Pixelphilia

曾德平察顏觀色當代藝術的精神性追求之一藝術政治化，政治藝術化

2011-07-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

2011年7月14日

5、6月間，造訪了威尼斯雙年展的最當時得令的當代藝術後，轉至翡冷翠和梵帝岡的文藝復興畫作、雕塑和教堂等古建築，再花了整整一星期在巴黎的現代藝術和當代藝術的殿堂龐比度中心和大皇宮等。一邊看展覽（原作），一邊讀當地出版的藝術書籍，包括 Durini的 Beuys Voice、Rothko 的The Artist's Reality: Philosophies of Art 和 Kiefer 在法蘭西學院的系列演講稿 Art Will Survive Its Ruins。目的是思考藝術的精神性追求的進程。結論突顯了當代藝術的蒼白。

藝術追求內在價值

回想上學期中，三位修讀藝術的同學帶同研究題目到訪，希望知道我的意見。她們要研究的是，西九是否年輕藝術家未來的出路。我心裏頓時嘀咕：「年輕人地思想果然先進，未畢業便曉得考慮出路，還正正經經的把對出路的想法構成研究的題目，實在認真。我自己呢？幾十年來，我只曉得死守『藝術家的（唯一）出路只有自己的藝術作品』的原則。我問自己，我是否落後了？這是否不同代的藝術家之間的代溝呢？」我堅守的（有可能落後）藝術原則源於我理解藝術為內在價值的追求、精神性的活動及思想自由的基地。這是終極的追求。這樣的追求很容易被定性為「為藝術而藝術」。「為藝術而藝術」原是十九世紀法國集詩人、小說家、戲劇家和藝評人於一身的特奧菲爾·戈蒂埃（Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier，1811－1872）採用的口號「l'art pour l'art」，原意是表示藝術本身存在着一種內在價值，跟任何指導性、實用性和道德上的功能沒有關係。目的旨在提醒，藝術家的本分是透過創作去追尋並豐富這種內在價值。因為是內在的，外界沒法干預，所以本質上創作的過程是自由的。假如我們以為創作自由是由他人或者制度（例如政府和社會政治制度）賦予的話，創作的方向已偏離了目標，原本想要達到的，永遠不會實現。

美學引入政治生活

當然，這個概念一直受到不同時代和不同文化背景的藝術家和評論家批評以至否定，認為「為藝術而藝術」的創作態度脫離了社會和群眾，流於自說自話的夢囈。然而，由於逃避納粹黨追捕而自殺的德國哲人班雅明提供了一個值得後世深思的例子。在其經典文章〈機械化再生產時代的藝術品〉的最後章節裏，他以意大利法西斯主義和未來主義藝術宣言為例，討論到法西斯主義為了保障自身利益，把美學引入政治生活中，目的是為當時愈來愈無產階級化的現代人和不斷形成的群眾提供自我表達的機會，而不致專注於群眾希望消除的既定資產體系。最後，當所有花在發展政治美學的工夫到達絕頂顛峰時，只會發生一件事情：戰爭！政治上的計算是，只有戰爭才能為大規模的群眾運動建立共同目標，同時尊重傳統的資產體系。從科技的角度而言，只有戰爭才能動員所有的科技資源而保持着既定的資產系統。他指出戰爭的毀滅性證明了社會的成熟度不足以把科技合併成為自己的組成部分，同時，科技的發展也未能適應社會的基本力量。例如，社會把人潮引進戰壕，而不是疏導河流；飛機被用來在城市上空投擲燃燒彈，而不是在田間散播種子。

談到法西斯主義和藝術的關係時，他以未來主義始創人馬里內蒂（F. T. Marinetti）的口號「讓藝術被創造，讓世界消滅」為例，挑釁地總結出，只要法西斯主義者期待戰爭能提供一種由科技改變了的感知而帶來的藝術喜悅的話，「為藝術而藝術」便功德圓滿了。最後，面對法西斯行使美學的政治處境及共產主義把藝術政治化來回應，班雅明輕嘆道，人類的疏離已達致以經驗自我毀滅為美感上的喜悅的程度了。

行文至此，我不禁自問，我是在危言聳聽嗎？這是藝術家參與政治運動的必然結果？

邁向理想主義行動

其實，班雅明洞悉了藝術偏離追求其內在價值的危機：成為政治或其他非藝術目的的工具。對藝術和藝術家都沒有好處。在這個人所共知的政治制度崩壞、價值觀虛無的今天，藝術的內在價值有變嗎？當然沒有。同意的話，藝術家可以立刻起來行動了。Action!

Mark Rothko指出，藝術是邁向理想主義的行動，更是一種社會行動。就算藝術家創造了一些只有自己才理解的東西，他已然為自己作為個體作出了貢獻，同時也貢獻了社會。因為當一個個體改善了自己適應世界的方法，社會自然得益。說到底，一個社會的好壞判準，端視乎每個個體的好壞的總和。沒有人說得準，一個單獨舉動的影響有多深廣遠。更沒有人有資格去判斷誰的個人需要較貼近社會。Rothko這樣的語調看似輕鬆包容，實際上，他不單止窮一生的精力作畫，他更在創作中研究和示範如何透過現代藝術把自己帶領到精神層面，體會藝術的內在價值。難怪他有這樣的豪言壯語：現代藝術家踏遍了人類所有的造型經驗。（The modern artist has traveled through all of man's plastic experience.）

故此，作為藝術家，我們要是搞清楚藝術的終極追求的話，自己和社會自然受益。反而，自身追求未明，亂花心力在外在的追逐上，難免徒勞無功。

2011-07-11T11:37:00.001-07:00

2011年7月12日

卡夫卡圈來圈去
本地新媒體藝術家崛起秀
互動裝置反思科技吞食個人特色

卡夫卡晨早出發去香港教育學院（教院），為的是捧友人有份出演的2011年國際爵士合唱及千人樂動滙演的場，順便一看教院校長張炳良教授口中「將會成為戶外表演以及其他活動熱點」的中央廣場天幕。

這個有着半透明天幕的廣場，有蓋範圍可以容納七百五十人，清靜開揚環境不俗。卡記不時聽文化界老友呻撲水找資助租場地的苦況，雖說現刻多了地方選擇，不過要山長水遠入大埔郊區舉行又是另一回事。卡記只能說，對於非新界區居民而言，此新場實屬聊勝於無也。

新媒體藝術互動行先

下午收到友人的長途電話，幾千里外打來講的仍然是他愛得不能自拔的藝術畫作，原來是他的至愛《一幅耶穌釘十字架油畫》（Crucifixion With The Madonna, St John And Two Mourning Angels），終於證實出自米高安哲羅之手。卡記一向說他有眼光，即使擁有者英國牛津大學列明是另一畫家的作品，他也堅持疑點重重，幸好多得意大利藝術學者利用紅外線技術來驗證，一切水落石出，作品得以正名。

對於愛玩愛新鮮的卡記來講，科技在驗證之外，還有無限可能性。卡記每年都會留意老牌新媒體展覽搞手Microwave的微波藝術節，至今仍算年年有驚喜。剛收到料得知Microwave與香港藝術發展局合作，在7月尾舉行「發明π——香港新媒體藝術樂園」，展出五組以「Invention and Intervention」為主題的互動裝置，7月22日至8月7日在又一城舉行。

卡記除了喜歡新媒體的玩味性和創新性之外，當搞手跟卡記說展覽以香港為本，作品全出自本地藝術家之手時，卡記即時舉腳支持，一探這個本地新媒體藝術家的崛起秀。當中有羅揚文的LED創作「Shades Dynamicism」、2008年新媒體藝術奧斯卡「奧地利電子藝術」榮譽提名藝術家林欣傑電子裝置與雕塑作品「Signal Morphor」、林妙玲的手提電話與大自然聲音之作品「Streaming Nature」、2010年藝術新秀獎得主張瀚謙以聲音、影像及互動創作「No Longer RIGHT」，以及楊嘉輝的電子作品「Machines for Making Nothing」。

查實多媒體與新媒體是兩回事，搞手跟卡記講︰「新媒體藝術利用非傳統介面展現藝術，通過不同形式傳遞訊息，同時收集觀眾反應，並不斷演變藝術所呈現的面貌。」聽落複雜，簡單一點就是強調作品與觀眾互動的現場感，從中惹起思考。怪不得有人將新媒體藝術家冠以「發明派」之名，皆因革新發明讓概念及作品遊走於藝術、科技與生活之間。

依賴科技成生活障礙

回想起來，一向都有藝術家推出有關科技對於生活影響之作品，正如早前有以iPhone主宰生活為主題的小劇場，而這次展品亦是反思科技介入生活。張瀚謙「No Longer RIGHT」的創作意念傳統又簡單——寫字。他劈首已問卡記多久沒有認真用筆寫字，撇除訪問寫的鬼畫符速記之外，確實打字多過寫字。他着卡記先寫下自己的名字，「每人都有自己的書寫方法，美醜不重要，看的是個人獨有的筆迹與風格。」張瀚謙將卡記的字形、力度和個人風格的抽象形象轉化為一篇有關書寫的文章，不用多說，卡記已意識到科技正不知不覺間吞食了個人特色。

至於楊嘉輝「Machines for Making Nothing」也是諷刺科技為生活帶來溝通障礙。一連串由電池供電微型電子物件，相當於五六十部體積小於一副撲克牌的智能手機，作品彷彿未見驚喜，卡記不斷按製「輸入」，玩法無趣得很，楊嘉輝見狀後便講句「人類與機械互動無實際用途」，一言驚醒卡記。回想每天不斷重複的輸入動作，容忍機械以近乎催眠的視覺或聲音為反饋，情況無奈又是事實。幸好卡記未對機械太過依賴，不過有點擔心終日與電腦、埃瘋為伴的世姪宅男G，為免科技進一步侵蝕他的社交溝通能力與聯繫，卡記決定明天帶他來參觀！

除展品外，參展藝術家將於7月30日舉行藝術家研討會，分享及剖析他們參展作品的創作概念及過程，以及分享新媒體藝術創作歷程。另外，五位藝術家更會粉墨登場，在8月7日於香港藝術學院賽馬會演藝劇院舉行感官現場Sense Live!，通過身體、腦電波、光影、感應器、手機發出的訊號和視像等表達媒介，加上舞者，打造出一場由抽象到實體的跨界別感官之旅。

2011-05-09T20:37:00.001-07:00

2011年5月10日

洪磬
由立體到多維
──西野壯平的Diorama世界

所謂Diorama，本指透視畫、西洋鏡、立體模型，即半立體的布景：以紙板等平面置於三維空間──例如在斜的地面上前後放置大小兩個紙板警察─營造／誇大距離感，從而模仿立體空間。當然這種空間主要在視覺上成立，而且只在特定角度看過去有效，因此與一般模型不同，而是介乎平面與立體。這種手法因為可以誇大空間深度，而且容易挪用既有相片，常被用於軍事模型製作；當然這也限制了成品只能從有限角度觀賞，不若詳細的沙盤模型。有趣地，這正吻合兩者的用途：後者常被用作軍事推演，以考慮元件之間的關係；而前者的空間設定早已決定，模型沒有內在生命，而服膺於創作者的心思。可以說，Diorama即是只在特定視點（vantage point）生效的模型，而其資訊與實感上的省略恰是表意上的空間。

由此而言，西野壯平的Diorama地圖系列的意思便可堪玩味了。他徒步探索巴黎、倫敦、香港、紐約等世界名城，還有東京、大阪等日本都市，拍攝市內大小地方的黑白照片，經篩選後在工作室拼合成一張大地圖，再拍攝為成品。拍攝角度不一，有街頭掠影，或往上拍攝天空，或從高處俯瞰，比例當然也不一。概念上，Diorama其實近於Google相簿等將實地照片組合於一張平面圖之上，不同之處在於後者服從於絕對的空間規定，而前者則是作者的主觀組合。

香港被高速公路覆蓋

拼合的結果，相片集中在少數建築物之上，而各城市偏重不同。東京以山手線火車與多個棒球場最為顯眼，倫敦滿布磚屋，而香港則被高速公路覆蓋，而天空出奇地少。對拍攝對象的側重程度極端，要不然就以數張照片─多從同一角度拍攝─交代一個地標，要不就以大遠景包含一大片地區，而兩者的照片多比實際地圖上佔的面積要多，即是在題材之間，必有遺漏掉的隙縫，而選材準則，當以西野壯平的印象為準。例如香港舊機場跑道只呈現為一條線，想是他無法涉足而遠觀印象也不深之故。相反維港的波濤，多從中景距離拍攝，每一個浪都比整條跑道要闊。

創作者自言「自己透過拍攝會變成怎樣，比拍攝可以做到什麼更重要」，於是「過程」即是理解此藝術形式的關鍵。他首先將現實─城市的影象─記錄下來，然後將這些相對客觀的「數據」在地理空間的框框中加以調節，如像野外定向的繪圖員將重要的地形特徵予以強調處理的「藝術加工」，從而與地圖使用者更有效地溝通。正如繪圖員的閱讀地形能力有所偏重，西野壯平對城市的閱讀也是個人的。

今年2月至4月在倫敦舉行的展覽中，播出的短片裏，他先以鉛筆簡略勾勒出幾條線索，然後就像拼圖般以線狀特徵作引，地標作樞紐，最後才填上其間的空隙。有趣地，正是以上部件之間的界線，交代出Diorama的魔幻立體效果。例如香港西九龍，一天橋從近距離以廣角鏡拍攝成強烈的空間透視效果，緊接着就是舊區馬路街市的路口；又例如倫敦金融新區Canary Wharf的華廈得到宏偉的正面全身角度，而緊鄰河邊的住宅則只被斜得可憐的俯攝壓扁，幾乎不可辨認，差天共地的空間感被當作部件，按位置與線條形狀並置而營造另一層次的空間感─可以是傾斜度、閒適感覺、視覺刺激或自由─正是Diorama手法的魔法所在。

小圖存在時間差異

不說不知，同一建築物同一角度拍攝的照片，原來是在不同時間拍攝，細看之下大圖中的小圖有着細微的時間差異痕迹，例如季節或天氣轉變、太陽角度不同、交通工具的移位、建築工程進展等。策展人說這「展示了城市的轉變，是立體的流動影像」，但相比上述的空間魔法，較為噱頭，因而執行較為鬆散。而將拼圖成品拍攝以複製，除了是商業考慮，也是Photoshop術語中將可隨意移位與變形的圖層（layers）壓平（flatten）同時鎖死，成為創作者的印象，雖然也可能令人誤會他的用意在於平面的拼湊節奏。

具體細節需要親眼細觀，但整體而言，驟看散亂的拼貼其實匠心獨運，照片接縫都能傳播出Diorama空間感覺，而與小相片的內涵與幾何特性和諧，從預設框架的強烈程度，甚至可以感受到西野對各城市的熟悉程度甚至是細微的觀感差異。

至此，Diorama地圖自然令人聯想到人的大腦。十九世紀初期，大腦相學（phrenology）以量度人腦各部分的大小來研究大腦結構與內容的關係，正如作品中的不同內容按個人重視程度被加權（weighted），佔據大腦的不同區域。

Phrenology早已過時，但大腦的運作的確是地理的─佔空間較多即佔用較多腦細胞，而距離接近較容易發生聯繫，既分崩離析又有着潛在的脈絡。這與城市空間一樣，皆符合完形理論（Gestalt theory），傾向自我組合，甚少碎片化。而正如神智（mind）各部分如視覺、記憶以至良知皆是整全現象，而不是由部件機械組成的機制。於是城市空間的肌理以數位細節窮究而猶有不足，介入詮釋比機械的細節化探究更貼近真像而不迷失在預設的迷宮中，西野的手法在《3D玉蒲團》的時代別具意義。

2011-01-25T20:54:00.000-08:00

2011年1月26日
文化Live
梁寶山
伙炭十年──才是真正的開始！

伙炭朋友其實很少把伙炭稱為藝術村。去中心化的有機生成，沒有政府或大佬從上而下的管治，籌委世代更新，最需要的反倒是看官的耐心，不揠苗助長，自然生機處處。回顧伙炭十年，從師生好友相濡以沫，到物以類聚產生協同效應，生產到消費一應俱全，十年，才是個真正的起點。看伙炭的十年年表，根本就是各自走位的民間智慧。

不同於九十年代的藝術空間，伙炭早在草創時期，已是以創作／生產為基調，藝術家的需要先行，公眾展示還是其次。由2001年只兩個工作室發起的開放日，到2010年合共七十四個單位參與【註】，當中約六十個仍以創作為主。開放日只是一年一度，像中、上環一帶隨畫廊而興的酒吧食市仍未落戶工業區。其餘十多個具策劃、陳列、媒體及教育功能的空間，則成為群聚以至香港整體藝壇面向公眾的中介。

藝壇大後台

畫廊業務進駐伙炭，始於2007年開業的Blue Lotus，規模不大卻以推廣香港年輕藝術家為主，兼具資訊中心角色。同年老字號漢雅軒首次參與開放日，雖然展出的並不是香港藝術家作品，但張頌仁老闆的垂青，儼如一度定心的祝福。至於去年加入的古老十八代飲食茶具故事館及今年加入的彩虹畫廊和A. Lift，就更豐富了群聚在創作媒介、人脈關係以及經營手法上的多樣性。尤其今年開放日大張旗鼓的A. Lift，以設計產品為主藝術為輔，小額現場買賣，打通設計與生產深港融合。而2009年開業的藝文空間G16，由伙炭成員莫少宗長期借出單位，與籌委之一何文聰共同經營，接待各方查詢、不定期舉行展覽，帶動群聚整體氣氛。至於兼營教學的單位，近年亦漸從只招呼入室弟子，到擺放二拉架招生，趕城市文藝消費大潮。雖然面對活化工廈陰影，伙炭大體仍是生產者的天堂。

錢從何處來

對於不以長年服務市民為業的工作室來說，伙炭開放日一直以「本小利大」方式盡量擺脫向藝展局攞錢問責常規。要保持群聚知名度及媒介曝光，資訊流通比有形的固定單位更關鍵。事過境遷，不妨一說─伙炭草創時期，確曾受藝發局一助。2004年該局原擬辦一類近於城市雙年展大型活動，廣招提案。伙炭有幸選中，可是後來活動因事擱置，然伙炭開放日則如期舉行。地圖、場刊、網站、義工、社團登等「基建」亦在是年完成。託西九鴻福，是年開放日亦成為傳媒採訪焦點，伙炭遂成為每年12月或1月的定期「盛事」。

工作室各自各精采是伙炭的特色。每次開放日都是豐儉由人，總體製作成本則由參與單位攤分。2006年開放日後，信和集團主動約見伙炭藝術家洽商「合作」可能性。2007至2010年均為開放活動主要贊助商─所謂贊助，主要是鋪天蓋地的宣傳，從地鐵燈箱到區內彩旗，以及印刷品製作費。贊助與受助如何達致公平交易，雙方一直在摸索。磨合了幾年，才開始贊助實質的籌備項目。然而掌握宣傳贊助的好處是容易搞出「誤會」。工作室雖以屬於華樊的華聯工業大廈最為集中，然而筆者聽過最美麗的誤會竟是伙炭藝術家的單位都是由集團提供的！另一種普遍的誤會是，以為開放計劃是由集團主辦。兩種說法，前者出自普通觀眾，而後者則在某次國際專家會議上出自集團人員之口！靠官好抑為挨商妙，也是歷屆成員不能不處理的難題。2008年開放日，籌統的pep終於向藝展局申請項目資助，但仍只限於問卷調查與觀眾拓展工作。到了今年，才首以「伙炭」名義為開放計劃的核心項目向藝發局申請資助，並取代商業集團成為預算中之大宗。

從2004年逾千觀眾，到2011年逾萬觀眾，伙炭成了讓一般市民親身近距離接觸藝術家為何物的推廣活動，尤其今年當電視新聞播出後，最後一天開放日聞風而至的市民絡繹不絕。然而官辦文化積習下來的觀眾文化，讓大家都忘了若要市民社會在官商之間自立起來，非得靠集腋成裘不可。過去伸手就攞得到的精美場刊，今年只廉售10、20元，但來者大耍手擰頭。龐大的參觀人流，不單令導賞團應接不下，工作室亦水洩不通，無法讓作品得到適當的展示氣氛。值得一讚的是，今年場刊不再只是單位的圖文介紹，還包括訪談，讓藝術家親自說明工作室在創作生活以至業務經營的作用。

自主需要支持

普及與提升之間，不能不向敬業樂業的藝術家致敬，像石嘉豪、周俊輝、李展輝、呂振光、谷敏昭，甚至更年輕的梁嘉賢、何倩彤，都是已穩站市場或嶄露頭角的藝術家，仍舊親身上陣，與觀眾有問必答。主題展覽雖非今年首創，早在2007年當時為Para/Site策展人的Tobias Berger 便曾在黃浩然（Adrian Wong）的相連單位策劃了「匣─權．衡」。而上屆鄧凝姿更移師附近商場的策劃了「如果你停泊在這裏」。要在愈來愈多單位中脫穎而出，不得少落足心機。除了豎起臨時展板按人數劃分展區外，今年不少單位都是挖空心思設定主題。例如文晶瑩的「重寫歷史」和黃藝蕾的「想像．想『象』」，都是充分利用整個空間的裝置個展。而就是因為負擔不起租金而比較擁擠的工作室，像「斐藝俱樂部」、「彩依有限公司」、「薔」、「Just Like Honey」、「artists dean」等，也盡量在雜亂之中擺出統一。而觀眾的寵兒則非「夾租團」同名展覽莫屬，唐偉傑、冼朗兒與鄒昊滿足觀眾觀看的願望，在開放期間以Gilbert and George之姿直立在展枱上。而一些低調地與觀眾互動的作品，像凌展騰在後巷與觀眾「拉鋸」、泥人為觀眾造朱古力和「可附擔的藝術」（affordable art）、高倩彤為觀眾抄寫2010年月曆、Samuel Adam Swope邀觀眾為他的作品摺一千隻紙飛機機，就更顯藝術家的誠意心思。

總的來說，七十五個單位共同交了一張亮麗的成績表。十年累積，先來者與後來者才剛各自就位。可惜活化工廈陰影未除，內地炒家又至！去年年底規劃署為打擊住宅樓市炒風，提出把工業用地改成住宅，藝術家集中地華聯工業大廈正好被前後夾攻，鄰近兩幅巴士廠地皮都被建議改為住宅。如果建議成功，將連同鄰近火車站的綜合發展區把用家天堂圍堵。「趕走炒家、留住用家」聯署，雖然成功收到四千個藝術家與市民簽名，但如何把向炒家傾斜的政策撥亂反正，好戲仍在後頭。

註參與2011年開放日單位共七十五個，此處略去同期在鄰近體藝中學舉行的「體藝藝人」，故真正在工廈的開放單位實為七十四個。

The critical list guide to 2011

2011-01-03T03:44:00.000-08:00

What to watch, read and listen to - and everything else that's hot in the arts this year

Sunday, 2 January 2011

Classical

Anna Picard

Mahler fans can revel in the second of two anniversary years.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the LPO in Mahler's Fifth Symphony on 19 January, while Vassily Petrenko and the Liverpool Philharmonic continue their cycle with the Sixth (5 Mar). Maurizio Pollini surveys Bach, Beethoven and Schubert at the South Bank (from 28 Jan), home to Esa-Pekka Salonen's Bartók project, Infernal Dance, which opens 27 January with a complete performance of The Miraculous Mandarin.

Opera North looks East with Mieczyslaw Weinberg's The Portrait (2 Feb) and Janácek's House of the Dead (from 5 May). At the Royal Opera House, it's centrefolds and southern fried chicken as Eva-Maria Westbroek takes the title role in Turnage's Anna Nicole (17 Feb). Thrifty opera-lovers should watch the conservatoires for new talent: Stephen Barlow's production of Dialogues des Carmelites opens (3 Mar) at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Glyndebourne and Grange Park think big with new productions of Die Meistersinger (21 May) and Tristan und Isolde (3 Jun). Simon Rattle opens the Aldeburgh Festival with Messaien's Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum (10 Jun), while Opera Holland Park tackles La Wally (29 Jul). Liszt, born 200 years ago, should feature highly in the BBC Proms. For those who can't wait until summer, Hyperion releases its 98-disc boxed set of his complete piano music next month, played by Leslie Howard.

The one to watch: The golden countertenor Iestyn Davies sings at the Wigmore, La Scala, New York's Metropolitan Opera, and as Oberon in ENO's Midsummer Night's Dream.

Visual Art

Charles Darwent

Was there ever a groovier time and place than New York in the 1970s? Or a funkier trio than Laurie Anderson, Trisha Brown and Gordon Matta-Clark? Well, no. Against a crumbling Manhattan skyline, they set up that edgiest of things, the Downtown Scene. Relive it at the Barbican (3 Mar to 21 May).

If 1890s decadence is more your bag, then the Courtauld Gallery's study of the friendship between Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and the unexpectedly equally aristocratic can-can dancer, Jane Avril, is the one for you (16 Jun to 18 Sep).

The encrypted abstracts of Joan Miró (1893-1983) deal with a history that starts with the Great War and ends with post-Franco Spain. The Tate Modern show - inexplicably, the first major Miró exhibition in London for 50 years, inset below, is sure to bust all blocks (14 Apr to 11 Sep).

The one I'm looking forward to most is of the 16th-century master, Jan Gossaert, at the National Gallery (23 Feb to 30 May). While seldom lovable, his eye-teasing portraits and Holy Families have a glacial beauty.

The one to watch: In a day when public sculpture veers between soulless and kitsch, young Scot Michael Vissocchi, winner of the last Jerwood sculpture prize, offers a new monumental voice. Don't expect to see his work on Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth: it's too good.

Jazz/World

Phil Johnson

The chance to see a cult attraction in a mainstream setting doesn't get much better than the appearance of the Brazilian singer and guitarist Vinicius Cantuaria in a duo with guitarist Bill Frisell, in the emphatically non-cult setting of London's Ronnie Scott's (11 and 12 Jan). It's a great opportunity to hear the alternately smooth and spiky sound-world of Cantuaria, whose updates on the bossa nova tradition take as much from the downtown New York City as they do from Rio. There's another cult offering when north London's The Vortex launches a new literary series with a reading by Geoff Dyer (13 Jan), the author of what Keith Jarrett called "the best book ever written about jazz".

The one to watch: Vinicius Cantuaria

Jazz/World

Howard Male

Over the past couple of years, West African music fans have delighted in a wealth of re-released material from Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou. This year sees the release of their first new album of new material in 20 years, and also sees them play live at the Scala in King's Cross (31 Mar). The next Buena Vista Social Club is always being predicted, but personally I'm hoping for something a little edgier from this earthy, funky outfit. I'm also looking forward to new releases from the unselfconsciously eclectic Denver-based band DeVotchKa and the Ethiopiques-meets-roots-reggae collective Dub Colossus. Both these bands are going where no band has gone before, and that, for my money, is what it's all about.

