亚洲评论 | 王绍强：二即一

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二即一

王绍强

▲ 艺术家王绍强 2019年8月22日摄于甘肃敦煌张掖

当经围圈定了整个世界的版图，人类便开始习惯用坐标的方式去丈量这个世界以及他们自身。身处这个被标注的三维球面空间系统，让我们在科学定义自身方位的同时，为大自然的鬼斧神工所惊叹不已。无论我国西北的砂岩戈壁、彩丘泥石，还是东南沿海的蜿蜒海岸，人们总难以捉摸从数万年前的汪洋大海到穷荒绝漠，历史上无法探解的海陆变化曾历经多少沧桑！当脚步迈向有着悠久历史的西域大地，我们开始了对人与自然神秘关系的深入探讨。大漠孤烟，长河落日，仿佛嵌烙着我们对西北自然地貌的生动印记。维吾尔语⾳译的“雅丹”，瑞典地理学家、探险家斯文· 赫定（Sven Heding）曾在他《中亚和西藏》一书中音译为“yardang”，本意为具有陡壁的⼟丘。雅丹地貌往往指分布于极端干旱或部分干旱地区一种以风蚀作用为主的奇特地貌，风、水等自然力塑造出今天的雅丹地貌，作为创作者，同时也成就了心中的风景。

▲  云脉丹霞之一 Cloud Veins, Red Sandstone 01

      123x123cm

      纸本水墨 Ink on Paper 

      2020 

▲  云脉丹霞之一（局部）

   Cloud Veins, Red Sandstone 01 (Detail)

▲  彩丘之二十四 Chromatic Hill 24

      38.5x48cm

      纸本水墨 Ink on Paper 

      2020 

创作尝试从自然与人文地理考察着手，从人文地理学和艺术史的角度将我们在不同区域的实地考察融入创作当中。在史料文献中更多地聚焦甘肃一带独有的生态景观和地貌物质。从儿时嬉戏的那片苍茫海域，到后来涉足的西北地区，包括甘肃、敦煌及张掖山海关等一带地质的现场考察与文献研究，原本映入眼帘的风蚀地貌、天地相接的壮阔景观此时给我们带来更多关于历史和人生的思考。一望无垠的孤烟大漠，风积砂石成为了这个系列的创作元素。在地球长达数亿的时间年轮里，敦煌一带的地质成形可追溯到约19.5亿年前。倘若把宣纸比作地质的最底层，那么首先晕染的一片片水渍应该是近二十亿年前的那片汪洋大海。随时间流逝局部地区下降形成了新的内陆湖盆，再经种种升降浮沉，宛如水与墨在纸纤维上的各种自然运动。历经不同时期自然生态的变化和发展，每个区域的地质构造与地貌形态开始折射出人与自然的相处历程。在对西域文化学和地理学研究的基础上，笔下游动的水墨似乎能在有限的二维空间内重塑历史长河中的某个偶发片段，尤如人生不同阶段的所见所感，人们总要在自我内力与外力的相互较量中回归最初的平淡与寂然。

▲  紫宸西忆之三 Recall the West's Indigo Palace 03

      123x123cm

      纸本水墨 Ink on Paper 

      2020

无论《道德经》中的“道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物”，还是《易经》“太极生两仪，两仪生八卦，八卦生万象”，万物法则皆归一。道庄周易对万物周始和阴阳虚实在物理空间层面的阐发，让我们对自己所生活的这个现实世界发出诸多关于时空观与物性哲理方面的思索。一生二，二即一，这并不只是以数字为象征的关于多维时空虚实介质的交替或转化，而在阴阳各异的动静态中多种物质分子的分离与聚合，运动而成的自然轨迹恰巧与历史重叠，在人类对宇宙万物的科学认知和审美判断中留下依据，等待我们不知疲倦的探索与揭秘。就这样在哲学与艺术领域的思考和领悟中，我们尝试在当代水墨的语境下触动图象心源，将中华文明孕育出的水、墨、色、纸等天然材质置于更宏阔的描述范畴中，将心灵上的冥思寄情笔墨、构成与明暗之中，感受万物始终的灵动迹象，净化自我，感染他者。

