LIAO Wen-Hao

 

Born in 1983, Taipei, Taiwan

 

Education

2011 HUAFAN University, Department of Fine Arts, M.F.A, Taipei, Taiwan

2007 HUAFAN University, Department of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan

 

Major

Calligraphy

 

Solo Exhibitions

2017 「INTO THE EYE, INTO THE MIND - A Solo Exhibition by LIAO Wen-Hao」, Galerie Grand Siècle, Taipei, Taiwan.

2015 「MIND FLOW- A Solo Exhibition by LIAO Wen-Hao」, Galerie Grand Siècle, Taipei , Taipei, Taiwan.

2013 「INTENTIONALLY OR OTHERWISE- A Solo Exhibition by LIAO Wen-Hao」, Galerie Grand Siècle, Taipei , Taipei, Taiwan.

2011 「SHAN-SHUI OF HUMAN- A Solo Exhibition by LIAO Wen-Hao」, MEME Space, Taipei, Taiwan.

 

Group Exhibitions

2017

「The bright Moon among the pines spies」，PiaoPiao, Taipei , Taiwan

「Unexpected」, Share Art Space, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

 

2016

「The Silver Lining of Art」, Galerie Grand Siècle, Taipei , Taipei, Taiwan.

 

2015

「Dreams Habitations-Young Artist Collection Exhibition」, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan.

「Art Kaohsiung」, The Pier-2 Art Center, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

「Art Taipei」, Taipei World Trade Center, Taipei, Taiwan.

「In the Name of Nature and Reality」, Taiwan Art Bank, Taichung, Taiwan.

「CREATOR-RESEARCHER, Dual Exhibition of CHANG Teng-Yuan and LIAO Wen-Hao」, Ba Bi Song Gallery, Pingtung, Taiwan.

「Art 15 London」, Olympia National, London, UK.

「Beaming Spring」, Galerie Grand Siècle, Taipei , Taipei, Taiwan.

 

2014

「Art Kaohsiung」, The Pier-2 Art Center, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

「Nomad-Y Project」, South Beach Miami, Miami, USA.

 

「The Present and Future of Japanese and Taiwanese Contemporary Art-Amplitude of the Global and Locality」, Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo, Japan.

「Art Taipei」, Taipei World Trade Center, Taipei, Taiwan.

「Young Art Taipei」, Regent Taipei Hotel, Taipei, Taiwan.

 

2013

「Art Taipei」, Taipei World Trade Center, Taipei, Taiwan.

「Art Kaohsiung」, The Pier-2 Art Center, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

「Young Art Taipei」, Sheraton Grande Taipei Hotel, Taipei, Taiwan.

「Art Tainan」, Tayih Landis Tainan Hotel, Tainan, Taiwan.

 

2012

「Before．After」, MEME Space, Taipei, Taiwan.

「Flying」, Artyart Art Center, Tainan, Taiwan.

 

2010

「The Rocking Horse」, Soka Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan.

「Young Art Taipei」, Sunworld Dynasty Hotel, Taipei, Taiwan.

「Don't Ever Say That Again」, King Car Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan.

 

2009

「Trends Exhibition of Korean and Chinese Painting These Days」, Hyan Gam Art Museum, Andong, Korea.

「Six Inkstones」, Soochow University Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan.

 

2008

「Calligraphy of Lion」, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei, Taiwan.

「Art seeds」, Hubei museum of art, Hubei, China.

 

Collection

2015  Islands of Wind, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan.

2014  Rope Jumpingˎ Perceiving the Silence, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan.

2014  Winter Pictureˎ Soundless Symphonyˎ Appreciation, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts,

       Taichung, Taiwan.

2013  Pure Loveˎ Zen‧Pine‧Skyˎ Zen‧Pine‧Snowˎ Tea Vapor, Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dallas, USA.

2013  Hot Spring Bathˎ Whiteness Jade, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan.

自然、諧隱與身體化的情慾─從「書寫性」談廖文豪水墨創作的身體經驗

 

國立台灣師範大學美術系 教授

日本京都大學 美術史博士

白適銘

 

諧隱與擬真─筆墨的主體位置

    自古以來，筆墨不僅是中國書畫家再現自然的賦形工具，其後，隨著文人對於媒材內涵及表現認知的理論擴充，更使其逐漸超越媒介性、工具性之地位。漢代文人揚雄即言：「言，心聲也；書，心畫也。聲畫形，君子小人見矣」，筆墨作為寄託藝術家內心情感或辨識身份、人格象徵的想法，早已深入人心。筆墨的形塑來自身心共振結果的理論，廣為後世所沿用，成為一種可稱之為「筆墨精神史」的特殊文化傳統。清代書法家傅山亦說：「作字先作人，人奇字亦古」，認為人的性格會反映在書畫風格之上，觀畫即等同於觀人。筆墨媒材性意義的擴充，象徵古代知識階層對物質現象背後隱含精神性的發現，並藉此建立一套品評標準，成為區隔社會身份、彰顯人我關係的憑藉。

 

     在此種發展趨勢中，創作者透過筆墨表達個人私密且不可視的的生命經驗、情慾感官及精神狀態，並藉以建立一種間接的方式，對社會現狀及自身處境進行嘲諷、批判或省視，已成為歷史常態。此種過程及作用，有若文學譬喻手法中的「諧隱」(Homonymic Metaphor)。顧名思義，「諧隱」指的是，以一種詼諧、俚趣及帶有擬象性的借喻手法，透過「喻體」(譬喻媒介)對「主體」(譬喻對象)的比喻，將抽象或難以言傳的思維，轉化成具體而容易領會的描述。也就是說，筆墨被寄託的抽象內涵，不論屬於情感、身份或人格等不同範疇，皆得經由「諧隱」的方法，達成借喻性的轉化，反映作者自身的身心狀態。所謂「筆墨寄神」、「筆墨在境象之外」者，即此之謂。在此種情況下，主體與喻體合而為一，主體並未被喻體取代，而失去自身的真實性及原生意義，而喻體的借用，目的在於創造接近主體真實的途徑，主體因喻體的存在而得到意義上的彰顯。

