection and development of each part of the work:
“... not only that, they can also develop, add new features, and transform into a transition. The transition must have a purpose, like a bridge, so that it leads from one side of the river to the other.” [6]
In the following two years, he further clarified that if motivation could not develop and change, it should not appear in the works and should not be used only for musical structures. This seems to disagree with Roland Barthes on the extra in photography. But what they have in common is that they use details to connect every part of the work. The connection is both contradictory and unified, and forms a hierarchical relationship in the “confrontation, separation and intervention” [7] between various parts.
In film art, I believe that an excellent actor not only has to interpret the role in place, but also needs to be the spokesperson of the audience, to express the audience’s feelings. By establishing a connection between the audience and the characters, he/she becomes a lead between the audience and the film. In Lou Ye’s A Night in the Spring Breeze, the moment Qin Hao’s character was attacked by the victim’s wife, the corner of his mouth raised helplessly and he let out a “hey” sound, which seemed to imply an indescribable emotion. Everyone will react the same at this moment. Such a performance mirrors the viewers.
A work without a lead is like a magician performing with his back to the audience. Although there is still a sense of magic occasionally, the audience is not clear about what is going on. An excellent magician will fully show the ordinary props to the audience before the performance. The importance is to use things that everyone recognizes from daily life as a connection with the audience, thus making the magic more magical.
Hitchcock sets up multiple leads in Rebecca. Rebecca never appeared, but this had no impact on the audience’s perception of the character, instead it created a more mysterious and open image. Paintings are not like films or articles as they have linear reading limitations, but in the human vision, there is focus and virtual focus. Often the out of focus, the part ignored by the viewer, the implicit part is the main body that best reflects the author’s character and style, and is therefore valued by every vigilant creator. It is these instinctive, perceptual, and illogical brush strokes that constitute their innate charm.
[1]Baidu definition for “Bridge Approach”.
[2]Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida, Translated by Xu Qilin, Taiwan photography studio (1997), 36.
[3]Ibid, 67.
[4]Fu Long, Analysis of Film Music and "Leading Motivation", Film Review, 2010, issue 01, page 23.
[5]Arnold Schönberg, Schoenberg: Style and Creativity, Translated by Mao Yurun, Shanghai Music Publishing House (2020), 175.
[6]Ibid, 182.
[7]Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida, Translated by Xu Qilin, Taiwan photography studio (1997), 50.
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