在動態視景中找尋生命軌跡
傳統油畫遇到當代科技會碰出什麼樣的新火花？獨具特性的筆觸技法結合新潮的虛擬現實技術（Virtual Reality ,VR）又會營造出怎樣的奇妙體驗？2018年1月7日，著名女藝術家喻紅VR新作《她曾經來過》作為林冠藝術基金會「虛擬現實藝術」系列中最後一個作品亮相。觀者被邀請追隨一名女性角色的年華流轉進行體驗，隨著角色生命軌跡向前推移，歷史本身的回溯在一種區別於二維繪畫的動態視景中徐徐展開。喻紅獨具特色的繪畫風格首次融合科拉當代的VR技術，油畫藝術語言在新興的媒介融合中獲得了鮮活的生命力。
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二維到多維：虛擬現實的全新挑戰
虛擬現實技術以突破性的、非常態的速率成功進入全球市場。在久遠古老卻與時俱進的藝術世界裡，這種媒介逐漸成為充滿活力的藝術家們開啟跨界探索與拓寬藝術語言的強有力支撐，在傳統技法與新興技術的融合與碰撞中，藝術家與觀看者的關係被重新構建，機遇性與可能性貫穿始終。
作為中國最重要的藝術家之一的喻紅，其作品一貫以由油畫為主的傳統二維繪畫形式被大眾所熟悉。縱觀其藝術背景——二十世紀八十年代，她就讀於北京中央美術學院油畫專業；1996 年就讀油畫系研究生；1988年至今，任教於中央美術學院油畫系。而面對全新的虛擬現實技術媒介，喻紅以一種充滿活力的姿態展開了全新的嘗試，這對於習慣於用傳統繪畫語言進行表達的藝術家來說，無疑是新鮮與挑戰並存。用她的話說，「這是一個非常巨大的挑戰，但我是非常興奮的」。
本次展覽的作品《她曾經來過》以兩條線索的時空交織勾勒出整個情景的腳本框架：故事線緊隨一名女性的成長經歷——從出生、童年、中年、晚年至死亡的芳華流轉，與之相對的時間線從現代逐漸回溯到文革時期、明代直至五六千年前的古代紅山文化時期。展覽現場白色的敞亮空間中分隔出十二間體驗格間，整個虛擬模擬系統的體驗時長7分47秒，在這短短的時間裡，藝術家的多維思考和觀察方式在互動式的三維動態視景中呈現出來，觀者得以在豐富的沉浸體驗中找尋藝術意志。
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歷史與個體：作為融合的對立敘事
喻紅的繪畫通常以人類本質為主體，關注特定社會及整個世界的變遷及存在，即使進入虛擬造景，她作品中依舊保留了這種特性，而基於以打通神經網路的生物工程技術為終極方向的VR支撐，這種真實性彷彿更加清晰地被放大開來。整個視景分為四個故事，觀者透過開啟故事的「產道孔洞」首先進入到現代醫療產房場景，嬰兒哭聲、器械響聲與極具現代化的偏冷色調交織呼應，一位女嬰的誕生場景被交代，在生產完的卧床母親和護士的注視下故事緩緩切入到第二個視景之中。
木質的上下鋪的床，窗外涌動的鮮艷紅旗，背景聲效中愉悅的曲調，孩童的呼喊等等一下子就把觀眾拉入到第二段的文革氛圍中。在與藝訊網記者的交流中喻紅透露：「這些場景大部分都是室內，來源於成長的記憶，是自己居住過屋子的場景」。畫面每個置景都由她親自繪畫完成，肉眼可見的筆觸將飽滿的圖層疊加放大，虛擬和現實事物的互換效果得以產生。
細膩縝密、細節突出是喻紅在描繪女性生活時所透露的風格特性。跟著「吱嘎」一聲木門響，觀者邁入視景三——身著明代服飾的中年女性緩緩邁入房間，弱弱的煤油燈被微風吹得光色飄忽，她盤坐在床榻邊緩緩卸著裹腳布。區別於前兩個場景的鮮活與喧鬧，雅緻的昏黃色調和柔緩清幽的曲調中透著靜謐與安詳。第四個場景的故事將觀眾拉回紅山原始文明時期，祭祀天神、溝通天人是原始人世界觀引導下的重要活動，烏泱泱的眾人環繞祭壇俯首膜拜，身體前傾、正襟危坐的青白長裙巫者在一系列儀式動作中完成連通天地的交流，波光流動里生命終始的輪迴得以完成。
從現代醫院到古老祭壇，從狹小室內到遼闊荒原，時長7分多鐘的《她曾經來過》將置於歷史背景中的龐大事件和細微的私密時刻關聯起來，轉瞬即逝與無休無盡的一幕幕視景在涌動的時間長河中，在歷史和作為個體的生命中作為融合的對立面，尋根究底的發展，重複和改變。
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體驗與沉浸：新興媒介的藝術構建
據悉，「虛擬現實藝術」共有五個藝術家獨立參展，中國藝術家喻紅的《她曾經來過》作為最後一個項目呈現，其餘四位藝術家均非中國人。在藝訊網的訪談中，創始人嚴思·法斯高面對「為什麼要選擇與喻紅合作」的問題時說起，「起初與幾位中國藝術家都探討過這項合作，喻紅是一位特別優秀的藝術家，並且在我們的交流中喻紅馬上就給出了一些信息和想法」，這是與之合作的一個首要機遇。「能將這些我們熟悉二維繪畫風格做出全新的轉變本身就是非常有趣的」。
喻紅聊及本次創作的過程體驗，「VR技術對我來說是新鮮的，我習慣於在二維平面中講述故事」，但藝術家的敏銳力使她能夠在不同的媒介中找尋到相似性，並迅速地把進行轉換，「從某種角度來說，二維空間中的虛擬描繪與虛擬現實技術有異曲同工之妙，VR能夠將觀者帶入另外一個境遇，一個讓觀眾自身去感受的三維藝術方式」。
的確，虛擬現實技術藉助電腦造景能夠提供觀者關於視覺、聽覺、觸覺等感官的全因素模擬，讓使用者如同身臨其境一般，可以沒有限制地全視角體驗虛擬事物。此次展覽由科拉當代團隊提供技術支持，在提及技術合作時喻紅表示，「他們的團隊非常的專業，雖然大部分是外國人，對於中國的文化沒有全面了解，但是能夠將每個時代的氛圍做到很全面這是非常很難得的」。
對於這個虛擬現實作品《她曾經來過》欲意傳達的觀念和想法，藝術家喻紅並不想做太多的口頭描述，用她的話來說，「希望大家去觀賞、去體驗，看了就懂了」。基於虛擬現實技術作品的特性，體驗成為了這種藝術媒介的核心，觀者必須通過自己的切身感受去探尋，通過個體情景的帶入逃離周遭世界，感受傳統藝術語言與新興技術融合碰撞中所散發的奇妙魅力，而在這個萬象更新的技術時代下，始終保持新鮮感、飽含創造力的藝術家們才是藝術意志的構建端，才是無數種媒介體的搭建人。
