Deepest Blue 海蓝之迷

February 26, 2021 2021年2月26日
Memory (2018) 140 x 200 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Memory》(2018) 140 x 200 厘米 / 布上丙画

Art often starts with a simple vision, with a more thorough concept only taking shape through different stages of the creative process. On a day like any other, Thai artist Niam Mawornkanong glanced out his window and spotted a shadow on the lower part of a smooth wall. It belonged to a building on the opposite street, and the resulting shadow was cast with perfectly level lines that made him think of the sea horizon. At that moment, the idea for his next series was born.


艺术创作往往起源于一个简单的视觉构想,完整的概念往往是在随后的创作过程中,再逐渐形成的。在某一天,泰国艺术家 Niam Mawornkanong 看向窗外时,发现了光滑墙壁下方的一个阴影,这个阴影来自于对面街道的一幢建筑。平整的阴影线条,令他想起了海上的地平线。就在那一刻,他有了关于下一个系列的创作灵感。

Event on an Ordinary Day No. 2 (2019) 60 x 80 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Event on an Ordinary Day No. 2》(2019) 60 x 80 厘米 / 布上丙画
Event on an Ordinary Day No. 3 (2019) 60 x 80 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Event on an Ordinary Day No. 3》(2019) 60 x 80 厘米 / 布上丙画

The Sea Remembers Us is the visual expression of Mawornkanong’s subconscious, a series of intricate acrylic paintings of the sea inspired by the grandeur of the ocean and the mystery of what lies beyond its horizon. While this idea first came to mind with the casual observation of a shadow, his fascination for the real sea has grown over the years. “To me, the sea represents greatness and wideness,” he says. “It’s as infinite as a God, and it makes us realize that we are just minor living things compared to it and that our time is short compared to its infinity.”


《The Sea Remembers Us》(《大海记得我们》)是 Niam 潜意识的视觉表达,一系列以海洋为主题的丙烯画,画风精细复杂,其灵感来自于壮阔的海洋以及地平线以外的神秘领域。虽然该系列的创作灵感诞生于偶然看到的阴影,但一直以来,大海都是一个让 Niam 深为着迷的主题。他说:“对我来说,大海代表着伟大和广阔,它和上帝一样,是无限的。看着大海,让人意识到沧海一粟之感;而我们一生的时间,与它的无限相比,也不过是过眼云烟。”

Platform (2019) 140 x 200 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Platform》(2019) 140 x 200 厘米 / 布上丙画

Mawornkanong works in a tiny space—a claustrophobic three-square-meter studio. But when he paints, he feels like the room swells to leviathan proportions. With each brushstroke, an expansive ocean opens up, its briny waters spouting from the canvas to engulf the space. “It can feel like my little square studio was floating alone in the middle of the sea,” he says, a sensation beautifully reproduced in the installation of his solo show last March at SAC Gallery in Bangkok.


Niam 的工作室很小,仅为三平方米的幽闭空间。但是当他在画画时,这个小房间仿佛会随之无限膨胀。一笔一画间,波澜壮阔的大海跃然眼前,海水像要从画布中汹涌漫出,淹没整个空间。他说:“这个小小的工作室感觉就像孤零零地漂浮在大海中。”去年 3 月,他在曼谷 SAC 画廊举办个展,当中的艺术装置完美地再现了这种感觉。

Exhibition view ofThe Sea Remembers Us at Bangkok's SAC Gallery Exhibition view ofThe Sea Remembers Us at Bangkok's SAC Gallery
Exhibition view ofThe Sea Remembers Us at Bangkok's SAC Gallery Exhibition view ofThe Sea Remembers Us at Bangkok's SAC Gallery
Exhibition view ofThe Sea Remembers Us at Bangkok's SAC Gallery Exhibition view ofThe Sea Remembers Us at Bangkok's SAC Gallery

His creative process is often rather meditative. He starts by slowly drawing a smooth horizontal line on the canvas—the horizon. Next, he calms his mind and begins envisioning the surrounding scene. “It’s like when the surface of the water is calm, and we can see some things down there,” he says. Many of the things Mawornkanong “sees” relate to his personal experiences, and there’s a lot to draw from them. Still, he curates from this mental archive, choosing to depict motifs that can resonate with the audience.

“Try closing your eyes and imagining the vast sea; what’s the first thing that comes to mind, emerging from the water? Why is that the first thing that comes to your mind?” he asks. Often, what comes to Mawornkanong’s mind is a whale, which to him, a godlike animal that seems to belong in works of fiction. “It’s a mammal born in the sea that lived on the land for a long time. Then, it returned to the sea and never went back to the land. It’s like a bedtime story.”


他的创作过程是一个充满冥想的过程。他首先在画布上慢慢地画出一条平整的水平线,作为地平线。接下来,他会静下心来,开始幻想周围的景象。“平静的水面之下,才能看得清隐藏的一些东西。”他说。Niam 所“看到”的大部分都与他的个人经历有关,而这些经历带给他丰富的创作素材。他探索着自己的内心世界,选择其中一些能引起观众共鸣的元素,在纸上描画下来。

“试着闭上眼睛,想象浩瀚的大海,你最先想到的是什么,有什么从水底上浮现出来?为什么它会是你想到的第一件事?”他提出这样一个问题。通常,Niam 的脑海里浮现的是鲸鱼。对他来说,鲸鱼是一种充满魔幻色彩的神圣动物。“鲸鱼是一种诞生在海洋中的哺乳动物,曾在陆地上生活过很长时间。后来又回到了海洋,此后再也没有回到陆地上。听上去就像一个睡前故事。”

Descendant of Pakicetus No. 2 (2019) 140 x 120 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Descendant of Pakicetus No. 2》(2019) 140 x 120 厘米 / 布上丙画
Descendant of Pakicetus No. 1 (2019) 140 x 120 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Descendant of Pakicetus No. 1》(2019) 140 x 120 厘米 / 布上丙画

His paintings capture the sea’s ancient quality through the inclusion of cryptic, religious elements, such as a statue of the vitarka mudra, a Buddhist hand gesture representing wisdom, or the moai figures of Easter Island, all of which emerge from the tides like totems of a lost civilization. “I feel that the sea has a very long history. It exists for a very long time, and it will stay much after we are no longer here,” he says.


他还在作品加入一些神秘的宗教元素,以此呈现大海古老的气息,例如代表智慧的佛教推究手印(Vitarka Mudra)雕像和复活节岛的摩艾石像。这些元素像失落的文明里的图腾一样,浮出海面。他说:“我觉得大海有着非常悠久的历史,它存在了相当长的时间。即使哪一天人类从地球上消失后,它还会继续存在很长的时间。”

Space and Time (2018) 120 x 160 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Space and Time》(2018) 120 x 160 厘米 / 布上丙画
Are You Ok I am Ok (2018) 120 x 150 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Are You Ok I am Ok》(2018) 120 x 150 厘米 / 布上丙画
Village (2018) 120 x 150 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Village》(2018) 120 x 150 厘米 / 布上丙画
Whispering Island (2018) 120 x 160 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Whispering Island》(2018) 120 x 160 厘米 / 布上丙画

Mawornkanong enjoys working at night, and he often looks out the windows to the unlit landscape, in the hope of spotting strange wildlife in the darkness. “[The night] is quiet, and people are sleeping. It’s the right time for them to come out,” he says. And in many of his paintings, plenty of peculiar creatures populate nocturnal seascapes, floating about in swathes of dark indigos like luminescent sea spirits.


Niam 喜欢在晚上创作,他经常会望着窗外漆黑的风景,希望能在黑暗中发现一些奇怪的动物。“夜深人静的时候,人们都在睡觉,正是动物出来的时候。”他说。在他的画里,各式各样的奇特生物出现在夜间的风景中,漂浮于深邃的靛蓝色调中,仿佛发光的海神。

Family (2019) 120 x 150 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Family》(2019) 120 x 150 厘米 / 布上丙画
Friends (2018) 120 x 120 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Friends》(2018) 120 x 120 厘米 / 布上丙画
Fairy (2018) 120 x 120 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Fairy》(2018) 120 x 120 厘米 / 布上丙画
One Day I Met a Butterfly in the Sea No. 1 (2018) 50 x 60 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《One Day I Met a Butterfly in the Sea No. 1》(2018) 50 x 60 厘米 / 布上丙画

The interaction between the sea and the sky is another frequent feature in Mawornkanong’s works. He often portrays the sky as the sea with flying stingrays and jellyfish, and, in one instance, a diver swimming along with the clouds.

“When you dive, you feel like you’re floating in the air,” he says. “And when the fish swim in the sea, it’s like they’re flying freely in the sky. The water is the sky for them. But there’s a real sky that they’ve never met. I wonder what the stingray would feel in the sky. What about us? What’s up there for us?”


此外,海与天的交互是 Niam 作品中的另一个特征。他喜欢把天空描绘成大海,上面是飞行的黄貂鱼和水母;然后在另一幅作品中,又让潜水员在白云中畅泳。

“潜水的时候会感觉自己仿佛漂浮在空中;而当鱼在海里游动时,它们又像是在天空中自由飞翔,海水就是它们的天空。但它们从未到达过真正的天空。”Niam 说道,“我很好奇黄貂鱼在天空中飞翔时会有什么感觉。而人类呢?我们到了天空上又会怎么样?”

Dive (2018) 100 x 200 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Dive》(2019) 100 x 200 厘米 / 布上丙画
Death and Rebirth No. 3 (2018) 150 x 140 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Death and Rebirth No. 3》(2019) 150 x 140 厘米 / 布上丙画
Death and Rebirth No. 1 (2018) 150 x 140 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Death and Rebirth No. 1》(2019) 150 x 140 厘米 / 布上丙画
Event on an Ordinary Day No. 1 (2019) 60 x 80 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Event on an Ordinary Day No. 1》(2019) 60 x 80 厘米 / 布上丙画

Mawornkanong grew up in Samut Prakan, an industrial town outside Bangkok. He moved to the Thai capital to study art but dropped out of art school to enroll in religion and philosophy courses, or “the sciences that would answer my many questions about life,” as he puts it. His family was never supportive of him becoming an artist. “They saw me as a rebel. It has been my trauma—they still have not accepted me,” he says.


自小在曼谷郊外的工业小镇 Samut Prakan 长大的 Niam,后来去了曼谷学习艺术,但中途又从艺术学校退学,转而修读宗教和哲学课程,用他的话说,这是“一种能解答我人生许多问题的科学”。一直以来,他的家人都不支持他成为艺术家。他说:“他们把我看成是一个叛徒,这是我心结。他们一直都不愿意接受我。”

Woman on the Roof (2019) 140 x 140 cm / Acrylic on canvas 《Woman on the Roof》(2019) 140 x 140 厘米 / 布上丙画

Mawornkanong’s sea is invariably calm. Even when disturbed by natural or unnatural phenomena, it’s always a tranquil sight. His paintings have a soothing effect on viewers, as they had on him while he was painting. His creative energy was liberating and cathartic. “It was like art therapy. It began with helping myself. While I was working on these artworks, I could calmly spend time with the smooth horizon line and live with the deepness of blue,” he says. “I hope that the viewers can also feel what I felt.”