 

     透過可視的筆墨，形塑或寄託抽象的感情、思維，雖為傳統文人書畫經常使用的方法，然而，其中可能寓託的抽象情感，則又包羅萬象。例如，唐代詩人韓愈對張旭的草書甚為推崇，曾說其：「天地萬物之變，可喜可愕，一寓於書」，認為張旭在書作中，融匯個人對自宇宙、生命及自我的複雜體悟，其中的精神性有如出神入化的鬼神一般，無可捉摸，並非單純的筆墨、形象分析可以把握。文人書畫透過被意識形態化或符號標準化的筆墨，建立一套模擬宇宙、生命及自我等自然萬象的表現模式，傳達一種介乎可視與不可視邊界之間的「超真實性」(hyperreality)。因此，筆墨成為一種可供大量複製的媒介物或符號單元，在不斷模型化的生產方式中所傳達的真實，已非原有的真實，以布希亞(Jean Baudrillard, 1929-2007)「擬像三序列」(the three orders of Simulacra)的理論來說，與第三序列的「擬真」(simulation)觀念近似。在後現代社會中，筆墨的可複製性與媒介性已被廣泛用，在真實意義不斷流失的過程中，包含生理及精神反應在內的身體經驗，在書寫行為中已產生「缺席」、「匱乏」等不可避免的結果。不難想見，缺乏身體經驗或身體化的書寫，即猶如機械複製或大量生產一般，導致書寫性的喪失，架空了筆墨運作過程中身體、心理與視覺形象的有機聯結，而致使創作淪為一種去意義化的消費行為。

 

回歸的真實與身體探索

     在傳統上，文人書畫家的養成必須經過臨仿古作的過程，亦即「形摹」與「意臨」等階段，建立其筆墨觀念及創作根基。不過，過度對「仿古」的倚賴，不僅在「形摹」上容易造成千篇一律的結果，在「意臨」上，亦可能導致自我個性的喪失，而形成缺乏意義、消費性的機械抄寫。現代書法的發展，為避免上述在形式或筆墨上的模仿前人，逐漸朝繪畫性的方向轉化，在書法中引入繪畫構圖元素、觀念或技法；反之，現代繪畫則刻意強調書法的線性關係與符號抽象特質等，而導致書畫不分的情況發生。

 

     書畫不分的情況，反映現代書畫的身份，已從「同源」關係轉化為「混同」關係，其彼此間的界線難以釐清。此種情況，可以以後現代、後殖民社會中常見的「拼貼」(pastiche)、「雜揉」(hybridity)等文化現象來加以解釋，亦即，書法與繪畫，已跨越彼此的形式疆界，透過相互轉用的形式各自形成一種異質化的主體，與原初的主體有所差異。然而，後現代或後殖民文化現象中所呈現的「拼貼」、「雜揉」特質，雖反映出多元文化並陳的美學價值，但缺乏自主性創造的結果，亦可能導致主體性與真實性喪失的可能。而盲目的符號借用與無意義的大量複製，不僅反映現代藝術缺乏主體與真實的雙重窘境，更說明創作活動中身體及意識雙重去化的結果。現代水墨，在此種矛盾中，應透過何種語彙與符號的探索，建立何種得以重構自身身體及意識經驗的文化邏輯，並回歸得以呈現真實性的創作狀態，已成為不可逃避的問題。

 

     廖文豪在大學時期，曾接受完整而系統化的書法教育，從書法走向水墨創作的歷程及身份改變，顯示現代書畫跨越彼此邊界的時代趨勢，而出現於二○○八年前後的「山水人」系列，更可說是其對此種趨勢所產生的具體回應。初期的「山水人」作品，以透過人體與山水母題(motif)的「拼貼」方式，組合異質性物件元素，呈現一種類似夢境般的超現實趣味。一如在〈女史圖〉(2008)中所見，以來自於古畫山岳造形的模擬，組合穿著高跟鞋的女性裸露雙腿，形成一詭異卻具有幽默感的視覺意象。在四幅一組的聯作中，除了造型、動態及色彩具有個別的識別性以產生彼此的對話關係之外，筆墨及造型概念呈現一種同義複製的特性，藉以強化符號化形象本身的獨立觀賞價值。在此種情況下，人體與山水自其原有的物理體系被抽離，形成單一的視覺構件，並在不同的組合關係中呈現獨立的意義。

 

     被古畫中的山石元素替代的人體上半身，人與自然雖然產生一種互不聯屬的嫁接關係，然而卻是作者刻意建立的擬人化視覺語彙，在「諧隱」的過程中成為一種喻體，傳達跨越時空且帶有譬喻性的身體符碼。〈浮玉閑居圖〉(2010)圖中，廖文豪更進一步地透過女性乘椅翹足的悠閒姿態，諧擬觀看元代隱逸山水畫的真實心境，並同樣以石化或山水化的人體，重構傳統自然觀中主客合一的和諧觀念。同樣的情況，亦持續可在〈閒適圖〉(2011)中見到。在此類實驗中，人物的性徵與表情被刻意隱藏，身體姿態或局部器官卻特別凸顯的山水造型，象徵其對身體的寓言化觀看位置，亦即，「山水人」系列作品，是藝術家個人對外在世界的擬人化想像，象徵其在自我與社會的複雜關係中，尋找情慾出口的媒介。而女性形象的置入，更可視為是釋放此種隱藏式情慾的可視化結果，致使過去帶有禁慾色彩的山水，產生全新的性別與情慾符碼。此時，作為山水與人體共用的界線、用來標示彼此形狀及位置的筆墨，呈現閒散輕盈的外貌，成為一種標誌藝術家抒放身心狀態下的心理寫照。