此次展覽持續至2018年2月3日。
撰稿：張譯之
文章發布已獲得作者授權，未經允許不得轉載
Which new sparks will fly when traditional oil painting encounters contemporary science & technology? Which wonderful experiences will be constructed by the combination of unique brushwork and fashion via Virtual Reality? On January 7, 2018, a famous female artistYu Hong』s new Virtual Reality artwork 「She』s Already Gone」,which is the fifth and final Virtual Reality artwork of Faurschou Foundation, was premiered at Faurschou Foundation, Beijing. In the 「She』s Already Gone」, the spectator is invited to follow the life of a female character from birth to old age. As the character』s life moves forward, the viewer will notice that history itself moves backwards slowly in a dynamic scene that is different from two-dimensional painting. It is the first time for Yu Hong to blend the distinctive style of painting with the Virtual Reality of Khora Contemporary and the art of oil painting has gained fresh vitality in the fusion of a new medium.
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From Two-Dimensional to Multi-Dimensional: the New Challenge of Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality has successfully entered the global market at a ground-breaking and unusual rate. In the ancient art world which has kept pace with the times, this medium has gradually become a strong support for the energetic artists to explore cross-border exploration and broaden the language of art. In the fusion and collision between traditional techniques and new technologies, the relationship between the artist and viewer has been reconstructed, with many opportunities and possibilities.
As one of the most important artists in China, Yu Hong』s works are known for her traditional two-dimensional paintings based on oil paintings. Throughout her artistic background – In the 1980s, she studied oil painting at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (abbr. CAFA) in Beijing, and studied at the Department of Oil Painting in 1996 where she gained a master』s degree. Since 1988, she has been a teacher in the Department of Oil Painting, CAFA. In the face of the brand-new medium of Virtual Reality, Yu Hong started a completely new attempt with an energetic attitude, and it is undoubtedly a combination of freshness and a challenge for the artists accustomed to expressing themselves through traditional painting language. In her own words, 「This is a huge challenge, but I am very excited」.