▲  日冕 Corona

      123.5x209cm

      纸本水墨 Ink on Paper 

      2021

请逆时针横屏观看：

▲  飞云缀04 Flying Clouds Stitched 04

      35x35cmx12

      纸本水墨 Ink on Paper 

      2021

▲  飞云缀04之二 Flying Clouds Stitched 04-02

▲  夅 Decline 

      123x123cmx4

      纸本水墨 Ink on Paper 

      2021

仰天观象，我们总在纸上笔尖的独自探索中与宇宙和时空对话，从中领悟万物有灵的生机和陆离之变。中国古老的道庄哲学引发我们对世界不同面向的深入思考。《周易》将整个世界的宇宙万物抽离出不同势力的对立面及参照语境。道家主张“逍遥齐物”，庄子在老子的基础上对“道”进一步的阐释与体悟，让他们对世界万物的哲学观发起更深入的注解与阐扬。《庄子本原》有“物之生也，若骤若驰，无动而不变，无时而不移。”“以为天下母”之“道”，预示了万千世象的演变与运动往往阴阳化生，万物本无大小轻重，异物同形，渗透交融。我们创作中对水、墨、纸这些既传统又当代的多元媒材一种观念性的阐释与表达，水到之处有墨、留痕，底下的宣纸沉淀了墨素的肌理与质感，而空气透析后的纸上水墨将晕开的时间渲染进此刻的画面空间，二维至三维，宇宙万物流淌出入。创作以世间万“象”为研究重点，对可见或不可见之象、心象或视象、星象、地象乃至画里画外的抽具象图象，皆为灵感及体验的原生态语境。本次展览与其说是一场关于当代水墨人文性与地理的实验性研究，不如说试图通过东方哲理投射在画面上的图像语言和实践探索。创作继《心图》系列以来，在人文地理学科与图像学研究的基础上，展开更多中西方哲学与观念层面的思考。从当下回归传统，以古老的哲学智理为基础的人文图像学研究将赋予当代水墨新的理解和表现方式，对宇宙万物孜孜不倦的追问，成就了后山实验的状态。

▲  煜 Brilliance

      120x68cm

      纸本水墨 Ink on Paper 

      2021

▲  卑羽 Beiyu Crest

      180x384cm (180x96cmx4)

      纸本水墨 Ink on Paper 

      2020 

人类历史的长河仿佛绵延穷尽的宇宙，我们目前所了解的最小单位的基本粒子正高速旋转在这片浩瀚的空间中。古今中外人们对外界一如既往的探求，成为我们理解整个宇宙的基础，当对回转系统进行系列化的模型分析，可以领悟到无论太阳系、银河系、外太空或是各种太空星团，恒久运动着的物质萌生出的气势与气韵，宛如老庄玄道之“气”。中国哲学的气论认为，一切物体皆为气的聚结与消散。正如画面中的墨在水和纸纤维的蔓延中慢慢移动，连续、整合和流动的过程中，整个世界便连接成了一体。此时中国的哲学观和西方的宇宙论有异曲同工之妙。对于存在的整体，人与世界的统一与和谐共处，是我们一直认真思考的问题。人其实并非绝对独立的个体，而是社会关系连续体中的关联性一方的存在，时间中的水墨所留在纸上的印记便阐析了这种深奥的东西方哲学命题。我们随即化身一位虔诚的观察者，在历史留下的自然表象与内理之间沉浸，从百万年的地层遗貌中抽离出一丝当代水墨的寥寥笔意。虽生而渺小，置身于地球沧海桑田变化中的我们，慢慢在宙、代、纪、世、期的地质年代中寻找到生命的迹象。在自然面前如此微小的生命个体似乎从未真正读懂宇宙的真谛，却总能在纷繁复杂的世态中梳理出自我内心的观照，让我们在自然界千百年来生生不息的动荡中，捕捉到人生最自在的独处、静思、冥神、观想等一系列动作带来的孤寂感与对自然的敬畏感。

