presenter

Zhong Biao, Professor of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, member of Oil Painting Art Committee of China Artists Association, council member of China Oil Painting Society, Vice president of Chongqing Oil Painting Society。He has held solo exhibitions in 11 countries and participated in group exhibitions in more than 30 countries。He won the Excellence Award of the 10th National Art Exhibition, the 2010 Annual Innovative Art Figure of China by Bazaar Men, and the 2020 IES Award of Excellence by the North American Lighting Association。His works have been collected by more than 30 art galleries at home and abroad, and he has published books such as Manifest -- Zhong Biao's World of Images。

Why is contemporary art so hard to understand?The four factors of diversity, context, space-time and innovation make it difficult for the audience to understand。On the afternoon of November 27, the fourth lecture of the second season of "Chuanmei Lecture Hall" was held jointly by Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and Chongqing Daily。Zhong Biao, professor of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and member of Oil Painting Art Committee of China Artists Association, shared his exclusive observation of contemporary art with the title of "With Shape and Form -- Vertical and Horizontal View of Artistic Innovation Method", which attracted 28.More than 60,000 people watched it。

▲ Live broadcast respondents for the picture

"Hello everyone!I am very glad to have the opportunity to spend this afternoon with you in the "Chuanmei Lecture Hall", and face together the question "why contemporary art is not understandable", which needs to be pursued forever。Why does it need to go on forever?No matter how much information and knowledge we have mastered or how many contemporary art activities we have participated in, the cognition we have acquired is only temporary and valid。In spite of this, it does not affect our curiosity, love and practice of contemporary art, just like we know clearly that we cannot live forever, but we can still enjoy the process of life。At the beginning of the broadcast, Zhong Biao got straight to the point and expressed his views on contemporary art。

In his view, the invention of photography replaced the documentary function of art more than 100 years ago。But the space for art is not compressed but liberated，It has achieved unprecedented development，From "representation" to pluralism，In addition to the original painting, sculpture, architecture，Expanding boundaries，Involving installation, video, performance, earth art, conceptual art, participatory art, science and technology art, public art，And many categories that are hard to define，It goes far beyond the aesthetic，The general term is contemporary art。

▲ Live broadcast respondents for the picture

He said that in addition to the documentary function of traditional art, aesthetic is the core。Contemporary art transcends the aesthetic category and expands the aesthetic boundary。In fact, there is no beauty and ugliness in the objective world. The so-called aesthetics is a kind of adaptation behavior between people's subjective heart and external things. The comfort level achieved determines beauty and ugliness。Each person has his or her own inner pleasure texture, so his or her perception of beauty is very different, and the aesthetic standard will evolve with time and situation。

Therefore, Zhong Biao sorted out the four incomprehensible directions of contemporary art:

Diversity increases the difficulty of understanding。For example, the artist's pictorial presentation of multi-dimensional space, heterogeneous isomorphism, quantitative change to qualitative change, abstraction, etc., although corresponding to the complex form of this world, it is difficult for people to understand。Take abstract painting, for example，Understanding is something that belongs to our consciousness，Abstract painting is precisely at the stage where the unconscious emerges from the conscious，If I were to make it explicit，Draw it so you can read it，Will add desire, logic, common sense, experience, skills and other aspects of consciousness，But away from the place where the precious unconscious first appeared。

Context, without understanding the content and meaning is not easy to read。For example, the artist Chiharu Shiota witnessed a fire when she was a child. The piano collapsed in the fire. Later, she tried to weave a large number of threads into the space to seal various objects, so as to transform this unforgettable memory into a relatively safe and visible form and bring physiological and psychological touches to people。If the audience does not know the background of this "context", it will be easy to understand。

With the change of time and space, the form and value of art are also changing。For example, in the Transparent Monument by CAI Guoqiang, on a sunny platform, the specimen of birds like ink painting vibrates in the breeze, suggesting the loss of life。

Innovation, constantly turning the deep secrets of reality into common sense, but also rewriting the existing knowledge structure。Gordon Matta Clark, for example, has used the soon-to-be-demolished building as a medium to create a series of breathtaking works。His actions and experiments exceeded the existing artistic category in the 1970s. Although his works existed for a short time, they disappeared with the demolition of buildings, leaving inspiration to the world, but becoming a source of inspiration for later generations。

"Art is useless，It is because art does not assume a specific use function in the first place，To have a chance to achieve two-way transcendence: either out of reality flying in the vast unknown world，为人类超越自身的局限性导航;要么置身社会现实的深处，Sort out the potential connections between things，By optimizing or rebuilding，Make the old contradiction to the three-dimensional synthesis of the new contradiction unity，To bring a higher sense of harmony to the world。"Zhong Biao said。

Now, he says, the era of "clarity" is over。We don't necessarily need to know enough to feel, understand or even love contemporary art。Just as we come to this world and can still embrace life in spite of many things we don't understand, let us be curious and throw ourselves into the complex and charming artistic life!

The whole live broadcast lasted about one hour. Zhong Biao used vivid cases and simple explanations to attract 28 people.More than 60,000 people watched it。

Golden sentence sharing

In addition to the documentary function of traditional art, aesthetic is the core。Contemporary art transcends the aesthetic category and expands the aesthetic boundary。

● In essence, the objective world is not beautiful and ugly, the so-called aesthetic, is a kind of adaptation behavior between the subjective heart and external things, the comfort level determines beauty and ugly。

● The motivation beyond aesthetics comes from the knowledge that what is important is invisible。The visible world is extremely limited, the invisible world is infinite。

● The important mission of contemporary art is no longer just aesthetic appreciation, but to discover, think and experiment with the vast and complex relationships in the world。

● Images are fragments of information in the world, behind which there are more information sources. Each image is a mass of information behind the aggregation, but also shape our lives。

● For the audience, the mixture of artistic life needs to be refined again。Therefore, what everyone takes away from the exhibition and photos is their own refined art。

● The age of being clear is over. Let's dive into the complex and charming art life with great curiosity。