Niam 笔下的大海总是一片风平浪静,即使受到自然或非自然因素的干扰,也总是一派宁静。他的画不仅能抚慰观众的心灵,也能在他创作时平静他的内心。对他来说,创作是一种解放和宣泄。他说:“画画就像是一种艺术疗法,首先得到帮助的是我自己。当我在创作,在描画平静的地平线以及大片深邃的蓝色色调时,我的内心总能保持平和。我希望观众也能和我有同样的感受。”

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Contributors: Tomas PinheiroLucas Tinoco
Chinese Translation: Olivia Li


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供稿人: Tomas PinheiroLucas Tinoco
英译中: Olivia Li

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Taiwan, Abandoned 我们长大了,房屋却老了

February 24, 2021 2021年2月24日

In the past few decades, a series of government-led initiatives in Taiwan has industrialized the countryside. Factories and warehouses popped up across the island’s rural outskirts, but the industrial boom eventually came to an end. Today, many of these buildings, once a measure of Taiwan’s economic ambitions, now lay dilapidated. But these abandoned structures still hold importance, in that they can offer a glimpse into the region’s history.

The changing times are hardly a surprise to Huang Bowen. Born and raised in the ‘90s, the Taiwanese urbex photographer is a keen-eyed observer of the ebb and flow of time. The objects and places imprinted into his childhood memories—CRT televisions, bustling factories, and the grand theatre that he frequented as a child—are a constant source of inspiration for his explorations today. To him, it’s fascinating to see how nothing is able to escape the ruthless grasp of time. As it seems, people may age with grace, but buildings and objects simply crumble.


对一座城市的了解,应该始于它的历史;而历史是写在淹没城市四处的废墟里面的。在过去二十年里,台湾中央政府致力推动工业发展,不少农田水利之处都建造起工厂和楼房,以适应时代经济的改革。但厂楼平地起,总有起完的一天,那些曾经见证了经济腾飞的砖瓦泥墙,就此也会逐渐见证人烟荒芜。

废墟摄影师黄柏雯对此并不意外。他是土生土长的台湾人,生于 90 年代初的他,见证了台湾经济和人口都飞速发展的时期,对记忆中的家用电视机、父母辈工作的老工厂和儿时常去的大剧院都葆有深沉的情感。这些潜藏在记忆中的角落,后来也成了他城市探险的“景点”——当年的人长大了,房屋却老了。

Huang’s first experience with urban exploration was during his conscription. In 2012, he tagged along with his army buddies when they decided to visit a large abandoned building in northeastern Taiwan. Though the precise details and exact location have long faded, that experience left an impression on him. It inspired him to take up urbexing on his own and learn how to take photos of his adventures.  “It was so interesting that we put in so much work and overcame so many hurdles just to catch a glimpse inside,” he recalls.


最初涉足废墟,黄柏雯说是源于当兵时候的一次巧合,在 2012 年,他与同袍去了一趟台湾东北角的大型废墟探险。时隔多年后种种细节已经淡忘,但那次的经历依然让他印象深刻,“钻过无数的芒草丛,越过重重关卡,只为了一窥内部,非常有趣。”也是在这趟旅程之后,他开启了自己的废墟摄影生涯。

Urbex photography requires a certain degree of luck: the right weather condition at the right time can make a scene that much more stunning. Luck also plays a part in whether or not an urbexer can successfully get inside a building.

To ensure that Lady Luck is on his side, Huang often scouts out a location prior to the actual shoot. He’ll take mental note of times when guards aren’t around and the best spots to enter the complex. If the patrolman seems especially vigilant, then he’ll need to weigh out the risks and decide on whether or not it’s worth it.

It’s not always difficult though. “Sometimes it’s just normal people living next to these abandoned lots,” he says. “If you just give them a heads up as to what you’re doing, oftentimes you can just saunter right in and shoot to your heart’s content.”


废墟摄影最需要的是运气。天时地利的光影能体现废墟的凄美感,避人耳目的时机则能保证整趟探险之旅不被打扰。在拍摄前,黄柏雯通常会先搜集一些“情报”,无守卫或是荒烟漫草型的废墟很好潜入,但如若碰到有警卫把守,就需要先行做下功课,评估一下是否值得一去。但也有例外,“有些废墟旁边有邻居等人,适时地打招呼并说明来意反而也可以很顺利,大喇喇地进入拍摄。”黄柏雯说。

Luck, or rather the lack of luck, also plays a part in what an urban explorer may encounter inside each building. It’s not uncommon to find critters such as rats and cats scurrying out from the shadows, photography of deceased family members hung on the walls, stacks of well-preserved books from years past, or mattresses that have rotted into pieces. Unexpected run-ins are all part of the urbex experience.

But no matter how gritty an abandoned building may seem to the untrained eye, with the right light and composition, these structures—and even the trash within them—can take on a certain grandeur. “In larger industrial complexes, good light can add to the sense of spatiality,” Huang says. “In smaller residential spaces, the items that past inhabitants left behind tell revealing stories. But sometimes, it almost feels like the previous owners simply evaporated, and it leaves a lot to the imagination.”


足够“幸运”的话,在废墟里什么都能碰到,挂在墙上的遗像照、保存完好的书本、被虫蛀到烂成碎片的床褥,还有不时出没的老鼠和猫。

但对黄柏雯来说,废墟中最迷人之处莫过于物品及光影的互动,“大型工厂里的光影能够衬托整体空间感,而住宅型废墟则能够由遗留的物品来推敲这户人的状况。”他说道,“有些废墟令人感到疑惑,物品都遗留在现场,人却像是蒸发般的消失,完全摸不透到底发生了什么事情。”

Structures that have been reclaimed by nature are among some of Huang’s favorites to explore. He says that, in these spaces, where the manmade meets the natural world, the passage of time feels like it takes on a material form—he’s able to picture the workers who built the structure, admire the metal and concrete used in its construction, and even imagine what the previous inhabitants might have been like. But in the present moment, with vines, branches, and ferns overrunning the space, he respects that Mother Nature has taken control, covering the building exterior and interior in ways she sees fit. The building’s past is wiped clean, as is its future.


他尤为钟爱长满植物的废墟,那种“各种蕨类及藤蔓在室内窜生的感觉,是第一眼就会被吸引的”。在满眼绿意的断壁残垣里,时间不再是无形之物——数十年前人们用钢筋水泥打造城市的画面出现了,那些人们曾在楼宇中生活的印记也历历在目,可节同时异,这里的窗里门外的一切又被野生的植株次第吞噬了——房屋的过往已被摧毁,而它们也没有未来。

After every shoot, Huang’s edits aim not only to reproduce everything the way he saw in person but also evoke whiffs of the building’s past. His signature tones—namely the warm highlights and cyan-tinged shadows—add an atmospheric glow to his images, one that uncovers the elegance of these neglected structures. “I hope to lend my perspective to others,” he says. “I want to show them that there’s a lot of beauty and meaning to be found in these derelict places.”


他的废墟摄影色调灰沉,处处透露出一种陈年往事的气息。对此,黄柏雯只是淡淡地说道,“我想借由这些视角,来诉说这废墟背后的美感及蕴藏的故事。”

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Contributor: Chen Yuan


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供稿人: Chen Yuan

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Local Reads 闻香是书“乡”

February 22, 2021 2021年2月22日

A decade ago, a bookstore that exclusively sold books from Singapore would have been unimaginable. In this country known for its pragmatism, people are taught from a young age to follow predictable paths to success and give up on unrealistic creative dreams. Singapore’s literary scene has long had a low profile, and few people knew the names of local authors.

In recent years, however, a renaissance in local literature has taken the city by storm. Young Singaporean authors such as Amanda Lee Koe, Sharlene Teo, Cyril Wong, and Inez Tan have risen to prominence, gaining recognition both at home and abroad. The Singapore Writers’ Festival has also seen an increase in participants every year.


十年前,人们大概很难想象会有一家专供新加坡图书的书店存在。在这个以实用主义著称的国家,人们从小被教导脚踏实地去生活,放弃不切实际的梦想。更何况一直以来,新加坡文学界都十分低调,为人熟知的新加坡作家名字也并不多见。

不过在近年来,新加坡掀起了一股本地文学浪潮。Amanda Lee KoeSharlene TeoCyril WongInez Tan 等年轻新加坡作家纷纷崭露头角,在国内外备受关注和认可。最近几年,新加坡作家节 (The Singapore Writers’ Festival) 的参与者也在逐年增加。

Against this backdrop, the Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop, a collaboration between Epigram Books, an independent publisher, and Huggs Coffee, a local artisanal café, opened its doors in March 2019. A sign at the door reads, “Hold Singapore in your hands.”

It’s the world’s only bookstore exclusively selling Singaporean books, a category it defines as any book published in Singapore, written by a Singaporean, or about Singapore.  

Edmund Wee, the publisher at Epigram and co-owner of the shop, says he wants to put the spotlight on local literature and not let it be crowded out by the competition. “In a normal bookshop, you’re competing against the bestsellers from the West, and it’s really hard to give prominence to local books,” he explains. “So I decided to open a bookshop selling only books from and about Singapore.”


在这个勃勃生机的大环境之下,由独立出版商 Epigram Books 与当地手工咖啡馆 Huggs Coffee 联袂推出的 Huggs-Epigram 店于 2019 年 3 月开业。店门口摆放的牌子上面写道:“Hold Singapore in your hands.”(新加坡就在你手中)。

这里是世界上唯一一家专供新加坡书籍的书店,即售卖任何在新加坡出版、由新加坡人撰写,或关于新加坡的书籍。Edmund Wee 是 Epigram 出版商和这家书店的老板之一,他希望能聚焦本地文学,不让它们埋没在众多的外国文学书籍中。他说:“在平常的书店里,本地书籍往往要和众多来自欧美的畅销书竞争,很难从中突出重围,所以我决定开一家书店,只卖来自新加坡和关于新加坡的书。”

Edmund Wee / Image Courtesy of Huggs-Epigram Edmund Wee / 图片由 Huggs-Epigram 提供

As you step inside, an eleven-meter-long wall of books catches your attention. Each book is set out in an open wooden box or cubby, clearly showing its cover and title. Besides being colorful and eye-catching, the arrangement also makes it easy to spot the titles you’re looking for.You’ll find novels, non-fiction, literary magazines, photography books, comics, children’s stories, picture books, cookbooks, and much more.

Even Wee is surprised by the growing variety of local reads. When he first opened Epigram six years ago, he found plenty of local poetry and short story collections to publish, but almost no novels.Nor were there any local children’s books, so most kids grew up with English tales from the UK or the US. This made Wee wonder: “Why should we read stories about blonde-haired princesses and castles? Why not about local issues?” Now, Huggs-Epigram’s diverse selection shows that Singaporeans have plenty of homegrown books to choose from.


走进书店,目光立刻被一面 11 米长的书墙吸引。每一本书都放在一个敞开的木箱或方格里,封皮和书名一目了然。这样的布局看上去不仅抢眼,也方便读者找到想要的书目。书的类型包罗万象,包括小说、非虚构类书籍、文学杂志、摄影书籍、漫画、儿童故事、图画书、烹饪书等等。

就连 Edmund 自己也惊讶于本地文学种类之多。六年前,刚创办 Epigram 时,他发现当地出版的都是诗歌和短篇小说集,几乎没有长篇小说,甚至连本地的儿童读物都极度匮乏,大多数新加坡孩子的成长都伴随着英美国家地区的经典故事长大。这让 Wee 很纳闷:“为什么我们孩子的阅读范围要被限定在金发公主和城堡,而不是一些更有本地特色的故事呢?”而现在,Huggs-Epigrams 书店藏书种类之丰富也表明,新加坡人现在拥有更多本土书籍可以选择。

One title that stands out is The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, by Sonny Liew. It’s an award-winning graphic novel about a fictional cartoonist’s journey throughout Singapore’s modern history, and its clever political allegories have earned it a consistent spot on the bookstore’s bestsellers list. Another notable title is Inez Tan’s short story collection This is Where I Won’t Be Alone. Set in different cities around the world, these stories revolve around a familiar theme of displacement and the search for belonging.