The one to watch: Dub Colossus.

Dance

Jenny Gilbert

No one likes shelling out on a dud, so Sadler's Wells Sampled (28 & 29 Jan) lets you try before you buy. For only £12 a seat, or £6 standing, punters can see live excerpts from coming attractions, including stars from American Ballet Theatre, due to present two double bills (1-6 Feb), Balletboyz' latest venture, and a taster of ZooNation's Some Like it Hip Hop. What won't be in preview are the equestrian stars of The Centaur and the Animal (1-6 Mar), a dressage show from Spain in which elements of man and horse meet and merge. Most eagerly awaited of all at the Wells is the Pet Shop Boys' collaboration with Javier de Frutos in a full-length dancework based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Incredible Thing, with ex-Royal Ballet star Ivan Putrov (17-26 Mar). The Royal Ballet pushes the boat out with Christopher Wheeldon's new, full-evening Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, above, to a new score by Joby Talbot (2-15 Mar).

The one to watch: The fabulous new principal Sergei Polunin, in Alice, and making his RB debut in Giselle (12 Jan).

Pop/Rock

Simon Price

For what feels like the tenth successive year, the early months of 2011 will see the industry and media conspire to install a gaggle of new solo females. Heading the list is Jessie J, a Siobhan Fahey-faced shouter from Essex whose "Do It Like A Dude" saw her scoop both the BBC's Sound of 2011 poll and Critic's Choice at the forthcoming Brits. Like it or loathe it, she'll be inescapable.

Expect coercion campaigns behind foghorn-voiced Brummie Clare Maguire and rent-a-collaborator Katy B. There may even be another attempt to launch I Blame Coco (Sting's daughter). More interesting is the still under wraps Paper Tiger, a Brighton-based wonky-pop protegée of Preston from The Ordinary Boys.

Another exciting spring for fans of nepotism, as the full weight of hipster hype gets thrown behind Ramones soundalikes The Vaccines. Morecambe soul-punks The Heartbreaks will deservedly get the big push. Meanwhile, protest-pop berserker The Agitator and R&B commies Thee Faction may chime with the political mood.

Even more than previous Britpop reunions (Suede, Blur), a special edge of excitement surrounded the announcement that Jarvis Cocker was reconvening the classic line-up of the mighty Pulp for a handful of festival shows in the summer.

The Playbutton may just be the saviour of the "physical" product. A pre-recorded MP3 player in the form of a two-inch badge bearing the album's artwork, it allows the wearer to show off their taste, like ostentatiously brandishing a Penguin paperback.

Rock/Folk/Americana

Simmy Richman

The BBC's Sound of 2011 poll has value but away from the bolt-on mainstream stars-in-the-making only Anna Calvi will be of serious interest to serious music lovers. And the truth is (spoiler alert!): music writers cannot see into the future. In that spirit, I'm going to take it as read that you don't need me to tell you that The Decemberists (poppier, almost REM-ey), Iron & Wine (more experimental) and Fleet Foxes (more of the same would be no bad thing) will all deliver albums soon and that they will be full of the good stuff.

Of the new acts, the albums I'm most excited about all seem to come from female singers who together form a sort of anti-Gaga army: pure, unadulterated with a lack of affectation. That list includes Secret Sisters (Alabama-born siblings singing old-fashioned country in voices that can break your heart), Zoe Muth (more country, this time with a Seattle-ite's urban edge) and our own Hannah Peel (dark folky loveliness with a Tunng twist).

And then there is James Walbourne, once the guitarist in Peter Bruntnell's band, who this month releases his first solo album, a must for lovers of the Jayhawks, whose own classic early albums are about to be dusted down in search of the glory they so richly deserve.

But the thing I'm most excited about is a musical. Regina Spektor's Sleeping Beauty is due to open on Broadway this year, but you never know. You can't rush genius.

The one to watch: Hannah Peel.

Theatre

Kate Bassett

The West End's Nöel Coward theatre gets adventurous in mid-January, presenting the Muscovite Sovremennik company's Three Sisters, Cherry Orchard, and Into the Whirlwind – memories of Stalin's gulags. Cheek by Jowl's extraordinary Russian ensemble tours with The Tempest, from March.

Hotshot Rupert Gould stages The Merchant of Venice at Stratford's rebuilt Royal Shakespeare Theatre in May. Come June, Kevin Spacey steals the limelight as Sam Mendes's Old Vic Richard III.

Next month, Robert Lepage wings his way to the Barbican for The Blue Dragon: a sequel to his epic Dragon's Trilogy. In March, a sinister new Neil LaBute, In a Forest, Dark and Deep, slinks into the Vaudeville, starring Olivia Williams.

The Holy Rosenbergs marks playwright Ryan Craig's National Theatre debut, in March: Henry Goodman plays a Jewish father whose offspring radically disagree over Gaza. In February, climate change creeds are scrutinised, in an NT documentary drama, Greenland, and in polemicist Richard Bean's new black comedy, The Heretic, at the Royal Court.

The one to watch: Jessica Raine, having caught the eye in edgy teenage roles, will star in Clifford Odets' Rocket to the Moon at the NT in March. She plays the ferocious seductress Cleo Singer, sending Joseph Millson's repressed Ben Stark into a spin.

Museums

Jenny Gilbert

Buoyed by the increased footfall generated by Radio 4's A History of the World in 100 Objects, the British Museum is on a roll. Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World (from 3 Mar) will showcase more than 200 artefacts belonging to the National Museum of Afghanistan (a building "undergoing reconstruction"). They range from Classical sculpture, Roman glass, and stone tableware from Egypt, to personal ornaments worn by the nomadic elite, all feared lost after the Soviet invasion of 1979. Their survival is due to Afghan officials who hid them from the Taliban. Also at the British Museum, Treasures of Heaven (from 23 Jun) assembles sacred objects of the medieval age, when physical relics of the saints were believed to connect man and heaven.

As if taking up the baton from the Barbican Art Gallery, whose Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion continues (to 6 Feb), the Victoria & Albert fêtes Yohji Yamamoto (from 12 Mar), one of the world's most provokingly enigmatic designers of fashion.

The National Army Museum's Wives and Sweethearts (9 Feb) looks at love on the frontline in the Napoleonic, Crimean and World War conflicts as well as today's. Also in February, the Herbert Museum in Coventry launches its own blockbuster, Secret Egypt, and vows to dispel some popular myths.

Film (Art House)

Jonathan Romney

The art-house idols of 2011 will be animals. A 40-year-old orang-utan is the hyper-charismatic star of Nénette, from French documentarist Nicolas Philibert (Etre et Avoir), while the year's cult European hit could be Le Quattro Volte, a dialogue-free Italian marvel in which the show is stolen by a herd of goats and a dog with the comic timing of Jacques Tati.

National treasures Terence Davies and Lynne Ramsay return with new fictions: respectively, Terence Rattigan adaptation The Deep Blue Sea and problem-child drama We Need To Talk About Kevin.

The Coen brothers gee up the Western tradition with Jeff Bridges in a magnificent remake of True Grit, inset below, Martin Scorsese goes 3D with robot fantasy Hugo Cabret; David Cronenberg hits the couch for A Dangerous Method, his take on Freud and Jung; and Terence Malick ponders the meaning of it all in Tree of Life. And, if you need of cheering up, there's Lars von Trier's end-of-the-world drama, Melancholia.

And my wish for 2011? That Iran shouldfree director Jafar Panahi (Offside, The Circle) and lift its gag on his film-making.

One to watch: Mr Unavoidable in 2011 is Tom Hiddleston (The Deep Blue Sea, Kenneth Branagh's Thor, Steven Spielberg's War Horse) and much more.

Film (Mainstream)

Nicholas Barber

Superheroes abound: there's Green Hornet (14 Jan) with Seth Rogen, directed by Michel Gondry; the Hornet's near-namesake, the Green Lantern (17 Jun) played by Ryan Reynolds; Marvel paves the way for its team-up blockbuster, The Avengers, by introducing two more of the personnel: Thor (29 Apr) and Captain America: The First Avenger (29 Jul).

There's a double helping of Matt Damon in The Adjustment Bureau (4 Mar) – in which he and Emily Blunt dodge the agents of Fate – and Steven Soderbergh's Contagion (21 Oct), where he faces a "lethal airborne virus".

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (26 Oct), is a motion-capture version of Hergé's adventures (Avatar style, in other words), directed by Steven Spielberg. In Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (16 Sep), Gary Oldman finally tackles a worthy role as John le Carré's George Smiley.

Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (18 May) zeroes in on Johnny Depp's Captain Jack. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley have walked the plank.

One to watch: Rooney Mara, right, is The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (due 26 Dec).

Television

Hugh Montgomery

Drama gets off to a good start as Channel 4 serves up The Promise (Feb), Peter Kosminsky's four-part serial about the Arab-Israeli conflict, and BBC2's Christopher and His Kind (Feb) sees Doctor Who, Matt Smith, play it fast and louche as novelist Christopher Isherwood in pre-war Berlin. Elsewhere, ITV puts its faith in the supernatural with Marchlands (early Feb), a tale of a haunted house across the eras, and new US import channel Sky Atlantic launches with the first series of Martin Scorsese's much-hyped Prohibition saga Boardwalk Empire (early Feb).

For laughs, Episodes (BBC2, 10 Jan), a sitcom about the making of a sitcom, stars Matt LeBlanc as himself alongside Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan. Meanwhile Greig also crops up in Friday Night Dinner (Channel 4, late Feb) centred on a Jewish family's weekly get-togethers.

Many families will tune in to sub-Strictly jamboree Dancing on Ice (ITV1, 9 Jan), back with a more nondescript line-up than ever, while the retail doyenne Mary Portas, right, makes a more welcome return with a new show challenging customer service (Channel 4, Jan). For genuine "reality TV", there's How TV Ruined Your Life (BBC2, late Jan/Feb) in which the ever scabrous Charlie Brooker dissects the lies fed to us by the small screen

Blip, Blink & Move Laboratory (BBML) - About BBML

2010-10-06T02:56:00.000-07:00

#
Capitalist Evils 萬惡資本主義實體
Places where you can blow money

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Sparkfun
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Seed Studio Depot
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Parallax
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The Maker Shed
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Smart Projects
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Liquid Ware
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Adafruit Industries
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Jameco
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Digi-key
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Evil Mad Scientist Store
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Carl's Electronics
A great place for electronics kits
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Think Geek
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Robot Zone (Hong Kong)

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Learn Stuff 博學因特網
From electronics fundamentals to Arduino source codes

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Makezine
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Hackzine (Archive)
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Arduino Playground
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Arduino Taiwan User Forum
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Instructables
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Tinker It!
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Hack a Day
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Hack and Mod
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Hand Made Music
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Rod Elliott's Beginner's Guide to Electronics
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Discover Circuits
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Electronics Club Projects Page
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Electronics Project Design
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Fritzing
Create PCB layout for professional manufacturing
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Bowden's Hobby Circuits

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Circuit Bending 彎曲志向

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Get Lo Fi
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Odd Music
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Reed Ghazala on Circuit Bending
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Wiki Article on Reed Ghazala
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Casper Electronics
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Bent Festival

H1 - Handy Recorder One size. Fits all.

2010-09-25T05:54:00.000-07:00

In Stores August 20th.
Introducing the H1 Handy Recorder.

It’s our smallest recorder ever. But don’t let its size fool you. The H1 Handy Recorder has our renowned recording technology and studio-quality microphones in our easiest, most portable device ever.

Now Zoom recording technology is available to everyone. And with an infinite variety of applications, you’ll want to take your H1 everywhere. From musical performances, songwriting sessions and rehearsals to seminars, conferences, journalism or capturing audio for video, the H1 gives you clean, clear stereo sound effortlessly.
What sets us apart?

Like all Zoom recorders, the H1’s onboard microphones are configured in an X/Y pattern, for stunning stereo imaging. Because both mics are arranged on the same axis, they are equidistant from the sound source for perfect localization and no phase shifting. The result is great stereo recordings with natural depth and accurate imaging.
Under your thumb…

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H1 in hand

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Peter Erskine Alan Pasqua

Peter Erskine, Educator, Grammy-Winning Drummer and Alan Pasqua, Chair of Jazz Studies, USC
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Alice in Chains with the H1

Mike Inez and Jerry Cantrell - Alice in Chains
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Shinedown

Shinedown live in New York City
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H1 on a DSLR camera

H1 mounted on a Canon T2i
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H1 in journalism
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H1 in the boardroom
Accessorize the size…

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H1 / APH-1 accessory pack
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H1 front and back annotated

All the transport controls are on right side of the H1 and you can adjust recording levels on the fly. A 1/8" stereo line input is located on this side and its USB port is also accessible here as is its power on and hold switch.
On the left side, you can replace your microSD card by folding down the rubberized door. There’s also a 1/8" stereo line/headphone output with adjustable volume control for monitoring playback. The built-in reference speaker is on the bottom of the unit.

H1 sides annotated

Download a list of "approved" microSD cards that have been comfirmed for operation with H1 (PDF file).

焦點人物楊天帥愛蛙聲科學家：無端成為藝術家

2010-09-16T04:02:00.000-07:00

2010年9月8日
我眼前是一位藝術家，或者數學家、生物學家、物理學家，或者什麼都不是，只是一位退休老人，那視乎你作何看法。

來自荷蘭、擁有物理及數學博士學位的Felix Hess，青絲早已成雪，但依然精神爽利。緋紅的臉總掛着微笑，給人感覺就像是一個在8月海邊嬉鬧慣的孩子。

他說話聲音很小，儘管訪問時我已把咪高峰放得極近，還是有幾句錄得不太清楚。我們在他為「聽在聲音藝術節」帶來港的藝術品前聊天的。我猜，他之所以壓低聲音說話，是因為怕驚動了他的「孩子」。

澳洲荷蘭叫聲不同

年輕時的Felix，對回力鏢情有獨鍾。

他認為回力鏢能返回投擲者手中的事實「難以置信」。這一「神奇現象」成為他在修讀學士期間研究的課題。畢業後，有教授建議他修讀空氣動力學博士學位，他答應了。

愈多接觸回力鏢的文獻，Felix對澳洲土著的文化就愈嚮往。於是，博士畢業後，Felix赴澳工作。也就是在那裏，遇上改變他一生的動物──青蛙。

不是一隻青蛙，是一群青蛙。

「澳洲與荷蘭很不同，連青蛙的叫聲也不一樣。牠們的音樂會，對我而言非常吸引。」他說。「我錄下青蛙的叫聲，好讓自己在回國後也能重聽。然而，很快我就發現錄音的不足─每次都一模一樣，毫無變化。」

「關鍵在於，青蛙音樂會與環境是互動的。例如，當牠們聽到我的腳步聲，就會靜下來，不唱了。」這發現繼回力鏢後再次勾起Felix的科學家精神，他心中盤算着要做出能模擬青蛙音樂會的「sound creature」。

「sound creature」原理不難明。其部件是咪高峰、喇叭與電路。咪高峰接收聲音，經電路分辨「好」（即其他「sound creature」的聲音）與「壞」（其他雜音）。「好」聲音愈大，「sound creature」的叫聲就愈響；「壞」聲音愈大，「sound creature」就愈閉口不唱。

寧靜活動雕塑

「我本想在生物科研究『sound creature』，但生物科教授認為意義不大，拒絕了。後來竟有搞實驗音樂的部門覺得這有點意思，但我連樂譜也不會看，哈！」Felix說。「輾轉之下，忽然有人告訴我，『sound creature』是藝術，我是藝術家。」

「OK！我是藝術家，沒所謂，只要給我機會做『sound creature』，我就OK。」就這樣，Felix從科學家變成藝術家了。

「Sound creature」已是上世紀八十年代的事。Felix這次帶來港的藝術品，名為「It's in the Air」。它不是關於聲音，是關於寧靜。超過二百幅小旗幟豎立在地上，只一點風吹草動，如參觀者輕輕走過，小旗幟就會受氣流影響而旋轉。

沒錯，就是這樣簡單。

「我花了很長時間找一種既薄又耐用的物料做旗幟。試過用鋁片、纖維等，效果都不理想，最後才找到米紙。」他解釋。「因為小旗幟實在太敏感了，展覽廳內連冷氣也不能開，以免影響氣流。」

Felix自言很愛這些小旗幟，說它們就像自己的孩子，閒時享受與它們共處的時光。由於最弱的氣流也會影響小旗幟的活動，「它們身處不同時空，表現也有所不同。」

「It's in the Air」一發表，各有各的表述又來了。Felix的老同事，空氣動力學家認為那是把「空氣流動實體化的裝置」，雕塑家則稱其為「一種活動雕塑」。Felix說，人家怎樣看，他不介意。

「我只做我喜歡做的事，誰管它關心那是關乎藝術、物理還是生物呢！」

大概這也可稱為藝術家脾氣罷。

gyeung@hkej.com
【列印文章】

2010-08-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

Sonic Boom
Sound isn't just noise or music - it's the raw material for a growing number of audio artists, and montreal is building a strong international reputation for this form of creative expression
CAMERON SKENE, Freelance
Published: Saturday, January 13 2007

This is the latest instalment in the continuing series In Profile, which looks at a cross-section of art being produced on the island and the people who make it.

Diversity is a prominent feature of Montreal's current art scene. Previously dominated by the strong tradition of Quebec's modernist painters, the realm of artmaking has expanded beyond what is coyly called "the dirty arts" (painting, drawing and sculpture) to include photo and mixed-media, web-based installation, performance, sound, even smell.

This fourth edition of the In Profile series, Sonic Boom, examines four artists who are working in what could be called a booming field in the art world: sound, also called audio art or sound installation. To some it is just noise, albeit with banks of computers, high-tech speakers and jumbles of tangled wires, and playing to esoteric-looking crowds at performances in barns or obscure festivals.
Jean-Pierre Aube: "For some artists working with technology, the more shiny it is, the more it looks professional. When we look at Star Trek, everything looks so smooth: it's like a bourgeois living room."View Larger Image View Larger Image
Jean-Pierre Aube: "For some artists working with technology, the more shiny it is, the more it looks professional. When we look at Star Trek, everything looks so smooth: it's like a bourgeois living room."
JOHN KENNEY, THE GAZETTE
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But sound work, unlike video or web-based work, draws on a long history dating from the early 20th century. Artists in movements like Dada and the Italian Futurists - one of whom, Luigi Russolo, wrote the seminal 1913 sound manifesto, The Art of Noises - made the observation that the sound landscape of the modern age is entirely new, marked with a technological urbanism: the clangs, yelps, squeals and groans of machines. The first noise performances by early sound artists were received in confused silence - one dissatisfied Futurist compared it to "showing the first steam engine to a herd of cows."

continued from e1

But technologies - and the public - seem to have caught up to the concept. Desktop studios and trips to Radio Shack have increased the access to recording and editing. And as everyone knows, anything an artist can get his hands on is fair game. Montreal, in particular, has a strong reputation internationally. With yearly festivals like Mutek and Elektra, support from and access to such art centres as Quartier Ephemere, and ambitious installations like the Silophone, a disused grain silo in the Old Port that in 2000 was turned into a kind of musical instrument, sound in the city is booming.

With the visual getting most of the aesthetic coin in museums and galleries, it is easy to forget the other senses - or dismiss them as devoid of content serious enough for aesthetic investigation. Yet artists are increasingly exploring sound, smell and taste as vehicles for content.

During a stint as a bicycle courier in this city, I ran the usual range of adjustments to the haste, pace and danger of a job that is carried out in a panicky sensory jumble. One adjustment was particularly telling: since you can't swivel your head all the time to look out for traffic, you put your head down, stare fixedly ahead and listen hard. Your eyes are for steering, but your ears are for navigation, and they become the predominant tool for self-preservation.

"We use (sound) like a radar - we think we know where we are with the space in front of our eyes, but if you ever have an ear problem, it's amazing ... blind people walk with a stick, tapping it. It's not to feel out things, it's setting up echoes."Steve Heimbecker is a thickset, methodical man in his 40s. He stares - as most sound artists necessarily do during interviews - into a computer screen, going through DVDs of his work. Heimbecker explores, among other things, the sculptural dimensions of sound. His work with what he calls "acoustic mapping" situates the observer in a multi-channel sound environment.

In The Acoustic Line as the Crow Listens, the artist plotted a mile through the landscape and recorded simultaneously at eight sites placed about 200 metres equidistant. For the resulting installation, speakers are placed together in a line that compresses the mile into 64 feet. The result is a time-warped stereo experience: environmental sounds that travel a mile, like a car horn, move and fade rapidly in a squished sonic environment, bending perception.

"So conceptually, if you walk really fast, you would be travelling faster than the speed of sound," the artist says.
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He fabricates most of his installations himself; his studio is a jumble of speaker boxes built to spec for his next show. His work travels widely to sound festivals and galleries in Europe and North America.

A Saskatchewan native recently transplanted to Montreal, Heimbecker is most known for his sound work with the Silophone and a 2003 installation titled Wind Array Cascade Machine, where a field of 64 wheat-like stalks of electronic sensors bent with the wind on the roof of the

Ex-Centris building on St. Laurent Blvd. The data stream from the rooftop sensors was transmitted to galleries in Toronto and Europe, where other installations, called Pods, translated the data into rows of upright LED readouts on poles, reinterpreting the wind as a field of oscillating lights in the gallery.

"I realized that the wave patterns of a wheat field caused by the wind were exactly how the sine wave works ... so it's a metaphorically perfect thing."

If music is, as American composer John Cage said, "organized sound," then Heimbecker displays how sound, transcribed by technology, can be made into an aesthetic replication of experience: not music, but something altogether new. Heimbecker's eyes light up at the elegant idea: "So the wind in Quebec was blowing in Toronto ..."

"I don't really work with data like Steve does. Steve is really more into programming, how data inputs and then outputs differently. It's totally another way of working ..."

Jean-Pierre Gauthier, preparing for his exhibition at the Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal in February, is distracted and intense, with a furrowed brow, constantly looking elsewhere. A maker of sound-producing kinetic installations, Gauthier starts up a piece that's waiting to be shipped from his east-end studio: a piano with wires running from the keys to a swarm of more wires, switches and sensors stuffed into the seat.

The piece is activated by motion sensors. As the viewer moves, the piano twitches into action, plucked notes sputter here and there, initially startling me into thinking that I had stepped on something accidentally
'There are three microprocessors. I program the sequence. (The computer) chooses randomly the note ... Each sequence is tripped by motion sensors."

The effect is unsettling and twitchy at first. As you move, the volume of notes gains mass, cascading into a nervous symphony.

"I like it to be random, so at one point I lose control of the result. ... The composition gets free, like this one - I select the notes ... but the rest is out of my control. To me, the 'order' of this is about trying to get the work free from my control."
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Gauthier, represented by the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York, was the 2004 winner of the Sobey Art Award, a $50,000 award given to Canadian artists under 40. Gauthier's noisy, kinetic installations have received lots of notice and justifiable acclaim.

Usually working with everyday objects like skis, mirrors or hammers, Gauthier fashions these into robotic instruments that sing: "Basically the objects are quite insignificant, they're quite normal - but the sound they can make is quite amazing," he says. "(They're) just amplified, no (added) effect. I use as much as possible the pure sound of the object, and (try) to find an object that has its own colour."

In his 2002 installation Echotriste, Gauthier combined mirrors with dangling industrial coils that scored the mirrors' surfaces to create ethereal sounds suggesting an eerie human chorus - home-made music that gives a nod to the Futurists themselves, who encouraged artists to create their own instruments.

"I loved electronics when I was a kid - I had a Radio Shack electronic kit. The work brought me to this. It was quite natural for me to do this."

"Jean-Pierre (Gauthier) and (I) have the same background - we both did our master's at UQAM - a real visual art background. When I think about Pierre, he's a craftsman: He builds stuff."

Jean-Pierre Aube started as a photographer, but instead of visual images now captures sound. "There's not a big difference. ... I go around in the woods with my VLF receiver and bring something back with a technology device - the camera is a radio receiver for me (now)."

Aube is a tall, gregarious man who works out of his home in the north end. The interview is occasionally accented by the staccato wails of his new baby in the other room. Leaning back on a thrift-store couch, we watch a video projection of a performance piece he did at the Quartier Ephemere this past summer. A huge mass of giant speakers sits in the middle of a room. Titled Save the Waves, the system - built out of plywood, old computers and scrap material - showed that he is not averse to building stuff, either.

"A critic wrote that the exhibition isn't really about the object, it was more about the sound - which surprised me a little bit because those speakers weighed 3,000 pounds ..."

Aube often works with a VLF (very low frequency) receiver that he makes himself:
"It's basically (like) a hula hoop with 300 feet of cable, ... a simple radio receiver that allows you to grab all natural electromagnetic phenomena."

Very low frequency was inadvertently discovered in the 1800s when it became apparent that telegraph lines picked up signals from atmospheric phenomena like the aurora borealis. VLF receivers also pick up what Aube considers to be the frequency of modernity: "60 hertz is the soundtrack of domestic life, because 60 hertz is everywhere. Your fridge hums at 60 hertz."

Save the Waves is a reflection on Aube's difficulty with getting far enough away from the interference of 60hz electrical lines to record the aurora himself. In the piece, a series of receivers pick up all electromagnetic signals in and around the building, while a performer runs a hand-held receiver over various appliances: a fluorescent light, a sound board, the computers themselves. The effect is an eerie accidental modulation coming from the giant speakers, like a mass of chanting Buddhist monks, all produced by our own electromagnetic pollution.
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Aube, a darling of the electronic festival circuit, has shown his work in such far-flung places as Latvia, France, the Philippines and Germany. Sound art, like a lot of technology-based work, seems to have more of a receptive audience outside North America:

"Let me put it this way: (on this continent) I've never shown my work outside of Quebec, but I've shown 20 times in Europe in the past few years." He adds: "Montreal has a big scene. ... Mutek - it's huge and known all around the world."

"Sound is big nowadays."

Christof Migone agrees. But while the audience is growing for such work, he, like a lot of others, finds that more traditional museums and galleries are taking time to adjust to the medium: "Some galleries are starting (to show more sound work) ... but it's also not an ideal space ... they've done shows, but the result is a cacophony - they just don't take into account that it's a radically different medium."

Migone - tall, slight, and reticent - sits at the kitchen table in his modest Little Italy apartment. He displays a more multidisciplinary bent in his work, but sound is his base: After starting in radio at CKUT in the 1990s with his show Danger in Paradise, he pushed the envelope of experimentation with recording and broadcasting, and has written extensively on the subject of audio art.