 

主體的反轉─「山水人」的動態演繹

     上述早期「山水人」系列作品，特別在身體隱喻問題的探索及視覺語彙的形構上，廖文豪似乎已找到其間的平衡關係，創造出帶有身體符碼性意義的譬喻模式。在筆墨表現上，較先前更為工謹嚴整的作品接連出現，細緻、單一且具延展性的線條筆墨，取代了先前自由放逸的短皴及繁複的筆觸堆積，朝工筆山水人的方向演化。按傳統的說法，分屬「寫意」及「工筆」不同風格的同時呈現，僅能說是古法參照的結果，然其背後卻有更為積極的作用。事實上，線條的細緻化與動態延展，造成山水人的形象不斷地細碎化並朝背景內在隱沒，人體、山石、自然虛空之間的界線，已難區隔。一如〈隱蔽的存在〉(2011)標題所示，象徵他已將個人的身體情慾、現實經驗，簡化至難以以完整形體的概念加以詮釋的階段，而進入某種象徵性或精神性的領域。此種混雜在墨暈、色塊之間的線條造型，宛如夢境中偶而出現的人影錯覺，成為一種瞬間殘像，同時，也反映身體情慾、現實經驗不斷自生活中抽離，而成為純粹概念的過程。

 

     不論是粗筆或細筆，自二○一二年之後，廖文豪利用被重新賦予身體符碼性的筆墨，對幾幅早期「山水人」系列作品進行意義上的調整，進入「舊畫新作」的階段，並藉此開展出多重象徵意義的圖像體系。〈松岩出雲圖〉可以說是〈女史圖(II)〉的修改版，除了維持女性雙足的形象位置外，利用細筆方法增添了岩石上的老松與繚繞其間的白雲，營造出有如「仙山」般的超現實奇觀。除此之外，畫面中增加了題識 「松風清心」四字，代表此時已然超越情慾及生活困境的閒適心情。松樹形成新的拼貼元素，使「山水人」系列產生了新的意義擴充，因為松樹在古代中國畫或文人文化中帶有高潔、孤獨及不屈的人格象徵。亦即，結合人體、山石及松樹的嶄新組合關係，較先前的「山水人」系列增添了象徵作者內在化的身份意識，並成為自我人格彰顯、身心狀態變動的直接投射。

 

     作於同年的〈無弦之音圖〉，借用了傳宋徽宗〈聽琴圖〉的主題及構圖形式，表現作者與朋友等五人之間的珍貴情誼。畫面左方人物持扇上書有書齋名「晴川」二字，代表作者本身，其他人物都各自擁有來自於姓名或其他因素的圖像象徵。

 

     畫中主角撥彈無弦素琴，以契合標題「無弦之音」之旨意，然而，該人物身體中央自山澗中奔瀉而出的流泉形成一道瀑布，似借用鍾子期理解伯牙琴音中「志在高山」、「志在流水」的知音故實，來象徵摯友之間真誠流露的情感。〈泡湯圖〉(2013)同樣使用了象徵遠離塵囂的仙山圖像，呈現與好友共同泡湯、飲酒為歡的愉悅片刻，反映一種期待解脫束縛的身體慾望。此種對古代典故、古畫中隱藏「畫意」的借用，已成為廖文豪近年來最經常使用的借喻方法，使得山水人系列產生更多的象徵性意義。此種「舊畫新作」的作法，雖然是借用自己的舊作或借用古畫進行重製，然而，卻非單純的「仿古」。

 

     在由「山水人」系列演化出來的「舊畫新作」中，舊作或古畫元素的出現，並非無的放矢，而是用來作為內在情感投射的媒介。一如〈浮煙山色〉(2013)引用了〈浮玉閑居圖〉中人物翹足閒坐的姿態，經由工筆的輕細描寫，營造出較後者更能展現閒適心情、氣氛及圖像性格，此外，細碎紛亂的筆觸凸顯女性身體(或情慾)已成為記憶殘影的現狀，取而代之的，男性的身體以前圖未見的可識性特徵被加以呈現，代表作者在「山水人」系列中主體位置的反轉，亦即，從過去的被動觀看、記憶的位置，轉變成主動形塑、紀錄的狀態。此外，又如〈獨坐觀局圖〉(2015)，其構圖、畫面母題等，與作於同年的〈賞石圖〉甚為近似，包含端坐於官帽椅上的正面人像、人物身側的太湖石、造型蟠屈迂迴的樹木、流動的雲彩或波浪等。二圖之間的轉換手法，與前二例頗為類似，由女性轉向男性，由工筆轉向寫意，由缺乏表情及幻影般的女性山水人，轉變為身份明確且具身體隱喻的男性觀局者。

 

   〈獨坐觀局圖〉中，分置於畫面斜角的二張撲克牌，分別是黑桃A與方塊A，前者代表決定棋局輸贏(死亡或希望)的王牌，具有破解及引導牌局的至高意義，而後者可能代表著欺騙、破壞與亂局的象徵。位居其中著裝隆重的男性，雖周旋於正義及邪惡兩端，不過，從其面部堅毅的表情來看，似在反映其冷眼觀世的理性智慧，具有獨特的身體隱喻。透過身體的辨識性及性別特徵，廖文豪在「舊畫新作」系列中，探討「他人與自我」、「女性與男性」、「被觀看者與觀看者」、「被仲裁者與仲裁者」等之間的主從對立關係，呈現一種由靜態觀視到動態演繹的有趣轉變。

 