汪洋书海中,由 Sonny Liew 创作的《The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye》值得令人关注,这本获奖漫画小说讲述了一位漫画家在近代新加坡的人生旅程,凭借巧妙的政治讽喻成为了书店的畅销书之一。还有一本是 Inez Tan 的短篇小说集《This is Where I Won’t Be Alone》,书中的故事以世界各地的城市为背景,围绕着流离失所和寻找归属感的主题展开。

In a further effort to support local creatives, Huggs-Epigram sets aside one table in the bookstore for an author or artist to use to work on their projects, engage with customers, or look for inspiration. Visitors can also get their books signed.

The attached Huggs coffee shop offers local drinks and bites to pair with the Singporean books, such as the Sumatra kopi, Masala tea, and ondeh-ondeh, brightly colored delicacy made of rice flour and coconut.


为了进一步支持本土创作,Huggs-Epigram 书店里专为作家和艺术家腾出桌子,以便他们进行创作、与顾客交流、寻找灵感,或者为书店的读者提供书籍签售。

书店内的 Huggs 咖啡店提供当地的特色饮料和小吃,如 Sumatra kopi 咖啡、马萨拉茶和 ondeh-ondeh(用米粉和椰子做成的色泽鲜艳的甜点),读者可以一边品尝,一边读书。

Though small, the bookstore’s tasteful design and thoughtful collection make it a memorable space. Sitting on one of the round stools facing the wall of books, one can’t help feeling a flush of optimism. Hopefully, Huggs-Epigram will be just one more milestone in Singapore’s ongoing literary renaissance.


书店虽小,但雅致的装修和丰富的藏书却令人流连忘返。坐在圆凳上,看着正对面的书墙,心情也不由得变得明朗起来,但愿今后有更多像 Huggs-Epigrams 一样的书店,一起推动新加坡的文学复兴。

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Website: www.epigrambookshop.sg
Instagram: @huggsepigram

 

Contributor: Huang Yimin
Photographer: Lee Yik Keat

Chinese Translation: Olivia Li


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网站: www.epigrambookshop.sg
Instagram: @huggsepigram

 

供稿人: Huang Yimin
摄影师: Lee Yik Keat
英译中: Olivia Li

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Writings on the Wall 哥特能不能中文化?

February 19, 2021 2021年2月19日

The street art scene typically incentivizes graffiti writers to drop letter art for more abstract and character-centered murals. But a small subset of writers progress into large, typography-driven works, a method often referred to as calligraffiti. The common root in lettering makes it an obvious transition, though it’s less popular than conventional street art. An even less-explored field is calligraffiti based on non-Latin alphabets, and Taipei’s CreepyMouse is one such artist keen on combining Western and Eastern written cultures.


时下的街头艺术中,越来越多涂鸦艺术家放弃字体涂鸦,转而创作更抽象和专注于人物形象的壁画作品。然而,有少数派的涂鸦艺术家却剑走偏锋,选择创作更大型的字体涂鸦作品,即所谓的“书法涂鸦”(Calligraffiti)。涂鸦与书法都根源于字体设计,因此两者的融合也算是水到渠成。字体涂鸦本来就不如传统街头艺术那样备受关注,而其中更加冷门的莫过于非拉丁字母的书法涂鸦。来自台北的 CreepyMouse 正是专注于此领域的涂鸦艺术家,尤其热衷于结合西方和东方的书法文化。

CreepyMouse, whose given name is Tsai Song Ting, got his start painting the streets of Tainan. Under the cover of darkness, he joined high-school classmates as they caught tags around town while he took photos. “Once they asked if I wanted to write my name, and I pressed my first cap; I just couldn’t stop,” he laughs. His graffiti name is a reference to those early days when they crept around silently, getting up on walls while others slept.


CreepyMouse 原名蔡松廷,最早是在台南街头开始创作涂鸦。高中的时候,他和同学常常趁着夜幕,在镇上四处留下签名 tag,而他则在一旁拍照。“有一次他们问我,要不要也写写我的名字,于是我第一次按下喷漆,从那以后,我就一发不可收拾了就无法停下来了。”他笑着说道。他的涂鸦名字“CreepyMouse”正是指就源于从他们以前那些趁着夜深人静偷偷摸摸,在墙壁创作涂鸦的日子。  

He eventually moved on to more traditional burners, painting colorful and intricate pieces inspired by traditional U.S.-style graffiti, something he still indulges in from time to time. But CreepyMouse’s curiosity about the Latin alphabet led him to Gothic calligraphy, a style of script that grew to prominence in Western Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. This style captivated him and quickly became his primary area of focus. “I was mainly learning on my own using the internet, checking out other artists’ work while trying to create something new out of those influences. Some friends also helped point me in the right direction.”


后来,他开始创作更传统的 burner 作品(指“精制壁画”),色彩缤纷、精繁复杂的涂鸦风格,深受传统美式涂鸦的影响,这是他至今仍然热爱的涂鸦风格。之后,出于对拉丁字母的兴趣,CreepyMouse 认识了哥特体书法,这是一种在 9 至 15 世纪期间在西欧流行开来的字体。这种字体让他如此着迷,很快便成为他潜心专研的字体风格。“我主要都是通过网络自学,看看其他艺术家的作品,然后试图从中创造出一些新的东西,我的一些朋友也给了我一些很好的意见。”

While Western ideas intrigued him, CreepyMouse was equally interested in incorporating his own culture into his art. As an experiment, he began applying what he’d created based on Gothic styles to Chinese characters. “It just works!” he grins. Although he still does some lettering in English, the majority of his work is now written in Chinese.


虽然 CreepyMouse 对西方文化颇感兴趣,但亦同样热衷于将自己国家的文化融入到艺术作品中。之后,他甚至开始尝试将哥特体风格应用于汉字中,“效果竟然很不错!”他笑着说道。虽然偶尔仍会使用英文字体,但他现在大部分作品都是用汉字创作的。

Although CreepyMouse is a minority as a graffiti-based artist working in non-Latin scripts, he’s joined by some interesting company. In Brazil, pixadores cover entire skyscraper facades with tags based on Runic scripts and heavy-metal-inspired fonts. In Japan, Mami combines Japanese calligraphy with lessons in scale learned from American-style tagging, and Tacos is a French graffiti artist raised in Shanghai who paints in a “graffuturism” style using Chinese characters. Writers like Gas and Reset in Chengdu and Boms in Hong Kong also get creative with Chinese characters.


像 CreepyMouse 这样以非拉丁字体创作涂鸦的艺术家为数不多,但当中仍不乏佼佼者:巴西的 pixadores如尼文(Runic)和重金属风格字体创作了一幅布满整幢摩天大楼立面的签名 tag 涂鸦;日本的 Mami 将日文书法与美式 tag 相结合;在上海长大的法国涂鸦艺术家 Tacos,用汉字创作“未来涂鸦”(Graffuturism);还有成都的 GasReset 以及香港的 Boms 等涂鸦艺术家,他们都采用了汉字进行创作。

CreepyMouse dispenses with the pop-art color schemes so popular within the contemporary street-art circuit and instead hones in on two or three colors per piece. But this doesn’t detract from the works’ power—instead, it seems to lend an increased aura of intensity to the paintings. The golds radiate more vibrantly and the reds glimmer with deeper contrast when they’re allowed to take center stage. Even when working in black-and-white, an energy pulsates as his letter work becomes the beating heart of the piece.

And visualizing energy is important. With many styles of calligraphy, the movement of each stroke can be a defining aspect. The different weight and pressure of every stroke are ways for CreepyMouse to express himself on his own terms. “Many things in life can make me feel angry, but I’m able to vent those emotions peacefully through artwork,” he says. He balances these aggressive strokes with passages and text pulled from serene sutras or song lyrics. “They let my heart find peace.”


CreepyMouse 摒弃当代街头艺术圈的流行艺术配色,而选择以两到三种颜色来创作每一幅作品。颜色种类的减少并没有削弱作品的力量,相反,这反而令他的作品呈现出更强烈的气氛,没有过多的色彩干扰,金色看上去更活力四溢,红色则突显鲜明反差,在画面中显得更瞩目抢眼。即使是黑白色的作品,这些字体也仿佛是作品跳动的心脏,涌动着一股蓬勃的能量。

透过视觉效果传达出力量感很重要,对于各种风格的书法,一笔一画的动态有着决定性的影响,CreepyMouse 正是通过每一个笔画的重轻与压力来表达自我。“生活中有许多让我愤怒的事情,但我可以通过艺术,冷静地宣泄这些情绪。”他说道。咄咄逼人的强劲笔触,却书写着平静人心的经文或歌词,相互之间抵消平衡,“让我的内心重拾平静”。

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Website: www.creepymouse.art
Instagram: @creepymouse1

 

Contributor: Mike Steyels
Chinese Translation: Olivia Li


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网站: www.creepymouse.art
Instagram: @creepymouse1

 

供稿人: Mike Steyels
英译中: Olivia Li

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The Taste of Home 家之味

February 17, 2021 2021年2月17日
Photographer: Guillaum Ziccarelli / Image Courtesy of Perrotin

For ceramics artist Stephanie Shih, home has often felt like a hazy memory. Her parents immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan in the 1980s. Shih was born in the United States and grew up largely surrounded by Western culture. But her parents made sure she wouldn’t stray too far from her roots: Chinatown grocery trips and home-cooked meals filled with all the staple Taiwanese fixings were essentials parts of her upbringing. The flavors, aromas, and ingredients of this time period formed Shih’s only impression of her birthplace. Now, older and wiser, she holds a better understanding of what it means to be a part of the Asian diaspora. She now recognizes that no matter how far you may feel from your roots, there are certain cultural tethers that can’t be severed.


故乡,对于陶瓷艺术家石函玉Stephanie Shih)来说是个遥远的概念。上世纪八十年代,石函玉的父母从台湾移民美国。她在美国出生,在美国长大,从小便在西方文化下生活。家人由台湾保留下的生活习惯和唐人街的华人杂货铺,构成了她对故乡的模糊印象。如今,石函玉常住在纽约布鲁克林,她认为散居在国外的亚洲人都是天空中的风筝,飞得越远,风筝线反倒愈发坚固。随着年龄的增长,故乡如同放风筝的人,时刻牵引着她寻根的线路。

On a night in 2018, Shih wrapped over 200 dumplings. For those familiar with Chinese traditions, this may seem like an unremarkable amount for certain holidays. However, Shih’s 200 dumplings, despite how tasty and realistic they look, weren’t wrapped for a Chinese New Year gathering. In fact, they aren’t even edible—they’re made of clay.

After firing them in a kiln and plating them up, Shih’s dumplings look especially convincing. When she put them up for sale online, they were an instant hit. Buyers appreciated them on different levels. Some were Asian-Americans who saw them with a lens of nostalgia, a link to their childhood years, while others were simply Chinese cuisine lovers.