"I think sound is something I keep returning to, I guess because I have a certain level of skill. Once I get an idea it often translates into sound, because I guess I can sort of see how it can materialize."

In his work Crackers, Migone solicited volunteer performers through radio and print ads, seeking individuals who were willing to make cracking sounds with various parts of their bodies. Some were more than willing, cracking necks, wrists, toes and jaws - and providing Migone with enough recording material for years. Crackers started as a sound installation in 1998, but was redone in performances and installations in Paris, Geneva and Los Angeles and as recently as this fall in Montreal at UQAM's gallery.
One of the recordings was a string of cracks from various parts of the body, edited closely together, bristling and alive with varying notes and textures: the music of wet popcorn, and strangely compelling to listen to.

"When presented in artists' talks or things like that, people have a dual reaction. Some kind of wince, and other people start cracking," he says. "What interests me is also the 'uncontrollable-ness' of that action. When you crack, it's a habit, it's a compulsion."

Some of his other work displays a penchant for recording obsessive-compulsive behaviours and bodily functions - like P, where the artist recorded 1,000 moments of urination while saying "P."
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"Crackers really helped me focus, and I did a fart record afterwards which kind of applied the same kind of restrictions and focus."

Creating with a blend of old-fashioned microphone recording and software editing, Migone keeps the technology simple to focus on the product and the idea.

"I try to downplay sound, in a sense, because (the work) gets pigeonholed. Most of the time it's not necessarily about the medium. I'm much more interested in the initial idea."

Steve Heimbecker agrees: "I think a lot of sound artists are really involved in the process as much or more than the outcome. ... Many of the ideas themselves are based on expanding technologies, (and) sometimes result in a piece that's interesting, sometimes not. ... The big discussion now is, 'What is the content?', because the technology's kind of flatlined - everything you can do with it has been imagined. "

But with the plethora of noise in our world, and since part of the artist's job description is to absorb and reflect human experience, the genre is constantly brushing up against the definition of music.

"(John) Cage thought everything was music," Migone says. "There's no such thing as silence - and he incorporated everything into music. And that's dangerous for sound art, because how does it carve out its own territory outside of (music)?"

montrealgazette.com

Sound Sights: To see more photos of the artists' works and link to more information about them on the Internet, go to Editor's Picks.

姚大鈞談《中國聲音藝術: 兩千五百年的聆聽》（第一部分）

2010-08-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

講座日期：2009年10月16日
地點：灣仔告士打道一號香港演藝學院4樓 EDT Lab

姚大鈞, 聲音藝術家，唱片製作人，策展人，電台主持人，藝術史研究員。長年來透過電台節目、網站、及教學推動前衛音樂發展。曾策劃北京聲納、台北聲納、上海電子藝術節河流體開幕式等大型新媒體及聲音藝術演出。九七年起組創「中國聲音小組」對中國各地市聲音現象進行研究、紀錄及創作。近年創作包括中國城市聲音裝置作品系列，以不同的空間譬喻及聆聽方式探討中國各城市之聲音現象。在兩岸開創聲音藝術的系統教學，目前任教於中國美術學院新媒體藝術系。

公開講座：姚大鈞談《中國聲音藝術: 兩千五百年的聆聽》
(普通話主講, 英語補充)

謝謝大家在禮拜五的晚上抽空來這邊，我首先要抱歉因為我本來是來演出的，明天晚上和後天晚上要演出，今天晚上需要綵排，他們那邊已經開始綵排了，我是偷偷溜出來的，在這邊跟大家談完以後我必須趕回去，在8 點半要離開這裏，所以時間非常短，我希望把演講的部分儘量縮短，可以讓我們有更多的時間交流。因為我覺得跟大家交流是我比較有興趣的，而不是個人的演說，我希望不要把這次談話變成一個演講，一個很規矩的演講模式，因為我真的沒有寫好一個稿子，但是我有一些材料希望跟大家分享。如果大家在我講的過程中有任何的疑問或想法，或有不清楚的地方，可以隨時舉手發問，就是希望大家不要把這作為正式的演講，因為我沒有寫好一篇演講稿。我們現開始進入主題——“中國人的聽音”，這個課題是非常有意思的，也是我個人研究了很多年的，但是這個主題並沒有人花太多功夫去研究，尤其是沒有從宏觀的角度去研究，也就是說，很多人研究古代的樂論，文獻，聽覺（跟音樂有關的文獻有大量的史料，注釋及學術論文），但是沒有人從它真正的本體，把它作為一個聽聲音的文獻或者說從聽聲音這件事情本身去研究文獻。我們都知道很多古代文獻，比如說《禮記》，《樂記》以及歐陽修的《秋聲賦》，這些都是我們耳熟能詳的東西，但是我們都從非常傳統的角度去看它，對於歐陽修的《秋聲賦》，我們一直把它當成文學作品，甚至是我們在中學需要背誦的一篇古文，而沒有從它的內容去看它到底是怎麼回事，所以今天我希望從一種新的角度來看大家可能已經接觸過的一些材料，從新的角度把它背後的真正意思揭開來，這些材料與西方接觸衝擊後產生的新的意義，這是我們主要的研究對象。

我現在換到另外一張畫，這張畫可能大家也看過，這是很有名的南宋的一幅畫。這幅畫現在在臺北的故宮博物院，它是古代非常著名的山水畫家馬遠的兒子馬嶺畫的《靜聽松風》(Quietly Listening to the Sounds of Pine-trees)。這幅畫非常有名，但一般我們研究它多半是從畫風，或畫的主題及對象，比如這個人的身份是什麼，我們關注它的構圖，一些美術史的關注，但這張畫經過我們今天晚上的討論以後，大家會對它有不同的看法，有一種新的角度去分析它。

我們要從古代說起，古代的很多東西是我們熟悉的，我們熟悉它們的方式是用音樂、哲學、文學古文去認識它們，或是一種古畫的方式去認識它們。但是貫穿所有這些不同領域、不同媒體、媒材的各種不管是藝術或是文獻資料背後是一個很重要的事情——聆聽。聆聽在我看來非常拗口，小時候我們不會自己講或者聽到聆聽這個詞，因為聽就是聽，現在要把這個問題提高到一個理論的學術層面，所以我們用聆聽這個詞，但實際上它是很拗口的。中文裡面關於聽或是關於聲音的字眼是非常有限的，而且相當含混，比如說我們談聲音，噪音，音樂，這裏面都有音或者聲這個字，互相摻雜，混在一起，混淆不清的，這個時候我們可以看古代的樂論，其實就比我們現在的現代漢語的說法更清楚，比如說古代的樂論我們看一段，“To illustrate my point about the confusion of the terms for sounds, music and noise, in contemporary spoken Chinese, if we can compare to classical Chinese, it was clearly delineated that there are three kinds of things we are talking about listening and objects of listening. The first is sound, which is similar to what we have today referring to all kinds of things that is audible. So the first one is ‘Sheng’, and the next is ‘Yin’ or equivalent to musical notes. And the highest level is the musical work ‘Yue’. ”所以「聲」、「音」、「樂」三個是分的很清楚的，很多古代的東西從現代的角度看，或現代的東西從古代的角度看，會有很多的衝撞，在衝撞後產生新的意義，新的認識，新的瞭解。比較古雅的方法是相互發明，這裏說的發明不是發明家的發明，而是說互相得到引證，互相刺激，互相有新的東西產生出來。我最有興趣的是把古代和現代的放在一起對比，然後有一種新的意思我們可以看得出來。這是我個人覺得最有意思的事情，也是我們現在討論聽覺為什麼把最老的和最新的放在一起的原因，所以聽覺這件事情是沒有人研究過的，應該說在近代沒有人研究過。所以我們看羅蘭巴特在1976年寫的一篇文章裏面有一句話 “Listening does not figure in the encyclopedias of the past, it belongs to no knowledge discipline”，就是說聽聲音這件事情不屬於過去的任何一個學門，它不是被承認的一個學科。雖然我們都在聽音樂、做音樂、寫音樂，都在享受音樂、散播音樂，但是我們沒有研究聽覺這件事情或是聽這個動作。所以很有意思的是在西方傳統裏是羅蘭巴特這些，或是更早幾十年的法國具象音樂學派(Music Concrete)才把聽覺這件事情提高到一個很高層次，因為過去西方古希臘的音樂文獻或是早期關於和聲或律法的文獻裏面，主要對象是音樂而不是聲音，到了20世紀中期(the birth of Music Concrete)具象音樂產生，70年代結構主義學者羅蘭巴特才開始用厚澀的方法看聽覺這件事情，這個研究是非常新穎的，尤其在中文世界裏是很少人討論的，但是中國有雄厚的古代聽音文獻，所以中西方兩個碰撞在一起是很有意思的。

提問：「聆」和「聽」是不一樣的，「聆」是比較專心的，在你們研究中，兩者有甚麼分別？

答：其實中文字裏關於聽的有：「聆」、「聽」、「聞」是有區別的，比如說「聽而不聞」，「聽」應該是最廣義的，「聞」是比較專注在一個對象上的，而「聆」我覺得是更加專注的，我沒有研究過，但我認為是有差別的。但是現代中文常常需要兩個字來組成雙音節，比如「聲音」 ,我們知道「聲」和「音」其實是不一樣的，但是放在一起，成了漢語，就混淆了它們的區別。「聆聽」也是，「聆」跟「聽」是不一樣的，當它們成了一個複合詞的時候，便失去了一個區分。

我們從古代的一些裝置來看古代人怎麼對付「聽」這件事情，把「聽」具體化、形象化。請看這個照片是編鐘，距今二千五百年左右的一件東西。仔細看的話，這個東西其實是非常可怕的、非常嚇人的。我們平常接觸到它時直覺得認為它是一個考古的、出土的文物，不會把它當作一個聲音的儀器或是作品來看，但是你看它的複雜程度，不只是製作它本身相當複雜，是高度的科學技術和知識，在當時是高科技的。同時在看不到的那一部分，它背後藏著是非常可怕的、非常早熟的調律的知識。我們知道，這一套鐘，它是十二音的，在西方當時是沒有這麼完備的十二音的調律方式。所以中國古代人花了很大心血，在很多的心力放在聽覺這件事情，不只是音樂，它的重要性超過了音樂，在「聽」本身。

剛才我們提到了這個十二音的調律，調律是一個非常值得注意的現象，因為調律也就是tuning，它在西方是被當作樂理、聲響學的一部分，而在中國，調律絕對不只限於樂理或音樂上的意義，它是政治層面的一個重要區塊，翻開中國政史，古有廿五史，每個政史裏都有一個章節叫律治，在這個章節裏談的不是音樂。而實際上中國音樂經過這麼多時代，它的變化其實也不是那麼大，所以沒有那麼多可以談的。律治這個章節裏談的是調律的方式，調律是不是調得對，和諧不和諧會影響一個朝代或推翻前一個朝代的新政權的執政的合法性成功與否，影響到政治上的結果。所以調律被賦予了很高的政治含義，更廣來看，不只是政治，而且是中國人宇宙觀的一部分，tuning is a part of Chinese cosmological system, that is way beyond just political content，音樂、調律、天文、星相在古人看來是一體的。我們都知道五行這些算命，在古代是holistic，是一體的，它不是個別的。所以音樂這個調律跟其他的各種屬性要了解的話，我們就要現在看一個律法圖，每個音階上的音跟每個月份、方向都聯繫在一起。它是非常完整的，一個整體性的宇宙觀。剛才看的這個東西是祭祀用的禮器，同時也可以演奏的，也是一種樂器。但是如果把它放在今天看，把它放在一個展覽空間，它是一個很了不起的，是非常嚇人的裝置藝術。可以在雙年展、三年展馬上一炮而紅，因為它的造型非常可觀，背後技術很強，還可以發出聲音，它是一個聲音裝置藝術。但是我們要作一個區別，在古代，它先是主要作為樂器，之後再變成禮器，比如說在陪葬的時候，它就作為一種禮器。

聲音裝置藝術在藝術史、美學史上是一個很重要的轉捩點。我覺得聲音裝置的出現和流行普及及被炒作是人類幾千年音樂傳統的最終的終結。它比日本的噪音理論更早，這被視作是反音樂的發展，跟音樂本體的定義是完全相反的，它們做出來的不是音樂，是反音樂。但是如果退後一步更宏觀來看，不管是John Cage還是日本秋田倉美的極端暴力噪音理論，他們討論的題材還是聽覺。不管是聽得舒服還是不舒服、聽起來是暴力還是協和的，有節奏還是沒有節奏的，討論的還是聽，所言它們都是聽覺、音樂藝術廣義上延伸。為什麼說今天的聲音裝置藝術是人類音樂文化的終結，因為它開始讓人不再聽了，如放在美術館或是雙年展裏的一件裝置藝術，你多半的注意力會放在它視覺的構成，它的造型和它的實體，而可能對它的聲音並不那麼感興趣。這個影響是很了不起的，做得很好的一件裝置藝術。我們今天看大多數的市面上流行的裝置藝術作品，它們聲音的結果其實是我們不關注的。我覺得作為一件聲音的作品或是音樂作品，它唯一能夠作為判斷的標準就是我們願不願把我們生命裏的時間奉獻給這個作品，比如一個交響曲三十、四十分鐘，我們願不願意用四十分鐘的時間去聽一首現場的交響曲或家裏的唱片。如果真的是好的作品，我會不只一次甚至好多次反覆地花四十分鐘去聽。但是現在的聲音裝置藝術，我們可以做一個旁觀者來看聲音裝置藝術跟觀眾之間的互動情況怎樣，我們觀察到很多觀眾走到這個聲音裝置前面，看一看它的牌子，是誰做的、年份是多少、它背後的技術是什麼、是什麼樣的感應器、什麼樣的互動、用到什麼軟體硬體，瞭解以後，大概看一看，可能就走到下一個作品。所以我認為聲音裝置藝術已經變成一個反音樂(anti-music)，因為我們不再聽了，我們只是把它當成一個造型藝術來評價來衡量它的價值，而它的聲音那部分，只不過是把它成為一個能夠發聲的裝置藝術。(It’s an installation with sound instead of a sound installation.)

我們看古代人聽音的廣度，隨便舉一些例子，這個東西可能大家不太注意到，在墨子的時代，2500年的時候就有完整文字記錄的文獻可以證明的一件中國人的發明——「地聽」跟「甕聽」。這是宋代軍事百科全書裏《五金總要》的一個插圖，這個插圖非常簡陋，但是我們可以看到地聽的構造，它實際上就是一個大的甕、大的瓦罐。我把這把個放在一起，這是出自《中國聲學史》這一部很重要的教科書裡面的，放在一起就發現這個瓦罐實際上就是一個 tempo resonated。中國古代人當然沒有一個resonated的概念，但他們知道這個東西的特性。「地聽」（geophone）是在古代被當作戰爭防備的武器，它不是用來攻擊的武器，而是防備的時候需要用的一個設備。先在地上挖一個大洞，把大的瓦罐埋在裏面，再派一個人坐到裏面去聽。因為在古代攻城的時候會有挖地道，要想知道敵人挖地道的進度和方向，必須通過地聽的裝置來探測。所以它是防衛的時候一個重要的軍時設備。這個很有意思，我們從今天的角度來看，它是一個非常早的發明。現在我們多半用geophone來聽埋在地下的油管是不是漏油，越戰時美軍用來geophone監聽地下越共挖地道。中國人是很早就應用geophone。

剛才提到我喜歡新的跟舊的結合、衝擊，我也曾經為南京這個城市做的一個作品叫《地聽南京》。希望用地聽這個模式建構一個空間，在裡面可以聽到四方有不同的聲音傳過來，模擬從前地聽的概念。我們當然不可能在畫廊挖一個地洞，所以做了一個地地面上的空間。

Industrial Bloom By Christopher Dewolf

2010-08-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, in the last few days before the heat of summer, nearly 50,000 people visited the Hong Kong International Art Fair, a 65% jump in attendance over last year. It's another step up for the aspiring capital of Asia's art market, a city where auction houses sold $502 million in art last year alone. But while collectors flock to Hong Kong to scoop up works by popular mainland Chinese artists such as Yue Minjun and Zhang Xiaogang, Hong Kong's real artistic vanguard can be found 40 minutes by train from the city center, in the grimy industrial area of Fo Tan, where artists work next to sausagemakers and metalsmiths in hulking, derelict factories. For years, manufacturers have been fleeing to cheaper pastures in China, so Hong Kong, notorious for high rents, has had a surplus of vacant industrial space. The result has been an explosion of creativity.

Fo Tan's pioneering artists arrived in the early 2000s, when a sluggish economy and the SARS crisis sent rents tumbling. Now there are more than 200 in the area, many of them graduates of the nearby Chinese University of Hong Kong. While there's nothing new about artists setting up shop in obsolete industrial areas — it happened in New York City's SoHo in the 1960s and Beijing's Dashanzi in the 1990s — its impact in Hong Kong has been profound. There are now more full-time artists than ever before and they're catching the eye of both local and international publics. In January, more than 10,000 people flocked to Fo Tan's annual open-studios event. (See the 10 reasons to visit Hong Kong's NoHo.)

The district has given "a lot of people space and a community that wasn't there before," says Tobias Berger, a German curator who worked at Hong Kong's Para/Site Art Space during the years of Fo Tan's emergence. He and other curators helped draw attention to the district's artists, and since then a number of them have made a mark at international events like the Venice Biennale and in galleries as far afield as Sydney and Stockholm. "And it's not only Fo Tan," Berger says. "There's more happening now in other parts of the city too."

Kacey Wong, 38, has seen the transformation firsthand. Trained as an architect, he began working on conceptual-art installations in the 1990s. Last year, Wong dressed up as a skyscraper at the Subvision Festival in Hamburg, and in 2008, his installation Wandering Home, a miniature Hong Kong apartment set atop a tricycle, was shown at the Venice Architecture Biennale. (See pictures of Hong Kong.)

"Usually, the artist grows in scale to the studio," he says, recalling how he started off working in his mom's living room. "I was making this 20-ft.-long crocodile out of corrugated cardboard. It was a huge mess. Suddenly, I heard the keychain jangling by the door and it was my mom coming home. I froze with such a feeling of guilt. That's when I realized I needed my own space." Like other local artists, Wong had long carried with him the stigma of working in an inscrutable profession that was rarely lucrative or even feasible. "Before, people were just doing art at home and getting yelled at by their parents," says Wong. "These days, a fresh graduate from art school can share a studio for HK$1,000 [$130] a month. It's a system that allows people to grow as artists."

Casper Chan is hoping to do just that. After graduating from Chinese University's art school two years ago, the 25-year-old painter spent some time renting a studio with former classmates. "My work wouldn't have been so large if I hadn't had a studio," she says. (Her series of Hong Kong teenagers rendered on big wood panels stands in testament to that fact.) Being in Fo Tan also gave her a shot at greater exposure. "A lot of gallery owners came to the open-studio days and talked to me and invited me to have a show," she says. (See the top 10 Chinese knockoffs.)

Some artists have gone a step further, using their studios to market themselves and each other. Last year, photographer Quist Tsang joined up with two friends to open Hidden Culture in another run-down industrial district in east Kowloon. The venture serves as a work space and exhibition venue for emerging artists. "We are not popular, we are not famous, but we have passion for the things we do," says Tsang.

Since studio space became more readily available, Hong Kong artists have grown more sophisticated says Tang Ying-chi, herself a mixed-media artist and the editor of the coffee-table volume Oasis: Artists' Studios in Hong Kong. "Their work has become more complex than 10 or 20 years ago, when there were more watercolors and Chinese ink paintings. Now they use everyday materials in their work. It's more closely connected to the city they live in."

But they aren't the only ones to have noticed the potential of old industrial premises. Property developers are keen on putting them to use too, and they have successfully pressured the government to make it easier to convert former factories into apartments, offices and even hotels. Rents are already skyrocketing. Last month, Chan was evicted from her studio after her landlord sold it. At the same time, the bigger the arts community becomes, the louder its voice gets. Artists' complaints about rising rents have caught the ear of a government keen to address the charges of philistinism historically leveled at Hong Kong by fostering the development of local creativity. More subsidized space for artists is in the pipeline — so is a study to determine just how many artists are out there. If the phenomenon of Fo Tan is anything to go by, the answer could be higher than anyone supposes.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2008795,00.html#ixzz0w1x6qXEk

Reading Images: Multimodality, Representation and New Media © 2004 Gunther Kress

2010-07-06T23:14:00.000-07:00

Image: Roman Duszek © 2003

Conference presentation Video

Keywords

Multimodality, literacy, representation, design, media affordances

Abstract

In this paper I wish to point to what I see as the central issues in the linked shifts in representation and dissemination: that is, from the constellation of mode of writing and medium of book / page, to the constellation of mode of image and medium of screen. In particular I will draw attention to consequent shifts in authority, in changes in forms of reading, shifts in shapes of knowledge and in forms of human engagement with the social and natural world.
Paper

Readers of this journal are experts in design. What I can offer is a particular take on certain issues in design from the perspective of (Social) Semiotics, and more specifically, from the perspective of multimodality, which deals with all the means we have for making meanings – the modes of representation - and considers their specific way of configuring the world. To make this concrete, here is a small example. Say I am designing a biology text-book. The subject matter is ‘plant-cells’. If I use words, I will have to say “Every cell has a nucleus”. If I use an image, I will need to place a large dot somewhere in the circle which indicates the cell to represent the nucleus (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Cell and nucleus

To reflect on this: in writing or speaking I have to use a sentence in which two entities – cell and nucleus – are related by a verb, have, indicating a possessive relation: the cell has something (much like: “I have a car, a house, two kids, etc”). I could use a different verb: “In every cell there is a nucleus”. The meaning is now quite different: about existence, there is and location, in. If I draw, I have to place a large dot representing the nucleus somewhere in a circle which represents the cell. Wherever I place it, someone looking at the image is entitled to assume that the nucleus actually is where I have placed it in the circle/cell – whether I intended to or not, or whether it actually belongs there or not. Each mode forces me into making certain kinds of commitments about meaning, intended or not. The choice of mode has profound effects on meaning, and textbook designers, for instance, need to be aware of such meaning effects of different modes.

Meanings are always disseminated through particular media: the medium of the book; or the medium of the CD-ROM, involving still and moving images, speech, writing, cartoon-like characters in comic strips, music, and so on. It might be the medium of the teacher’s body, involving speech, movement and gesture. All media offer specific possibilities to the designer, and to the reader/user in their reading and / or use.

The approach from Social Semiotics not only draws attention to the many kinds of meanings which are at issue in design, but the “social” in “Social Semiotics” draws attention to the fact that meanings always relate to specific societies and their cultures, and to the meanings of the members of those cultures. Semiotics takes the sign - a fusion of a form and a meaning – as its basic unit. In making signs we –embedded in our cultures - select forms in such a way that they expresses the meanings that we ‘have’ always ‘aptly’; hence signs always express, through their form, the meanings that the makers of signs have wished to make.

Take a simple example. I am in an American airport, looking for something to eat. I see a sign Bar and Grille, outlined in lurid red neon lights. Being hungry, I am attracted by “Grille”; I am aware that I am particularly drawn by the “e” on “Grille”. As a semiotician – even a hungry one – I wonder about this ”e”, in part because just the night before I have had a discussion with a colleague about how signs work. I order a brisket sandwich and think about this sign. What the “e” tells me is something about tradition and ‘Englishness’; it relates to many other signs I have seen where the “e” has had similar meanings, as in “Ye olde gifte shoppe”. And, even though I know it is a marketing gimmick, I want to be seduced by its meanings. Of course all the other parts of the sign also mean: the ‘Grill’ – with or without the “e” - speaks of barbeques, of the outdoors, of freshly cooked food. For the sauce I had the choice of mild, medium and make my day (- which I chose; and it did). “Bar” has its specific meanings for Americans reading the sign; and the lurid red neon sign of course ‘means’ to attract my attention, and maybe offer whatever promises ‘lurid red’, in the context of “Bar”, might hold.

All these are social meanings, specific to a particular culture. At the same time they are chosen, put together for their potential to mean, by the deliberate action of the designer. The sign - a complex message of words, of letters, of colour and font-types with all their cultural resonances - reflects the interests of its designer as much as the designer’s imagined sense of those who will see and read the sign. The sign is based on a specific rhetorical purpose, and intent to persuade with all means possible those who pass by and notice it.
Modes and their affordances: the materiality of modes
The kinds of meanings made by the letter “e”, by the word “Grille”, and by the colour “red” are different kinds of meanings. Not only do they mean different things, they mean differently. You can’t look up the meaning of “e”, nor the meaning of “lurid red”. What “e” does is not so much refer to some object, such as a Grill, or a Bar, but rather to evoke by cultural associations. It has a history of use in particular places (in ‘marketing speak’ for instance), and it is knowing its provenance that gives it its meaning. “e” puts me in the world of ‘Olde England’ with all its mythic associations. In one sense, colours work similarly: I have encountered the colour ‘red’ in many instances, as in “red light district”, as a colour of lipsticks: so in this context it is eroticized. Words have their histories, but they also refer; they name things (as nouns) or actions (as verbs) or attributes (as adjectives) or as relations of location (as prepositions), and so on.

One of the present tasks of a social semiotic approach to multimodality is to describe the potentials and limitations for meaning which inhere in different modes. For that, it is essential to consider the materiality of modes. Speech uses the material of (human) sound; writing uses the material of graphic substance. There are things you can do with sound that you cannot do with graphic substance, either easily or at all; not even imitate all that successfully graphically. The up and down of the voice, which produces the melody of (English) speech, makes many meanings, from straightforward questions to highly modulated ones: imagine saying, in a tone of incredulity, ”you did what?”; to many varying forms of emotion and affect. Even highly experienced writers find it impossible to reproduce these meanings in writing and need to take recourse to devices such as “… she said incredulously”. Maybe the major shift in the new landscape of communication in this respect lies in the increasing use of image, even in situations where previously writing would have been used. Consequently an urgent task is understanding the different affordances of writing and image.

In alphabetic cultures writing tends to start, in words, grammar and syntax, as the transcription of speech. It quickly develops its own structures and forms (syntax, punctuation, layout, for instance), so that written English is now very different to spoken English; yet writing does ‘lean on’ speech. Speech happens in time: one sound, one word, one sentence follows another. The ‘logic’ of temporal sequence is the major principle of ordering of languages such as English. Speech and writing are organized by the logic and the ordering principle of sequence in time. This underlies the syntax of English, which is enormously more complex than mere sequence, but is there nonetheless. If I have two simple sentences, such as:

The mists dissolved and the sun rose. It matters in what sequence I place them.
The sun rose and the mists dissolved is very different in meaning from
The mists dissolved and the sun rose.