▲  空蒙之四 Vacant Murk 04

      123x123cm

      纸本水墨 Ink on Paper 

      2021

斗转星移，对时空和宇宙的好奇与冥思，让我们在人文地理图像学的研究基础上将注意力转移到全宇宙观与时空哲学的层面上来。日本学者杉浦康平在《全宇宙志》关于星物学和宇宙几何学的研究，给这个系列的创作注入新的创意灵感。宇宙是时间的容器，所有的时间来源于宇宙。当象征性的时间经过，我们（作为宇宙的进化）也就是（星体的一生）才能被解读。与其说从星辰之间、从中子星到黑洞不断流动的这个过程是时间的洪流，倒不如说，我们的先祖们假设了星辰间的流动，而后将之命名为时间。作为观念的宇宙，与古老哲学的文思相遇便拓宽了我们对老庄意理的理解，《庄子本原》释“有物混成，先天地生。寂兮寥兮，独立而不改，周行而不殆，可以为天地母。吾不知其名，字之曰‘道’。”这同时让我们联想到西方人对物理时空的认知，他们通过严谨的科学实验试图验证人们所看到的这个世界，用爱因斯坦（Albert Einstein）的话来说，“关于宇宙最不可理解的事情就是它是可以理解的。”中西方哲学与科学差异的发展历程予以人们的观念和认知截然不同的介入视角，作为观念的宇宙同时也是一个逻辑，这样的逻辑便成为了我们整个系列创作的一条主线。从人文地理学缜密的学科研究，对宇宙图象与东方哲学的进一步观测，我们将精神与观念所满溢的宇宙形象融入我国传统的水墨语言，在言传与意会间参悟万物始源的玄妙之变。

▲  藏海青雾之三 Tibetan Sea & Cobalt Fog 03

      123x123cm

      纸本水墨 Ink on Paper 

      2021 

▲  蓼蓝之三 Indigo 03

      180x96cm

      纸本水墨 Ink on Paper 

      2020 

河湖土状沉积物所形成的地面经风化、风蚀、流水等外界不同的作用力在岁月蹉跎下所形成的天然地貌，宛如世事的变幻无常。经历各种跌宕坎坷的人们对世界的认知虽然有限，却总在无常的变化中找到审视自我的方式，适应变化的同时探索且坚持自我，后又如层层沉积的岩砾满是沧桑，却宠辱不惊，心怀天地。近些年的创作由考古学和地质学的研究延伸而来，在地质博物馆与实地考察的基础上进一步探究当代水墨的理性思考和观察方式，以及人文视野下的宇宙观、时空观。我们再次以人文地理学为主线，借助水墨绘画独特的艺术语言和表现方式，将文化、地缘学研究与历史考古相结合，试着搭建一个更为当代的“科学-史学-美学”三维体系。经过反复研究当地地质博物馆的藏品和文献资料，创作亦欲将真实的自然风貌、水墨图像与文献材料相结合。在这个多主语并存的客观世界，展览旨在后山经营的水墨空间中延续宇宙论、东西方哲学与美学在图像学层面的深入探讨，在传统与现代、东方与西方之间寻找每一事物既有其存在的必然性更有其相互依托的共通性，也可以说是在宇宙时空探索下的内我关照，宏观与微观比照中的思绪表达。图像化后的物理宇宙空间，便能容纳全宇宙基本粒子之外更多高速旋转的物质因子，空间与构造、混沌与秩序、意识内外的宇宙物观，宇宙观、时空观合二为一，地学、象学、心学、理学两两融转，在水墨的天然配比中尝试解答“二即一”的道庄哲学命题。

▲  紫云末之一 Apex of the Amethyst Cloud 01

      133x133cm

      纸本水墨 Ink on Paper 

      2020

▲  红岩 Red Crages

      200x240cm

      纸本水墨 Ink on Paper 

      2021 

最后，特别感谢本次展览的策展人中央美术学院张子康教授，从构思到展陈实现为展览提供了一套完备的方案。感谢北京亚洲艺术中心，以其新颖别致的空间为展览打造出一个可供探讨的对话语境。感谢皮道坚教授、吴洪亮院长、管郁达教授、菲利普·多德先生、姜俊博士、项苙苹博士、夏可君教授、蒋华教授、郦亭亭、吉荣芳以及各位专家学者对本人的创作及展览给予的帮助与支持，令我受益良多。