2018 年夏天的某个晚上,石函玉下班回到家里包制了大约二百个饺子。倘若逢年过节,二百个饺子听起来倒是稀松平常,不过这些饺子可不是用来吃的,它们由大量的黏土皮馅包制而成,然后通过高温烘烤,装盘成逼真的模样。后来,这些“瓷饺子”在网络上售卖,人们知道下单的并不是真正的饺子,而是收获一份故乡的归属感、或是对亚洲味道的美好向往。她说:“我很喜欢包饺子的过程,重复的指尖动作很容易让我静下来冥想,思绪也被拉向了远方的故土。”

If there are dumplings, then condiments are a must. The usual suspects all make appearances in Shih’s oeuvre: bottles of vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil all come in ceramic form alongside her appetizing dumplings. A yogurt drink and bottle of sriracha also make cameos—some of Shih’s personal favorites to enjoy with a meal. Even the packaging design, which includes the bar code and expiration date, has been reproduced in detail. These lifelike sculptures have left food lovers and art critics alike hungry for more.


既然有饺子,必定少不了香醋和麻油。石函玉挑选了美国市面上常见的镇江香醋和加登屋純正麻油进行陶瓷创作,再搭配上汇丰蒜蓉辣酱和养乐多,将一顿丰盛的传统美餐和盘托出在观众面前。陶瓷的做工精致,从尺寸大小到包装、颜色,都基本还原了食品或佐料的原貌,甚至连包装上的二维码和保质期都原封不动地描绘在陶瓷上。生动的创作方式和大众化的创作对象,让这些即便是陶瓷的作品,也在观众嘴里变得有滋有味儿。

Shih first began working with ceramics in 2015. At the time, she was a copywriter at a tech company. Sculpting ceramics was just a hobby, a way for her to unwind from the stresses of her job.

One particular quote from her friend and fellow ceramics enthusiast has stuck with her from those early years: “Sculping ceramics is the most direct route from what’s in your head to what’s in your hands.” This philosophy is what made her fall deeply in love with the medium. Furthermore, she’s found these food-inspired sculptures to be the perfect way to retrace her cultural roots. She’s since quit her job to pursue ceramics art full time, and more gastronomic delights from around Asia have been born beneath her fingertips.


石函玉从 2015 年便开始尝试陶艺创作,彼时她还任职科技公司的稿人一职。起初,石函玉的创作只为繁忙工作之余的减压,那时候的她身体状况并不算好,便以陶艺的方式来获得身心的慰藉。她非常认同朋友曾告诉她的一句话:“陶艺是心灵抵达双手最直接的路径。”以此为信念,石函玉把陶艺创作一直坚持了下来。而对于她来说,“饺子” 的创作显然是陶瓷与思乡情感的一次完美契合。自那之后,石函玉仿佛找到了创作上的归宿,她如今辞掉工作,一门心思放在陶艺的创作上。创作的主题,就是亚洲的食物。

Shih has since transformed a wide variety of delectable food, drinks, and ingredients into ceramic form. Kokuho brand jasmine rice, Sunflower haw flakes, Nissin instant noodle, Ferrero-Rocher chocolates, Laoganma chili sauce, and a carton of Vita-brand Chrysanthemum tea are among just a few of her works. This hodgepodge of groceries is commonplace throughout Asia and Chinese grocery stores. Shih says that these works have mostly been spurred on by nostalgia. “A lot of the inspiration comes from Chinatown grocery staples in the US, especially the products that I saw everywhere the ‘80s and ‘90s,” she says. “Lee Kum Kee, Kadoya, Pearl River Bridge, and so on—these are the Asian brands that left an impression on me.”


很快,大量美食纷纷出炉。国宝改良种子新米、葵花牌山楂饼、出前一丁面、费列罗巧克力、甚至老干妈豆豉辣酱和维他菊花茶……她的作品种类繁多,看上去就像是杂货铺,应有尽有。而这些食用品,基本上都是亚洲食品界家喻户晓的大品牌。石函玉承认自己是一个怀旧的人,她说道:我的大部分灵感来自美国八九十年代的亚洲食品杂货铺,会比较关注李锦记、加登屋、珠江桥等品牌的食品,这些品牌在我成长中留下的印象很深。

The intricate brushwork and level of detail she puts into shaping every piece are testaments of her love of Asian culture. For Asians living overseas, her work carries a level of familiarity, one that makes them feel right at home. “In a lot of places around the world, ceramic art is used to memorialize the past or their childhood,” she says. “Even if you’re not Asian, you can still relate with the meaning behind my work.”


“杂货铺”内的商品看上去用料扎实,虽然没有非常平滑的轮廓,却能让观众的内心感到踏实。陶瓷上精细的笔画和深思熟虑的颜色,足以见得石函玉对于家乡的一往情深。对于身在美国的亚洲人来说,观看她的作品,就好像在人海茫茫中,忽然遇到了曾经的知己一样,令人深感亲切和激动。石函玉说:世界上有很多地方用陶瓷来怀念他们的过去或是童年。即便你并非来自亚洲,你也能体会到我作品其中的用意。

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Website: www.stephaniehshih.com
Instagram
: @stephaniehshih

 

Contributor: Pete Zhang


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网站: www.stephaniehshih.com
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: @stephaniehshih

 

供稿人: Pete Zhang

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Along the Silk Road 边陲 丝路 与艺术

February 15, 2021 2021年2月15日
Chomrong (2017) 162 x 130 cm / Encaustic on wood

The trade routes that linked distant civilizations along the silk road were paved in peril. Only caravans of enterprising merchants, soldiers, and bandits were brave enough to travel the sprawling deserts and grasslands between Europe and Asia, discovering cities such as Samarkand, Xi’an, and Kashgar, whose vowel-rich titles rise and fall in sharp syllables like the spires of their towers. Yet, it wasn’t only merchants and conquering armies who found providence within the walls of these fortified cities—but also ideas, philosophies, and art.

Korean-born painter Chae Tongyull understands this history well. He has spent his whole adult life tracing the footsteps of nomadic people throughout Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, carving out trails in some of the most remote and dangerous areas of the world. Yet, unlike the ancient marauders and merchants of old, Chae’s pursuit is not for fortune or gold, it’s for artistic inspiration. At each new juncture on his voyage—a thatched hut deep in the Yucatan jungle, a cheap church-loft in the most dangerous neighborhood of 1980s New York, a makeshift shelter at the highest peaks of the windy Himalayas—he maintains an eye not for detail, but for humanity, attempting not just to observe, but to embed himself in the local community. However, if one wishes to fully scale the breadth of humanity’s most beautiful peaks, one is also duty-bound to descend into the shadows of her deepest and darkest valleys.


丝绸之路起源于公元前二百年的西汉,当时汉武帝派遣张骞出使西塞传播丝绸,他一路从中国中代都城长安,穿越中亚国家、阿富汗、伊朗、伊拉克、叙利亚等地而达地中海,最终落脚于罗马,开辟了这条贯穿千年的道路,连接起数个遥远的文明。西安、撒马尔罕、和喀什……这些城市的名字在短促的音节中起起落落,读起来像是城市起伏的塔尖,也隐喻着这条线路的崎岖与悠远。与此同时,这条贸易路线也足够危险,只有坚定的商人、士兵和强盗组成的商队,才有足够勇气,穿行于欧亚之间的沙漠和草原。

韩国画家 Chae Tongyull 十分熟悉这段历史。成年后,他一直周游亚洲、欧洲和中东,追寻游牧民族的足迹,探索世界各地一些最偏远和最危险的地区。然而,与古代的劫掠者和商人不同,Chae 要寻找的不是黄金和商机,而是途中迸发而出的艺术灵感。无论是在尤卡坦半岛丛林深处的茅草屋,1980 年代纽约最危险街区的廉价教堂阁楼,或是喜马拉雅山最高峰寒风呼啸的临时庇护所……都曾留下过他的足迹。他所关注的并非周遭的环境,而是当地居住的人们;他不想一味地旁观,而试图融入当地社区。然而,如果一个人想要充分领略人性之美的高峰,势必也要经历至深至暗的人性洞穴。

Untitled (1983) 38 x 50 cm / Oil on paper
Untitled (1983) 38 x 50 cm / Oil on paper

Trial by Fire

Chae—whose given name is Choi—was born in the midst of the Korean War in 1950, a descendant of political nobility dating back over three to six generations. As such, great things were expected of him from a young age, and at age 17, he volunteered for the war in Vietnam with ambitions to eventually become an ambassador. It was here that Chae’s boyhood romantic notions of war shattered, forcing him to confront the dark duality, and grim reality, of what it means to be human. “I saw civilians getting killed, I saw everything,” he says. “And at the same time you are learning that you, yourself, are also capable of doing bad. We each have the ability to do really great things, and really horrible things, but you have everything in yourself at once, you are capable of both. I learned that early on.” This experience would awaken within Chae the artist he was destined to become, and forge his brushstrokes with the visceral, nearly primal, energy, one that’s most noticeable in his Slaughter series of the 1980s, which depicts body parts strewn across his canvas.


战火的审判

Chae 姓崔,生于上世纪五十年代朝鲜战争期间,来自一个政治世家。他从小就被寄予厚望,17 岁,他志愿参加了越南战争,并立志从事外交工作。也正是那个时候,战争把 Chae 美好的青春击个粉碎,他不得不直面人性的黑白两面、弹孔把他心中的现实射得稀烂。他说:我看到平民被杀害,那一刻让我看清了一切。这时候你会发现,原来自己也有拥有作恶的能力。我们每个人既有能力去做伟大的善举,也有能力做出可怕的行为,这是每个人同时拥有的能力。我很早就意识到了这一点。这一经历唤醒了 Chae 内心对于艺术创作的渴望,这股发自内心、近乎原始的能量成就了他独特的笔触风格,这一点在他  1980 年代创作的《Slaughter》系列中尤为明显。作品中,人的肢体和器官被散落在画布上面。

Slaughter 2 (1981) 38 x 50 cm
Slaughter 4 (1981) 38 x 50 cm
Slaughter 5 (1981) 38 x 50 cm

In Search of New Lands

Following the war, Chae moved to the United States where, as an exchange student, he found an interest in literature The rambling, chaotic prose of James Joyce and the Imagist poetry of Ezra Pound comforted him, giving Chae inspiration for his own creative journey. However, his disdain for the rigid structure of the classroom eventually led him to drop out. He spent the next few years bouncing from city to city across America, working various odd jobs. He became a bartender in New York, a bouncer in Miami, and even a karate instructor before eventually settling in New Orleans. It was there, in an atmosphere humid with Jazz and sticky with syncopated rhythms, that Chae’s bohemian heart found its artistic beat. He met his wife and fellow artist, LD Lawrence, and even started an art movement dubbed “The Idists.” New Orleans became a fresh schoolyard for the young artist, a place where he could discover his voice and flesh out his newfound interest in painting.