   「舊畫新作」中最重要的代表作，是為包含〈夏山高隱〉、〈花谿漁隱〉、〈秋夜山居〉、〈尋隱圖〉、〈夜山禪居圖〉及〈幽光隱月圖〉等的巨幅六聯作(2015)。其中，〈夏山高隱〉、〈花谿漁隱〉及〈尋隱圖〉(原題為〈具區林屋〉)直接借用元代山水畫家王蒙的傳世名作為參考範本，其餘三幅，可能引用來自宋元繪畫的不同文本。〈秋夜山居〉的題名，可能來自北宋詩人鄭剛中(1088-1154)同名詩作的啟迪，表現「空翠入窗濃欲滴，夜涼扶月靜尤孤」句中一人對月的寂寞心境。六聯作中，按照文本的不同來源，分別有透過原作構圖直接參照的「舊畫新作」，以及以詩文內容或古代山水畫題為發想的「舊題新作」等兩類，不論是在筆墨、構圖或主題運用上，其彼此間具有相互聯屬的內在邏輯。

 

「書寫性」與水墨的當代身體實踐

     此六聯作，在筆墨表現上具有「兼工帶寫」、「乾濕兼用」的雜揉特質，時而運用細筆點描，時而表現粗筆暈染，將先前分屬兩種不同體系的筆墨風格巧妙地加以融合。尤其是，由不斷被大量複製的細碎筆觸所形成的虛線，成為山石塊面、肌理組構的單元，在整體視覺上，形成一種極度形制化及符號化的「擬真」現象。同時，混淆了樹葉與山石肌理之間的物質性差異及空間遠近關係，所有的景物被統一在一種同質化的筆描觀念之中，無法區分彼此；而高反差的色彩運用，形塑出有如已經感光卻尚未沖印的負片狀態，使得原本即如夢境般的視覺意象，令人產生更為詭異、抽象及超現實般的聯想。

 

     根據〈夏山高隱〉草圖上的附記文字「以夏山高隱圖為本，參己意臨寫」所知，廖文豪透過「臨寫」及參照「己意」的二重過程，完成此一系列，反映其對古代畫家學習傳統過程中「意臨」方法的認知結果。「意臨」的意義，在於透過身體(心與手)的運作，將個人對原作的記憶、認知轉化為有形筆墨，形成極度個人化的詮釋結果。從身體運作的角度言之，「臨寫」包含「觀視」、「意想」及「書寫」等三個部分，亦即，先透過眼睛對畫面元素的視覺性歸納，再將所獲訊息傳至腦部，其次，經由中樞神經發出指令，將心理反應傳至手部，最後透過指尖、手臂肌肉的協調運動，產生繪畫或書寫性的結果。在此種身體性反應的過程中，「臨寫」代表手腦並用的過程，過程中產生的生理行為與心識活動借由筆墨加以傳輸，因而產生所謂的「書寫性」。

 

     此段期間，逐漸出現工筆及寫意並用的現象，象徵其在書法練習過程所建立的複雜身體行為慣性。工筆及寫意的區別，以書體來比擬，即如隸、楷與行、草的關係，前者代表在緩慢速度中，有效控制身體所形成的規整字體，後者則是在自由變化的速度中，任由情緒起伏所形塑的放逸字體，二者皆可說是身體反應、身體運動的結果。換句話說，透過臨帖所累積的身體經驗，不外乎是在建立一種心手平衡、對力量與速度的控制、收放之間的協調感等等，並在此種過程中，與臨寫對象產生「我化」的狀態。(即自我融入，上述的「己意」)此外，透過臨寫所形塑的身體經驗，並不止於創造一種行為慣性，同時，亦可能建立情感上的聯結關係。一如上述「書，心畫也」所示，書寫本身即是一種身心協調的結果，書畫作品呈現藝術家個人心智活動、情感起伏與的軌跡。不管是細筆或粗筆，不同的筆緻帶有全然不同的情緒，筆劃之間流露的個人感情時而抒放，時而收斂，時而靜止，時而躍動，一如蘇軾《赤壁賦》中對大自然聲響「如怨如慕，如泣如訴」的諧擬，反映其有如脈博或呼吸般的自然節奏。

 

     此外，值得注意的是，廖文豪近期作品中經常出現跨越畫面的「塗改」痕跡，一如在〈餐桌上的花〉、〈紳士圖〉、〈搖扇圖〉及〈無關風月圖〉(以上皆2015)等所見。從上述在構圖或母題上的「修改」轉向刻意「塗改」，反映「舊畫新作」的演化過程中，將修改思維予以行動化及具體化的結果。此種在畫面背景處或主要描繪對象上方，直接以大筆觸線條進行掃掠的現象，極不尋常，一般而言，只有在草圖中才能見到，營造出有如「殘像」般的視覺效果。從書寫的身體反應來說，由於書法及水墨畫都屬於「一次性藝術」，「塗改」僅在臨仿的過程中被允許，在完成作品上不應存在。而廖文豪反轉傳統概念的「塗改」，卻可以說是界於「形摹」與「意臨」之間的過度性產物，代表其在「形似」與「神似」之間尋找平衡點的過程中，對自然產生的修正刻意保留的結果。

 

     在「舊畫新作」或「舊題新作」的最新發展中，將「形摹」、「塗改」及「意臨」等三種過程共陳一圖的代表性作品，即為〈時夢行旅圖〉(2015)。該作混用古畫元素(「形摹」)、大筆觸線條掃掠(「塗改」)，並創造界於現實與超現實之間的迷幻心境(「意臨」)，強化了「塗改」在正式作品上的正當性。根據本圖草稿附記文字「夢中行旅圖，夢裡渾沌、交疊的感覺」(後來將「夢中」二字修改為「時夢」)所示，為了反映夢境中的時間概念，特別在畫面左方有如學校禮堂般的建築上標示時鐘，並以立體派分割塊面的方法，呈現不同時空中景物的並陳關係，以及夢境中無邏輯性的交錯關係。畫面左方描繪一站立男子及迎面飛來的鳳凰，在斜對角右下方，則出現一把無人乘坐的官帽椅。與六聯作的杳無人煙相較，本圖左方被刻意放大的時裝男子，正昂首凝視眼前的風景，然而，被刻意抹除的臉部，象徵夢境中無法交代情感細節的矛盾。從此種角度來說，成為觀者探索男子心理、情緒根據的臉部，或者是官帽椅上原本被期待的乘坐者，分別以刻意塗改、缺席的方式呈現出來，代表夢境永遠無法被完整再現、僅能以記憶殘像被加以保存的窘境，並成為諷諭現實的反面寓言。