王绍强于后山工作室

2021年5月

If Two, Then One

Wang Shaoqiang

As latitude and longitude came to delineate the entire territory of the globe, humans became accustomed to using their own measures for this world and their selves. The spherical coordinate system, marked in three-dimensional space, allows us to marvel at nature’s uncanny craftsmanship, while scientifically defining each orientation. Whether they are from the sandy desert, colorful hills, or mud and rocks of my country’s northwest, or the winding coast of the southeast, people remain invariably enigmatic. Transforming from a vast ocean countless millenia ago, to a desolate desert today, land and sea have experienced many historical transmogrifications. Entering into the Western Regions and their lengthy history, we begin a penetrating investigation of the mysterious relationship between humans and nature. The desert’s lonely mist, and the sunset over a winding river embed and brand the natural landscape of the northwest upon us like a vivid imprint. Thus, the Uyghur translation of "yadan" was transcribed by Swedish geographer and explorer Sven Heding in his book Central Asia and Tibet as "yardang.” The original meaning was a mound on a cliff. The yardang often refers to a peculiar landform mainly formed by wind erosion, found in arid areas, or those that experience extreme drought. Natural forces such as wind and water have shaped today’s yardang landforms, creating simultaneously both a material landscape and an intangible one of the heart.

Historical documents emphasize the unique ecological landscape and landforms in Gansu. The vast seas where I played in my childhood, the northwestern region that I later trekked, and the geological field surveys and academic studies of Gansu, Dunhuang, and Zhangye’s Shanhaiguan, all brought the wind-eroded landforms and the magnificent landscapes joining earth and sky into view. This process impels us to ponder both history and our own time on this earth. For this reason, the vast expanse of the desert’s lonely mist and wind-massed sandstone become creative elements within this series. In the geologic time scale of the earth's billions of years, the geological formation of Dunhuang can be traced back to about 1.95 billion years ago. If, in these works, you correlate rice paper to the bottom geological layer, then the first scattered water stains are the vast expanse of ocean from nearly two billion years ago. As time passed, local areas sank and formed new inland lake basins, which also wavered up and down. These are mirrored in the heterogeneous natural movements of water and ink on paper fibers. After many eons of natural changes and development, the geological structure and topography of each region began to reflect the interaction between humans and nature. Given a foundation of research on Western China’s culture and geography, within a limited two-dimensional space, a mobile ink brush can seemingly reshape any fortuitous segment in history’s long river. In exactly this way, to better encompass everything they see and feel at disparate stages of life, people return to a primary stillness and silence in the midst of the reciprocal struggle between the internal self and external forces.

In the Dao De Jing’s formulation, "The Dao produced one; One produced two; Two produced three; Three produced all things." In the version from the Book of Changes also titled, The Yi Ching, “The Absolute produces a dynamic pair; A pair produces eight hexagrams; Eight hexagrams produce all things, all things must return to oneness.” The two works’ elucidations of the first cycle of all phenomena, and the actuality of Yin and Yang at the level of material space, cause us to ponder spatio-temporal perspectives on, and the metaphysics of, the real world we live in. One produces two; if two, then one. These are not only numbers symbolizing the replacement or transformation of actual multi-dimensional space-time as a medium. Rather, they are also a natural trajectory formed by the separation and aggregation of various material molecules in dynamic and static Yin and Yang states. Coincidentally superimposed over historical events, this natural trajectory provides a basis for humankind's scientific understanding and aesthetic judgment of the materiality of the universe. It awaits our tireless exploration and unveiling. In our contemplation and comprehension via the fields of philosophy and art, we try to touch the heart of the image. From within the contemporary ink and wash context, we place natural materials cultivated by Chinese civilization such as water, ink, color, and paper into a broader, descriptive perspective. Meditating on the soul of the ink brush, composition, and chiaroscuro, we can sense the fleetings signs of all creation from its beginning to its end. We purify ourselves and inspire others.