寻找新大陆

战后,Chae 作为交换学生移居美国,并从那时开始对文学产生了浓烈的兴趣。他从詹姆斯·乔伊斯(James Joyce)散漫的意识流写作和埃兹拉·庞德(Ezra Pound)的意象派诗歌中寻求战后慰藉,也为之后的艺术创作埋下一颗种子。由于不认同学校僵化的课程构架,他最终选择退学。在接下来的几年里,他穿梭于美国各个城市,打着各种各样的零工。他在纽约当过酒保,在迈阿密当过门卫,甚至还曾任过空手道助教,直到最终定居新奥尔良。在这个充满爵士乐和切分节奏的城市里,Chae 自由自在的波西米亚灵魂终于找到了契合艺术的节拍。他还在这里结识了自己的妻子 LD Lawrence,两人甚至一起发起了名为 “The Idists” 的艺术运动。新奥尔良成了这位年轻艺术家新的乐场,让他找到了表达自我的方式,也激发了他对绘画的热情。

Untitled (1993) 16 x 21 cm / Monotype

From Goya to Picasso, Chae’s color palette draws from the sensibilities of European fine art while his brash brushstrokes harken back to early elements of Eastern calligraphy, particularly the work of eccentric eighteenth-century Chinese artist Pa-Ta-Shan-Jen. With each new place he visits, each new book he reads, and each new idea he encounters, disparate symbols are introduced, transformed, and incorporated into his work.

“Many of the early Renaissance paintings come from Persian paintings, which in turn were influenced by the Mongols,” he says. “They came and ruled over the Arabic countries, bringing all these Chinese painters and their distinct styles. So in a way, my works travel down from the Himalayas and into the tradition of the Renaissance. Although they may look like Western paintings, they are actually steeped in the silk-road painting tradition.” Just as Chae continuously travelled and gained new experiences, these recurring motifs would interweave and refine themselves into a distinctive style that eventually earned him a reputation in New York City’s booming art market.


从戈雅到毕加索,Chae 在欧洲绘画的感性中汲取灵感;而他写意的笔触则源于早期的东方书法,特别是 18 世纪中国艺术家八大山人的作品。他所造访的每一个新地方,阅读的每一本新书,遇到的每一个新想法,都会被他转化成不同的符号,融入到作品之中。

他说:许多文艺复兴早期的绘画来自波斯画,而波斯画又受到蒙古人的影响。他们征服和统治了阿拉伯国家,带来了中国画家的作品和截然不同的绘画风格。因此,从某种程度上来说,我的作品也是从喜马拉雅山一路来到文艺复兴的中心。虽然它们看起来像欧美绘画,但实际上却植根于丝绸之路上的传统画法。之后 Chae 继续四处周游,获取新的经历,这些反复出现的主题元素相互交织,形成他独特的风格,并最终让他在纽约繁荣的艺术市场上赢得一席之地。

Untitled (1984) 30 x 40 cm / Oil on paper
Untitled (1983) 30 x 40 cm / Oil on paper

Quest for Glory

Following New Orleans, Chae and his wife roadtripped across North America in their van through much of the 1970s, a longing for freedom leading them from the steamy jungles of Yucatan to the sunny beaches of Baja and back again. Since they never kept a permanent residence, tracing their exact route is impossible except through the annotations and stylistic tendencies of Chae’s work, whose written records of dates and locations on the back of canvas lend a treasure-map-like quality to tracking their journey. As time went on, their van filled with paintings, until eventually they began to look for a place to unload them. After the owner of a bookstore in Mexico City suggested the East Village, they knew what they had to do. Chae recounts this experience fondly. “My wife and I looked at each other and said, ‘Jesus Christ, all the way down in Mexico City they know about the East Village! We better go check it out.” So they packed their van headed to New York City, nearly 2,600 miles away.

The glittering skyscrapers of New York in the 1980s were symbols of immeasurable wealth, but the cracked sidewalks and graffiti-littered streets below revealed the grim reality of life lived within the city’s shadows. It was a place populated by drug pushers, prowled by crooks, and forcibly occupied by young artists looking for their big break. Chae had found his home. “At that time, I moved into the most dangerous area in New York. It was a Jewish synagogue surrounded by so many burnt out buildings.” Chae recalls. But as a war veteran, he was accustomed to living in less-than-hospitable environments. He claims, “Still though, even though the windows were all broken and the winter was so cold, I had the mezzanine all to myself. It was a good place to start painting after Mexico.”


追寻荣耀之路

带着对自由的渴望、趁着爱之夏嬉皮士运动的余热,七十年代,Chae 和妻子一同离开新奥尔良,他们开面包车横穿整个北美。从尤卡坦半岛的神秘丛林,到加州海滩的明媚阳光,夫妻二人结伴同行。旅途中,他们通常没有固定住所,只能通过作品的注脚和绘画风格变化来追忆路线。Chae 在每一幅画布背后标注了日期和地点,以此来回顾这趟旅程。每次欣赏这些画作,那种感觉就像在翻阅藏宝图。

随着时间推移,车里逐渐塞满了他的作品,以至于途中他们不得不想办法找地方来暂存这些画作。墨西哥城一家书店的老板建议他们去纽约东村试试看,在1960年代,东村以低廉的租金以及 1950 年代披头族在此打下的基础吸引着许多艺术家、音乐家、学生和嬉皮士的光顾。而这个提议,让夫妻二人有了更新的打算。

Chae 说:我和妻子相互对视,彼此心中已有了答案。很快,他们收拾行囊,驱车奔赴 2600 英里以外的纽约。 八十年代的纽约,璀璨闪耀的摩天大楼是财富的象征;而向下望去,破败的人行过道和布满涂鸦的街区也揭示着城市暗处的残酷现实。这里鱼龙混杂,毒品贩和骗子随处可见,但也有穷困潦倒的年轻艺术家生活于此。后来,Chae 选择在纽约落脚。当时,我们住在城市最危险的街区,周围都是损坏和被烧毁的建筑,”Chae 回忆道。但作为一名退伍军人,他早已习惯了恶劣环境。他接着说道:窗户都破了,冬天非常冷,好在可以独占整个夹层,对于刚从墨西哥回来的我而言,那里像是一个创作的好地方。

Card Players (1991) 38 x 50 cm / Oil on paper
Untitled (1983) 30 x 40 cm / Oil on paper
Untitled (1983) 30 x 40 cm / Oil on paper
Untitled (1983) 30 x 40 cm / Oil on paper

During this time, Chae thrived as an artist. He shared his flat with graffiti sensation Futura, rubbed elbows with Andy Warhol, exchanged words with Jean-Michel Basquiat once or twice at punk-rock concerts, and exhibited his work alongside urban artists Crash and Daze—whom he still talks to today, nearly 40 years later. Yet, despite these connections, his work was largely separate from the greater youth movement taking place within the East Village. Instead of re-appropriating pop imagery or making grandiose critiques about contemporary consumer culture like that of his peers, he found inspiration from an entirely different source: the Middle Ages.

Chae’s breakout exhibition in 1986, Medieval Tales, was a love letter to the lore of centuries past and a test of his artistic ability to convey his passion for literature on canvas. Harnessing his brush like a sword and referencing everything from Arthurian legends to the writings of magical realists Italo Calvino and Anthony Burgess, Chae had emerged as a direct contender against the “edgy” art styles that had become trendy in the East Village of the 1980s. Like characters in a play, the subjects of this series—kings, queens, jesters, knights—seem to appear as apparitions amidst a shifting background that is intentionally flattened in the style of the Middle Ages. By ignoring the conventions of perspective and emphasis on realism that developed during the Renaissance, Chae succeeds in creating a tension that magnifies the subject of his work and casts the canvas as an isolated realm where science and reason have not yet solidified. The theatrically rendered protagonists that inhabit this world are not “real” in the physical sense, nor do they pretend to be. They are steeped in symbolism, existing only through our collective folklore, imagination, and artistic interpretations. Although separated by time and distance, Medieval Tales succeeded in bringing the fantasy of these far-away places and to life, and through the use of exaggeration, Chae leaves the mystery of these magical worlds intact, urging his audience to dive a little deeper, and travel a little farther, to find their own truths in his art.


这段时期,Chae 的艺术创作突飞猛进。他与涂鸦大师 Futura 合租一套公寓、认识了安迪·沃霍尔(Andy Warhol)、在地下朋克摇滚现场上与让米歇尔·巴斯奎特(Jean-Michel Basquiat)攀谈甚欢、还与城市艺术双人组 Crash & Daze 一起办展,直到 40 年后的今天,他仍然与这两位艺术家保持联络。尽管如此,他的作品在很大程度上独立于纽约东村的主流青年运动。他没有像同龄艺术家那样,着眼于重新演绎流行文化意象,或是对当代的消费文化进行冠冕堂皇的批判,而是从截然不同的领域中汲取灵感:中世纪。

1986 年,Chae 举办展览《Medieval Tales》(中世纪的故事),让他一举成名。展览作品表达了他对数百年前古老传说的偏爱,也考验了他通过画布表达文学主题的艺术能力。其中,他借鉴了各类文学,包括亚瑟王传说,以及魔幻现实主义作家伊塔洛·卡尔维诺(Italo Calvino)和安东尼·伯吉斯(Anthony Burgess)的作品,此时,画笔对于 Chae 而言,成为了讲述故事的工具。这与 1980 年代纽约东村的前卫艺术流行趋势大相劲挺。作品中角色的塑造方式如同戏剧,有国王、皇后、小丑、骑士……背景则被刻意平面化,让人物角色与背影融为一体,同时让观众把注意力放画面的整体上,具有十足的中世纪绘画特色。Chae 摒弃了文艺复兴时期强调的透视法和写实绘法,成功地营造出一种张力,放大作品中的人物,在画布上创造出一个孤立的世界,在那里,科学和理性尚未成熟。却能激发观众的好奇心,去了解更多,探索得更深远,并在他的作品中寻找画作背后的真相。

King, Queen, and Knave (1985) 96.5 x 127 cm / Oil on paper mounted on canvas
Return of Wakefield (1986) 213 x 168 cm / Oil on canvas
Um2050 (1990) 153 x 117 cm / Oil on canvas

A Hero’s Homecoming, and Farewell

Following the success of Medieval Tales, Chae returned home to Korea after nearly 15 years There, his works were bought up by museums and collectors across the country, which gave him sufficient means to embark on new adventures—such as raising his infant daughter, Isolde. Yet, it wasn’t long before he was back on the road again. This time though, at nearly 50 years old, he was ready to embark on his lifelong dream to hike through the Himalayas and down the silk road, a journey that has always held a profound influence on his imagination and art.

These travels have culminated in the series Himalaya, Silk Road, and Interior Still Life, in which Chae’s art style began to noticeably soften, even as his resolve to travel to greater heights, both physically and artistically, began to harden. His skills haven’t decreased with age in the least bit; they’ve only become more focused as he’s gotten older. Whether its in a damp cave below a Hindu temple or at heights of over 4000 meters high in the Himalayas, at each new destination along the silk road—Urumqi, Zanskar, Kanchenjunga—Chae chose to stay for two to three months at a time to live among the locals and paint. “My wife jokes that I’m an extreme plein-air painter,” he laughs. “But I do it to try and capture real life and feel how those people live. I want to become the same as them, without me being an outsider.”