「She』s Already Gone」 sketches out a framework for a script for the scenario with two clues in time and space: the story line follows the growth of a woman – from birth to childhood, middle age, old age and death, corresponding to a timeline that gradually traces back from contemporary times to the Cultural Revolution, the Ming Dynasty until the Red Mountain culture 5000 or 6000 years ago. The white, bright space of the exhibition is divided into 12 experience rooms. The whole virtual experience takes 7 minutes and 47 seconds, during this short period of time, the artist』s multidimensional thinking and observation methods are presented with an interactive 3D dynamic scene, where the viewer is able to find the artistic will in a rich immersive experience.
History and Individual: Opposite Narration as Fusion
The core subject of Yu Hong』s paintings has always been human nature, with a focus on the growth and existence of a particular society and the world at large. Even if using virtual reality to construct scenery, her paintings still keep with this feature, and this authenticity seems to be more clearly amplified based on Virtual Reality that aims at getting through the bioengineering technology of neural networks. The whole scenery is divided into four stories. The spectator first enters the modern medical ward scene by the 「birth canal」, and the baby』s crying and the sound of equipment is interwoven with modern cool colors, showing the scene of a baby girl』s birth, and then slowly entering the second scene with the attention focusing on the mother lying in a bed and a nurse.
The wooden bunk beds, the bright red flags surging outside the window, the pleasant tune in the background and the joyous sound of children, etc., suddenly pulling the audience into the atmosphere of the Cultural Revolution. When chatting with the journalist from CAFA ART INFO, Yu Hong said that: 「The majority of these scenes are indoors, which came from the memories of the growth and the scenes of the room where I lived.」 Each scene is painted by the artist by hand and adapted into Virtual Reality, the visible brush strokes adding a layer of physicality to the virtual world and creating an exchange of virtual and real matter in the piece.
Yu Hong has always portrayed the lives of women with a sensitive & meticulous, detail-oriented style. And then, following the sound of a door opening, the viewer enters the third scene, where a middle-aged women is dressing in the clothes of the Ming Dynasty, the she slowly enters the room, with a weak flame from the kerosene lamp being blown by a breeze which made the light fleeting, and she then sat on the edge of the bed and slowly removed the bandages used to bind her feet. Different from the first two fresh and noisy scenes, the elegant dim lit tone and soft & quiet tune reveal a quiet and serene quality. The fourth scene draws the audience back to the period of primitive civilization, the Red Mountain culture. A sacrifice is made to God and the sense of communication were important activities under the guidance of the original world view, and the crowd around the altar that offer worship to the shaman who wore a blue-and-white dress, sitting and leaning forward in a series of ritual actions to communicate with the world and the reincarnation of birth and death that has been completed in the ripples.
From a modern hospital to an ancient altar, from the narrow interior to the vast wasteland, the 7-minute-long 「She』s Already Gone」 links the historical events with slight private moments, the fleeting and endless scenes become the opposite of the fusion of the history and the life as the individual, in the surging river of time, with a root-seeking development, a duplication and change.
Experience and Immersion: Art Construction of the Emerging Medium
The overall exhibition 「Virtual Reality Art」 consists of 5 consecutive 「sub-exhibitions」, Chinese artist Yu Hong』s 「She』s Already Gone」 is the fifth and final piece and the other four artists were not from China. Yu Hong talked about the process and experience of the creation and said that, 「Virtual Reality is a new thing for me, and I used it to tell a story in a two-dimensional material」, but the artist』s acumen enabled her to find similarities in different mediums, and quickly convert them, 「In some ways, the virtual depiction in the two-dimensional space and Virtual Reality are similar, Virtual Reality can introduce the spectator to a different situation, a three-dimensional art path that allows the audience to feel」.
Indeed, Virtual Reality can offer the spectator a full-factor simulation of the vision, auditory, tactile and with other senses, by means of the computer』s diorama, so that the user has an immersive experience, experiencing virtual things without any limitation to the viewing angle. Khora Contemporary offered the exhibition technical support, and in referring to the technical cooperation Yu Hong said that, 「The team is very professional. Although most of the foreign technicians did not have a comprehensive understanding of the Chinese culture, they have perfectly finished the atmosphere of each age which is rare .」
Based on the characteristics of Virtual Reality artworks, experience has become the core of this art medium. It is necessary for the viewer to explore it through his/her own personal experience, escaping from the surrounding world through the introduction of individual scenes, to experience the wonderful charm created by the fusion and collision between traditional art language and new technologies. In the era of technology, the artists who have always been fresh and full of creativity are the builders of an art spirit and the builders of innumerable mediums.
The exhibition remains on view till February 3, 2018.
All rights reserved Zhang Yizhi and CAFA ART INFO
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林冠藝術基金會
地址：北京市朝陽區酒仙橋路2號798藝術區
開放時間： 周二至周日，上午十點至下午六點
微博：@林冠藝術基金會
微信：faurschoubeijing
TAG:林冠北京 |