The one tells us how weather works; the other puts us in the magical, mysterious world of Lord of the Rings maybe. Sequence implies causality: the sentence which comes first seems to be causally prior to that which comes after. But notice that that is so whether I want that meaning or not: I cannot but order them in some way. If I have two friends, Amanda and Josh, and they have jus got married, I might want to say either Amanda married Josh or Josh married Amanda; the two are different in causal terms – who was responsible for what. They are also different in terms of affective ‘proximity’: I may be closer to Amanda than to Josh, and so I place that person’s name first.

In speech as in writing we use words. Yet only that for which there is a word can be brought into communication: no word, no communication about it. In image, if there is something that we wish to depict, we can depict whatever we want. We don’t ask: ”Is there an appropriate image we can use?” Contrary to common sense assumptions about language, words are vague. You have no doubt fully understood the sentences about Josh and Amanda, yet you know very little about either of them: how tall Josh is, what age Amanda, what colour hair they have, and so on. If you saw a photo of them, or even a drawing, much of this would be clear. Words are (relatively) vague, often nearly empty of meanings; by contrast images are full, ‘plain’ with meaning. With image the placement of the depicted entities relative to one another in the image-space is the principle used for making meaning. Take the two images below, drawn by the then four year-old Georgia.

Figure 2a, 2b. Georgia at the side of her mother, and Georgia between her parents

The difference in meaning depends on the relation of the depicted entities to each other in the frame of the picture-space: the resultant difference in Georgia’s sense of herself and her family is an effect of these spatial relations. In drawing the materiality of sound is not available for making, to indicate just how ‘being’ Georgia’s parents seem to her, instead the affordance of space is used – making things taller or shorter, broader or thinner. In fact, Georgia was quite a bit taller than she drew herself here; and her father was quite a bit shorter than her mother. Size here shows the metaphoric use of vertical extension: Georgia sees her parents as affectively /psychically much taller than they actually were; and she makes her father seem as tall as her mother by ‘lifting him off the ground’ somewhat. That leaves aside the meanings of colour.

One further point needs to be mentioned here; it follows from the distinct ordering principles of the two modes. The written text – as indeed the spoken – forces the reader (and the listener) to stick to its order: the elements have to be read in the sequence in which they occur. That is not the case, or far less so, with the image text. Yes, the elements are there in certain spatial relations, but how the reader reconstitutes them is largely up to the reader. The order of the written text is fixed; the order of the image text is (relatively) open.

Media and their interrelation with modes
Modes and media exist in culturally and historically shaped ‘constellations’. The one that has dominated the alphabetic cultures of the ‘West’ over the last 300 years or so is that of mode of writing with medium of book and page. Writing as mode and book as medium have shaped western imagination, forms of knowledge, practices of reading; the technology of writing has shaped the book, and the technology of the book has shaped how writing has developed. The traditional book represented the work of the author, who had laboured to produce a text, which in its ordering represented a ‘body of knowledge’ or the shape of the world – whether fictional or actual. Chapters in the book were coherent and complete in themselves; paragraphs had their logic; and sentences derived their form and purpose from the organization of the paragraph and the larger text.

In that world the reader’s task was to attempt to follow the pre-given ordering of the written text, embodying the authority of the author, working assiduously to reproduce the meaning which the author had intended for the reader. In that world, authors could confidently speak and act on behalf of the reader, as did the author of the example in Figure 3, The Boy Electrician: “The prime instinct of almost any boy is to make and to create… At seven he will wire the whole house with his telephone system made from empty tins connected with varying lengths of string. His older brother will improve on that by purchasing a crystal, a telephone receiver, and a few pieces of insulated copper wire…” (p 5)
Figure 3. Spread from “The Boy Electrician”

Certain texts – novels for instance – encourage the reader to engage in the semiotic work of imagination, following the given order of words on the line but filling the relatively ‘empty’ words with the reader’s meaning. Contemporary texts - whether information books of all kinds, web-pages, the screens of CD ROMs, and so on - in their increasingly often image-like textual organization, ask the reader to perform different semiotic work, namely to design the order of the text for themselves. Consequently two phenomena are now becoming noticeable, as in Figure 4, which had been present but never noticed before: the entry point of the ‘page’ and its reading path.
Figure 4. Home page of the University of London Institute of Education (www.ioe.ac.uk)

The page of The Boy Electrician has one entry point, at the top left of the page; it had long become naturalized and therefore was no longer visible. Nor was the reading path: it asked the reader to follow the lines, in the order in which the culture had determined. The page/screen in Figure 4 has, by contrast, about 13 entry points. The reader interest determines where he or she wishes to enter the page. The same applies to the ‘reading path’ which the reader (now usually called a ‘visitor’) wishes to construct: it too is determined by the reader’s interest.

For design this is a crucial factor, and a profound change. The designer of such ‘pages’ / sites is no longer the ‘author’ of an authoritative text, but is a provider of material arranged in relation to the assumed characteristics of the imagined audience. The power of the designer is to assemble materials which can become ‘information’ for the visitor, in arrangements which might correspond to the interests of the visitor. For the visitor however “Information is material which is selected by individuals to be transformed by them into knowledge to solve a problem in their life world” (Boeck, 2002)

Making texts and reading texts
In the conception outlined here, the processes of making texts and reading texts are both are processes of design; and both are in important sense inversions of the social and semiotic arrangements of the era of the dominance of the constellation of writing and book. It has now been overtaken by the new constellation of image and screen. The (at least mythically) dominant media are now those of the screen - whether of the Gameboy, the mobile telephone, the PC, or still the TV and video. The book and its page had been the site of writing and the logic of writing had shaped the order of the page and the book; the screen is the site of the image and the logic of the image is shaping the order and the arrangements of the screen.

Writing can appear on the screen; but when it does it is subordinated to the logic of the image; just as image could appear on the page, though subordinated to the logic of writing. The logic image will more and more shape the appearance and the uses of writing, a process which is already apparent in many instances of public communication. In the former arrangement, the figure of the author and the mode of writing dominated; in the new arrangements the designer and the mode of image dominate; the story-board is an apt metaphor for this change - image led, and very often the product of a design-team.
Design as choice in context
In the multimodal landscape of communication, choice and therefore design become central issues. If I have a number of ways of expressing and shaping my message, then the questions that confront me are: which mode is best, most apt, for the content / meaning I wish to communicate? Which mode most appeals to the audience whom I intend to address? Which mode most corresponds to my own interest at this point in shaping the message for communication? Which medium is preferred by my audience? Or by me? How am I positioning myself if I choose this medium or this mode rather than those others? All of these call for choices to be made, resting on my assessment of the environment in which communication takes place, in all its complexity, in its widest sense, in which a commodity – the smell of my shampoo, the packaging of the bag of flour, the shape of the bottle of soft-drink – are all ‘messages’ to interpret. The question of choice is illustrated by the contrast of say, Figure 3 with Figure 4, or of Figure 3 with Figure 5.
Figure 5. Visual geography-tectonics

The page in Figure 3 is the realization of choices – of stylistic choices in relation to writing, choices of font (though for any one publishing house there might not have been choice), the framings of the text through syntax (marked by punctuation) and in text (marked by paragraphing, for instance), and by layout in spacings, as well as the frame around the ‘densely printed page’ (Reading Images, 1996). However, these choices had nearly faded into invisibility through the two aspects of habituation and convention. By contrast, the page in Figure 5 shows a plethora of choices made and realized through the modes of writing, layout, colour, and image.

Design is a prospective enterprise. The question it asks is: “what, in this environment, with this kind of audience, with these resources that are available for implementing my design, given these social, economic, ‘political’ constraints, and with my interests now at this moment, is the best way of shaping that which I wish to make, whether as ‘message’ or as any object (of design)?” Here, briefly, are two examples, showing choices made and interests expressed. Figure 6 is the result of the request of the teacher of a class of six year-olds to “make me a drawing and write me a story of our trip to the British museum.”
Figure 6. Notes from a trip to the British Museum

The different ‘take’ on the representation of the day in writing and drawing is startling (all the images and stories showed this contrast): salient object-entities in spatial relation in the visually represented world, contrasted with salient events/actions in temporal relations. We might dismiss this as childish representation. Or we might say that these six-year olds are using the two modes of writing and image in line with their inherent affordances – the (transformed) recollection of the visually encountered world through the spatially organized mode; and the (transformed) recollection of the actionally experienced world through the temporally organized mode. If we take that approach we see that the children have made apt use of the affordances of each mode. The facts of the representational world are certainly moving in the same direction.

In the next example two modes co-exist in one integrated textual object, the question is the same one: what are the principles for the use the modes (the question of “principled use” can and needs to be asked of all my examples). At the end of four lessons on ‘plant cells’, the teacher had asked the 14 year old students, working in groups of four, to prepare a slide of the epidermis of an onion, look at it through a microscope, and then “write what you did” and “draw what you saw”.
Figure 7a, 7b. Eye-piece of the microscope, and Cells as a “brick wall”

The teacher had given two additional instructions: ”put your writing at the top of the page, and the drawing at the bottom”, and “use only black pencils in your drawing”. Apart from the different responses to this instruction (7 b used colour pencils) there is the startling difference in what each “saw” and what each wrote. One written text is a recount, the other a procedure. The recount, generically speaking, says: “this is what happened”; the procedure, generically speaking, says: “this is what ought to happen”. The drawings differ equally profoundly. One declares “this is what theory tells us is the case” (on a worksheet there had been a comment “what you should see is something like a brick wall; each cell is a brick”); the other declares “this is what I actually observed and recorded”. The first is the "truth" of theory; the second is the "truth" of the empirical, reliably recorded.

The question of design is in the center here. The matter at issue is of course ‘plant cells’; but maybe even more than that it is: ”what is it to be scientific?” In each case the answer is broadly the same (though differently realized modally): “to be scientific is to adhere to the "truth" of theory”. In Figure 7 a, the student lodges the "truth" of the facts of the empirical world in the drawing, and the "truth" of theory through the replicability of scientific practice in the written text. In Figure 7 b, the student lodges the "truth" of scientific theory in the drawing, and the "truth" of actual practice in the written. In each case event-like representation uses the mode of writing; and the representation of object-entities is lodged in drawing.
Design as a part of rhetoric of communication
The contemporary social world is marked by increasing fragmentation and individuation (Beck, 1986); in stark contrast to the world of the 19th and early 20th century, the world of stable structures and of individual integration and definition in those structures. Strong frames, and integration into strong frames had their analogues in communication through stable genres, and through stable modal ‘choices’. In periods of stability the question of effective communication is answered by the idea of convention and of competent action in relation to those conventions. In periods of fragmentation and individuation communication is fraught: each environment of communication asks that social and ‘political’ relations, tastes, needs and desires be newly assessed. The question of rhetoric – how to make my communication most effective in relation to this audience, here and now - has moved newly, urgently into the center. Rhetoric has become a major issue for design.
Bibliography Kress, G.R. (2003). Literacy in the new media age. London: RoutledgeFalmer
Kress, G.R. and van Leeuwen, T. (1996). Reading Images: the grammar of graphic design. London: Routledge
Kress, G.R. and Van Leeuwen, T. (2002). Multimodal Discourse: the modes and media of contemporary communication. London: Edward Arnold
Jewitt, C. and G.R. Kress (eds) (2003). Multimodal Literacie. New York: Peter Lang
Burn, A. and Parker, D. (2003). Analysing media texts. London: Continuum
Gunther Kress

Gunther Kress is professor of Education/English at the Institute of Education, University of London. He has a specific interest in the interrelations in contemporary texts of different modes of communication - writing, image, speech, music - and their effects on forms of learning and knowing. He is interested in the changes - and their effects and consequences - brought by the shift in the major media of communication from the page to the screen. Some of his recent publications are: Reading Images: the grammar of graphic design; Before Writing: rethinking the paths to literacy; (both published by Routledge); Multimodal teaching and learning: the rhetorics of the Science Classroom (Continuum); Multimodal Discourse: the modes and media of contemporary communication (Edward Arnold); and Literacy in the New Media Age (Routledge).
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漂洋上海陳期藝術有什麼用

2010-07-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

2010年5月13日

今年五十三歲的蔡國強，以他獨特的火藥草圖和裝置藝術，成為國際當代藝術圈認知度最高的中國藝術家之一，他的作品在各大拍賣行屢屢拍出天價，用最庸俗的說法，是名成利就了，所以我並沒有預期他是這樣平實的人。看起來比實際年輕，穿風褸、卡其褲，一臉陽光笑容。

他介紹自己的創作經歷，提及一個火藥爆破習作，他坐在一塊空地上，醫學儀器監測着他的心跳和腦電波，他保持着平靜，如腳下的大地一樣沉穩，然後，他預先裝置好的火藥爆炸，儀器顯示，他的心跳腦電波和大地同一頻率震動。他在這時候回歸大地，和自然成為一體。

有時他要收起自己，做很自我的創作，有時他又希望展示自己給很多人看，所以他策劃一些大型活動。他說自己就是這樣時內時外，忽左忽右，亦中亦西。

一方面他會為自己有所成就，並可以幫助他人而高興，一方面他又覺得成就這東西很虛。一般人早上起來知道自己那一天會做什麼，但他就漫無目的。在他演說時，他的助手兼傳譯把他作品的拍賣價七千萬元說成是七十萬，他笑說，少一兩個零會覺得比較安全。

說到批評政府，會場突然斷電，米高風嘎然靜默，全場人都在調笑會場裏是不是有監聽。器材修復，他不忘幽一默，說這不過是技術故障，有時候我們也要負起責任，不能一味責怪政府。

我並不認為他這樣的觀點模稜兩可，態度騎牆，我反而樂見一個藝術家這樣充滿人性，在庸俗世界中遊刃有餘，一點沒顯得曲高和寡。

這可能和他個人在不同文化中的生活經歷有關，蔡國強出生在福建，在上海學舞台設計，一九八六年去了日本，開始了他的爆破藝術習作，一九九五年移居紐約。

蔡國強說，藝術可以表達自己的感情，也可啟發他人，我還覺得，藝術之偉大在於可以令人思想更深刻，而胸懷更開闊。

「蔡國強：農民達芬奇」要表現在集體意願和集體行為以外的這些農民個體的創造力。集體和個人，看似矛盾，其實也並非相生相剋。

世博已經開幕了，你一定看到不少混亂場面，然後尖刻地批判，以中國的國民素質，這是意料中事。你可能覺得世博會只是另一個國際笑話，不值得看。

但是你也可以想想，像蔡國強這樣的個體，作品中宣洩着傳統藝術和社會制度的壓抑，搞個農民創作展覽看似和世博唱反調，卻又獲邀策劃亞太高峰會和奧運等官方活動。

你可以並且應該繼續批判，因為這樣的批判在推動着某種進步，很有必要。但置身在這個社會中，我又不由得感到一點安慰，上海有世博，同時也有「農民達芬奇」，包容性正在逐漸擴大，這就是改變，而且看似方向正確。就算你不來看世博，至少也值得來看看這種改變。

Why artists are turning to video as a medium

2010-07-01T09:47:00.000-07:00

Jonathan Brooks-Jones explores a burgeoning art form

Artes Mundi is a biennial competition that showcases the work of emerging artists from around the world. It celebrates art that discusses the human condition and/or the human form. Within that broader area of interest each individual competition, or ‘cycle’, has a central theme that links the artworks. Two new selectors are enlisted each time, who determine each cycle’s theme. This year, its fourth, the selectors are curators Viktor Misiano from Russia and Levent Çalikoğlu from Turkey. Both have a keen interest in political art, and a belief in its capacity to encourage debate. This year, the theme is migration and social mobility, although many others permeate the works, such as globalisation, and the fall of communism.

From over 500 nominations, Misiano and Çalikoğlu short-listed eight artists. A new panel of independent judges from around the world is selected each year, made up of artists, art historians, critics, theorists and curators. The winner of the £40,000 prize will be announced on the 19 May. It is the largest arts prize in the UK and is dedicated to providing a platform for emerging artists.

While there are paintings, drawings and photographic works, it is video art that has the most gallery space. This has drawn a mixed reaction from the public, many of whom complain that there is ‘too much video’.

This might have been expected, but it does seem a little odd that people aren’t excited about the chance to experience what is to many a new art form. In fact it’s not even that new. Video art has existed in the contemporary form since the 1960s, and in other forms even longer. However, the Welsh audience is rarely exposed to it, as there is a lack of modern art galleries in Wales. Video art can be difficult to interpret for one who is not acquainted with it, so I will here try to explain some of the central ideas explored in video art, and why artists are turning to video as a medium.

A common objection is that the artist could have or should have made a movie instead. It is true that artists could make movies instead, but why should they? It is not the sole right of movie-makers in Hollywood and such places to use the medium of film, and it has always been a part of artistic creation to take advantage of new technologies and ways of working. In fact, one of the most interesting aspects of video art is its capacity to deconstruct our experience and understanding of moving images on a screen, making us think about how we view television and movies.

Most people are well acquainted with the protocol of visiting the cinema. You sit in your seat, watch the film and keep quiet until the end, when you are once again allowed to talk and move around. While you are entitled to leave whenever you like, there is a tendency to sit it out to the end and ‘get your moneys worth’. Video art, on the other hand, grants the viewer much more freedom.

Bulgarian Ergin Çavuşoğlu is one of the short-listed artists whose work deconstructs our understanding of video and film. He takes up the theme of migration and boundaries in two pieces, Voyage of No Return and Liminal Crossing. The former uses five screens, which are separated, placed at different heights with one placed on the floor, facing up and angled slightly towards the viewer. The central screen features the dialogue and beneath it is the fifth screen, with Welsh subtitles projected onto it.

This film is about migration and questions surrounding identification with a particular place, and seeing it as ‘home’. Voyage of No Return was filmed on location on Oban, an island historically used as a pit-stop when travelling on to the Hebrides, or back to mainland Scotland. Migration is therefore a key part of the island’s history and character. Here, the method of splitting the film onto different screens is used to establish locality, and to try and capture the atmosphere of Oban. This fragmentation of the screens encourages the viewer to interact with the work, perhaps walking up close to a screen and blocking the shaft of light, causing a silhouette, thus in some way becoming a part of the piece. In previous exhibitions he has projected the film directly onto the floor, so the audience can literally walk through it.

One of the interesting aspects in his other piece, Liminal Crossing, is the use of sound. In this film, a group pushes a piano across the Captain Andreevo border between Bulgaria and Turkey. The video is projected onto two screens, which face each other at a 45 – 90 degree angle, with a gap where the two edges meet. The only sound to be heard is that of the wheels turning as the piano is pushed along. This, coupled with the absence of human voices chatting, points to the sombre and somewhat lonely atmosphere. This use of diagetic sound adds realism, and in turn, tension to the piece. This contrasts with his use of a musical score in Voyage of No Return.

For me, the most interesting aspect of the soundtrack is his use of reflections. The purpose of the gap between the two screens is to encourage the viewer to walk behind the screens where only the soundtrack is perceptible. If we venture deep enough into the empty space, we hear the sound as it hits the back wall and reflect back to our ears. This amounts to a rather strange and unique sensation, one rarely experienced outside an acousmatic music event.

Here, Çavuşoğlu is at once deconstructing our understanding of video and film (which really is a post-modern pass-time), and also reforming an idea that has been in circulation since the impressionists, that of light and its reflective qualities.

In all art, light must first of all play a physical, and perhaps rather obvious role, in that it enables us to see the works in the first place. This is true in painting and other forms of art, but its role is extended in video art. Light must first hit the subject, reflect into the artist’s eye and the lens of the camera. Light is then shone through the film in order to project the image onto the screen. From there it is reflected into the eyes of the audience. As with the impressionists, the importance of light has taken on a role of conceptual importance, in which the art comes to discuss light.

For example, Per Speculum by Albanian artist Adrian Paci, draws our attention to the importance of light. In the final, wide-angle shot, a group of children sit in amongst the branches of a tree and use the broken pieces of a mirror to reflect the sunlight back to the camera. This draws our attention to the distance travelled by light, especially in video art. Paci also draws our attention to the projector, a unique feature of video art. He does this by using a particularly old-fashioned and noisy one (however, against the artist’s intentions, for health and safety reasons it had to be sealed in a metal box, thus trapping much of its sound).

The importance of light and the projector may also be seen in Çavuşoğlu’s choice of where to mount the plaque with his name and title of the work (Voyage…). It is placed on the wall onto which the projectors are mounted. This suggests that the projector, and the role it performs, is of equal importance to the installation as a whole.

For many, video and film seems too commercial, because we are so used to it being used for commercial purposes such as adverts, television, movies and music videos. While some of these may be termed ‘artistic’, video art’s focus is directed exclusively on the artistic capacity of video.

Part of video art’s power comes from the fact that we are so used to seeing video and film in other forms. This means that when we are asked to look at video as an artistic form, and it contains images we are not expecting, the effect is automatically, at first, surreal. Imagine tuning into the Chris Moyles show and hearing the music of Arnold Schoenberg! Hearing music without a tonal centre is likely to be a new and unsettling experience for the average Radio 1 listener in any case, but it is doubly surprising because that is the last place one would expect to hear atonal music. Similarly, we are so used to the kind of content normally contained on video, that when we see something more artistic and adventurous than, say, Coronation Street or Big Brother, it tends to shock. This gives video art added depth of impact.

As Çavuşoğlu demonstrates with his experimental approach, one thing video art does is reference other forms, styles and techniques. In a sense this makes them ‘antique’. The new, reformed use of an old style can bring us a new awareness of it. Previously we just took it for granted and didn’t normally think about where it had come from, it simply exists. When something is presented to us again, and we are asked to look at it afresh, we tend to understand it differently.

While some artists dispense with the use of a narrative plot, others make use of a reformed narrative style in order to get their point across. Israeli artist, Yael Bartana, makes use of narrative form in her piece Wall and Tower, which is, in my opinion, one of the strongest pieces at this year’s Artes Mundi. This piece, which is the second in a trilogy, raises questions about nationalism and Zionism by depicting the construction of a kibbutz (which has a striking resemblance to a concentration camp) in what used to be the Warsaw ghetto. The film opens with a speech written and delivered by (real-life left-wing activist and campaigner) Slawomir Sierakowski, calling all Jews to return to Poland.

This piece is one of the most thorough and comprehensive works in the exhibition, in which each part bears the weight of the whole. The enlistment of a real-life political activist, the use of propaganda film styles, through to the printing and supplication of the Jewish Renaissance Movement in Poland’s manifesto, as well as instructions on how to build a wall and tower like the one in the film. The artist’s instructions are to ‘take and distribute’, adding yet another layer to an already complex piece. It is also interesting because the movement did not exist before the first film had been made, and Bartana apparently did not even intend to start the movement by creating this artwork. She was merely trying to “ask questions, not tell people what to think”. A likely story! In any case, those questions are being raised, about nationalism, Zionism, the situation in Israel and Palestine, and also Poland (an interesting blog about the Polish reaction to this piece can be read here).

This film makes use of cinematic, documentary, and propaganda film techniques. It is a highly effecting piece, due to the polished acting and musical soundtrack, featuring the triumphant sounding Polish national anthem. The use of cinematic formulae probably makes it easier to digest for the uninitiated, while the content remains highly engaging and requires the viewer to keep watching in order to see where it is going. This is also an example, by the way, of a film that probably should be seen all the way through in order to fully appreciate the meaning, which is not immediately given to the viewer on a plate, but is slowly teased out as the events unfold.

Another idea at work in video art is the performative aspect. Considering a piece of video as a performance raises the question of which part, exactly, does the art consist in – is it the subject? The film of the subject? The (temporary) projection of the film? Which part is valuable? Is it the film itself, or the moment at which it is projected onto a screen? Is the screening to be considered a ‘performance’?

Video art differs from other forms of art because paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings etc. are physically there, mounted on the wall, or placed on a stand or otherwise. Of course, a projected video is in some way ‘physically’ there, but in a different way, it is, rather, the projection of something which has happened before that has been captured on film, and is not actually happening any more. Note the difference between this and a play or performance art piece, which are viewed as they happen.

Artists have always been interested in the elements that are unique to a particular form of art. For example, sculpture has the greatest capacity for three-dimensional work. However, it is also interesting that some painters have taken their work in a three-dimensional direction. Expressionist painter Frank Auerbach layers oil paints onto the canvas in thick measure (‘impasto’), thus creating works that have a three-dimensional quality. This links in with the earlier point about the practice of reforming other styles, which much modern art is concerned with.

So, for artists making video, the materials that are unique to them are movement and time. No other art form has the capacity to explore those materials in quite the same way. Performance art, of course, features movement, and is often referred to as ‘time-based art’. However, video has a greater control over these materials, as video can be sped up or slowed down to any degree. An interesting example in which this is done is the film See you later / Au Revoir, by Michael Snow, in which a 30 second interaction is slowed down to last twelve minutes. Video art has a somewhat stronger hold over the manipulation of time as a material than performance art. However, performance artists have a stronger hold on the performative aspect, which video art sometimes tries to incorporate, as touched on above.

Finally, something must be said about the political nature of much of the work at this year’s Artes Mundi. It was suggested during one of the lunchtime tours, that the serious political nature of many of the pieces makes it difficult for those who are new to video art to get the most out of them. The fact that it overwhelms some may be taken to show that video is worthy of political art, in that it has the capacity to convey the seriousness and magnitude of social and political problems, themselves often overwhelming.

The crucial point to make here is that for political art to be successful in raising awareness and encouraging debate, it must refuse to offer any resolution. If a work of art has a political impetus, and that political issue remains unresolved, the film must end without having supplied resolution. If a film supplies resolution, it makes it far easier for the viewer to walk away and forget all about it.

Many of the pieces at the Artes Mundi resist the supplication of resolution. In particular, Taiwanese artist Chen Chieh-jen’s work features the staunchest resistance to resolution, and is unlikely to leave the viewer’s conscience for some time once it has been absorbed. His films entitled Empire’s Borders 1 & 2, feature women from Taiwan telling the stories of how their husbands have been detained for no good reason whilst traveling to in and out of Taiwan. There is no resolution, because the men are still detained, and their wives have no idea when they will see them again. Bartana’s work also resists the supplication of resolution, partly due to the fact that the final part of the trilogy is yet to have been made. It will be interesting to see how the final installment turns out.

In conclusion, we have seen that there are a great number of ideas at work in this burgeoning art form. We can see that it is valid, not least because it has often been thoroughly worked and reworked at all stages from conception to production to screening. Avant-garde film is almost always designed to confront the viewer, who is often forced to concentrate and think about what it is they’re viewing.