英雄归乡,又再次启程

继《Medieval Tales》取得成功后,Chae 在离开韩国 15 年后第一次回到家乡。他的作品深受韩国博物馆和收藏家们的追捧,这为他带来充裕的经济支持,去开始新的人生旅程。没过多久,他又离开韩国。这一次,年近半百的他,准备去实现自己毕生的梦想 —— 徒步穿越喜马拉雅山,探寻古老的丝绸之路。在他看来,这趟旅程一直以来对他的艺术创作具有深远的影响。

Himalaya》(《喜马拉雅山》)、《Silk Road》(《丝绸之路》)和《Interior Still Life》(《室内静物》)系列作品,都是深受这趟旅程的启发而完成的。虽然绘画风格相较以前明显变得柔和,但你却能从画作中明显地感受到攀登高峰时的勇气与坚定。年龄的增长并不会让 Chae 的技艺下降,反倒让他变得更加专注。无论是在印度寺庙下的潮湿山洞里,或是在喜马拉雅山 4000 多米的高处,在丝绸之路上的每一个新的目的地——乌鲁木齐、赞斯卡尔、干城章加峰,Chae 都选择停留两到三个月,在融入当地人生活之后再去创作。我妻子开玩笑说我是一个极端的露天派画家。但我只不过想捕捉最为真实的感受,去参与、去体验当地的生活罢了。我想成为和他们一样的人,而不是一个普通的游客。他笑着说道。这趟旅行,让 Chae 的艺术眼界又翻过了一座高峰。

Wild roses at Karsha (2015) 133 x 97 cm / Encaustic on wood

Communion with Nature

Being exposed to the harsh elements of Mother Nature led Chae to reevaluate our relationship with the natural world. “A lot of people think of nature as nice and pleasant, especially the Chinese traditional way of thinking, but nature is very rough,” Chae says. “Nature is heartless. It doesn’t care what we think.” 

Even so, the landscapes within his Himalaya and Silk Road series are picturesque portraits of the scenery he’s come across, the lines and contours of the earth treated with the same Fauvist fervor of a nude female painting, sensuous and warm, but ultimately out of reach. In this regard, the accented peaks and valleys we observe are actually a reflection of our own rosy-eyed romanticism regarding our environment, a notion further enhanced by the vibrant flowers found in the corner of his frames that evoke the tradition of still-life paintings in Europe.


与自然的交融

身处严峻的环境,也让 Chae 审视起人类与自然的关系。很多人认为大自然是美好的,在中国传统观念里尤其如此。但其实真实的大自然却残酷无情。”Chae 说道。虽是这么一说,但他依然希望把大自然最好的一面留给观众。在《Himalaya》和《Silk Road》系列作品中,他画尽了沿途自然的美丽,大地的轮廓,就伫立在裸体女性的身前,温暖诱人,却遥不可及。人物和美景,这些不禁让观众去思考,我们眼中的大自然,是否也被加上了一道美化的滤镜;窗边带有欧洲传统静物画风格的花朵正在盛放,真正的大自然是否与这繁花一样美丽?

Poppies with Dhalaghiri (2017) 162 x 130 cm / Encaustic on wood
Nude with Pandim in Yellow (2012) 58.5 x 46 cm / Encaustic on wood
Reclining Nude and Annapurna 2 (2012) 130 x 162 cm / Oil on linen
Poppie and Annapurna 2 (2012) 130 x 97 cm / Oil on linen
Nude with Kanchanjunga (2017) 162 x 130 cm / Oil on linen

Yet, ironically, our view is often blocked by the near spotlight intensity of Chae’s female subjects, who emerge, porcelain-white and statue-like, as out-of-place characters in his outdoor settings. Modeled off a sculpture of the Hindu goddess Parvati that he encountered while exploring Delhi, these women are naked and exposed to the elements, yet unaffected by their circumstances, indifferent to the male gaze. In fact, Chae claims, “The male gaze is not there at all, maybe not even invited.”

For centuries, the Western tradition of female nudes, landscapes, and still-lifes were treated as subjects of adoration to be conquered by artists and consumed by critics, but by literally turning their backs on us to enjoy the natural scenery on their own terms, Chae’s nude portraits subvert the male gaze and reinforce the indifference of Mother Nature toward humanity. In this regard, perhaps the flowers in the corner of his frames can be viewed more as tributes to her power rather than gifts to win her heart.


然而,具有讽刺意味的是,观众的视线常常被 Chae 描绘的女性人物所吸引,这些雪白如瓷的肌肤,像狡黠的雕像一样夺目,与整个场景格格不入。女性的形象是他以印度教女神帕尔瓦蒂雕塑为原型创作的,她们往往赤裸着身体,袒露于天地,却全然不受任何影响。这种雕塑的手法像是对男性凝视 (male gaze) 发起的某种挑战,Chae 表示:男性凝视根本就不存在,也不受欢迎。

(注:男性凝视指在视觉艺术和在文学创作中,从男异性恋者的角度描绘女性现实,将女性性客体化以取悦异性恋男性观众的行为,即以男性的、异性恋的观点,把女性视为性对象来表现或再现,满足异性恋男性观看者的愉悦。)

西方的数个世纪以来,女性裸像、风景和静物画是艺术创作的主题,这些主题经历了数代艺术家的雕磨和评论家的点评。而在 Chae 的裸体肖像画中,女性角色背转过身去面朝自然,是对男性凝视的不屑,以及对大自然的敬畏。这样看来,也许画面角落里的花朵更像是对女性力量的致敬,而不是取悦旁人的礼物。

Tenjenga and Japonae (2011) 58 x 45.5 cm / Encaustic on wood

Opening New Routes

In his later travels, Chae transformed the impulsive brushstrokes of his early years into something approaching an elegant fugue. The inclusion of flowers, nudity, and landscapes in his art was an intentional pivot, one that allowed him to frame the focus of his art within the basic pillars of Western composition while acknowledging the inspiration and lineage of landscape painting’s evolution in an Eastern, traditional sense along the silk road. “I really grew up in between two cultures.” Chae says. “I studied Eastern literature when I was young, and then lived in America, and now I’m trying to reconnect with the East again.”

Now, at 70 years old, Chae is well-versed and well-travelled, but far from weary. He is the CEO of his own art agency, and like any experienced merchant, uses the countless points of contacts he’s accumulated across the globe to organize exhibitions for old friends throughout Asia. For the 17 year boy who once harbored ambitions of becoming an ambassador, Chae seems to have succeeded. “Now in many ways, all these artists from New York, their dealers, their galleries, regard me as their ambassador to Asia,” he says. “And I take it seriously.” Likewise, as a veteran in more ways than one, Chae is confident that his latest ventures in China will be successful in not only opening up new markets, but exposing a wider audience to fresh artistic ideas. “I want to put myself in the middle, as a sort of conduit. That’s what the silk road was all about. From Asia all the way to Rome and back, and witnessing how all the art had influenced and changed the globe.


启航新征程

在后来的旅行中,Chae 早前不修边幅的笔触,已转变得近乎雅致。花卉、裸体和风景成为他画作的中心,西方文学创作的框架被注入其中,裹挟着丝绸之路上东西方艺术创作的灵魂。我在这两种文化中成长。我来自东方,却在美国生活。现在,我正试图重新与东方联系起来。” Chae 说道。

如今,七旬老人 Chae 虽早已周游列国,沉淀下不少经历和学识,但他从未松懈倦怠。他在自己开办的艺术经纪公司担任 CEO,和经验丰富的商人一样,利用自己在世界各地的人脉,为亚洲各地的艺术家友人举办展览。对于在 17 岁时曾经梦想成为外交大使的 Chae 来说,他似乎已经成功了。他说:现在,很多西方或是纽约的艺术家、经销商和画廊,都把我当作他们面向亚洲的一扇窗,这让我对工作更加上心。近来,Chae 计划进入中国,他相信能够凭借积累的丰富经验,为中国艺术市场带来新的可能,更为中国观众带来与众不同的艺术思想。我想作为中间人,发挥像桥梁一样的连接作用,这也是丝绸之路的意义所在,通过亚洲与罗马之间的往来,共同改变世界。

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Contributors: Rorí Mencin
Chinese Translation: Olivia Li


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供稿人: Rorí Mencin
英译中: Olivia Li

Grumpily Ever After 对糟糕的事情一笑了之吧

February 10, 2021 2021年2月10日

 

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Life is shitty.

At least that’s what Kien seems to be convinced of. Working full-time as an advertising creative in Shanghai, the Malaysia-born artist has developed a rather cynical worldview in recent years. But it’s a cynicism that he wields to imaginative means, channeling it into short comics and illustrations that highlight the humor within life’s “shittiness.” With unflinching sarcasm, snarky punchlines, and an astute eye for the quirks of life, Kien has published a kooky body of work under the Instagram handle @thegrumpyoldman_kien.


生活真是糟透了。

至少 Kien 是这么想的。近年来,Kien 对世界越来越怀疑和失望,他把这种态度诉诸于自己的创意表达中,通过简短的漫画和插图,讲述糟糕的生活中那些令人啼笑皆非的事情。Kien 把这些风格怪奇的作品发布在自己的 Instagram 帐号 @thegrumpyoldman_kien 上,在作品中展现出赤裸裸的讽刺、尖锐的笑点以及他对生活的敏锐观察。

Kien’s love of comics began with Western comic classics The Far Side and Calvin & Hobbes. Their clever storytelling stuck with him well into adulthood, ingraining in his psyche the belief that a strong narrative should come above all else. As a result, his comics favor a pared-down art style that solely features simple linework done in black and white. “It’s the most natural and transparent way to see life,” he explains. “Without paying too much attention to how to make it beautiful, the focus is placed on the stories and meanings. Though, there’s also a sense of beauty in simplicity. Simplicity is real and raw. In fact, I believe life should be simple.”


Kien 对漫画的热爱源于两部经典西方漫画作品《The Far Side》和《卡尔文与跳跳虎》(Calvin & Hobbes)。这两部漫画作品的巧妙叙事令他记忆犹深,也让他相信,强有力的叙事应该高于一切,因而他的漫画总是倾向于极简的艺术风格,以简洁的黑白线条描绘。他解释说:“这是表达生活最自然、最透明的方式。无需过份在意呈现美丽的画面,而是将重点放在叙事和故事的意义上。但简洁本身其实也不失为一种美感,更真实和原始。事实上,我认为生活就应该简简单单。 ”

Similar to Gary Larson or Bill Watterson, Kien isn’t shy in poking fun at a broad range of topics, though there are specific subject matters that seem nearer to his heart. Love, work, and the vapidity of modern life are perhaps some of the most frequent themes tackled in his comics. “I didn’t intend on working with these subjects on purpose,” he notes. “My intention was to tell stories about life, but love and work seem to be the biggest parts of life, at least for the people around me.”


和这两部经典漫画的作者 Gary Larson 和 Bill Watterson 一样,Kien 在作品中讲述着形形式式的故事,但当中最常见的几个主题分别是爱情、工作和乏味的现代生活,这应该也是他内心最关心的主题。他解释说:“我其实没有刻意创作这些主题,我只是想讲述生活里的故事,但爱情和工作似乎就是生活中最重要的部分,至少对于我身边的人而言是如此。”

In a comic titled Love, Kien’s signature character—which he’s purposefully designed to be nothing more than a spruced-up stick figure—discovers a heart-shaped hole in a white limbo. He crawls in, only to discover an identical vast nothingness awaiting on the other side. “When it comes to love, people’s expectations are too high,” Kien laughs. “All I can say is, good luck to them.”

In Overtime, a ravenous vampire awaits his next victim outside an office building. But it appears he’s miscalculated—he waits and waits, but by the time the next employee leaves, the sun has already come up, melting the creature into a puddle. The message is clear: modern work culture is perhaps the scariest monster of all.