 

     透過以上，對廖文豪近十年來水墨創作的綜合性分析，尤其是在以書法臨習過程中所產生的身體經驗等角度，來檢視其對筆墨問題的看法與實踐方法時，我們可以知道，對其自身來說，融合對古畫的諧擬與生活現實所建立出來的筆墨觀，反映一種「意臨」態度被不斷身體化的結果。在此種過程中，筆墨間流露的書寫性，可以說是在肌肉、心智及情感等不同層面交會運作下所產生的結果。而狀似突然的「塗改」手法，則可說是此種過程中被刻意保留的「書寫直覺」，在概念發生與成品完結之間，扮演一種串連真實與非真實的橋梁。也就是說，「塗改」一方面具有促使原始概念發展成形的觸媒功能，同時，又是在不斷修正的過程中產生定位效果的必要手段，藉以維持「形摹」與「意臨」兩個極端之間的平衡。此種反映個人書寫經驗的身體性，已成為廖文豪形塑其水墨當代性的重要基因，而其作品中無所不在的書寫性，更成為反映其身份特徵、筆墨情緒及身體慾望最重要的象徵。

 

Nature, Homonymic Metaphor and Physical Desires— “Graphology” and Liao Wen-Hao’s Body Experience in Brush Painting

 

Pai, Shih-Ming

Professor of the Department of Fine Arts,

National Taiwan Normal University,

PhD of Art History, Kyoto University

 

Homonymic Metaphor and Assimilation— Subject Position of the Brush and Ink

Since ancient times, the brush and ink have not only been the figuration tool of Chinese calligraphers and painters to represent nature; as time moved on, the literati expanded their knowledge on the cognitive performance of materials, and then materials evolved from being merely media and tools. As Yang Hsiung, the literati in Han Dynasty, said “Words are the voice of the mind; calligraphy is the painting of the mind. One’s quality will be directly shown according to one’s voice and painting.” The idea has been deeply rooted that the brush and ink are the media for artists to extend one’s sensitivity or highlight one’s status or characteristics. Besides, a wide-acknowledged theory stated that it was the resonance of body and mind that elevated the brush and ink and formed a unique cultural practice that could be named as “The history of the spirit of brush and ink”. The calligrapher in Ching dynasty Fu Shan said “One has to learn to be a man of virtues before intending to write. One bestowed with rare talents inherits the qualities of the ancient calligraphers.” He believed one’s disposition will be reflected on one’s style on calligraphy and painting; that is, seeing one’s painting is like seeing one’s personality. The expansion on the meaning of ink and brush as media has signified a spiritual discovery hidden behind the materialistic phenomena amongst the ancient intellectual class; based on the discovery, an evaluation standard has been set up to distinguish people from different social statuses and highlight the superiority or inferiority among them.

Under such trend of development, it has been the historical norm for the artists to indirectly satirize, criticize or examine the social status quo or self-situation by the utilization of the brush and ink and the source of one’s private and invisible life experience, desires, senses or mental status. The norm works as a literature technique homonymic metaphor; as the name implies, it is to use figurative expression applying an object to a subject in jocular ways, from idioms or by assimilation, transforming an abstract or unspeakable idea to a concrete description easy to be understood. Therefore, the abstract content entrusted on the brush and ink including different aspects such as sensitivity, identity, or ego can be metaphorized homonymically to reflect the artist’s physical and mental status at that time. That’s why there were Chinese sayings such as “Mind is on the brush and ink” and “What is meant is beyond the image.” Under such circumstances, the subject and object are united as one where no one replaces the other and loses one’s reality and primary significance. To borrow the object means to carve out a path to the subject’s reality while the subject’s meaning is manifested by the existence of the object.

Although it was usually abstract sensitivity implied or presented by the brush and ink in the traditional literati painting; however, what would be meant after all is unlimited. For instance, the poet Han Yu in Tang dynasty revered the calligrapher Zhang Xu and stated that his works contained every changes in the universe including joyful or startled.” Han Yu deemed that Zhang Xu mingled his sophisticated realization on the universe, human lives and self into his works in which the spirituality was so irregular and abstruse beyond merely the subjects of writing and the style. Therefore, a behavioral mode of simulated universe, life, self-ego and everything in the universe can be built after the ideologies and standard symbols dominates the brush and ink to exhibit the surreality between the margin of the visible and invisible. Consequently, the brush and ink has become a mediate object or symbolic unit which can be replicated numerously, and the reality out of the process of modeled production can no longer be regarded as the original reality. Compared with “The three orders of simulacra” proposed by Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007), the above-mentioned is similar to the concept of simulation.

 In the post-modern society, the duplicability and the mediation of brush-and-ink works have been vastly employed; when the body experience and physical and mental reactions are encompassed in the true meaning, the condition will lead to the inevitable results such as “absence” and “deficiency” in the writing behaviors. It isn’t hard to imagine that when writing lacks the body experience or embodiment movement the process is not much different from machinery replication or mass production, which would deprive the distinctness of writing and break the organic connections between body, mind and visual image, reducing the art creation to a meaning-removed consumptive behavior.