It is also important to remember that as it is a new form, there is an element of experimentation to video art. This can cause problems, such as the overflow of sound between pieces in close proximity to one another. The worst case of this at the Artes Mundi is that the soundtrack from Wall and Tower can be heard when one is watching Chieh-jen’s other piece, Factory, which is meant to be a silent film. However, I would say that while this is unfortunate, it is perhaps to be expected, as the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff was never designed to exhibit video works, and was not purpose built to prevent such overspill. It is also indicative of something larger and more exciting happening in the world of art, the growth of something that feels like a new form.

The public’s unfavourable reaction may be put down to a general reluctance to appreciate something new and crucially, unfamiliar. In a world where we are bombarded with the eternal sameness of mainstream art, music, theatre and film it can be difficult for people to accept something more or less unprecedented in their cultural experience. It requires more ‘cultural capital’, to use Bourdieu’s phrase, than dominant mainstream culture provides us. However, the galleries were busy on many of the occasions that I visited. This is down to the good work of the Artes Mundi association, which no-doubt encourages interest in the avant-garde.

Indeed, as a burgeoning art form video is conceptually and aesthetically rich. It provides the artist with unique opportunities to experiment with a vast array of elements: screen, soundtrack, projector, content, style, and others. While it may require a little more effort to unravel the meaning of a piece, it can be a highly rewarding and unique experience, one that is likely to become easier the more often we’re exposed to it. It is helpful, therefore, that Artes Mundi employs a team of ‘live guides’ who have met the artists and discussed the pieces with them. They act as the link between the artist and the public that is all-too-often missing from modern art galleries. They provide a valuable insight into the meaning and history behind the works.
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Tags: Artes Mundi, cinema, Deconstruction, Ergin Cavusoglu, Impressionism, Migration and Social Mobility, performance art, Video art, Yael Bartana

Jonathan Brooks-Jones is an intern with the IWA

本地文化遊記

2010-06-15T18:11:00.001-07:00

本地文化遊記（一）：Fotanian 2008
週一, 2008-01-28 12:07 — Self

上星期參觀了兩個不同藝術活動，一是深港雙城雙年展於中區警署群舉辦的“再織城市“，另一為伙炭藝術工作室開放計劃--“Fotanian 2008“。感覺很不同，第一當然因為兩者為不同類形的活動，第二因為參觀的目的不同。因著不同的參觀目的，對於兩個活動，我產生了不同的體會。今次我希望集中講述對伙炭的感受。

整個火炭藝術村開放計劃中，有七幢工業大廈內的工作室參加展覽。工作室主要分佈於華聯及華樂兩幢工業大廈，而其他工作室則零散地分佈於其餘五幢大廈，主要只有一至兩間工作室在其他工業大廈裡開放。開放計劃在一月的第二及第三個週末及週日舉行，每天開放時間為下午二時至晚上八時。

繼續被邊緣化的工作室

其間大會會安排導賞團帶領參觀者參觀。但大部份人都是“自由行“，如果參觀者只抱著“行逛“的心態去參觀，當然能夠一天六小時內完成整個參觀，但問題是，參觀者中的確有很多人仔細觀賞作品，而他們用六小時（包括休息時間）只能完成於一至兩幢工業大廈內的參觀。而大部份人亦會選擇由華聯、華樂兩幢開始 “掃 “下去，最終導致其他工業大廈內的藝術工作室被邊緣化。我（持著仔細觀察的態度）在第一天用了三小時，也只能完成參觀大半幢華聯工業大廈的工作室，因為太累之故，決定要截返歸家。對，開放計劃開放整整四天，如果一天看不完，不可以第二天再看嗎？可以的，我相信總有人採取這種方法，但問題在於香港人的時間未必這般充裕: 今天能夠濟出時間，明天未必可以; 故此，這邊緣化問題亦會持續。

主辦機構應與參展團體共同商討解決這種持續的邊緣化的問題。因為不能夠移動藝術租戶的緣故，主辦機構可巧慮投放更多資源或尋找贊助，鼓勵大眾參觀被邊緣化的工業大廈；例如設計儲印章計劃，鼓勵參觀人士盡量完成整個展覽，然後以小小的大會紀念品送給參觀人士。所有方法都有其不足之處，雖然此舉可能會改變了他們的參觀目的，但這方法不排除人們為了拿紀念品而可能會越行越有興趣，忘記了本身為了拿紀念品的目的，而認真的參觀起來。

藝術繼續無界

另外，我發覺這次開放日中有些得意的現象：工作室的背景音樂。在參觀過程中，不難發現藝術家喜歡播一些柔和的音樂：由輕民謠至爵士，甚至藍調和輕板的靈魂都是他們的選擇。這很合理，如果行蘇豪區的畫廊，他們大致上都是播這類型音樂，令整個氣氛除了變得悠閒舒暢外，亦不禁增強那種說不出的高雅；感覺很 high class。如果蘇豪區是法國社會學大師Pierre Bourdieu 所認為--文化活動和品味生活因為人民的等級產生階層化的呈現，那麼整體上的火炭藝術村則為抹掉這種階層意識的粉刷；低下街層的地理位置，彈性高的說話聲調，沒有裝煌的藝術室，及歡迎各方人仕的包容量，配上蘇豪區所用的音樂，實在是一種mix and match。把難明的高雅文化帶到普羅大眾裡。有些工作室更走前衛路線，它們播放的是K 場，的士高所選的remixes。一邊參觀一邊有超remixed版（節奏快而激）Celine Dion的”All By My Self”，另有一番感覺。

多樣化的工作空間

其中一幢工業大廈的頂層的工作室為一位較知名的藝術家的藝術室。不知是有意或無意，該名藝術家的地點位於叉燒工場旁邊。一門之隔，分別是頂香卻油膩的叉燒工場及格調一流的工作室，就像到了雲咸街的畫樓般的工作室。筆者不是要貶低叉燒工場，但它確實不經意地反襯出該工作室的高尚。
DSC_0227.jpg
比較陰暗的樓層盡頭有一間別樹一格的工作室

再下幾層，有法籍本地藝術家的工作室。同樣，其工作室都是裝修得很美麗，優雅；這是因為該工作室是被買下的，故值得花錢把其裝修一下。在那個展覽中，我見到在法國人眼中的中國，雖然眼光是奇異的，卻奇妙得真實。發展中的中國及新舊交替的中國文化，雖然對我們來說是很熟悉，熟悉得不太察覺，但就是由外國人那種奇異的眼光表達出來，重新被察覺出來。

再下再下，就是一大班年輕藝術家，走出學校，到這裡建造新天地的一群。他們很有活力，他們的作品亦很有力量，題材大膽但不失感情。我訪問了一位陳姓的女年輕藝術家，她的最新作品其中一樣為人般高大的毛織衛生巾。據陳小姐透露，她希望透過衛生巾作為一種容器，去看生命，而該作品其實是她的衛生巾作品的第三部，之前已在學校做過陶製和青銅製的衛生巾。她認為以往的作品質感上（texture）比較硬，而感覺上亦比較冷。製作這第三部作品則一反以往的作品的特點，質為軟，感為暖，所表達的是作者對母愛的珍重。雖然題材敏感，卻流露濃厚的感情，更啟發不斷的思考性。年青一輩的藝術家雖未必有年長一輩的經驗及知名度，卻冒著失敗的機會，願意作破傳統的嘗試，可見年青藝術家有著等待被發掘的勇氣，難能可貴。
DSC_0277.jpg
陳小姐與她的衛生巾作品

P.S.: 我不知道下年會否再有這個開放日，如果有的話，到時我會反轉參觀的次序，由下面向上走：P

工廈加租　藝術家工作室 In or Out？

2010-06-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

2008/01/04
RE: 香港經濟日報 C05 專題 By 蕭曉華 2008-01-10

　　沙士前後、地產市道最低迷期間，得一批清貧藝術家進駐，因工業北移而日漸沒落的火炭工廠區，才不致於完全被人遺忘。
　　藝術家工作室數目增加，漸漸形成規模，藝術家自發組織的「伙炭藝術工作室開放計劃」，亦成為一年一度藝壇大事。
　　近期，地產市道再度熾熱起來，火炭工業區的業主亦乘勢大幅加租。
　　面臨重新洗牌的火炭工廈，將來還有沒有藝術家立錐之地？
　　據土地註冊處最新資料顯示，07 年首 7 個月共有 4,290 份買賣合約，比 06 年同期的 3,687 份增加16.4%，數字亦高於 96 年至 03 年每年總數。這些數字反映工廈市場持續交投理想，中原集團副主席黎明楷分析：「住宅和商廈投資市況熱烈，投資氣氛良好，帶動工廈的需求、價格上升。」

藝術租客

　　位處新界的火炭工廠區，因較偏遠，周邊亦暫未有完善的社區設備，仍屬全港最平的工廈物業。不過，其租金和賣價一樣要加。
　　近半年，該區工廈租金和賣價的升幅分別約為 15% 和 20%，「賣價升幅較大，顯示市場樂觀。最明顯的是，不少業主為大廈翻新，把大堂都裝修成商廈般靚，以吸引投資者。」中原地產新界工商舖助理營業董事張志傑說。
　　工業北移，工廈使用者亦隨之轉型。該區近年成為物流（即平價倉）、電子和化工業的工業陣地。叫人估不到的，是近年藝術家的進駐。　　　　
　　記者自稱藝術家到附近的地產舖問價，發現經紀對藝術家租客的要求瞭如指掌，「你係一個人用，定同其他藝術家夾租？13 呎高樓底、較平的華聯單位比較適合，可惜無盤。11、12 呎樓底的地方有無興趣？」

「臭味相投」

　　「過去幾年，我們每月租金平均約 $4,300，今年業主突然提出加價到 $7,500，最後還價至 $6,300 。」藝術家周俊輝和關尚智說。與火炭差不多同時期出現藝術家工作室的觀塘工廈，亦面對加租問題，租金約由 $4,000 加至 $5,000。一比較，今年火炭工廈租金的加幅實在令人咋舌。
　　周俊輝和關尚智屬近年藝術圈冒起得較快的一群，自 04 年開始，他們與另一位中大藝術系同學遷入火炭華聯工業大廈，夾租一個面積約 1,200 平方呎的單位（「615 工作室」），進行油畫、裝置及概念藝術創作。
　　因樓齡高，華聯簡陋殘舊、黑黑沉沉，不時傳來燒臘和腸粉魚蛋的氣味。
　　「這裏是全區樓價最平之處，亦有不少從事食品加工的租戶。它不能轉型為工貿大廈，因商業租客不接受這種環境。」中原的張志傑解釋。
　　工廈地方「污糟邋遢、無厘貴格」，卻合晒藝術家合尺，「它地方大、樓底高、租金平。」受訪者不約而同地說。03 年沙士爆發，樓市下滑，造就這班初出道、「清貧型」租客「趁低吸納」的關鍵時刻。
　　當年，一個千多呎的單位，租金約為三四千元，賣價亦不超過 30 萬元（今年已升至 70 多萬元）。
　　「當時我剛畢業，藝術前景還很模糊，如果沒有這地方讓藝術家堅持理想，或許有人早已放棄創作。」關尚智說。如今華聯已聚集約 26 個工作室，其他工廈則有約 8 個。
　　「大家沒有夾定聚在一起，工作室分散不同位置，偶然碰面才傾偈。」周俊輝每日留在工作室的時間頗多，因他的作品多為 2 米乘 3 米以上的巨畫，作畫需時，「中午肚餓，便到工廈內的茶餐廳吃 23
蚊一客的經濟午餐，好方便。」
　　另一租客「水獺工作室」的藝術家黃慧妍則說：「隔籬家俬廠位先生好好人，有時鐵閘壞，會幫我修理。」

遷出，搬入

　　業主大幅加租，周俊輝和關尚智如何打算？兩人考慮各有不同。
　　周俊輝部署作「個人發展」，最近他以 79 萬元購入華聯一個 1,200 平方呎的單位。「發展到今日，作品逐漸走進藝術市場，收入有一定保障。我考慮到長期支付租金的錢，日後也夠買一個單位。曾留意不同區的工廈，始終認為火炭的價錢、環境較合適。」
　　關尚智則準備在租約期滿後遷出火炭，另覓新址。從事概念藝術的他表示，他的創作不一定要用上大空間。他在即將於本周六開幕的本年度「伙炭藝術工作室開放計劃」中展示的作品，只是一張寫「3 年內不賣作品」的 A4 紙。另外，亦由於他的創作動機不是賣作品，買家亦不多，所以他不想承擔昂貴租金。
　　港台節目《四維賣藝》主持人羅文樂，是華聯的前租客，對於逐漸形成的火炭藝術區即將面臨商業挑戰，有這樣的評論：「藝術有很多面向，有些較能迎合藝術市場，有些因較具爭議性或搗蛋，未必有買家。火炭加租某程度上是 taste dictating，篩走某類藝術家，影響該區多元的藝術發展。」
　　黃慧妍對加租表現得逆來順受，「可找多幾個租客夾租」，她使用的千多呎工作室，現由 7 人分租。
　　不過，這批最初「發展」火炭的藝術家，無論未來決定去或留，過去幾年他們在這區營造的藝術氣氛和建立起的形象，已慢慢發揮作用，吸引其他藝術單位遷入。
　　本地著名畫廊漢雅軒，兩年前亦於華聯購入單位。職員 Loretta 說：「本想用這地方與藝術家交流，所以入來湊熱鬧。」現單位用作存畫的貨倉。
　　兩個月前，比利時人 Sara Van Ingelgom 亦在華聯開設畫廊 Blue Lotus Gallery，單位的裝修非常優雅舒適。「我對火炭一見鍾情。相對在中環設畫廊，在這裏策劃展覽的彈性較大，因沒有太大的資金壓力，亦不必引入迎合市場的主流藝術。」

藝術影響樓價？

　　07 年至今，火炭約有 5 個藝術工作室遷出，6 個搬入。「搬入的多為經濟能力較高的藝術單位，專業與非專業的都有，亦有建築與設計界人士。」藝評人梁展峰說。
　　看來加租使這區出現了一場小型的洗牌效應。連續舉辦了幾年的「伙炭藝術工作室開放計劃」，參觀人數逐年上升，由初期的千多人到去年增至近萬人，藝術或藝術家的進駐對該區的人氣實有正面作用，但又有沒有能力影響這區的地產價格？
　　「成個火炭工廠區有過千個單位，藝術租戶只有數十個，不足以構成影響。」在該區營商的廠家Charles Drapers 說。
　　「藝術家死了，作品才值錢。以藝術帶動或以支持藝術來影響樓價，方式似乎太迂迴。」中原的黎明楷說。
　　「藝術家租客從事創作，並非進行商業活動。除非有從商的展覽製作單位遷入，推動經濟效益。」梁展峰說。
　　不過，藝術帶來的人氣始終屬「利好因素」。「今年在華聯放出的單位好少，估計是業主看到這『藝術潛力』，暫不放盤。」中原的張志傑說。
　　「像『615 工作室』這類單位已成為品牌，自然成為業主加租目標。」Charles Drapers 說。
　　「曾有地產舖張貼『適合藝術家使用』的招租廣告，不排除了解市況的地產經紀，會刻意向藝術租客調高價錢。」梁展峰說。他認為，火炭工廠區是自然而生的藝術社區，遭遇市場壓力亦屬正常。但他擔心，若刻意將該區炒作成如紐約或倫敦等 loft 時尚社區，只會趕走藝術家，「大部分藝術家都無可能在樓價高昂兼被規管的旅遊熱點裏生存。」

商業支持藝術

　　一年一度的「伙炭藝術工作室開放計劃」，將於 1 月 12 日起連續兩個周末舉行，今年共有 34 個工作室參與，屆時藝術家會開放平日創作的「私竇」，與大眾分享自己的創作成果。
　　此開放計劃，一直是新晉藝術家展示作品的難得平台。上年起，計劃獲得即將在該區有樓盤落成的信和集團的宣傳贊助，參觀人數倍增。藝術與商業的互動關係，實在難以簡單計得清。
　　「開放日由每個工作室自費參與，確保營運與創作自主，亦沒有任何金錢資助。不過，商業機構在宣傳上的支持，如燈箱廣告、大量單張，擴闊了以往只有小圈子的觀眾層面。」梁展峰說。但他認為，開放日觀眾多，與藝術質素沒有必然關係，同時藝術家的荷包亦不會進帳，「有興趣的買家不算多，反而失竊事件增多。」
Posted by jaspar at 11:29 PM

一個人跑場﹕按圖索驥﹕誰在誰不在

2010-06-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

(明報)2009年11月1日星期日 05:10

【明報專訊】地點﹕火炭藝術工作室

題旨﹕仍在進行中

搬家時整理雜物，

在書架上翻到一張火炭藝術村地圖，

是年初當地Open Day的地標圖。

折了幾折的綠色紙頁上，

不但有簡單的地圖，

也配有每一個參展的工作室介紹。

於是記起那時候也曾一層層走落梯級，

走馬觀花的「到此一遊」過。

忽然好奇起來，

不是Open Day的普通日子，

那些本就隱蔽的工作室、畫廊

會是什麼樣子？

於是找一個勉強得閒的星期，

捧著這一張薄薄的地圖想要舊地重遊。

其實很多藝術家的電話號碼已經附在簡介裏面，但一來覺得自己並無什麼官方或是職業身分，二來更怕在電話上就吃閉門羹。反而決定要厚著面孔，一扇門一扇門這樣尋過去。

一早就去沙田乘坐直去火炭村的60K小巴。車開起來，一兩分鐘就駛出了商場區，路兩旁還留有2008奧運的標記。穿過一系列運動場，上橋落橋，眼前就佈滿了舊工廠大廈。每棟都近20層高，牆壁灰黃，頂層窗外掛著工廠大名，多是「德」、「華」、「利」等吉祥莊嚴的漢字組合，每個和每個都很相像，留不下印象。可是字符們疊在一起，凸浮在樓宇前，就織成一片舊工業區的背景，彷彿電影裏面的畫面。轉念想，也真可怕，真實場景需要借助媒介的影像來認識，抑或是現時工業的香港不在我的想像之內。車輕輕一轉彎，進了坳背灣街，路段窄了些許，視野也被兩旁的幾幢大樓遮去不少。

跳下車，路邊是大大小小的五金店舖和文印店，一家美聯就立在喜力佳大廈旁邊，門玻璃上貼著這一帶倉庫、寫字間的售價。行下幾步是安華和其他幾個工廠大廈，二、三層臨街一面停著一排可能是待售的汽車，樓下有修車舖和木料場，路兩旁參差的放著木材和油漆顏料桶。印著「深圳」或「廣州」在車身上的貨車正在裝載玩具。想到那些studio就隱身於這些工廠裏，覺得像是在玩捉迷藏。

Studio隱身工廈

G座入門處有兩塊寬寬的directory，寫滿了這家公司那家倉庫的名字和房號，我找5樓C座卻找不到。記得年初來5樓C座看到過不錯的陶藝，是把齊白石水墨裏的魚重新創作，在細處彙集小小的英文字母做出的小件陶器，現下不知又有什麽新作品。上到5樓，就聽到搬運木材的聲音，走到C室，果然鐵門中間部分被白漆塗過，左方用藍色筆寫道「陶房」，右邊更有工筆勾勒的藍色花瓣圖案，好似青花。可屋內卻只有兩個裝修師傅，地上幾攤木料。「我想他們是搬走了，搬去哪裏就不知道了，現在這裏是一家私人公司的單位了」。其中一個師傅蹲在地上解釋了兩句，又回過頭去和同伴計算尺寸了。

又走了幾家，單位都易了主，變作廣告公司、設計公司，有幾家還在，只是沒人。還有一家，據鄰居說已經數月沒有開門，門外地上疊著一層外賣菜單。不免有些悻悻然。

陶房不在攝影室還在

「豐盛工業中心一樓6室﹕工作再工作室」——地圖上寫著，走進看門右邊有招牌是「實發工業」，是不是又是換了主人呢？有人開了裏間的燈，打開門疑惑的看我。我忙問﹕「請問這一間工作室是否還在？」來人點頭，放我入內﹕「當然在了。」這一位女士是這裏的業主，笑容可掬﹕「叫我湯太好啦。」湯太最早買了這個單位，那時候樓市比現在好很多。一開始是做私家工廠用，後來湯太的兒子租了這裏做自己的攝影工作室。門廳牆上掛了不少他的攝影作品，而隔壁偌大一塊空間可以用來佈景。「這裏地方大，又高，很適合佈置，燈光也好打。」湯太解說著。二樓則有地方可以做後期的冲洗加工。

聽聞我的拜訪計劃，她從樓上拿下了一本小書，是更加詳細版的Open Day圖錄，她幫我在紙上勾勾畫畫﹕「我時常走去其他工作室看看的，很多藝術家我都認識。你的時間計算的不好，這時候，他們不是在睡覺就是返工，很少有人在工作室的。」

她也擔心我見不到幾個藝術家，因為就算他們在工作室也不見得會打開門和我講話。2009年的Open Day她的兒子湯舜有份參與策劃，當時就有些駐在火炭的藝術家不願意參加，所以這張地圖並不完整。不願參展的藝術家更閒雲野鶴，對於他們，火炭不僅僅是租金便宜的工廠區，也是少人騷擾的幽靜地。

謝過湯太，我重又上路。雖然她說逢周末大多數藝術家才會回來火炭，我都還是想碰碰運氣。按圖索驥，一路落下桂地街，樓的後方就是九肚山，山上吹來陣陣微風，愜意舒服。但樓就愈來愈舊，也愈來愈污濁。聽講九肚山也是地價很高的地方，租個小屋在山對面，憑窗遠望，有不付錢的山景，算不算是一種抵抗。

華聯工業中心在路的盡頭，門口也有60K小巴站。這樓怕有二三十年的年齡，有A、B兩座。每座每層基本上都有一兩家studio。我進了B座，準備從最上面的18樓試起。電梯門開，濃濃的燒臘味飄來，地面滑溜溜的，想是灑了豬油。12室「被逼裸體工作室」久久無人應門。隔壁燒臘的阿姐探身出來說﹕「他走了好久了，你是不是來找他影像啊？」看來鄰居們都很在意這個studio主人的舉動。

落兩層是伙紅孩studio，按鐘竟有人開門。是個瘦瘦小小，著黑衣的年輕女孩子。她叫Kako，從香港藝術中心畢業不久，擅長illustration。畢業後還想繼續創作，經朋友介紹就來這裏和其他幾個人合租。此時只有她一個人使用工作室，地上有些凌亂的擺著畫筆、顏料和畫板。「這裏不錯啊，有火炭的 Open Day可以參加，租金也都OK。有時工作太晚，也可以過夜。」如果沒有這一塊小的空間，很多練習和創作都要在家裏完成，吃飯用一張桌，之後畫畫也用，真是不方便。

我來的時候，她剛剛完成一幅作品，正準備把它晾乾。「我每天差不多都在這裏，因為我是剛開始創作，很多自我的東西尚未發現，正在探索。畫畫也是想多籌一些作品交給gallery辦展覽。」

租金便宜創意集群

不久，studio的另一個主人入來，是一個戴黑色紗質禮帽的男生。他叫Moon，演藝學院畢業幾年，是個雜家。舞台設計、寫歌、畫畫都有涉獵。在火炭都有兩三年，「有時候需要空間創作，就會帶一些props回來，或是回來畫畫彈琴。」臨窗有幾個人形model，有一個眼旁有黑色的眼淚，有一個本就不完整的身體上束著黑色布條。

不知是不是因為做舞台的原因，他的角落裏堆滿了各式各樣，不同風格的物件。舊鋼琴，封在布包裏面的鼓，大大小小的盒子，舊座椅。他興致勃勃，指著他的 model和道具﹕「你知道麼？這些東西都是我撿來的。比如這個，」他拎起一個長方形的木盒，「是我早上三點走在市場發現的。但是重點不是在撿東西還是買東西，重點是在你如何判斷人或是物的價值。別人也許覺得這個是垃圾，我覺得幾好啊，可以把這椅子搬回去給我的模特兒坐。」

Moon因為很多兼職，又愛交朋友，所以這一帶都很熟。他叫我不必擔心沒有工作室存在，「我倒覺得，你應該想想要是沒有人願意和你說話怎麼辦？」一副非常憂心的樣子。

（四之一）

文蕭鳴澗

一個人跑場﹕個個都有另一份工？

2010-06-15T17:41:00.001-07:00

(明報)2009年11月8日星期日 05:10

【明報專訊】地點﹕火炭藝術工作室

題旨﹕仍在進行中

那天離開火炭不過還是傍晚，

回家路上接到Whimsy Garden主人

張美儀小姐的電話，

說她剛從內陸返來，

約我周六去她工作室看看。

而電郵給Antonio Wong，陶房主人，

則被告知工作室

搬去了另一座也在火炭的大廈。

周五傍晚再來，

火炭工業區已是燈火通明，

路旁滿是剛剛放工趕著回家的人們，個個行色匆匆。

我和他們方向相反，

向大廈裏面走去。

敲開5@5的門，是一個溫柔素淨的女子。5@5其實即是寓意五個相識的女孩在大廈的第五層合用一個工作間。雖然房間堆滿東西，但可以看出是幾個不同的地盤。「當時2004年我畢業，有很多東西要搬出去，也想找新的地方創作。這裏比其他地方平，六千多，我們五個好友就一起租下來了。不過大家都有正職，沒有時間總是在這裏。」她說這裏大部分藝術家都有兼職，多是freelance，也有全職的老師教授。正職多數也是和藝術相關的，但是很易受到商業或上司的影響，更加程式化。但是有了正職，才有能力租下這個單位。「其實很矛盾。你有了一份工，就給這裏付租金；可是呆在這裏的時間愈多就愈會影響工作。」

全職藝術家很少見，尤其是年輕一代。即使有，也是短期的。Kako就講過她是如何用一段時期的freelance來支撐後來的full time創作﹕「我有時也做freelance，在fashion show的後台，幫模特兒換衣服。有一年，我停下來沒有搞自己的創作，因為沒有錢也沒有地方。後來不斷做freelance，才有錢在這裏開始。現在我都算是個fulltime artist，如果做其他全職的工作，我會沒時間全情投入。」

而那一位Moon更是夜夜有工返，也為電影做布景，也會為特殊event設計吓，或是寫歌什麽的。有還在讀書的藝術學生問他這樣是不是很多錢，他苦笑﹕「工就很多，錢就沒有。因為你的工作在別人眼中是不值錢的，創意啊、藝術啊、天賦啊，商業價值很低。」

天賦重要堅持更重要

但是他不介意這麼辛苦﹕「其實火炭這麼多藝術家，沒有哪一個是很有野心的，也都很少人是想靠創作來賺錢成名的。所以很多人都freelance啦。反而我們都好像沒什麼大志。別人以為搞藝術只要天賦，其實要的是堅持。」不過他也感慨堅持很難﹕「在香港，你要花好大力氣買一個大的房子，買一個stable的男女關係。可是人和人的關係就不會有太多人cherish。反而愛創作的人很重感情，也很emotional，但是就不懂得計較金錢得失。」