Whenever we look up and interpret the heavens, we dialogue with the universe and space-time via the unique exploration of the brush tip on paper. In so doing, we can comprehend both the vital spirit of all creation and miraculous natural portents. Ancient Chinese Taoist philosophy inspires us to ponder multifarious aspects of the world. The Book of Changes draws the universe and everything in the entire world out of opposed, referential contexts of diametric forces. Taoism proposes, “being free spirited, and the leveling of all things,” (xiao yao qi wu). Zhuangzi’s further interpretation and understanding of the “Way” (dao) built on Laozi’s foundation. This allowed Zhuangzi to initiate a more comprehensive explanation and elucidation of a philosophical worldview. The Principles of Zhuangzi has it that, “The life of things is like the hurrying and galloping along of a horse. With every movement there is a change; with every moment there is an alteration.” “Thinking that the mother of the world,” is the “way” indexes evolution and movement towards a dynamic, yinyang life for thousands of phenomena. All things originally had neither size nor weight, and yet, disparate objects can share same shape, permeate each other and blend.

In creating, we have a conceptual interpretation and expression of traditional and contemporary multi-media materials such as water, ink, and paper. Ink follows wherever the water reaches, leaving traces. The rice paper underneath accumulates the composition and texture of the ink element. After air diffuses through the fiber membranes, the ink on the paper renders the flowering halos of periodic successive washes. The moment enters into the spatial plane of the picture. Transforming from two to three dimensions, the universe flows in and out. Creativity focuses on the world’s ten thousand manifestations. Visible and invisible images, mental and visual images, astrological images, geological images, and even the concrete images within and without the painting are the original ecological context of inspiration and experience. This exhibition, although it can described as an experimental study in humanistic and geographic contemporary ink-wash, is more an attempt to pass through Eastern philosophy and throw a light on image, language, and practical exploration within the framework of painting. Since the creation of the "Heart Chart" series, and its foundation of humanistic geography and iconography research, further Chinese and Western philosophical and conceptual thinking has been intiated. From the present, we return to tradition. Humanistic iconology research is based on a foundation of ancient philosophical wisdom, and invests contemporary ink-wash with new understanding and modes of expression. Tirelessly questioning everything in the universe will achieve a state like that of the After Hill experiment.

The long river of human history is its own seemingly endless universe. The smallest unit of the elementary particles we currently understand rotates at a high speed in this vast space. People's continuous exploration of the outside world allows us to understand the entire universe’s revolving system and to carry out a series of model analyses. For the solar system, the Milky Way, outer space, or even star clusters in outer space, the momentum and spirit of matter in perpetual motion is just like the “Qi” (spirit) of Lao Zhuang's profound way (dao). The Qi theory of Chinese philosophy believes that all objects are the coalescence and dissipation of Qi. Just as the ink in the painting slowly moves via the spread of water and paper fibers, in the process of continuity, integration and flow, the whole world soon becomes connected as one. At this time, Chinese philosophy and Western cosmology result in the same wondrous effect. The entirety of existence, the unity and harmonious coexistence of people and the world, these are issues that we have been considering seriously. In fact, human beings are not absolutely independent individuals; we exist, rather, as affiliated parties within a continuum of social relations. The ink-wash imprints left on paper by time’s passing illustrate this profound Eastern and Western philosophical proposition. We are immediately incarnated as a pious observer, immersed in the natural appearance and internal logic left by history. We extract a few brushstrokes of contemporary ink-wash from eons of layered residual manifestations. Although we are mortal and minute, we, who are placed within earth’s cycling reversals, are slowly prospecting for signs of life within the geological time scale of eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages. Confronting nature, such infinitesimal individual lives seemingly can never really understand the true meaning of the universe. Yet, within this multifarious and complex world, we can still organize our own inner reflections. Even confronting the continuous growth and turbulence of nature over the last thousands of years, ordering allows us to grasp our lives’ greatest freedom, the very actions that generate both piquant loneliness and a deep reverence for nature: solitude, reflection, meditation, and visualization.