在 Kien 的漫画《Love》中,他笔下的主角在白茫茫的空间中发现了一个心形的洞。他爬进去后,却发现另一边只是同样巨大虚无的一片白色。Kien 笑着说:“在爱情方面,人们总是会期望过高,我只能祝他们自求多福了。”

在作品《Overtime》中,一个吸血鬼在办公大楼外等着他的下一名受害者,但是他似乎失策了——经过漫长的等待,下一名员工走出大楼时,第二天早上的太阳已经升起,吸血鬼也被太阳融化成了一滩水。这个故事要表达的信息很清楚:现代社会的工作文化也许才是最可怕的怪物。

Technological codependence and our disconnection with one another is also a matter that Kien frequently prods at. “People are getting more selfish instead of being more together,” Kien says. “There’s a lot more discontent and distrust among people.”

In Miss You, a boyfriend tells his girlfriend that she’s always on his mind. While he’s mostly there in the first frame, physically speaking, his head has completely slithered out of view. His elongated neck takes over the next three frames—passing through windows and clambering up a flight of stairs—until it’s revealed where his head is really at: in the living room with his video-game console.

Despite his disillusionment with our modern lifestyles, Kien has ultimately found peace with the things that are out of his control. For all the “shittiness” that he can’t change, he’s found cracking a joke and letting people laugh at it may be the best band-aid fix “It’s an imperfect world,” he shrugs. “But if you can laugh, accept, and make fun of the imperfections, life can become that much more interesting.”


对科技的依赖以及人们彼此之间的疏离也是 Kien 经常探讨的问题。Kien 说:“人们变得越来越自私,而不是更加团结,人们之间的不满越来越多,相互的信任也越来越少。”

在《Miss You》中,男生告诉女友,自己日夜牵挂着女生,但在第一帧画面中,虽然男生的身体还在原地,但他的头已经伸出画面之外;拉长的脖子贯穿了后面的三帧画面,穿过窗户,绕过楼梯,直到最后来到客厅中,原来他还在想着自己的游戏机。

尽管 Kien 对现代生活感到失望,但他最终还是接受了自己无法控制的事实。对于无法改变的“糟糕之事”,也许开个玩笑,和大家一起笑笑,就是最好的安慰。 说:“这是一个不完美的世界。但是,如果你还能面露笑容接受它,对糟糕的事情一笑了之,生活也会变得更加有趣。”

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Instagram: @thegrumpyoldman_kien

 

Contributor: David Yen
Videographers: Paul GardetteDamien Louise
Animators: Paul GardetteDamien Louise

Chinese Translation: Olivia Li


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Instagram: @thegrumpyoldman_kien

 

供稿人: David Yen
摄像师: Paul GardetteDamien Louise
动画师: Paul GardetteDamien Louise

英译中: Olivia Li

Power & Euphoria 原始欲望召唤神兽

February 8, 2021 2021年2月8日
Illustration for Valley River Printing

In Makoto Chi’s artwork, androgynous characters cloaked in animal masks writhe and twist, entangled in various sexual encounters and internal struggles. The creatures are wrapped in thorns, coiled with spikes and snakes, and live among constellations of stars. Together, they’re symbols of the artist’s inner desire to better understand notions of identity and human connection.


Makoto Chi 的作品中,雌雄莫辨的人物戴着动物面具,身体相互缠绕和扭曲,呈现出或性交、或挣扎的姿态。四周荆棘满布,尖刺和蛇缠与每个人身体缠绕在一起,他们背朝着星宿汪洋。所有这些元素加起来,展现了艺术家对探索身份认同与人际交往的内心独白。

Chi is a Candian artist of mixed Japanese and Jewish descent who identifies alternatively as him and they. Nothing is static in his world, whether that be gender, ethnicity, or style. His work overflows with cryptic iconography, telling a story through indecipherable symbols. “There are subjects I return to often. They can infer different things and those meanings are mutable or impactful depending on how I chose to mix them,” he says. “My art practice feels a little like hunting or tag: mostly chasing and trying to tackle slippery emotive states that are hard to pin down, as opposed to illustrating concrete ideas.”


日本、犹太混血的加拿大艺术家 Makoto,时而以男生自居,时而自认性别流动。无论性别、种族还是个人风格,所有一切都会随时在他身上发生变化。他能以晦涩难懂的符号讲述故事,其中充斥着令人匪夷所思的肖像。“一些元素我会反复运用在作品中,它们对应着不同事物,但具体含义则取决于我如何组合这些元素。创作时,我感觉自己像在狩猎,追逐并尝试抓住那些难以捉摸的流动情绪,不想表达某个确切的想法。”他说道。

He works within a minimal color palette, relying mainly on bold reds but also creams, blacks, and whites. “I’d spend big chunks of my year traveling with only enough space and energy to carry pens and sketchbooks, which lent to working monochromatically,” Chi explains. “This has since become a stylistic compulsion.” The materials he uses are mainly still pen and ink on paper still, but recently he’s been including gouache and oil as well. He’s also begun collaborating with other artists a bit, such as the pieces with his partner, Noel’le Longhaul.


作品在色彩的处理上极其简约,由大胆的红色填充,乳白、漂白和纯黑色点缀其中。Makoto 解释说:“一年中大部分时间都在旅行,行李也只允许携带少量的绘笔和素描本,单色作品对我来说更容易实现。后来,这种创作习惯潜移默化地形成了我的个人风格。”目前,Makoto 的创作原材料基本上由笔、墨、纸构成,不过最近他也开始尝试水粉和油画的创作。与此同时,他还会经常与其他艺术家展开合作,例如纹身师 Noel’le Longhaul

Illustration for Valley River Printing
Illustration for Valley River Printing. A collaboration with Noel’le Longhaul

Chi doesn’t elaborate on what meaning the masks hold, other than to say that they’re dramatic and fun. He also says that while the East-Asian influences in his work can be easily spotted, his artwork is more about reflecting on being a mixed-race, diasporic individual rather than identifying with any one part of themselves. And his characters are chimeras, not one type of creature but a mix of many. They’re also gender fluid. “Maybe I’m being glib, but I don’t want to spend my energy painting cis people,” he laughs. “My life is full of amazing people whose genders and gender expressions are understood as marginal. Beyond normalizing or representation, I just care about this fulfilling aspect of my people and I want to emphasize and express that importance.”


对于作品中面具的含义,Makoto 没有过多解释,他认为面具的出现纯属为作品增添趣味和戏剧性。而在面具的包裹下,人物的身份往往被隐藏。他随后补充说道:“我的作品深受东亚文化影响,但更多的是思考混血身份和流散个体的问题,而没有倾向于任何一种的身份。”

画中的角色取名为奇美拉(Chimera),它们的性别并不固定,呈现一种杂交的美感。他笑着说:“因为我比较懒,总之我不是很想花精力去画二元性别的角色。我身边有很多很了不起的人,拥有独特的性别表达方式。我想在被规范化的社会或主流之外,更多讨论我们这个群体的正面,用作品传达其重要性。”

Illustration for Valley River Printing. A collaboration with Noel’le Longhaul
Illustration for Valley River Printing
Illustration for Valley River Printing

Sexuality is the most prominent theme in Chi’s work, with his uncanny beasts regularly taking part in rough physical encounters. “Power exchanges are important and erotic to me, but I don’t intend to communicate suffering or fear,” he says. “There’s a lot of care, tenderness, and euphoria folded in with the hard edges where my figures interact. Mixing gentleness with loving, delicious force is integral to how I experience and communicate bodied communication and sensuality.”


不可否认,性是 Makoto 作品中最突出的主题。各种怪诞野兽彰显出狂野的性交姿势。他说:“生物间力量的互换是很弥足珍贵的,同样也很情色。我并不希望在绘画中表达痛苦和恐惧,反倒在粗暴的姿势下,匿藏关爱、温柔和性感的灵魂。那些温柔的线条下,饱含着我对爱、快感、力量的敬畏。这是我体验和理解身体交流以及性爱过程的重要方式。”

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Instagram: @makoto.chi

 

Contributor: Mike Steyels
Chinese Translation: Olivia Li


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Instagram: @makoto.chi

 

供稿人: Mike Steyels
英译中: Olivia Li

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A Low-poly World 低保真段子,高光下的人生

February 5, 2021 2021年2月5日
The Audience Q (2020) 30 x 40 in / Acrylic on canvas 《The Audience Q》(2020) 30 x 40 英寸 / 布面丙烯

Low-poly graphics and textures have recently become a trend in the indie video-game scene. Moved by nostalgia and a desire to harness the players’ imaginations, developers have reclaimed the PS1 and N64 aesthetics of the 1990s in a handful of last generation games. But it’s unexpected to see such a style in the fine-arts world.

Houston-based Chinese artist Gao Hang proudly exhibits his low-poly art on the walls of galleries. In his latest series of paintings, sarcastically titled 21st Century Realism, he reflects on our infotech era and how the fast-paced spread of information affects our social and consumer lives. Contrary to the title, however, his paintings are far from realistic. They mix low-poly style with the mischievous spirit of the internet memes to form a satirical commentary on this generation’s online behavior.


近年来,独立电子游戏界掀起一股 Low Poly 风潮,这种设计通常以低保真、低多边形的特点著称。游戏开发者们参考上世纪 90 年代 Playstation 初代和任天堂 N64 经典游戏美学,打造数款游戏。在满足不少玩家的怀旧情绪同时,缺少具像化的画面也能激发出无限想象力。出人意料的是,这股风潮现在已蔓延到了艺术创作领域。

现居美国休斯顿的中国艺术家高航近期创作了一系列低多边形风格的作品,目前已在当地大大小小的画廊上展出。这一系列画作起名为《21st Century Realism》(21世纪现实主义),略带几分调侃的意味。他的创作以当前信息技术时代、以及信息快速传播对社会和消费生活的影响为话题展开。与系列名字的含义截然相反,他的画作与现实和写实毫不沾边,取而代之的,是低多边形风格设计与电子图像代沟”和“迷因的恶搞精神,借此讽刺当代网民的种种线上举动。

I am so Pro-Liquify (2020) 24 x 24 in / Acrylic on canvas 《I am so Pro-Liquify》(2020) 24 x 24 英寸 / 布面丙烯
Absolutely Serious (2020) 36 x 36 in / Acrylic on canvas 《Aboslutely Serious》(2020) 36 x 36 英寸 / 布面丙烯

“My creative process has to do with my habits and obsessions,” he says. “I mostly listen to standup comedy while working. I like it when comedy challenges general beliefs and political correctness. In a way, my paintings are like standup comedy, with brutal honesty and humor—powerful qualities in any conversation.”

Gao scours the internet in search of images to reference for his paintings. But he never reproduces them in full. Instead, he prefers reimagining how the image may look from different angles or with a different composition. Finally, he reduces them into primitive polygon shapes and colors, airbrushing the imagery with acrylic paint on canvas.

He’s drawn to visuals that feel awkward and unpolished, as is the case with retro video games. Aiming to recreate the same feeling in his works, he often depicts close-ups of characters holding guns and first-person perspectives. Gao cites classics like GoldenEye 007, for Nintendo 64, and the PC game Counter-Strike 1.4 as inspiration. “I think my fascination [with video games] started in my formative years, and it psychologically shocked me,” he says. “I know we have VR games nowadays, but these old games provided legit immersion back then. Even if we think their graphics were poor, we were more than pleased with them.”