另一方面freelance確實也會自由一些，工作比較有彈性，所以即使穩定度低而且工酬多變，還是很多藝術家的選擇。比如Rocky的工作就是這樣。其實差一點就不會認識到Rocky，因為他的那個studio剛剛建立，門上的招牌還是上一家廣告公司留下的。

那天從5@5出來，再上一層，出電梯就聽到好大聲的交響樂，不禁循聲而去，裏面也像是一個畫室，靠窗的桌旁擺著幾幅水粉畫，色彩清新，原來Rocky那夜返來溫書。他在中大藝術系讀master學位，之前也是做freelance﹕「我覺得長工不適合我，有些官僚和人際關係要很辛苦應對。所以做 freelance嘍，比如一些活動的video shooting。」

上去到伙紅孩，Kako正在走廊裏等她的新畫筆，房間裏傳出很大的電視聲，TVB的《宮心計》。「裏邊還有人在？」我問道，她微微笑﹕「沒人，我是把電視打開，讓它一直響著，那路過的人就以為有很多人，不會走近。」她手裏夾著煙，只是默默地等著。也沒出去吃晚飯，怕別人偷走了自己的畫。Studio其它幾人也回來了，大家都有些餓了，就一起去吃晚飯。幾瓶啤酒，5碟小菜，還有一個附送的粥，大家邊吃邊講。也講共同熟悉的人，也講生活的壓力，也講對某個概念的不同認識，真是不亦樂乎。Moon忽然對我說﹕「其實你為什麽要來看我們？你們和我們根本不同，好像在看freak show一樣。你碰到這麼多人願意和你講話，算你好彩，一般才不會理你呢？」

同道中人自成一隅

我不知怎麼回應，覺得自己並非來窺視，但又知道他講的道理。忽然想到之前讀過關於the knower和the known的複雜關係，求知的人似乎有了「求知慾」這個金字招牌就可以刺探被知者的生活故事，為的是什麽呢？好奇？知識本身？還是純粹無聊消遣而已。就算是個記者，也沒有什麽不同。有藝術家對我說﹕「記者根本不是來聽我們的故事，或是想知道我們想說什麼。他們不過是有自己的任務，找到了他們想要的故事就走了。然後把我們寫成神仙或是妖怪，給reader閱讀的快感。」又或者是寫藝術家和常人一樣，也是吃大牌檔，坐小巴。正常和不正常，藝術家的形象就在這兩段游走，似乎沒有第三種描述的可能。

愈想愈不能說服自己，但是還是想繼續敲門，剛好周六是和Whimsy Garden的張小姐約好的日子，於是背著相機、筆記冊和地圖，又上了60K。

Whimsy Garden在華麗工業大廈，單位大而明亮，中間有幾個成衣model，旁邊則是寫字枱。我到的有點早，張小姐的助手給了我一些雜誌，都是fashion 或是design類的。書上貼滿了標籤。來不及翻看，張小姐已經到了。這個工作室就是她的公司辦公室，在這裏可以專心服裝設計。「好像做時裝設計的，火炭只有我一家，其實時裝設計也都是art來的。我的一些作品都不會拿去賣的，因為很誇張，有很多symbolic的東西在裏面，是想要表達一些理念。如果做好賣去讓人出街穿，就不合適。可是在香港，人們還是常常會把設計和藝術分開。我也會幫客人揀選衣服，因為想要做藝術創作，也要先填飽肚子。可能我很實際吧。」她爽朗的笑道。

搞藝術先填飽肚子

陶房的Antonio在隔壁街找了新的工作室，乾淨，明亮。一個小隔間裏擺著所有製陶要用的工具，外面的大間則可以設計、拉坯。整個屋子空空的，和其他幾個studio的亂中有序（或是無序）並不相同，反而也很有味道。「我喜歡陶器，我覺得好像一個art therapy，是個很自我的過程，比如在拉坯的時候人會很靜。我在陶瓷創作裏可以找到自己，我覺得那些陶瓷，他們好像在對我講話。」來這裏之前，他曾在 art center按小時租工作室。現有了自己工作室，那自然是開心的。「我差不多每晚工作後也會來這裏看看。我的工作是web design。做陶瓷真是創作，沒有很多的想過成名，那需要很多機會。也不是寄望賣陶瓷來賺錢，那些對我都不重要。我的收入滿足到日常生活所需，也就夠了。」但他沒有過多抱怨香港藝術家的生存狀態不夠好﹕「人們總是以為國外會不同，其實我問過在日本、歐洲的藝術家們，他們也都需要自己支持自己。」

沒有幾個全職artists，卻不停碰到freelancer回來小憩，火炭的藝術家們和我想像的不一樣。創作是生活的重要片段，創作本身即是目的，所以精神的滿足可以在藝術形成中自然完成，不一定要換算成作品的價格或是畫家的知名度。如此想來，即使是辛苦兼職養著一個工作室偶爾回來，雖然奢侈，都很值得。

（四之二）

文蕭鳴澗

編輯徐志堅

火炭藝術工作室

2010-06-15T17:35:00.000-07:00

一個人跑場﹕Space in the making(2009-11-29) 寄給朋友
【明報專訊】地點﹕火炭藝術工作室
題旨﹕仍在進行中
幾乎每一個我訪問過的藝術家
都會拿筆出來在那張
早就皺皺巴巴的地圖上勾上幾筆，
推薦一些火炭的重要的工作室。
火炭藝術家的關係
由此看來是私人的，
親密的朋友往往是讀書時的同學，
或是一起工作過的同事。
5@5、伙紅孩還有恆發行
都是舊同學畢業後合租的場地。
中文大學的學生尤其多，
但其他院校畢業的學生
也慢慢多起來。
一起吃飯的時候，有人就表示不滿﹕「中大人有時候好霸道，好像火炭是他們的地方一樣，不過是他們離得近來得早罷了，為什揦要這麼囂張？」幾個中大畢業的藝術家開始反思，自己是不是有些地主風頭﹕「中大人的確是最早來火炭的。有幾位教授五六年前，也可能更早吧，就在這裏買了單位。後來就有了中大的學生，師兄師姐介紹給師弟師妹，好像是一種傳統了。在數量上我們真的是最多的，和其他學院的藝術家比可能會更像一個團體。其實不同院校風格不同，這一點最容易體現在新鮮畢業生的作品裏，都有強烈的學院烙印。不過大家平日這麼多交流下，自己的風格又在成熟，日後就不太看得出了。」也有中大人很緊張其他人的看法，急切的解釋﹕「我們沒有什揦校內組織，最多就是同學一起吃飯了，不會搞派系鬥爭的。」

一般來說，藝術家與其他工作室的藝術家交往並不頻繁，如果有，往往是在偶爾共用的空間和特殊的事件。Open Day算是這樣一個場合，藝術家自己也會互相走動，看看別人新的作品和風格的轉變。陶房的Antonio甚至告訴我，因為上一年活動自己不得不一直坐在 studio裏面錯失了觀賞別家的機會，今年會考慮不參加開放活動，關門去其他大廈逛逛。

偶爾交往欠缺互動

Open Day之外集體範圍的互動是較少的，我甚至覺得大廈裏的藝術家們好像幾米漫畫裏總是碰不到的有緣人。相互不認識的藝術家們其實都會光顧三樓的餐廳、底座的士多，都會指覑樓下便利店門口那條懶洋洋的狗向我介紹﹕「牠不會咬人，每天都趴在這裏。」不過不少藝術家在我的地圖上都圈了Blue Lotus這家畫廊，還不忘讚賞畫廊主人Sarah﹕「她人很好。」

Blue Lotus是火炭最早的畫廊之一，在華聯A座。我三月曾經去那裏看朋友策劃的Doll Complex展覽，當時就見過主人Sarah，大眼睛的比利時女人，笑聲嘹亮。這次去碰到她的助手Sum。因為Sarah有一份正職做trading，每周最多一兩天時間回來畫廊，所以大小事務都是由Sum主持。現在正是管偉邦「經典再造」的展覽，牆上掛覑他的筆墨。

「我們的定位是支持香港本地藝術家，尤其是年輕藝術家，但也會邀請國內外已經成名的畫家開展。我覺得香港大多數畫廊不會冒險去推年輕人。」我告訴她的確很多藝術家認同 Blue Lotus在火炭的地位，她想了想，回應﹕「這裏最出名都是studio，畫廊很少。再有也許是因為，我們的一些展覽請的就是火炭的artists。而且 Open Day的開會地址常常選在這裏，因為這裏空間大，雜物少。」

支持本地年輕藝術家

Sum自己一周會有五六天都在畫廊，工作繁忙。聯絡藝術家，贊助人，媒體，布展等等事務，都不簡單。來得多了，自然也認識了很多人，但不僅限於藝術家。「我們對面那家是製作飾品的，我也喜歡和他們閒聊。我不覺得和其他公司比，我們是特殊的。你可以這樣想，工作室也沒什麼不同，也是一種工廠，交流一下真的不錯。」她是我遇到的唯一幾個和鄰居公司常常說話的人。也有人用了工廠的比喻，不過是為了闡述另一種邏輯﹕「我們和別家一樣都是工廠，只不過返工時間不一樣。既然同是工廠，也就沒有什揦可以好奇的，個人做好自己的事，就離開了。」

Blue Lotus之外，同一棟樓上的Joy Art Club也有很多人推薦我去看看。女主人蕭愛冰作品風格多樣，工作室外邊牆上掛覑女體畫和政治諷刺畫作，下面得桌上則擺覑小型雕塑，門口的畫作多和今日政治文化有關——一副習作Women Liberation，背景是國旗到碼頭邊高樓商廈的漸變，近景則是一雙小腳女人穿的繡花鞋和一雙高跟鞋，不無諷刺。每到周六下午，這家畫室會對外開放，歡迎畫家們來練習。也會請人體模特來供畫家們寫生，模特的費用人人分攤，也不會很貴。

我進去畫室不久，模特就到了，是一個小巧玲瓏的女孩子。去洗手間換了衣服，就坐在中間的台上開始準備。她今天本不會來，但是約好的模特臨時有事，她來替補。「如果事前知道我會多些準備，一般我都會準備棉布可以墊在身下，不過也沒關係。」她喜歡表演，喜歡和身體有關的議題，除了做模特兒，也會參與行為藝術、話劇表演甚至舞蹈。5點左右陸陸續續來了三個畫家，女主人說畫家很少準時上門，一會兒會有更多。三個畫家各據一角，模特除去衣衫，抱膝而坐。我想拍照，她囑咐我只要背影，「我日間的工作是文職，也許面部不要上鏡比較好，不希望影響到那一份工。」

走出大廈已經夜了，樓下幾間五金店還沒有關門，有一個畫家從裏面搬覑一堆東西走出來和我打招呼，「火炭雖然不比深圳東西多價又平，但是材料什揦的還算ok，也不難找。」想想覺得這些工廠大廈裏的藝術空間也真是有趣，畫廊、畫室、五金、文印，裏應外合；畫家、作曲家、雕塑家、舞台設計人、助理、模特，各有姿態。雖然不是點點相通，但或多或少的往來無聲無息的塑造覑這個分散的空間。

活化政策衍生迫遷危機

藝術家們對火炭的評價全是正面的，地價低、環境大、風景好是人人都提到過的原因。張美儀還有些神秘的說﹕「火炭真的很好，有山有水有靈氣。賽馬會雖然現在很紅，但還是在鬧市之中，有點喧嘩。」也有人喜歡火炭的自由和獨立﹕「賽馬會像政府的cage。火炭是比較民間的，就是Open Day政府資助也只是整個財政的一小部分，自主性很高。」雖然今年內，地價有上漲，但是相比較其他的選擇來說，火炭還是很有吸引力的。

最近提出的活化工業大廈政策無疑牽動覑藝術家們的神經，恆發行的Joe甚至見我就問是不是來採訪她對這個政策的反應的。Homan的說法可以反映到很多藝術家的憂慮﹕「業主當然是希望活化改造的，這樣可以升地價，吸引工商業投資，可是到時候我們很可能負擔不起地租，就被擠出去。」普遍的看法是活化後的大廈不歡迎藝術工作室，而火炭大片的工業樓宇應該會是政策執行地之一。如果地價升的不要太高，火炭仍會是這些人的第一選擇。我想，愈來愈具規模的Open Day有機會把一個分散的火炭藝術群體凝聚起來，一同發聲，也在為香港藝術出力的同時擴大覑影響力。這對於抵抗協商政府政策是有利的，但是也將會慢慢改變這個藝術生態區的很多原生狀態。

夜裏想覑這些充滿變數的議題，在大廈樓梯間行走，數覑地上的煙頭，摸摸牆上的塗鴉，心裏也生出幾分眷戀，竟在工廠裏找到了這城市缺乏的清新和自由。

（衷心感謝所有接受我訪問的藝術家們。）

逼死人的活化工廈 By Thompson

2010-06-15T17:24:00.000-07:00

Published: February 21, 2010Posted in: 新聞 News, 新聞及評論 News and essays, 評論 essaysTags:

黃與白

黃津珏和白雙全二人中學時是同學。黃津珏會考之後到英國升學，在大學主修音樂，現在是自由身音樂製作人，有時會做做運輸，幫補收入；寫過樂評和雜誌稿，現在參與民間電台的廣播活動。見政府的活化工廈計劃令區內工業大廈單位的租金上揚，觀塘區內的音樂同好不能付擔租金，有工廈業主寄望政府重建收地，而不肯與經營搖滾樂表演場地音樂同好續約。有見及此，他發起了「自然活化合作社（自活社）」，替使用工廈的創作單位發聲抗議爭取權益。

白雙全是香港中文大學出身的藝術家，曾在海外多次參展，作品集有《單身看》，共兩集。他的單位「二樓五仔」，是伙炭藝術工作室開放計劃的發起單位之一。試過蒙著眼跟團去旅行，用相機代替眼睛觀光。黃白二人對本地自主藝術空間的發展，都有頗深入的參與。

本地的創作環境

錄音室裡有許多拆開了的電子組件，零散地放在各處。我們坐在錄音室後，一個有大窗的房間。我拍照，他們對談，我間中也有提出意見。

「現在創意工業很難做。試過接到委託，要製作一首兩分鐘左右的配樂，做兩個版本，二選一，工資只得九百元。最後客人還想在選好版本之後將工資減半！這樣我情願去送貨。」黃用這個事例，作為訪談中一系列事例的開頭。他認為香港做創作的環境很差，節奏太快，往往為了快起貨就「抄巧改款」，扼殺了原創的空間。

官僚制度對藝術的浸透也很嚇人，大規模的藝術活動已成為申請資助的手段，規模加大，同時應付行政的時間和成本都增加，許多時候搶走了藝術創作方面的時間和資源。白雙全在香港藝術界的經驗裡，明白到此中利害。除了租金，要面對的難題也有一大籮。但活化工廈是真接影響到生存空間的政策，不能坐以待斃。

不斷升溫的運動

自活社發起遊行，將會去多個政府部門請願，藝術發展局是遊行的第一站。「其實已經被許多人問過，為甚麼去藝發局。藝發局雖然只是政府架構裡面的小角色，與活化工廈政策亦沒有直接關係，我們這步是像徵的層面上做的；藝發局方面也很配合，會派人出來收請願信。信裡面有一些調查項目，是我們認為藝發局在活化工廈的前題下，應該為藝術界搜集的資料。」他又說之後運動會升溫，一定會遊行去發展局找林鄭月娥。第一波的運動參與的主要是文化界的朋友，第二階段想工場和廠家都參加，因為事件與他們都有關係。

拒絕沉默

活化工廈政策之下，得益的就只有地產市場。一直在工廈裡面靠廉宜租金維持的單位，卻被連根拔起，快要煙消雲散。白雙全談到火炭藝術工作室群組的發展，最初由一班中大藝術系學生，為了找廉租單位來製作藝術系的功課，然後大學教授都加入租戶行列，到近年地產商贊助攪開放日，吸引了公眾注意，是活化工廈的契機之一；政策推出之後，租金也上揚了，他考慮明年會遷出伙炭。黃津珏察覺到，創作社群會對沒利可圖的空間作出填補：「用火炭做例，當年大量工廈單位空置，政府不知該做甚麼，地產商又不知該做甚麼時，那裡就有創作人走進去。現下政府急著要為工廈做些甚麼，是揠苗助長。」用市場的無形之手，拉起高地價政策之下死剩的創作單位，讓人見到便以為苗長得快，這是筆者的聯想。「真正地為工廈帶來生機的是我們這班人。現在所說的活化工廈，根本就是抄襲民間藝術單位的求生手段，來向地產商獻媚。現下的情況真的太離譜，不能保持沉默。一定要嘈。」

理想的空間

黃又談到音樂制作和工廈的關係：「畫畫的還可以在家畫。但攪音樂要錄音，用唐樓的話至要花幾十萬做隔音工程。近年攪的創意辦工室，也不可能接納音樂制作的申請。曾有人批評那些辦工室是動物圖式管理，我們可是連動物園都不會想關住的人。我們只能在工廈做。」他提到以前租觀塘建業街的單位，就算樓上是絲母廠，傍晚六時下班後，環境靜下來了，就可以做錄音的工作。還說工廈裡還有老鼠曱甴，攪創作的人能屈能伸，都不介意這些。「政府應該去修輯外牆和工廈的結構，凍結租金。能做到的話已功德無量。」

白雙全都贊成這種低介入性的措施：「當初伙炭找到地產商贊助，理想中的方案，是每人贊助幾百元用來付租金，當然是不可能的。」企業要報施，必定要做到全香港人人知。沒有宣傳效果的贊助，財團不會做。「看長遠的話，藝術家的收入來源，應該回歸到市場，脫離政府的援助。政府可以做的，是陪養一種氣氛，讓藝術家能夠與主流市場接合。香港還欠缺一個畫廊體系，對在本地的藝術家身上去作長遠的投資。一個畫家賣三四張畫，就已經能生活好一段時間了，但現在香港的藝術市場，實在太淡。香港有足夠數目的藝術家，去支持一個活躍的藝術市場。政府想要一些藝術巨星，想要能吸引幾萬人參加的展覽活動，就得由根本做起，慢慢陪養。藝術也是抽象的，不能只用一件件作品和一個個活動來做單位衡量。」當然，如果工作室的空間，都要被政府和財團收編，再由他們高姿態地分派，藝術家也許只能是一種副業了。

「如果你對政府說一件事它一定會實行，那會是甚麼？」忽然間，白問黃。「減租吧，減租的幫助最大。不過也是天馬行空吧。」「都不算天馬行空，政府要做的話一定做得到。」白這句語帶相關。這政府甚麼都做得出。

不能讓步

不過，與其求一部管治機器去明白被逼遷者的訴求，難道爭取時間和空間，抓取資本不是更重要嗎？「現在我們不是要管治機器去做甚麼，而是要它不做甚麼。不要以『活化工廈』之名來奪去我們的生存空間。沒有工廈工作室，我們絕對做不下去。」黃津玉斷言，白雙全接著補充：「用活化工廈這個名義的話，就不應該用來謀利。一開始『活化工廈』所發佈的訊息，是幫藝術單位找空間，新聞上所訪問的都是相關的單位。但現在卻暗地裡向地產商做利益輸送，是完全地本末倒置。」

黃又繼續說：「再起酒店起商場，究竟能給我們帶來甚麼幫助？我真不明白。這個政策推出之後，有關部門曾做過一個問卷調查，說有九成人贊成，但一查之下原來只問了三十個人，而且全是來自建築和地產界的人。我們在火炭和觀塘都做過同類問卷調查，對政策十成反對。民間和政府，視野相差境是這樣大。還要說政策的受益人是我們，簡真恐怖。這種荒謬的事情，一定要讓大家知道。」

如無意外，本文見報之日，是自活社發起的「生勾勾活化大遊行」的日期。在中央圖書館則集合，然後遊行到藝術發展局。三時集合。他們要用創作人鬧哄哄的生命力，把空間爭回來。

文、圖：湯舜
About the Author
湯舜（Thompson）懂得讀書、研究、中英文流利；正在學法文。現職攝影師。工作室網頁：workandworkshop.com

一個人跑場﹕Open Day、Fotanian和火炭人

2010-06-15T17:20:00.000-07:00

2009-11-22 05:05:51

【明報專訊】地點﹕火炭藝術工作室

題旨﹕仍在進行中

本以為在火炭有如此多的工作室

和藝術家，大家彼此應該常常往來，

非常熟絡。

幾天之後，才發現並非如此。

無論是做哪一類自由撰稿人，或是

藝術教師，每每結束了一天工作，

都已經累到不行。

好容易有了時間精力進到自己的studio，大多數人似乎都選擇關上門，

進入工廠裏面的私人空間，

靜下來，沉下去，

哪怕是幾個小時也不錯。

偶爾彼此見到，

很可能是在巴士站或是電梯間，

匆匆招呼。

當然共處一個空間還是有很多機會交流，比如一年一度的Open Day。Open Day在不同藝術家眼裏的地位不同。「Open Day也是好事吧，但是也有一定的商業氣息。因為都是借助於某地產商的支持。地產商想給火炭營造藝術感覺，從而sell在這裏的房產。」剛剛進入創作階段的新人則更希望Open Day可以使他們的作品為更多人所知道。

為時兩周左右的Open Day其實籌劃準備的時間都會有幾個月之多，再加上後期的清場和回顧，也許可能佔去半年。雖然這裏藝術家雲集，但因為日常大家都忙，也很難總是聚在一起討論，所以會有一個臨時的八人小組抽空商議主要議題，屆時再邀請盡可能多的藝術家聽取意見。

這些層級關係對於一些人來說有些抽象，也有人覺得有點走場的感覺，「那個會的名字都好長，好像共產黨的組織和會議」。也有人質疑﹕「主辦的幾個人也許有野心想要把火炭搞得像模像樣，好像一個文化地標。可是其實本來大家都是自發的搬進來，自己專心自己的創作，為什麽一定要搞得好似個union？」也有人沒有意見﹕「那些會議並不是很官方很正式，不過是個臨時的procedure。總要有人牽針引線啊。」

各有各忙 Open Day聚首

我不由好奇起來，這個並不正式的會議到底是如何運行的，又牽涉到那些人和機構呢？還是翻出那張綠色地圖，細看頁腳有一個網頁地址。登上去看到 Fotanian幾個美工字體，也曾經有幾個藝術家建議我想知道更官方的信息應該寫信給fotanian在gmail的郵箱。Fotanian是不是這些參加會議的人們的簡稱呢？還是只是火炭人的英文翻譯？

湯太知道我的疑問，拿出電話說要打給華聯B座的何文聰（Homan），因為2010年的Open Day，他是那個8人committee其中一員。Homan還在工作室未起身，於是過半小時才去叨擾，方知道是前幾天來過的一壺檸七studio，而這位Homan也分明在電梯裏打過照面。他的工作室是幾人合租，有很多不同的東西放在一起。他主要是做裝置藝術的創作。房間裏除去道具、文具，還有一台電視和幾張沙發，「有時候就是在這裏睡覺，當然大廈是不允許過夜的，所以我每次都只是不小心睡過去了而已。」

我們剛坐下，我就開始詢問關於 Open Day，fotanian和committee的種種問題，他答得慢條斯理，信息量好大。Open Day已經有七八年的歷史了，最初是幾個很早進入火炭的前輩搞得一個小範圍的活動。那時候他們會比較隨意的選擇幾日將工作室開發，三五知己互相上門拜訪。後來藝術家愈來愈多，這個傳統也繼續了下來，但範圍就愈來愈大。現在Open Day已經是這裏比較重要的活動了。

而那個傳說中的 committee在Homan口中並不官方﹕「大家可能有些誤解了。這個committee都不是多formal，也沒有一個標準的程序什麽的，是很 temporary的。更不必擔心我們會不會有野心，即使是committee的成員也都整日要工作，都是擠出時間見面討論問題的。這並不是外邊那種政治選舉，不過是有心的人想要幫手。」聽到我轉述其他藝術家的看法，他搖頭笑了﹕「我們一路都知道自己不成熟，也沒有會員制度，深知是一個informal的過程。成日擔心有沒有artists會不鍾意我們的做法呢。一直希望做好點。而且因為我們有很大的主動權，所以想爭取多一些東西。比如會給參展的 studio一些artist fee，這也是我們平常都會抱怨的事情。為什麽展覽不付給artists錢呢，如果擺展覽可以有收入就不用日日去兼職了。」

Open Day在常人看來，不過是十幾天的event，可是需要花費力氣來佈置。每個工作室大概需要一個月準備，那個空間就被佔用了。這或是有些人選擇不參加的原因吧。

八人小組 Fotanian認受需時

又問他會不會愈辦愈多商業氣息，他表示現在還不必有這重顧慮﹕「商業化都可以看做是民間的一部分，我們的Open Day較少政府參與，所以商業或是民間的支持很珍貴。有這些支持，也說明Open Day是有價值的。」

正在籌劃中的2010年Open Day，committee已經有了一些初步想法。「不過我們沒有定什麽特別的theme，因為一向都是由studio自己決定要展示什麽。」除了開放工作室之外，他們還計劃在一些工作室裏舉行seminar和screening。近來着手的project則是一項裝置，邀請火炭之外的artists在一列火車內外擺放或懸掛作品，火車可能會從火炭駛出，走去城市他處。Open Day結束後，也有事要做﹕「想着要做一個research，做survey調查香港的art audience，我想對香港的藝術發展和教育會有些用處。」

說道火炭人和Fotanian，他很認真的給了一個區分﹕火炭人是外界能找到的對藝術家們最好的歸類，是主流媒體率先使用這個詞語的。但其實在火炭很少有藝術家會介紹自己是個火炭人。Fotanian是十幾個人一起改的，看上去會覺得和火炭有關，但又不是外界給的名字，所以中文和英文都差別很大。

火炭人藝術的堅持

Fotanian 或是火炭人現在還是一個很模糊的稱謂，因為沒有組織機構可以依託，反而可以靈活的詮釋。火炭人可以是相對於觀塘、賽馬會、牛棚等其他藝術空間而言的藝術群體，有自己的特點，比如更加私人化，民間化，不喜歡公開自己的生活狀態；也可以是一種生活方式的代稱，比如在燒臘廠對面作業，或是對着九肚山冥想，有人就這樣回答我「我是火炭人啊，我願意是火炭人，很多時間都在這裏度過嘛。乘小巴上山，在樓下士多午飯，抬眼就是一片綠色，這是火炭人的生活。」

火炭人對同類充滿了想像，既有資歷上的﹕「一流畫廠的呂振光先生才有資格叫自己火炭人吧，他自己來着很久了，又有很多學生在這裏。」也有學校派系的，「火炭人大部分都是中大人，老師學生一大堆。」