Stars revolve and time flies while curiosity and contemplation on space-time and the universe turn our attention to a broader worldview and space-time philosophy based on humanistic, geographic iconology. Japanese scholar Yasuhiro Sugiura's research on astrology and cosmic geometry in Summa Cosmographica has injected new inspiration into the creation of this series. The universe is a container of time, and all time comes from the universe. Only when symbolic time passes can we (as an evolution of the universe, one life formed of and from the stars) be interpreted. Rather than saying that this process, this continuous flow amongst stars and from neutron stars to black holes is a torrent of time, it is better to say that our ancestors assumed the flow between stars and named it time. Within the universe of ideas, encountering ancient philosophy’s literary thought conveniently broadens our understanding of Zhuangzi’s thinking, logic, and natural science. The Principles of Zhuangzi explains that,

Simultaneously, it reminds us of Westerners’ understanding of physical time and space. They tried to verify the world that people see through rigorous scientific experiments. In the words of Albert Einstein, "The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is understandable." The development of the variances in Chinese and Western philosophy and science gives people sharply divergent perspectives on conceptualizing and intervention. The universe is simultaneously both concept and also logic, and this logic has become a main line of our entire series. From rigorous research on human geography, the image of the universe, and Eastern philosophy, we take a step further towards scientific observation. We integrate the image of a universe overflowing with spirit and ideas into the traditional ink-wash language of our country. Somewhere between verbal explanation and intuition, we become enlightened as to the source of all creation and profound change.

The ground formed by soil-like sediments in rivers and lakes is a natural landform shaped over time by various external forces such as weathering, wind erosion, and flowing water, exactly like the unpredictably fluctuating affairs of life. Although people who have experienced unconstrained vacillations may have limited knowledge of the world, they always find a way to examine themselves from within impermanence and contingency. They explore and persist as themselves while adapting to change. They are like layers of rock and gravel that are a mass of unpredictable permutations, remaining unperturbed, and harboring heaven and earth. The creative work of recent years extends from archaeological and geological research. Based on geological museums and field investigations, these works further explore rational thinking and observation methods of contemporary ink-wash. The exhibition also considers worldview and space-time from a humanistic perspective. We once again take humanistic geography as our main approach, borrowing the unique artistic language and expression of ink-wash painting to combine cultural and geological research with historical archeology. In this way, we attempt to build a more contemporary "science-historical-aesthetics" three-dimensional system. After repeated research on the collections and documents of local geological museums, the opus combines real natural features and ink-wash images with documentary materials. In this objective world where multiple subjects coexist, the exhibition aims to continue After Hill’s profound discussions of cosmology, Eastern and Western philosophies, and aesthetics at the level of iconography – all within the space of ink-wash. Between tradition and modernity, East and West, the works’ search for everything incorporates existential inevitability and shared interdependence. Exploring universal space-time allows one to observe the inner self and compare the expression of macro- and micro-scaled thoughts. The imaged physical universe can accommodate more high-velocity, rotating material elements beyond the basic particles of the universe, to create space and composition, chaos and order. The internal and external consciousness of cosmology also yields a comprehensive perspective on the material universe and space-time. Geoscience and iconology, Confucian Idealism and Neo-Confucian rationalism, as pairs they harmonize, change and combine. In just this way, the natural pairing of ink and wash responds to the ontological Doaist philosophical proposition, "If Two, Then One.”

Finally, I would like to thank the curator of this exhibition, Professor Zhang Zikang of Central Academy of Fine Arts, who provided a complete plan for the exhibition, from conception to realization. Additional thanks to Asia Art Center Beijing for creating an environment ripe for discussion, with its novel and unique space for the exhibition. Thanks to Professor Pi Daojian, Dean Wu Hongliang, Professor Guan Yuda, Mr. Philip Dodd, Dr. Jiang Jun, Dr. Xiang Linping, Professor Xia Kejun, Professor Jiang Hua, Li Tingting, Ji Rongfang and other experts and scholars. My creative work and I benefited a lot from the help and support provided to the exhibition.

Wang Shaoqiang at After Hill Studio

May 2021

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编辑 / Editor：陈婉婷 Sherry Chen

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