 

The Return of Reality and Physical Exploration

Traditionally, the cultivation of the literati calligraphers and painters must incorporate the process of copying the models of masterpieces, which includes “copying forms” and “reappearing the intentions”, to establish individual brush-utilizing concept and the ground for artistic creation. However, overly emphasizing the old-style fashion will lead to stereotyped and repetitive practices of the copied forms, while too much absorbing the intentions will weaken one’s characteristics, resulting in meaningless and consumptive mechanical transcription. To prevent the aforementioned failed copying, the development of modern calligraphy turned the direction into introducing the structured elements, concepts and techniques from painting; however, contrastedly, modern Chinese painting appealed for too much linear relationships and abstract quality of symbols in calligraphy, as a consequence, emphasized the distinction between painting and calligraphy was blurred.

The blurred distinction reflected on the roles of modern calligraphy and Chinese paining having converted from “cognate” to “intermixed” where the boundary was hard to find. Under the circumstances, it could be further explained in the cultural phenomena such as pastiche and hybridity commonly seen in post-modern and post-colonial scenarios. Calligraphy and painting have crossed the mutual boundary on forms after adapting the counterpart form to generate heterogeneous subjects from the original ones. However, although pastiche and hybridity in the post-modern and post-colonial cultural phenomena can shed light on the aesthetic value in the diverse cultures being co-displayed, the lack of autonomous creation was likely to have subjectivity and reality left behind. In addition, the blind borrowing from symbols and meaningless mass replication not only highlighted the dual predicament due to the missing subjectivity and reality, but rendered the results of dephysicalization and deideologization in the creation activity. Under such condition, it has been the inevitable questions that which path to take on to discover the lexicons or symbols and which cultural logic that will reconstruct self-physical and ideological experience shall be deduced, in pursuit of the return for a state where the artworks emerge reality.

During college, Liao Wen-Hao was receiving complete and systemized calligraphy education; his experience and artist role transited from calligraphy to ink painting has indicated the current trend of the intermixture of modern calligraphy and painting. In 2008, the series of Human Mountain extended to be the concrete response to the trend. In the primary stage, Human Mountain applied the way of pastiche of human body and the motif of shan shui (landscape) to combine the heterogeneous objects, emerging a fantasy-like image with surrealistic taste. As to the image of Women Mountain (2008), via the simulation of the ancient mountain synthesized with a pair of women legs wearing the high-heels, created a visual image both strange and humorous. In the quadtych of Woman Mountain, besides the style, dynamics, and colors respectively recognizable for bridging the communicative relationship, both of his concepts of forms and brush utilization featured a sense of synonymous duplication which fortified the value of independent appreciation on the symbolized image. Consequently, human body and shan shui (landscape) were detached from their native physical systems, and shaped new visual components which under various independent combinations would produce different meaning.

While the upper part of the human body replaced by the mountain and rocks in the ancient Chinese painting conjured a non-associative grafting relationship, it was the artist’s purpose to create the personified visual expression working as an object in the homonymic metaphor, conveying a metaphorical code of body having overcome the restriction of temporal-spatial factors. In Rest at Ease (2010), Liao Wen-Hao arranged the woman posture as sitting and crossing-legs to homonymically metaphorize the mental state in viewing the hermit-theme painting of Yuan dynasty, and he took advantage of the human-figured rocks or mountains to reconstruct the concept of harmony in the traditional view of nature, the subject and object assimilated as a unity. Likewise, the same condition was observed in Easy Swing (2011). Among the type of experiments, sexual characteristics of humans and facial expressions were intentionally concealed, while the body posture or the organ parts of the mountain-shaped figures were specially intensified to mirror his angle of seeing the allegorized human body. In other words, Human Mountain series were built upon the artist’s imagination of personification toward the external world, representing his search for a medium as the outlet of desires in the complicated sphere of the self and social relationships. The placement of women image can be further regarded as the visible results revealing such concealed desires, therefore giving birth to the new sexual and desire codes from the past landscape painting of suppressed desires. Accordingly, the boundary shared both by the mountains, human figures and the brush movement depicting and positioning figures were facilitated to create the leisurely and graceful image reflecting the artist’s mental state while he was thoroughly relaxed in his body and mind.

 

The Reversal on the Subject— the Dynamic Interpretation by Human Mountain

In Human Mountain series from his earlier stage, Liao Wen-Hao seemed to have found the balance between the discovery on body metaphors and the construction of visual expressions. Regarding the brush wielding, there were more meticulous artworks of him consecutively appearing in which the delicate, single and extensive lines have replaced the previous unrestrained short texture strokes and the complicated accumulation of brushworks and the theme has been evolving toward the fine-brushed human mountain. Conservatively speaking, the concurrent appearance of “Free Sketch” and “Fine Brush” painting could be inferred that the artist has taken reference from the ancient techniques; however, those paintings served for more positive purposes. In fact, the meticulous lines and dynamic extension configured the theme of continuous segmentation which gradually vanished inward the background where the distinction among human figures, mountains, rocks, nature and nothingness had been difficult to perceive. As the title Secluded Existence (2011) said, the artist has simplified personal physical desires and practical life experience into a status hard to be interpreted in a complete form, therefore entering a symbolic or spiritual realm. Such linear style of shading and color patch accounted for the illusionary human-figure shadows which may have shown up in dreams and left as retained images, in the meanwhile, reflecting the process where physical desires and life experiences were continuously disengaged from real lives and turned out to be a pure concept.

  Since 2012, whether free sketch or fine brush works, Liao Wen-Hao adjusted the meaning of a few ones of Human Mountain series in the earlier stage through the brushworks having been re-endowed with the codes of body, and entered the stage of re-creating the previously-created works during which he thereby augmented the image system by expanding multiple meanings on the symbols. Breaking the Sky could be comprehended as the derivative one of Women Mountain III. The imagery position of women legs was maintained while he increased the meticulous brushes on the added pine tree on the rocks and white clouds curling inward, therefore the surrealistic wonder as if the mountain of immortals was built. Furthermore, the painting inscription “Pine Wind Pure Heart” in response to the Chinese title of Breaking the Sky has transcended the issue of desires or life muddles. The pine tree has become a new element of pastiche and supplemented on the value of Human Mountain series because in ancient Chinese painting and the literati culture, pine trees implied the characteristics of decency, aloofness and unyieldingness. On this account, there has emerged a new associative relationship between human figures, mountains, rocks, and pine trees in contrast with other ones of Human Mountain, evincing the artist’s intrinsic identity and functioning as the discerner of personality and physical-mental state.