也有人根本不在乎甚至反對這個詞彙。「最重要自己創作出好作品來，叫什麽名字都不緊要。」或是「藝術應當是很個人的表達，為什麽要有個label給我們，好似我們很一樣呢？大家不過是在同一屋簷下而已。」

但是沒有一個藝術家會在解釋這些詞彙的時候，談到非藝術的火炭人——那些比他們來的早的，呆的時間長的工人、文員、清潔工。以前不少文章都有一種敘述，大致是覺得進駐工廠的藝術家很難不被工業文化感染，影響到自己的風格。可是我訪問的藝術家們，都絕少和非藝術火炭人交流。也許工業文化或是火炭記憶的痕是會體現在作品中，但我懷疑角度應該還是由外而內的觀者。工作室搬進的不是沒有格檔的工廠，而是工廠裏一個一個小單位。

（四之三）

文蕭鳴澗

編輯徐志堅

廖偉棠藝術這塊霓虹招牌

2010-06-15T16:48:00.001-07:00

2010年6月2日

出離島記
藝術這塊霓虹招牌下面，一切都在賣和買。這是今年「香港國際藝術展10」Art HK 10的宣傳海報最直接地傳遞給我的訊息—鬧市中一具最有香港特色的赤裸燈管屹立，「ART HK 10」七個大字熒惑地發着光。

如果可以交易並且價格合理，我想我會首選收藏海報中這具霓虹燈牌。首先它讓我想起了十年前、旅居香港的藝術家顏磊的燈管作品：那作品直接複製自當年在旺角油麻地比比皆是的妓院招牌—那些用粉色燈管組成的箭嘴指引着慾望的方向，隱晦又心照不宣，可謂玩弄藝術隱喻的高手所為—而顏磊以他一貫因利成便的惡搞作風，把慾望招牌直接移植到藝術場所（當時是長沙灣政府屠場的臨時藝術村），立刻使它具有了更針對藝術自身諷喻意味：藝術家們、藝術收購家們，你們的慾望出口在這裏。

招牌酷似廉價十元店

但說回今次國際藝術展這塊酷似廉價十元店的招牌，它的作品精緻度仍然大大超出當年顏磊那山寨版。而我覺得它值得收藏還在於它充分地體現了當代藝術最寶貝的四個特點：第一、艷俗性，粉色系加上持續的光亮，張揚又嫵媚；第二、直接的圖解性，它費心屈就的英文和阿拉伯數字，沒有人會作出半點多餘誤讀，藝術真正做到了婦孺能懂；第三、簡易的百搭性，這塊招牌可以移動到香港市區的任何地方擺放，好比一個確認的印戳，蓋在哪裏那裏就被證明為富有藝術之地而不是沙漠；第四，當然是商業性，「ART HK 10」中的「10」，無論怎樣看，都像是一個標價，「10」後面的單位是浮動的，可以是萬、十萬、百萬……

「ART HK 10」也可以音讀為「呃（騙）香港10次」，讓香港以為自己真的已經善待藝術、讓香港人以為藝術不過就是會展中心裏幾個下午的賣和買。純然，後現代主義運動以來，藝術早已不是殿堂或教堂牆上高不可攀的聖物，觀眾也愈來愈像逛街買菜—雖然都穿着晚禮服。開幕貴賓場的衣香鬢影一如既往的令人受不了，如果在香港你想要一晚上見盡所有那些和藝術無關的社交動物，這晚就最合適了。但這晚我有幸目睹了一個饒有趣味的「行為藝術」，無數杯穿梭於藝術品之間的紅酒，其中一杯摔碎在最昂貴的其中一件作品前面—那是張洹以整張牛皮壓製而成的佛首像—濺起的酒染紅了低垂的牛尾巴，這一下子令張洹的作品賦有了更多的意義。我想起的是那個著名的禪宗公案：白牛過窗櫺，頭身四蹄都過得，唯有尾巴過不得！張洹那白牛幻化的佛像，穿過藝術買賣場這滾滾紅塵，最終當然不得涅槃。

藝展主要是交際和傾銷

趟這渾水之河哪能不濕腳？藝術遭遇商業的尷尬，這場被我「命名」的「行為藝術」恰好做了一個最新的註釋而已。「香港國際藝術展」當然不是最後一個賣場，不是最好一個也不是最壞的一個。藝術家也非常尷尬，「我討厭這種衣香鬢影的場合，但仍然付出巨大精力投入，因為我們提供的只是藝術，而不涉及交際或傾銷。」本地藝術家關尚智回答也是藝術家的記者馮敏兒的說話，倔強中流露的是無奈。因為現實的藝術展正是交際和傾銷，藝術只是藉口、布景和硬通貨而已，藝術家自身的態度清醒已經成為藝術最後一道壁壘，縱觀這次「香港國際藝術展10」，說句公道話，能夠堅持藝術標準而不是商業標準的藝術家還是佔了半數以上，自甘淪陷的藝術不多，儘管有一些畫廊赤裸裸地把他們代理的藝術家往這個方向引誘着。

藝術兀自還端着一個清高的姿態，藝術推銷員則無所謂，貴賓之夜我耳邊聽得最多的還是「這件作品的升值可能」、「收藏這個藝術家將來出手容易」這樣的行話。這樣的大環境中藝術如何自處？真是一場嚴峻的考驗，大多數的藝術家選擇的是假裝超然的迴避：作品生產出來了，就讓它交給市場折騰去吧。又有部分不甘心的比較叛逆的藝術家選擇的是挑釁，就像他們的祖師爺杜尚一樣，在藝術市場的邏輯當中大肆調侃市場本身，在藝術展這些「高級場所」刻意粗野、好鬥，但是一不小心連你的叛逆姿態也成為了收購對象—當今潮流，如果藝術家在一張大尺寸畫布上大筆揮上「藝術展是個儍逼派對」之類的字眼（一定要大尺寸還要中英對照），也必然被標價出售。最終又有一部分聰明的藝術家發現這其實是條走向市場的終南捷徑。

姿態都無所謂，關鍵是硬通貨的可能。我又想起顏磊十多年前一個作品，一群西裝筆挺的西方人圍坐小圈，目光炯炯地齊齊盯着你，作品的名字就叫做《我能看看你的作品嗎？》，這幅辛辣深刻的作品，現在是否也被收購了呢？藝術如何自處，對於市場都已經無效，藝術家能夠做到的僅僅是對得住自己的藝術良心—雖然市場中人說到「良心」二字嘴角難免一笑。

回到香港，政府如何看待藝術、藝術執事者如何看待藝術，也已經不重要，關鍵是普通人對藝術的態度。這樣說來，「香港國際藝術展」最有意義的絕對不是藝術品的交易量、成交金額的高低，也不在於規模和事件的話題性，而僅僅在於後幾天開放日裏那些自己買票進來觀賞藝術的市民他們的精神得着。他們大多數人並沒有購買藝術奢侈品的能力，因此藝術的商業性對於他們是失效的，雖然他們也津津樂道於「天價藝術品」這樣的話題，但在他們的「不購買」的消解中，藝術竟然回到了藝術本身那種僅僅通過觀賞而獲得意義的存在純粹性中。這是黑色幽默？是諷刺？還是好事？藝術這塊霓虹招牌下面，除了賣和買，還是有一些意外，很藝術地發生着。

Two women reshape Hong Kong’s art scene

2010-06-10T08:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 29, 2010
Hong Kong’s ascent into the premier league of art centres is gathering pace with rumours that the buyer of the record-breaking $106.5m Picasso “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” (1932) hails from the Chinese metropolis.
Auction house sales there have also smashed records: Sotheby’s sold almost HK$2bn (£179m) of paintings and antiques at its six-day auction in April. The buoyant commercial gallery scene has been bolstered by dealer Larry Gagosian’s decision to open a permanent space in the city. But outside these powerhouses, a duo of Chinese women is shaping Hong Kong’s art scene through innovative, artist-led initiatives that dovetail with the region’s mega-bucks art ventures.
Claire Hsu
Claire Hsu
Elaine Ng is 36, Claire Hsu is 33. Ng is editor and publisher of Art Asia Pacific, the influential journal dedicated to contemporary art from the Asia Pacific region. Hsu co-founded Asia Art Archive (AAA) in 2000, a public contemporary art resource comprising a library and archive collection of over 22,000 items. The friends have had similar career paths, sharing a mentor in Johnson Chang Tsong-zung, the erudite curator and critic who towers over the Chinese contemporary art scene after founding Hanart TZ gallery in Hong Kong in 1983. Ng, armed with an MA in cultural policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, found herself at Chang’s space in the mid-1990s.
Elaine Ng
Elaine Ng
“Crucially, he was one of the first dealers to promote contemporary Chinese art in the 1980s and 1990s, backing big-name artists such as Xu Bing and Zhang Xiaogang before they sold for stratospheric prices in the mid-2000s. He has a great eye.” For Hsu, Chang was equally important, prompting her to set up the AAA when she was still a postgraduate at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London in the late 1990s. “My professor at SOAS was not impressed when I proposed that my MA dissertation should focus on late 20th-century Chinese contemporary art. There was very little material, or research: Johnson suggested that I set up an archive, so I packed a suitcase and went back to Hong Kong.”
The result, as Hsu describes the AAA, is a “museum without exhibitions. Contemporary and modern art is not widely taught in schools and colleges here and is only really seen in commercial galleries. AAA is proactive in instigating critical thinking and dialogue and forging networks in the region.”
Schemes include an annual international residency which, in 2009, brought the Delhi-based artists RAQS Media Collective to Hong Kong. But the best may be yet to come with the launch this year of a four-year initiative to incorporate into the archive the world’s most important collection of art from 1980s China, including the collections of artists Mao Xuhui, Wu Shanzhuan, Lu Peng and Zhang Xiaogang and curator Fei Dawei. For its booth at ARTHK 10, AAA has recreated an artist’s living-working space of the 1980s.
Ng’s sentiments chime with Hsu’s ideals. Dividing her time between Hong Kong and New York, where Art Asia Pacific is based, she sees her magazine as “a platform for artists that are not commercially viable [and] to encourage critical thinking. I’m on the advisory board of Art HK, which has become a pivotal international event for the region, but the non-commercial scene must also be supported.”
But there is no doubting the business acumen of the two women. Ng, who cut her teeth in the non-profit sector when she managed the film and new media organisation Videotage in Hong Kong in the late 1990s, turned a profit at Art Asia Pacific in 2007 and 2009 after she bought the publication from artist Zhao Gang in 2004.
Hsu seems just as canny, harnessing private capital through initiatives such as a collectors’ circle of about 20 couples.
There’s more. “We recently put together a vision plan for transforming the central police station compound, a heritage site that dates back to the 19th century, into a contemporary visual arts hub,” says Hsu. This project was launched in conjunction with the non-profit gallery, Para/site. And Hsu and Ng are immersed in another key state project, the West Kowloon Cultural District venture, a gargantuan 40-hectare waterfront development described as “an integrated arts, cultural, entertainment and commercial district”, pumped with state cash (an HK$21.6bn endowment). A new museum on the site, called M+, will focus on 20th- and 21st-century visual culture.
Hsu and Ng agree that Hong Kong, which lacks a landmark public contemporary art museum, desperately needs such a flagship institution. But can the city, awash with private art money, sustain a state-backed venue on this scale? Ng says: “I remain positive about its prospects. But museums are not yet part of the mindset here as everything needs to be profitable in the end.”
Posted by Rice Bank at 12:13 PM

Zoom announces H1 – Handy Recorder

2010-06-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

Related: field recording, hardware, microphone, portable, recording, USB, Zoom // Posted in news on Jun 02, 2010
Zoom H1 - Handy Recorder

Zoom has announced the H1 – Handy Recorder, a new portable audio recorder.

It’s our smallest recorder ever. But don’t let its size fool you. The H1 Handy Recorder has our renowned recording technology and studio-quality microphones in our easiest, most portable device ever.

Now Zoom recording technology is available to everyone. And with an infinite variety of applications, you’ll want to take your H1 everywhere. From musical performances, songwriting sessions and rehearsals to seminars, conferences, journalism or capturing audio for video, the H1 gives you clean, clear stereo sound effortlessly.

H1 – Handy Recorder features

* Stereo X/Y mic configuration captures perfect stereo images
* Same frequency and SPL handling as popular Zoom H2
* Records Broadcast WAV (BWF) at 96kHz/48kHz/44.1kHz at 16-bit or 24-bit
* Records MP3 from 48 to 320kbps for maximum recording time
* Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port
* Built-in reference speaker
* Includes 2GB microSD card and one AA battery
* One AA size battery allows 10 hours operation
* Accommodates up to 32GB microSDHC memory cards
* Track marker function
* Low cut filter
* Built-in tripod mount
* 1/8″ external mic input
* Stereo 1/8″ line output
* Auto record level
* Optional accessory package (APH-1) includes windscreen, AC adapter (USB type), USB cable, adjustable tripod stand, padded-shell case and mic clip adapter

The Zoom H1 will available in stores July 30th, priced at $99 USD. An H1 accessory kit — includes a windscreen, AC adapter (USB type), USB cable, adjustable tripod stand, soft carrying pouch and mic clip adapter, will be available for $24.99 USD.

More information: Zoom H1

H1 - Handy Recorder One size. Fits all.

2010-06-05T21:39:00.001-07:00

In Stores July 30th.
Introducing the H1 Handy Recorder.

It’s our smallest recorder ever. But don’t let its size fool you. The H1 Handy Recorder has our renowned recording technology and studio-quality microphones in our easiest, most portable device ever.

Now Zoom recording technology is available to everyone. And with an infinite variety of applications, you’ll want to take your H1 everywhere. From musical performances, songwriting sessions and rehearsals to seminars, conferences, journalism or capturing audio for video, the H1 gives you clean, clear stereo sound effortlessly.
What sets us apart?

Like all Zoom recorders, the H1’s onboard microphones are configured in an X/Y pattern, for stunning stereo imaging. Because both mics are arranged on the same axis, they are equidistant from the sound source for perfect localization and no phase shifting. The result is great stereo recordings with natural depth and accurate imaging.
Under your thumb…

With its newly designed user interface, the H1 is also our easiest recorder to use. All its functions are at your fingertips, such as track marker, auto record, low cut filter, level and volume controls with on-board buttons… No menus required!
H1 in hand

Intuitive controls make it easy to capture the audio you need with ease. But we still provide the versatility you’ve come to expect from Zoom. So you get total recording format flexibility from 16-bit/44.1 kHz to 24-bit/96 kHz WAV, or MP3 from 48 kbps to 320 kbps and enough tools onboard to make impeccable recordings.
Secure your digital memories.

The H1 records on microSD cards and comes with a 2GB card. Using a 32 GB microSD card allows over 50 hours of recording time at 16-bit/44.1 kHz. H1 with cards

MicroSD cards were specifically designed for the ever-evolving mobile technology market. Approximately the size of a fingernail, the microSD card is a significant advance in technology and its size and capacity are a major reason why the H1 is able to deliver so much recording technology in such a small package.
Share the love.

With its Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port, the H1 allows for fast transfer of your audio files to your computer. Listen, edit and share with your fans on your Mac or PC. It also includes a reference speaker to ensure your recordings are being captured as you desire.
Applications:
Musicians – Shorten the Learning Curve.

With stereo recording so precise and so easy, musicians will love the H1. An indispensible part of any serious musician’s arsenal, the H1 makes recording rehearsals and practice sessions easier than ever. And the best part is, because your performance is captured with crystal clear audio, you can really critique your own playing, and get better….
Peter Erskine Alan Pasqua

Peter Erskine, Educator, Grammy-Winning Drummer and Alan Pasqua, Chair of Jazz Studies, USC
Songwriters – More Hit Wonders.

Isn’t it time you heard your masterpieces in beautiful stereo that rivals a professional recording studio? We know you’re the creative type, not an engineer. That’s why we made the H1 so easy to setup and navigate. So you can keep the inspiration going. Your most creative ideas can now be recorded and shared with your co-writers anywhere and at anytime the music hits you. Just be sure you have your H1 on at all times!
Alice in Chains with the H1

Mike Inez and Jerry Cantrell - Alice in Chains
Bands – On the Road, On the Run.

There are so many applications for your band and the H1. Start with learning new songs. If you’re the guy who teaches the songs, record each part on an H1 and email it to the members of your band. If you’re the one who books the band, you band needs to get heard. And everyone in the group needs to hear their performance to get better. The H1 makes capturing your performance easy, even when you’re cranking out high SPLs.
Shinedown

Shinedown live in New York City
Video and Film Professionals – Indie Shoots That Don’t Sound Indie.

With DSLR cameras that shoot incredible HD video, the need for a better audio solution has emerged. The H1 will easily shoe mount on top of a video or DSLR camera. And because it has a standard ¼-20 mount on the bottom, you can place the H1 anywhere on your rig. Use the stereo output jack to connect directly to the audio input on your camera, or bring the audio into your editing suite using the USB connection. The H1 is the perfect entry point for those getting started with dual source shooting.
H1 on a DSLR camera

H1 mounted on a Canon T2i
Journalism – Scoop Central…

These days, a journalist needs be able to capture broadcast ready interviews whenever or wherever they occur. Imagine being able to spontaneously capture the kind of audio your producer needs and send it remotely via email. That’s what the H1 provides. It’s literally a recording studio in your pocket! And the files are Broadcast Wave Format (BWF) so your producer has time and date stamping as well as any markers you set for total editing ease.
H1 in journalism
Business – Content Management.

Whether it’s a sales meeting, training conference or a seminar, the ability to capture and distribute the content is a big part of the ROI when you do events. Use the H1 to record your content for your company website or distribute it by email to your peers. Edit and turn it into a podcast. The possibilities are endless. Whatever the use, the H1 is perfect for legal, business and medical field use.
H1 in the boardroom
Accessorize the size…

Everything you need to get started recording is included. Your H1 comes with an AA battery for 10 hours of operation and a 2 GB microSD card.

In addition, an H1 accessory package (APH-1) is also available with an array of accessories that make your recordings even more pristine and easier to capture. The accessory kit includes a windscreen, AC adapter (USB type), USB cable, adjustable tripod stand, padded-shell case and a mic clip adapter.
H1 / APH-1 accessory pack
Brilliant Stereo Recording.
Now in your pocket.

Combining powerful recording capability with elegance and simplicity, the H1 Handy Recorder is our smallest, most affordable recorder ever.
Features:

* Stereo X/Y mic configuration captures perfect stereo images
* Same frequency and SPL handling as popular Zoom H2
* Records Broadcast WAV (BWF) at 96kHz/48kHz/44.1kHz at 16-bit or 24-bit
* Records MP3 from 48 to 320kbps for maximum recording time
* Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port
* Built-in reference speaker
* Includes 2GB microSD card and one AA battery
* One AA size battery allows 10 hours operation
* Accommodates up to 32GB microSDHC memory cards
* Track marker function
* Low cut filter
* Built-in tripod mount
* 1/8" external mic input
* Stereo 1/8" line output
* Auto record level
* Optional accessory package (APH-1) includes windscreen, AC adapter (USB type), USB cable, adjustable tripod stand, padded-shell case and mic clip adapter

H1 Features at a glance:

The H1 Handy Recorder puts all its functions at your fingertips. No menus! Its backlit display features recording levels, file format, time elapsed, remaining battery life and recording time.

Its intuitive transport puts all the controls on the side with no menus on the screen. A large record button gives you complete control. Playback and pause, marker, forward and rewind buttons are all accessible by your thumb. Volume for playback and monitoring can be adjusted using your index finger.

On the back, you’ll find a single AA battery compartment, a tripod mount, low cut filter, auto level setting and recording format selectable switches. There’s also convenient mount for a strap or lanyard clip.
H1 front and back annotated

All the transport controls are on right side of the H1 and you can adjust recording levels on the fly. A 1/8" stereo line input is located on this side and its USB port is also accessible here as is its power on and hold switch.
On the left side, you can replace your microSD card by folding down the rubberized door. There’s also a 1/8" stereo line/headphone output with adjustable volume control for monitoring playback. The built-in reference speaker is on the bottom of the unit.

H1 sides annotated

文化專題李卓賢香港國際藝術展 ART HK 2010 當代火紅藝術家列陣

2010-05-20T18:37:00.001-07:00

2010年5月21日

有留意藝文活動的讀者應注意到近期文化氣候的轉變，姑勿論大型活動如法國五月一如以往舉辦展覽，連大大小小的畫廊都摩拳擦掌，紛紛舉辦個展群展。正如有美女的地方總會出現一大群餓男，只因香港國際藝術展2010（Hong Kong International Art Fair 2010, ART HK 2010）即將於月尾開鑼，畫廊、藝術家，不論大小，也待機而動。

彷彿昨天還在擔心ART HK前路崎嶇，念茲在茲自從2009年失去了雷曼兄弟以後，將如何營辦下去，轉瞬又到第三屆。相比於2008年第一屆一百零五家、與去年一百一十五家，今年參與ART HK的有二十四個國家共一百五十家參展商，當中以京滬、美國、德國與日本的畫廊最為活躍，過去參展的如紐約Gagosian Gallery、倫敦的White Cube、香港的漢雅軒也再度參展，似乎美國經濟不景氣與歐洲財政危機等對藝術市場的負面影響，都因為「中國彈起」而被忽略過去。本地同類的藝術展覽、去年10月份舉行的香港國際古玩及藝術品博覽會（HKIAAF）的主辦者黑國強，在接受其他訪問時亦指出，中國內地收藏家今年的購買力強勁，而且有不少新的收藏家參與，打破了以往由西方畫家買家壟斷的局面。

展覽作為商機

今年ART HK較讓人看好的原因，相信是因為找到德意志銀行（Deutsche Bank）成為主要贊助者，無論從德銀本身贊助The Frieze Art Fair的經驗，抑或有更多的德國畫廊參與展覽，都是對ART HK以至本地藝術市場的一個利好消息。Art HK的展覽總監Magnus Renfrew在接受本報訪問時指出：「德銀贊助ART HK，能擴展他們在市場宣揚文化活力的全球承諾，這與他們的業務有一定關係。在『藝術作品』的座右銘下，德銀三十年來透過自己的收藏、展覽和企業合作，令當代藝術更為普及。今時今日，德意志銀行收藏是世界上重要的公司藝術收藏之一。德意志銀行贊助ART HK，反映他們在亞太區的擴展以及長期對藝術的承諾。我們共通的視野與合作關係，將進一步肯定ART HK的領先地位。」

當然單憑以上的條件，很難吸引大量的畫商與參觀者，作品的存在自然是重要的。在今年的ART HK，大會找來了多位當紅的當代藝術家做個人展覽。Sperone Westwater的中國藝術家劉野，將於這次博覽會展出《鄧麗君》及J. With Glasses等作品；代表Marianne Boesky畫廊的日本藝術家奈良美智，亦會展出他的畫作Rock 'n Roll the Roll等作品。此外White Cube的Damien Hirst、Rokeby的Gideon Rubin、The Modern Institute的Jim Lambie等藝術家亦會舉行個展。

支持這批當代藝術家的人氣，除了是他們的藝術作品質素，還有近年的拍賣紀錄。劉野的作品《最後的巴洛克》在2007年的成交價是1074萬元，本年 4月份蘇富比拍賣他的早期作品《金光大道》的成交價達1914萬元；在去年12月的亞洲藝術拍賣周，奈良美智的Winter Long，成交價也達410萬。在剛過去4月份的蘇富比春季拍賣，岳敏君的《在湖上》以1466萬元成交，東南亞藝術家李曼峰油畫作品《峇里民采》更破紀錄以2530萬元成交。

的確，與過去兩年相比，ART HK 2010有明顯的不同了。Magnus Renfrew認為最大的改變是展覽本身急速的發展，在2009年入場人次上升30%，相信今年可以再上一層樓，另一方面今年也多了很多有質素的畫廊參展。「有一些世界上最好的畫廊參與本年的展覽，包括Hauser&Wirth、Marianne Boesky、Sperone Westwater、Gagosian、White Cube等等。還有，今年我們首次提供普通話導賞，以應付日益增多的內地參觀者。」

人多等同人文氣息？

記得數年前，記者訪問文化界某大佬，急着要問一條辦好副刊的法門。大佬也沒有敷衍小朋友，告訴記者所有的文化空間最重要的是「人文氣息」，讓一個版面有「人文氣息」的方法，就要讓最多的作者和讀者在裏面流動逗留。如果展覽同樣作為文化空間，把文化大佬的理論放進去，也許正是要令最多的參觀者和展出者參與，以此準則去判別ART HK的工作，看來是朝着此的方向進展的。

但這時候又會產生另一個疑問：有眾多參展者或參觀者，人文氣息就聚合了？香港書展可說是一個教材。據香港書展的數據，2007年書展入場人次七十六萬，參展商四百七十五家；2008年書展入場人次八十二萬，參展商四百八十五家；去年2009年書展入場人次九十萬，參展商五百零四家。數字上戰績輝煌，但都是建立在購買漫畫精品迫爆玻璃、明星新書發布排長龍簽名會、模一比一攬枕抱回家，一個文化空間，人多了，有沒有人文氣息，真的見仁見智。

地緣歷史優勢

回頭去看ART HK，不得不承認藝術品銷售與拍賣在當中起有重要作用。好奇的記者一直不明白展覽與拍賣之間的關係，於是向Magnus Renfrew求教，得到一個可堪玩味的回覆：「大型拍賣與ART HK相互配合，隨着大量的重要活動在香港舉行，國際藝術界將會把目光放在香港。」

也就是說，ART HK能成為國際性展覽並得以快速冒起，除了因為國際畫廊聚焦於此，還有就是便利大手交易與拍賣等因素，這是地緣與歷史優勢帶來的結果。談及ART HK能站穩至第三屆，Magnus Renfrew亦不諱言背後因素：「ART HK是亞洲唯一一個由獨立機構作嚴謹挑選的展覽，過去兩年的氣勢吸引很多世界最好的畫廊參與。香港作為大型國際藝術中心，在地理上比起區內其他地方有很多優勢：藝術品進出口零稅率、作為亞洲區的交通心臟地帶、廣泛使用英語、生動而活力的城市，何況亞洲沒有一處地方像香港讓西方人有家的感覺。」

教育、教育、教育

當人流聚集的同時，藝術展覽能不能做得更多，將會是ART HK在今年甚至未來面對的挑戰。寫到這裏記者想起柴門ふみ（柴門文，《東京愛的故事》、《愛情白皮書》等作者）近年一部關於收藏的漫畫作品《京都情緣》（はんなり!），故事中男主角修治是一位眼光超好的收藏家，有一回他看中女主角手上的古董酒杯，於是利用自己巧手製作的贗品，偷龍轉鳳，女主角把假酒杯拿給專家鑑定，對方雖然懷疑酒杯是假的，但毫不猶豫判定那作品價值60萬日圓，他的原因是「就算是偽冒的也好，那件無可挑剔的瓷器，要我用60萬買下，也不會後悔，這就是我說它值『60萬』的原因。」

今天有不少藝術品買家，雖然具備漫畫中的專家輕鬆說出「60萬」的財力與豪氣，卻未必有背後相對的修養、經驗與相關知識。有藝術拍賣業人士向記者指出，現時內地有不少商人均加入收藏行列，打破以往藝術家作為收藏家的狀況，他們縱使鑑賞力不高，卻出手闊綽，因此近期藝術品的估價及成交價偏高，帶動整個藝術品市場變得活躍。然而這只是消費與跟隨潮流，而不是欣賞藝術品甚至收藏家應有的心態。問及舉辦ART HK的最大障礙，Magnus Renfrew認為：「最關鍵的挑戰仍是教育、教育、教育。這裏仍是一個非常年輕的市場，重要的是，我們有需要盡量降低人們在欣賞藝術時所面對的心理威脅，很多人害怕提出問題，這是不應該的，因為向訪客解說藝術作品是展覽館的責任。」

文　李卓賢　mattlee@hkej.com

放大圖片

① Huma Mulji, Archetype II, Courtesy Project 88

放大圖片

② Peter Liversidge, Dice, Courtesy Peter Liversidge and Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh

放大圖片

③ Wang Qing Song, 123456 chops, Courtesy Pekin Fine Arts

放大圖片

④ Liu Ye, Teresa Teng, Courtesy Sperone Westwater, New York

放大圖片

⑤ Yoshitomo Nara, Rock'n Roll the Roll, Courtesy Marianne Boesky Gallery

ReBirth ReBorn!