高航说:“我的创作和我沉迷的喜好多少脱不了干系。平时创作的时候,喜欢播放一些单口喜剧。其中各种挑战传统观念和政治正确的桥段尤其吸引我。而在某种角度来讲,我的作品就像是单口喜剧, 赤裸的诚实和调侃的态度,在任何类别的语言交流中都很有质感和质量。”

高航经常在网上搜罗各种图片,并以此作为创作灵感,但从不会一五一十地照搬。他习惯从不同角度或用不同的构图方式出发,用自己的视觉语言对原本画面进行重新演绎。然后将图像简化成粗糙的多边形色块,再在画布上用丙烯酸颜料进行喷绘。

笨拙、粗糙的视觉效果令高航着迷,总会令人联想起过去的电子游戏。为了让作品呈现游戏界面的效果,他常常对人物进行特写,或是以第一人称视角来进行构图。高航的灵感包括经典的 N64 游戏《黄金眼007》和 PC 端《反恐精英》。他说:“小时候就特别沉迷。那时候电子游戏带给我很大的冲击。我知道现在连 VR 游戏都有了,但在当时,这些游戏中的电子图像画质对我们来说已经达到完美逼真,但有趣的是,这些在十几年后的今天看来,是那么的笨拙、粗糙、滑稽。

Olympisss (2020) 24 x 48 in / Acrylic on canvas 《Olympisss》(2020) 24 x 48 英寸 / 布面丙烯
The Background Nobody (2020) 20 x 16 in / Acrylic on canvas 《The Background Nobody》(2020) 20 x 16 英寸 / 布面丙烯
B31,O1O4 (2020) 20 x 24 in / Acrylic on canvas 《B31,O1O4》(2020) 20 x 24 英寸 / 布面丙烯

Though he includes recognizable elements in his paintings, Gao describes his works as being his take on color field paintings. He’s interested in the significance of colors, particularly fluorescents because they represent scientific innovation, one that’s enabled an entirely new visual experience in the last century. In his works, fluorescent colors are a metaphor for people’s social media behavior. “If you don’t broadcast yourself, you disappear,” he explains. “We have to be fluorescent, visually aggressive—or just aggressive.” Gao admits he doesn’t like social media, but he’s on it nevertheless. “Otherwise, I don’t exist,” he says.


在高航绘画中,事物和人物的轮廓清晰分明。但他认为自己的创作更偏向于色域绘画(color field painting)。他热衷于在作品中探讨颜色的奥义。荧光色则是作品中最为常见的色系,这类颜色往往在感官上带给人有一种科技、前卫的体验。在他看来,上个世纪人类在视觉方面的发展与科技密不可分。而放在作品中,荧光色则被用作是对社交媒体行为的隐喻。“如果你不宣传自己,你就会泯灭在信息的洪流里。每个人必须发光,带点视觉侵略性,或是纯粹的好胜心。”高航承认自己并不喜欢社交媒体,但他还是会利用它提高曝光度,但我每天都必须用,否则,我会在大众眼里消失。”他说道。

注:色域绘画,出现在 1948 年的美国。作品往往具有模糊不清或抽象的轮廓,欲唤起观众的冥想和超然感受。

American Bodyguard (2020) 30 x 40 in / Acrylic on canvas 《American Bodyguard》(2020) 30 x 40 英寸 / 布面丙烯
I Checked Her Lips for a Second (2020) 30 x 40 in / Acrylic on canvas 《I Checked Her Lips for a Second》(2020) 30 x 40 英寸 / 布面丙烯
A Cop Who is Very Chinese (2020) 30 x 40 in / Acrylic on canvas 《A Cop Who is Very Chinese》(2020) 36 x 48 英寸 / 布面丙烯
Soldier 2006 (2020) 30 x 40 in / Acrylic on canvas 《Soldier 2006》(2020) 30 x 40 英寸 / 布面丙烯

Memes are another ripe source of inspiration for him. Gao admires their irreverence and honesty, but also the fact that they proliferate easily. “Let’s be honest: the idea of copyright is gone. It doesn’t matter anymore—just like the people who made these images don’t matter,” he jokes. But there’s a grain of truth in his saying. Online content is easy to download and reproduce, rendering its creators irrelevant. Memes are, perhaps, the best example of this phenomenon: what matters is that they propagate through the internet, from one user to another, in endless derivatives of the original.


“互联网段子”和“迷因”则是他的另一个重要灵感来源。高航认为各种网络热梗很有意思,它们大胆而直接,往往传播效率很高。他开玩笑地说:“老实讲,网络时代的版权概念已经不复存在,甚至已经不再重要了。同样,甚至根本没人在乎这些段子的原创作者是谁。”虽然是玩笑话,但也绝非毫无道理。网络内容的下载和复制总在一键之间,其背后的创作者被高速流量迅速遗忘。互联网段子或表情包则是铁打的映证,它们无穷无尽地传递至每一个人的手机里,甚至被无数次改编,而论其出处却往往无人问津。

The Spin is Very Important (2020) 60 x 48 in / Acrylic on canvas 《The Spin is Very Important》(2020) 60 x 48 英寸 / 布面丙烯
In Your Face (2020) 40 x 30 in / Acrylic on canvas 《In Your Face》(2020) 40 x 30 英寸 / 布面丙烯

Gao grew up in Baoding, a relatively small Chinese city, in an open-minded household compared to most of his peers. As a child, his parents took him on trips to nearby historical villages so that they could all draw and paint the idyllic scenery. Since then, he hasn’t stopped making art. Gao received his bachelor’s in oil painting from the Capital Normal University in Beijing and his master’s in painting and drawing from the University of Houston. In Beijing, his earlier works were “absolutely dark,” he says, “a dark fairytale ruled by academic realism. Ridiculous. But very honest for a twenty-year-old.”


高航从小生活在中国保定,与大多数同龄人相比,他的父母还算相对开明。小时候,父母带他到附近的农村旅行,陪他一起画画,写生当地的田园风景。从那时起,他就没有停止过艺术创作的步伐。从首都师范大学油画系毕业之后,他来到休斯敦大学修读绘画硕士学位。他称自己早期在北京的作品非常暗黑:“就像是被学术现实主义统治的黑暗童话,荒唐可笑,但对于一个 20 来岁的年轻人来说,却很好地反映了那时候的状态。”

Auto Tune (2020) 12 x 9 in / Acrylic and gel on canvas 《Absolutely Serious》(2020) 36 x 36 英寸 / 布面丙烯
Cheetah in 2001 (2020) 16 x 12 in / Acrylic on canvas 《Cheetah in 2001》(2020) 16 x 12 英寸 / 布面丙烯

When he moved to the United States, his subject interests and style changed. Suddenly overwhelmed by an endless array of information about art that he could find in the school library he studied the lives of the great artists he admires, such as Andy Warhol, Benjamin Butler, and David Hockney. A more colorful style emerged, together with the appearance of elements from contemporary American pop culture, such as images of celebrities, basketball culture, and Nike sneakers. “Some of these are very American things, but they’re popular in the entire world,” he says. “I am overwhelmed by how crazy people everywhere react to these symbols.”


移居美国后,他的专业兴趣和艺术风格都发生了变化。他沉浸在学校图书馆无穷无尽的知识海洋里,研读那些伟大的艺术家生平 —— 安迪·沃霍尔、本杰明·巴特勒和大卫·霍克尼。他的作品风格变得更加丰富多彩,尝试与当代美国流行文化连结,如名人肖像、篮球文化和耐克运动鞋。他说:“这些元素在全世界都很受欢迎,人们对于这些元素的疯狂程度常常令我大开眼界。”

Proud to be an Asian (2020) 36 x 48 in / Acrylic on canvas 《Proud to be Asian》(2020) 36 x 48 英寸 / 布面丙烯
Customized My White Girlfriend (2020) 48 x 30 in / Acrylic on canvas 《Customized My White Girlfriend》(2020) 48 x 30 英寸 / 布面丙烯

Rather than discussing differences between his motherland and his newfound home in the United States, Gao prefers focusing on their similarities. “If there is a culture that represents my generation, it is social media culture,” he says. “And it doesn’t matter where you come from or where you live—we are all in the digital world.”


比起讨论中国和美国之间的差异,高航更喜欢着眼于现在。他说:“如果说有一种文化代表了我这一代人,那应该是社交媒体文化。不管你来自哪里,住在哪里,我们都生活在同一个数字世界里。”

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Website: www.gao-hang.com

 

Contributors: Tomas PinheiroLucas Tinoco
Chinese Translation: Olivia Li


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网站: www.gao-hang.com

 

供稿人: Tomas PinheiroLucas Tinoco
英译中: Olivia Li

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Niko Edwards: Extraterrestrial

February 4, 2021 2021年2月4日

 

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“There is a wide, yawning black infinity. In every direction, the extension is endless; the sensation of depth is overwhelming. And the darkness is immortal. Where light exists, it is pure, blazing, fierce; but light exists almost nowhere, and the blackness itself is also pure and blazing and fierce.” – Carl Sagan


The mirrors and use of dark space imply infinity and boundlessness. When staring out into the cosmos, we are often reminded of our existential insignificance in the universe. There is fire, darkness, mirrors, facades, beams of light, and smoke in the work of Niko Edwards. In his art, he contemplates the universe, while exploring dimensional space, finding meaning through forms, and creating meaning with the elements. Based in Guangdong, this emerging young Chinese artist already has a diverse and impressive body of work, which includes large-scale paintings, installations, and short-form videos. As a child, Edwards read many books about the cosmos and he often felt that he was an alien himself. As he matured as an artist, he wanted to continue exploring his ideas about the universe and alien lifeforms.


In his exhibition “Beyond the Universe”, there is a central installation that appears to be an enclosed tunnel. It is a confluence of dark matter and dark energy. “The Quantum Tunnel has two main concepts: one is the quantum effect, and the other is time,” Niko Edwards explains, “When you are actually in the space, you can feel it pulling you inwards, though from the outside, it may just look like one long strip, inside it is a transparent and open space.” By design, from the outside it is three dimensional, but once inside, a viewer can observe multiple dimensions, as the mirrored walls imply infinity and the beams of lights represent crossing multiple thresholds. The mechanism of the structure reflects the inherent mechanisms of the universe.


Edwards started creating videos and short films at the age of 18. The format allowed him to try out new techniques and visual ideas. While filming and documenting his installations – they would often become the central characters in the narrative – his video work would evolve to be more cinematic and inspired by the world of science fiction. In “Burning Souls”, Niko Edwards visualizes human souls as solidified forms in a pool of liquid. Bursting into flames, the suffering and pain of the formations is revealed to the viewer. The experience is one of catharsis and relief, without any fear or hidden anxiety. As the flames die out, the inner pain resonates leaving behind only the scars and trauma of burning souls. In “Boundless”, a black hole hovering over an abstract representation of water becomes the central focus. As a man walks along the edges under this perfect celestial body, he ponders his place in the universe.


There is a clear underlying theme in the artist’s work, as he explores the ultimate relationship between man and the universe. Each work is a manifestation of an abstract concept, brought into a dreamlike reality. Edwards says his next creative steps are “to continue painting and to master that”. He believes that each new series or piece of work he creates is a new development in his entire body of work. “I’ve never felt any one piece could adequately represent the entirety of an artist’s vision,” he says. One would need to look at the entire system and all the parts together to be able to see the whole picture. He hopes that one day people would be able to look at his work and “see it as some kind of alien invasion”.


WeChat: NKEDS7
Instagram: @nikoedwards
Behance: @nikoedwards

 

Contributor & Videographer: Leon Yan
Images Courtesy of Niko Edwards