Soundless Symphony finished in the same year of 2012 borrowed the subject and structure of Listening to the Qin by Emperor Huizong of Song dynasty, expressing the precious relationship between the artist and his four friends. The figure on the upper left holding a fan written with “Sun River” was the title of a literati study room representing the artist himself; the other figures also owned the symbols originated from their names or characteristics. The figure playing the pipa without strings matched the meaning of the Chinese title “the sound from the stringless”; at the center of the figure was a waterfall flowing from the mountain stream. The painting seemed to borrow the theme of a true story about the soul mates Zhong Zi-Qi and Bo Ya. Zhong understood Bo Ya’s zither music which conveyed “his true wills aim toward the lofty mountain and flowing water,” to implicate the friendship of genuine sincerity. Hot Spring Bath (2013) also presented the reclusive wonderland, the mountain of immortals, to demonstrate the pleasant moment when taking hot spring bath and drinking for fun with intimate friends; in this scene the expectation to liberate the physical desires was disclosed. It was the metonymy most frequently applied by Liao Wen-Hao which borrowed the ancient classical quotation and allusion in ancient Chinese painting to generate more symbolic meanings. Even though the subjects in the practice of “recreating the previously-created works” were originated from both his works and the ancient paintings, what the practice referred to was not the absolute copies of ancient models

In the re-created works from Human Mountain series, it was not an aimless conduct to involve the elements from the previous works or ancient works; in fact, it served as the medium to project the artist’s intrinsic feelings. For instance, Misty reserved the figure posture in Rest at Ease which sat cozily with legs crossing; Misty, through the finer depiction with more details, was able to exhibit an easier mindset and atmosphere and image characteristics. Furthermore, the after image of memories left to present was accentuated by the numerously disordered flakes of brushstrokes of women figure. Contrastedly, the men figures were intensified through the features of unprecedented high recognition over the previous works, marking the reversal of the artist role in Human Mountain series, from passively memorizing and watching to actively creating and recording. On top of that, The Spectator (2015) shared the structure and motif considerably similar to Appreciation finished in 2013, including the front-faced figure sitting rigidly on the official hat chair, the scholar rock beside the figure, twisted trees, flowing clouds or waves. Such conversion resembled the previous two examples: from woman to man, from fine brush to free sketch, and from ethereal woman mountain with facial expression missing to male spectator of clear identity embodying physical metaphors.

In Spectator, there were two playing cards, spade ace and diamond ace respectively, the former standing for the trump card with the power to dominate the result (death or hope) of the game as the highest commander who can render solution or lead the game. The latter generally stood for deception, destruction, or disturbance. Given that the well-dressed man sitting in the center was situated in the middle of both sides the justice and evil, judging from the man’s firm facial expression, it seemed that his rational wisdom in seeing the world aloofly could be deciphered as a physical metaphor. Through the differentiability and sexual characteristics of body, Liao Wen-Hao scrutinized the principal-subordinate relationship among “otherness and selfness”, “women and men”, “the viewed and the viewer”, and “the defendant and the arbitrator”, showing an intriguing transfer from the static beholding to dynamic interpretation.

Among the re-created works, the representative works were the oversized sextych of Summer Mountain and Ascending Peaks, Florid River, Autumn Night Living, Seeking the concealed, Mountain and Secluded House in the Dark, and Dim Light by Moon Behind (2015). Autumn Night Living, Florid River and Dim Light by Moon Behind (originally named as Forest Chamber Grotto at Chu-chu) borrowed the existed masterpieces of Wang Meng the landscape painter in Yuan dynasty as referential samples, and the other three may be the transformation from different texts related to the paintings in Song and Yuan dynasty. The naming of Autumn Night Living may have been influenced by the poem of identical title made by Zheng Gang Zhong (1088-1154), the poet in the Northern Song, with an eye to echoing the solitary mind when one stared the moon alone in the line “The greenish view entered the window dense as if about to drop, the chilly night holding moon was as tranquil as solitude.” The sextych could be divided into two categories according to sources of texts; “Re-creation from the previously-created works” directly took the reference from the structure of the original works, and “Re-elaborating on the original titles” such as lines of ancient poetry or the titles of ancient landscape paintings. As a result, the intrinsic logics among the brushworks, structures, and subjects were all allied and inter-auxiliary.

 

Graphology and the Contemporary Physical Realization by Brush Painting

Regarding the Sextych, it featured the mingled style of “fine brush and free sketch” and “the wet and dry brushstrokes”. The artist ingeniously integrated the detailed brush in pointing and tracing and the rough brush in shading, both belonging to two divergent systems. In particular, the dotted lines as the vestige from the numerously-replicated meticulous brushstrokes constituted the surfaces of rocks, mountains and texture. In the sense of overall image, it forged a simulation phenomenon constructed by the scheme of extreme formalization and symbolization, and meanwhile it obfuscated the materiality and the spatial relationship between the leaves and the texture of mountains and rocks because all objects consistently engaged in a homogeneous brushwork concept without exception. Moreover, the high-contrast color alignment created a negative-film state already light-sensed yet developed, arising more mystifying, abstract and surrealistic associative connections.

According to the note on the rough drawing of Summer Mountain and Ascending Peaks which said “based on Mountain Dwelling on the Summer Day, copied freely with personal wills”, Liao Wen-Hao completed the series by the dual process of “copying freely” steered by “personal wills”, corroborating his experience in the traditional practices of learning from the ancient painters. “Personal wills” enabled the memories and cognition of the original works to transform into the tangible brushworks under the coordination of body (mind and hands), achieving the extremely personal interpretation. Speaking of body coordination, “copying freely” comprised “watch”, “meditate” and “write out”, as firstly conducting the visual induction to the imagery elements via eyes and then transporting the obtained messages to the brain, secondly the central nervous system commanding the mental reaction being transported to hands, finally resulting in painting or writing through the coordinating functions of the muscles of the arm and the fingertips. During the process of physical reactions, “copying freely” essentially responded to the co-working of hands and the brain. Therefore, the “graphology” stemmed from the physical behaviors and mental-cognitive activities embodied by the brush and ink.

In this phase, the co-utilizing of fine brush and free sketch gradually emerged, forming the complicated physical behavioral inertia cultivated during practicing calligraphy. To apply an analogy between free sketch and fine brush in brush painting and clerical script, regular script, semi-cursive script and cursive script in calligraphy, fine brush represented the symmetrical calligraphic style produced by effectively controlling the body in a slow motion, and free sketch echoed the unrestricted calligraphic style shaped by the flow of emotions at the freely-altered speed; both styles could be considered as the results from physical reactions and coordination. In other words, the body experience accumulated by copying the models of ancient works has veritably achieved the balance between the mind and hands, the control upon the strength and speed, and the harmony of releasing and withholding, so as to accomplish the process of “selfing” the copied subjects (infusing self into it as the personal wills mentioned above). Furthermore, the body experience of copying has not only founded the behavioral inertia but probably collected emotions connected together. As the above-mentioned “calligraphy is the painting of the mind”, calligraphy itself was the outcome of physical-mental coordination. Calligraphy and painting will reflect the mental-cognitive activities and tracks of emotion flows of artists. Fine brush or free sketch, different bush strokes will arouse emotions utterly varied. The personal sentiments unveiled in brush lines, say, releasing, withholding, static or dynamic as if the homonymic metaphor for the sounds of nature quoted from Su Shih in the poem titled Red Cliff “As if complaining and admiring, as if weeping and reproaching,” registering the natural rhythm of pulses or breath.

What worth further attention is the vestige of altering by smear crossing over the image in his recent works, seen in Flowers on Dinner Table, Gentleman, Fan Waving, and Serenity (all finished in 2015). The employment of altering by smear on structures or motifs converted from simple revision illuminated the actualization and figuration of the changes of thoughts in the revolving process of “re-creating the previously-created work”. The execution of sweeping rough brush lines onto the background or the main figure of the image was rather extraordinary because generally this practice would only be applied in drafting and left a visual effect of retained image. Speaking from the physical reactions in writing, because both calligraphy and Chinese brush painting belonged to one-off art in which the smear would not be allowed in the finished works but only in the process of copying. Liao Wen-Hao revolutionized on the “revision” in the traditional concept and gave rise to a transitional production intermediating the “copying forms” and “reappearing the intentions” and showing the deliberate reservation on the changes naturally occurring in the process of searching the balance between “the likeness in form” and “the likeness in spirit”.

In the latest development of “Re-creating the previously-created works” and “re-elaborating on the original titles”, the representative work co-exhibiting “copying forms”, “altering by smear” and “reappearing the intentions” was titled Dream of Journey (2015). The work intermixed the elements of ancient painting (“copying forms”), rough sweeping brush lines (“altering by smear”), and created psychedelic state of mind in between the realistic and surrealistic worlds (“reappearing the intentions”), reinforcing the legitimacy of the action of smearing on the official works. According to the note on the draft, “travel in the dream; feeling chaotic and overlapped in the dream” (later the title was changed into Dream of Journey), to signify the concept of time, a clock was mounted on the building like school assembly hall on the left of the image; besides, to co-display the objects and scenes from varied temporal settings while based on illogic and intertwining relationships, the spaces were divided in the concept of cubism. On the left of the image were a standing man and a phoenix flying onward, and on the opposite bottom right was an official hat chair seated by no man. Contrasted with the sextych, the man in fashionable clothes on the left magnified purposely was gazing on the view at his front. His face was deliberately wiped off by smear, symbolizing the irony subjected to dreams where the details of sentiments were unable to be clarified. At this point, for the audience, the man’s mental status and sentiments based on his face, or the sitter expected to be on the official hat chair were respectively presented in the ways of deliberate smearing and absence, which elucidated that the dream can never be re-presented comprehensively, but vaguely emerged by the reserved pieces of retained images of memories; such awkward situation became the negative version of fable satirizing the reality.

To summarize the above, regarding the comprehensive analysis on the brush painting of Liao Wen-Hao over the nearly ten years, especially in the perspective of body experience from the calligraphy practices of copying the ancient models, to examine his concepts and ways of realization on the issues of the brush and ink, the audience can understand that his view on the brush and ink was built by the inter-reflective relationships between the homonymic metaphors from the ancient paintings and the reality in lives, and it brought about the continuous embodiment of the concept “reappearing the intentions” During the process, the graphology revealed in the brush and ink could be considered as a result of the interaction among varied aspects such as muscles, wisdom, and sentiments. The seemingly abrupt technique “altering by smear” could be realized as “the intuition of writing” consciously preserved to bridge the real and unreal worlds in the process from concepts occurring to artworks finished. Therefore, on one hand, “altering by smear” was facilitated as a catalyst advancing the original concepts and on the other hand, it took effect as an imperative resort, localization, in the process of continuous revision to maintain the balance between the two extremes “copying forms” and “reappearing the intentions”. Such physicality reflecting one’s writing experience has become the gene in Liao Wen-Hao’s artworks in terms of fashioning the contemporariness of brush painting. The graphology omnipresent in his artworks has further become the essential symbol inferring his role characteristics, emotions on the brush and ink, and his physical desires.