2010-05-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

• • • • • • • • •

2 x TB-303 Bassline Synthesizer with pattern sequencer
The original Acid House and Techno bass synth. Unrivaled power, unmistakable sound.

ReBirth is back...In your iPhone! Propellerhead Software's legendary Techno Micro Composer has been reincarnated. This time around, ReBirth takes the form of a seriously block rocking iPhone music app. Released in 1997 and discontinued in 2005, Propellerhead ReBirth was the first music software to reproduce the sound and behavior of those three classic Roland devices that defined the sound of early Techno and Acid House: the TB-303 Bassline Synth and the TR-808 and TR-909 Rhythm Composers.

With dual basssynths and pattern sequencers, two sets of drum machines plus FX and mixer sections, ReBirth gives you an extremely streamlined but very powerful music production environment. Every knob and button on ReBirth's devices can be tweaked and turned in real time, so when you plug your iPhone into that massive sound system, you're in charge everything from pattern selections to the depth of those nasty Acid filter squelches.

ReBirth for the iPhone may be small and ever so cutesy looking, but it's no toy, believe it. With a fully featured song mode and advanced copying and pasting capabilities, ReBirth is a fully featured iPhone music software product that lets you arrange and compose full tracks for saving to your iPhone. You can even share your songs with other ReBirth users - one single click will upload your composition to the ReBirth server, allowing other users to enjoy your music in their iPhones.

ReBirth for iPhone – music production software for the iPhone, perfect for music making on the go and with the sought after sounds for everything from Techno to Electro, House to Hip Hop, Electronica or whatever style you are into.

All specifications subject to change without notice.

ReBirth is a trademark of Propellerhead Software. All other commercial symbols are protected trademarks and trade names of their respective holders.
All rights reserved.

The software is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media except as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. It may not be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any other purpose, without prior written permission by Propellerhead Software.

ReBirth was inspired by the TR-808, TB-303 and TR-909, originally created by Roland Corporation. Their unique sounds and visual images have been re-born through digital simulation by Propellerhead Software. All visual and aural references to the TR-808, TB-303 and TR-909 are being made with written permission from Roland Corporation.
Sound Recordings © 1984 Roland Corporation.

Reason/Cubase 數位音樂軟體系列課程

2010-05-05T12:01:00.000-07:00

互動音樂設計工作坊 ( 基礎課程

電腦科技與音樂藝術跨領域連結，音樂已經不再受限於傳統樂器，而是創造了更多無限的可能。這一波新音樂已在國際間衍化出特有的表演形式，台北數位藝術中心邀請到數位DJ玩家，教大家如何使用電腦現場混音，用電腦來創作音樂

主題: Reason/Cubase 數位音樂軟體

時間: 2010.06/12、19、26、07/3 10:00~17:00

地點: 另行通知

講師: 蔡真勝

學員人數: 20人為上限 (若人數不足本中心保留是否開班的權利)

目的：

推廣數位音樂創作

課程安排：

Day 1 Reason	學員認識 & 自我介紹
	基本軟硬體設定介紹電腦+ 聲卡+主控鍵盤&周邊相關 (包括Sustain pedal , pitch bend ,modulation...etc介紹) Reason在電腦的相關檔案位置. 擴充音色的觀念. Reason preferences設定 ,
	基本介面&模組介紹視窗上實用功能的menu Reason視窗操作 (分隔視窗 , seq視窗, 模組視窗(前,後面板) 混音器mixer介紹. 合成器模組 : Subtractor , Malstrom,Thor 取樣機模組 : NN19 , NNXT 節奏模組 : Dr-Rex , Redrum 音色取用方式 , 擴充音色取用方式.
	午餐
	基本sequencer操作節拍器使用方法 Tempo調整 , 拍號調整 midi錄音功能相關鍵介紹 (包括快速鍵) midi track midi錄音軌介紹(Lanes觀念) others 其他相關介紹.
	基本編曲運用基本節奏 + bass + piano (e.p , pad等) + melody synth.
	基本音樂基礎訓練基本手指訓練 , 基本和弦進行使用 , 基本節奏配器練習
	基本音色概念音色種類介紹

Day 2 Reason	報到
	進階模組運用&介紹效果器 (rev , delay....etc基本介紹) Combinator介紹 M-Class Mastering 模組介紹 Matrix RPG8 Spider 觀念
	效果器運用效果器運用測試
	進階編曲sequencer操作如何copy , paste等複製小節 L.R.E的介紹修正窗的介紹
	午餐
	節奏訓練 4 , 8 , 16分音符訓練. 基本style練習
	輔助軟體介紹 : 歌曲輸出剪輯,修正等觀念
	Reason mixdown & Export. (混音&輸出) 混音輸出的相關注意現象
	製作最後成品每位學員可帶USB隨身碟存取自己製作的成果
	成果討論最後對reason使用的心得共享 Q & A等

Day 3 Cubase	報到
	基本軟硬體設定介紹 Cubase devices設定(midi , 聲音卡) VST connections聲音輸入設定
	基本介面&模組介紹 Project , mixer , transport , vst performance , vsti...等
	基本sequencer操作 midi錄音 , vsti樂器 , 拍子修正 , 力度大小結構組成.
	午餐
	基本編曲運用運用基本和弦進行 & 基礎樂器實際編曲練習.
	進階音樂基礎訓練編曲進階技巧實戰
	進階編曲應用編曲以外,同時對結構的創意練習

Day 4 Cubase	報到
	Cubase 結合Reason 運用結合Cubase & Reason rewire的觀念與設定
	效果器運用運用Cubase內建的效果器實際測試. 順便介紹E.Q(等化器)的大略介紹
	進階編曲sequencer操作結合更複雜的編曲 + seq的相關注意事項 Audio track錄音概念. Audio 基本處理. Mixing 混音基本概念
	午餐
	進階節奏訓練運用不同音樂風格訓練節奏例 : bossa , pop , jazz , dance......等
	VST & VSTi 認識與討論 Vsti 樂器 , Vst 效果器的設定擴充的方法等
	Cubase mixdown & Export. (混音 & 輸出) 混音輸出的相關注意現象
	製作最後成品每位學員可帶USB隨身碟存取自己製作的成果
	成果討論最後對cubase使用的心得共享 Q & A等

學費: 5600 元(不含午餐)

招生對象:

對於數位音樂、編曲、作曲有興趣，且具備基本電腦操作技能之成人。同時歡迎從事傳統音樂創作之人士，一同加入數位音樂的行列。

軟、硬體準備：台北數位藝術中心將準備電腦及其他相關軟硬體設備(兩人一機)。若學員欲自備筆記型電腦，則需自備mini keyboard及FiWire錄音介面(建議品牌Motu或M-audio)

報名方式:

報名方式：請至http://workshop.dac.tw/申請帳號線上報名，即日起至 2010/06/07，

以20人為限，額滿為止。

講師簡介：

蔡真勝

多項數位樂器領域專業講師:Yamaha功學社熱門樂器部　+X’Wave Midi音樂專任教師 +

Yamaha VL1(最頂級物理模型合成器)指定全省示範演奏者、

Yamaha功學社全省midi音樂訓練總講師、海國樂器Midi樂器教師、

Magic音樂發生中心Midi講師、敦煌樂器Midi樂器教師、Midimall Midi樂器教師、

A-Pa樂器Midi樂器教師。

主辦單位：台北市文化局、數位藝術基金會　　　承辦單位：台北數位藝術中心

活動網站：www.dac.tw 　　　　　　洽詢電話：（02）7736-0708 # 613 詹小姐

台北市士林區福華路180號 （捷運淡水線芝山站依指示沿福華路往北步行300公尺）

Ableton Live 數位音樂軟體系列課程

2010-05-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

主題: Ableton Live 數位音樂軟體課程(Interactive Computer Music with Ableton Live)

時間: 2010.05/29、30 9:30~18:00

地點: 另行通知

講師: 阿麥老師 ( Smiley Lin )

學員人數: 20人為上限 (若人數不足本中心保留是否開班的權利)

目的：推廣數位音樂創作

教學內容：用單調的音樂來創作出更多豐富的混音手法，讓你把你所愛聽的音樂，

　　　　　讓它延伸出更多的可能性與聆聽趣味

課程安排：

Day 1

9:30-10:00	報到
10:10-11:00	講師介紹 / Ableton live 範例演出 / 軟體安裝與介面功能介紹
11:10-12:00	如何整理與管理資源庫 / 何謂是VST套件
12:00-13:10	午餐
13:10-14:00	Ableton Live 調音台相關介紹 / Scene 與 Clip 播放相關介紹
14:10-15:00	Ableton Live 的核心 / 如何使用 Loop 來做 Warp 相關教學
15:10-16:00	使用素材錄音到 Arrangement
16:10-18:00	實作、討論、問答時間老師與學生互動之探討

Day 2

9:30-10:00	報到
10:10-11:00	介紹DJ混音的手法與過程
11:10-12:00	介紹如何使用Loop功能的 Envelops
12:00-13:10	午餐
13:10-14:00	介紹如何使用Loop功能的 Launch
14:10-15:00	實作、討論、問答時間老師與學生互動之探討
15:10-16:00	實作、討論、問答時間老師與學生互動之探討
16:10-18:00	實作、討論、問答時間老師與學生互動之探討

學費: 2800 元(不含午餐)

軟、硬體需求:

台北數位藝術中心將準備電腦及其他相關硬體設備(兩人一機)。若學員欲自備筆記型電腦，則需自　　備mini keyboard及FiWire錄音介面(建議品牌Motu或M-audio)

軟體部分由學員自行準備正式版或由www.ableton.com 下載Ableton live 試用版

(Ableton live 建議 8.0 版本 )。本課程也將提供Ableton live 試用版給學員使用。

招生對象:

適合喜歡聽音樂又不會玩音樂的朋友

適合數位DJ初學者來學習

適合對數位音樂有興趣的朋友

讓我們ㄧ起揭穿數位DJ的創作密室

報名方式:

請至 HYPERLINK "http://workshop.dac.tw" 申請帳號線上報名，即日起至 2010/05/24，

以20人為限，額滿為止。

報名時間:

即日起至5/10。

注意事項:

請於匯款動作完成後，回信告知匯款時間、金額與帳號後五碼。

本中心將於確認匯款後寄發通知，以完成報名手續。

講師簡介：

阿麥

facebook 搜尋ableton live school

google 搜尋ableton live 教學

阿麥老師是O2 Sun Shine 樂團的DJ

專任Ableton live 教師，目前是台灣區 Ableton Live 專職 DJ老師

參加過數場演出活動，本身是吉他手與電子樂的DJ,

不論在DJ或是製作混音作品上,喜愛在電子樂曲作品中,巧妙的加入搖碎切處理,也是O2 Sun Shine 所擅長的! 曾與各種音樂樂手同台合作演出

2009 / 8月台中左邊藝術藝廊演出

2009 / 9 / 20 台中胡同咖啡館

2009 / 9 / 26 街頭放聲-西門町電影公園演出

2009 / 10 / 3 台北典藏咖啡館

2009 / 10 / 14 地下社會UnderWorld

2009 / 10 / 15 台北 the wall 這牆

2009 / 10 / 16 台北公園生活果菱派客來

2009 / 10 / 17 南海藝廊

2009 / 10 / 24 街頭放聲-華山演出

2009 / 10 / 25 嗆勢網路電台不插電

2009 / 11 / 20 左邊藝術藝廊＆DJ

2009 / 11 / 21 Nell's Home 服裝秀

2009 / 12 / 6 台北當代藝術館<視覺突擊>特邀演出

2010 / 2 / 19 台中89K

2010 / 4 / 7 將在台中Ino咖啡<>

助教簡介：

Paul d gv

LIVE DJ P@ul dgv 喜好創作與混音

樂風為 MINIMAL BREAKBEAT TECH HOUSE

一小時的樂章創造一個

簡歷

2008/5/21 DGV 代言ｍａｃ電腦在實踐大學主辦 i live數位影音藝術展

2008/7/12 「SUMMER CLASH」-國際數位音樂戶外音樂節2008

2009/10/3 masago music massive 馬沙溝音樂海灘派對大澤伸一同台競演

主辦單位：台北市文化局、數位藝術基金會　　　承辦單位：台北數位藝術中心

活動網站：www.dac.tw 　　　　　　洽詢電話：（02）7736-0708 # 613 詹小姐

台北市士林區福華路180號（捷運淡水線芝山站依指示沿福華路往北步行300公尺）

Fileprixlux

2010-05-05T02:44:00.000-07:00

This year, the artists, on registering their projects to take part in FILE 2010, will be competing for the FILE PRIX LUX prize.

FILE PRIX LUX was conceived to complement FILE's actions in the area of electronic and digital languages, with the intent of rewarding, motivating and stimulating the emergence of new talents. This new initiative by FILE intends, besides the exhibition and presentation of works, to add value to such manifestations, conferring to the awarded artists a national and international impact.

Since 2000, FILE - Electronic Language International Festival constitutes an international interdisciplinary platform for the development of innovative and creative projects in the area of arts and technologies. FILE is a cultural, nonprofit organization that promotes a reflection on the main themes of the global contemporary electronic-digital context, always in a transdisciplinary vision in the political complexity of our time's cultural universe.

For ten years now, FILE has collaborated, through exhibitions and symposiums, with the aesthetic-technological development that the new electronic-digital languages offer to contemporary cultures, as well as it has positioned Brazil in the world context of those new trends. In 2010, FILE will accomplish a long-awaited objective: to award to some of the projects an international prize in money.

FILE PRIX LUX will grant seven prizes (first place, second place and five honorable mentions) to each of three categories, offering 21 prizes in money in the total amount of 285,000 reals.

THE THREE GENERAL CATEGORIES ARE:

1 INTERACTIVE ART: interactive art includes all research and experiments in the scope of art that use interactive media and have in mind the intersection

among art, science and technology, as well as the possible crossings with other disciplines, such as: installations, performances, internet projects, virtual reality, augmented reality, multitouch tables, digital objects, outdoor projections, projects for mobile phone, electronic graffiti, VRML, etc.

2 DIGITAL LANGUAGE: digital language includes all research and experiments in the ambit of the multiple disciplines that use digital media, as well as the possible intersections among them, that is: digital games (all modalities), animation (all modalities), digital movies, machinima, digital video, digital architecture, digital fashion, digital design, robotics, artificial life, biological art, transgenic art, software art, new interfaces, second-life performances, anime, hypertexts, non lineal scripts, artificial intelligence, digital pictures-panoramas, programming language, digital poetry, digital dance, etc.

3 ELECTRONIC SONORITY: electronic sonority includes all research and experiments in the scope of sound, therefore it has a wider extent than the confines of music, and is open to the possible transversalities with other disciplines, such as: sound performance, sound installations, sound art, genetic music, biological music, erudite electronic music, pop-electronic music, radio drama, radio-art, sonic landscape, sonic robotics, videomusic, sonic poetry, etc.

It is important to emphasize that the projects not contemplated with awards can also participate in the exhibition, if accepted by the judging committee, as in previous years.

To grant the prize, a judging commission will be created, composed of 6 jurors - 3 national and 3 international -, and there will be a popular vote in the FILE PRIX LUX site, which will indicate the winners among the prize nominees.

More details on the competition are found in the regulation.

PARTNER INSTITUTIONS:

KORG padKONTROL MIDI Studio Controller

2010-04-23T16:16:00.001-07:00

16 great-feeling, illuminated trigger pads - each can control a different note or Continuous Controller message, control software instruments, effects, trigger loops, video clips and more!
Eight dynamic curves for each pad or individual fixed level, and each can switch from momentary to toggle
Built-in X-Y pad, based on Korg's KAOSS Pad, to control flam, roll and much more!
REALLY easy to use - every function is clearly marked and easy to find! Bright LED display provides instant visual feedback... such as the velocity level just played!
Included editor/librarian software lets you tweak and customize from your computer
Includes Toontracks DFH Superior Korg Edition drum plugin- featuring over 260 MB of drum samples, incorporating multiple velocities and mic positions!
Two assignable knobs can control delay, panning, or any other MIDI-controller function
Footswitch jack gives you more options for note entry and control
16 Scene locations can hold your own settings, or you can load any of the 30 presets
USB provides bus power, and can be used as an external MIDI interface
Illuminated pads/buttons and clean, cool styling adds a professional touch to any studio.

Specifications

Controllers:
- 16 velocity-sensitive Trigger pads with LED illumination
- X-Y pad
- Two assignable knobs
- Assignable pedal jack*

*requires a separately sold DS-1H or PS-1

Display:
- 7-segment, 3-digit LED

Memory:
- 16 user scene memories
- 30 preloaded scene templates

Connectors:
- Pedal
- MIDI In/Out
- USB (type B)
- Power supply jack (DC9V)

Power Supply:
- DC9V
- AC adapter (optional)
- USB bus power (when using the USB connector)

Current Consumption:
- When using USB bus power: approximately 150 mA (maximum 180 mA)
- When using an AC adapter: approximately 150 mA (maximum 180 mA)

Dimensions:
- 12.36" (W) x 9.21" (D) x 2.17" (H)
- 314 (W) x 234 (D) x 55 (H) mm

Weight:
- 2.12 lbs. / 960 g

Included Items:
- USB cable
- CD-ROM containing padKONTROL Editor/Librarian software etc.
- CD-ROM containing dfh SUPERIOR Korg Edition drumkit
- Software license agreement

System Requirements
Windows:
- Operating System:
- Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition / Professional / x64 Edition

Computer:
- Computer with a USB port, satisfying the operating requirements of Windows XP (USB chipset made by Intel Corporation is recommended)
*Driver software for Windows XP x64 Edition is beta-version.

System Requirements
Macintosh:
Operating System:
- Mac OS X 10.2 or later

Computer:
- Apple Macintosh computer with a USB port, satisfying the operating requirements of Mac OS X

padKONTROL options:
- AC adapter
- DS-1H Damper Pedal
- PS-1 Pedal Switch

* Specifications subject to change without notice

Enlarged

徐冰《木·林·森》计划及其时空养料

2010-04-17T17:29:00.000-07:00

2009-12-01 16:29 城市画报

“艺术怎样摆脱困境？艺术怎样往前走？艺术到底是什么？”

徐冰设计的《木·林·森》计划看起来不像艺术项目，更像一个公益系统。简单来说，它是一个生态循环模式：徐冰教肯尼亚孩子们画树，通过网络画廊拍卖，所得资金用于肯尼亚植树。有人对《木·林·森》的艺术成分多寡提出疑问，徐冰的解答是：“以公益为目的的创作大方向不会有问题，在这样的动机面前，任何深奥的艺术概念都要让他三分。《木·林·森》本身的目的并不是艺术，但涉及到了当代艺术的核心问题。比如艺术怎样往前走，怎样摆脱困境，艺术到底是什么等等”。徐冰近年来的作品和轨迹，似乎也带有这种无心插柳的气质，他深觉中西方当代艺术双双无聊，于是有意识地跳出标准艺术体系，保持一定距离并与现代生活保持密切联系，以寻找艺术的新空间。

除了名声在外的《天书》、《地书》和《新英文方块字》，他的作品有时像社会课题，有时像科技发明，有时候又是公益系统。他甚至在2006年和加拿大科学家共同设计了一台名为“缓动桌面”的电脑桌，这个工作台的键盘和屏幕能够前后左右缓慢地水平移动，徐冰参照中国太极拳原理：牵一发而动全身，人一伸胳膊，牵动了浑身所有肌肉。“我兴致勃勃地去做，为什么没有实用性的东西才是艺术家应该做的？”徐冰说《木·林·森》计划的理论准备其实从上世纪70年代就开始了，经历过上山下乡的他骨子里活跃着 “艺术为人民服务”的基因。徐冰近年的尝试似乎和美国八十年代现代艺术的一大趋势类同：竭尽全力地让艺术“不纯”，混淆艺术与非艺术的区别，打破正统艺术用人为区分扼杀人创造性的愚蠢。徐冰说：“我的艺术越来越不成形状，这是我不得不走的方向”。

徐冰轻快地走在肯尼亚山里，包围他的森林像一团鲜嫩的巨大绿藻，在赤道上舒张。草木奇异，散发异常清新的空气，让徐冰与助手有了一个念头：为当地恢复森林而集资的自循环计划。按照这个名为《木·林·森》的系统，部分资金将从地球上最富裕的地方源源不断地流向肯尼亚。

这是2005年。一个名为“Rare”（稀有）的国际资源保护机构联合美国圣地亚哥当代美术馆、伯克利大学美术馆及太平洋影片库，共同发起题为“人类/自然”的自然文化遗产保护项目。“Rare” 在全球邀请8位“注重深思和创新”的艺术家，每人选一处自然文化遗产保护地，用艺术的方法提高当地人对环境的保护意识。徐冰选择了非洲东部的肯尼亚，他之前做过与蚕、烟叶虫和种猪等动物有关的作品，在他想像中，肯尼亚是个遍地奔跑着野生动物的国家。

徐冰在肯尼亚考察一番之后，发现当地所有的事情——政治、经济、人和野生动物等等，都跟树有关系。于是他穿梭在林木之间，走访专家、林业研究所、森林保护机构和动物保护组织，发现两个有趣的事情。在100多年前，肯尼亚就有一项政策：给农民土地，让他们种地、种树，等树长大了，再给他们新的土地，继续种地、种树，直到几年前，肯尼亚环境部副部长万加丽·马阿萨伊取消了这项政策。理想主义色彩浓重的万加丽到偏远地区带领当地人种树，发起“绿带运动”，要恢复真正的原始森林，为此她获得了2004年诺贝尔和平奖。许多当地人认为树和人其实可以共生，徐冰则觉得，支持万加丽的人多少带有些西方知识分子的价值趣味。徐冰还发现，也许是长期殖民的原因，肯尼亚有很多捐助基金会，有人的职业便是不断从西方找来资金用于当地，但徐冰认为这种捐助关系夹带着怜悯和欣赏，而且所有资金都是单向的，不能循环，

不容易长久。最后他提交了一个公益项目：《木·林·森》计划，他希望这是一个像永动机的系统，能自己“转”起来。

《木·林·森》计划的宣传海报，是一个常见的可循环利用标识，三个深绿色箭头组成一个坚固的三角形，上面分别画着代表人、树和美元的符号。《木·林·森》正是这三者间的环环相动。

徐冰编写教材，教授肯尼亚6-12岁的儿童学习用人类祖先发明的文字符号，创作组合树的图画，对这些画作编号后，经过美术馆和网上画廊www.forestproject.net展出，以每幅30 美元的价格由世界各地热爱艺术、关心环保的人们在网上拍卖收藏，所得资金转入Bill Woodley 肯尼亚山基金会，用于当地植树。

“孩子们画在纸上的树会变成真的树，长在肯尼亚的土地上”，徐冰算了一笔简单的账：“2美元在纽约只能买一张地铁票，但在肯尼亚可以种10棵树”，来自流行网络服务的功能和地区间的经济落差，用最低廉的人力消耗，将资金从其它地区流向肯尼亚，用于植树；“所有与此项目运转相关的部分都获得利益，这里面包含着知识传授、艺术创造、爱和关怀、沟通互利和理想实现的因素”，徐冰由此相信《木·林·森》计划的自我循环能力。

2008年，徐冰第二次来到肯尼亚山。由于肯尼亚的政治和战乱，《木·林·森》计划被拖延了3年。

这一次，他带来一本细心编写的教材。当地的老师把孩子们召集到环保中心，临时设立了课堂。徐冰先给孩子们讲了一个有些像神笔马良的故事，那是一个生活在大森林里叫做 “扇”的孩子，他和森林中的生灵们共享着这个空气湿润的清新乐园，“各种各样的树枝对称又精美，小虫子在树叶上吃出的花纹那么有趣，风吹过树林发出动听的声音，扇很想把这些记录下来，他画了一只小虫子，小虫子竟然爬了起来，他不停画着树的符号，一棵棵大树拔地而起……”

徐冰在教材中使用的方法，延续了他在代表作《天书》和《地书》中对文字的持续热爱，他坚信当下是第二轮象形文字兴起的时代。在为期4天的课堂上，徐冰给孩子们讲古老文字的形状，所有文字从象形画符开始，变成今天的拼音文字和表意文字，他画了一幅表格，上面排列着“草”、“叶”、“石”、 “土”、“云”和“鸟”如何用象形文字画出来，再教孩子们神奇的构图法，比如怎样在茂密的树叶里藏进一行字，怎样用“水泥诗”构成一棵有含义的字母树。

“肯尼亚的孩子长得都很像，我有时分不清男孩女孩，因为头发都是那种短短的小卷。每个孩子都很有礼貌，很害羞，一个个睁着诚实的大眼睛，翘着憨厚的嘴唇”，有的孩子在课程结束后不肯离开，站在桌子前不停地涂抹，“很多艺术家最开始都是迷恋这种愉快而找到自己事业的”，当徐冰搜集完一部分孩子的画，他开始觉得这个项目对肯尼亚孩子的影响是深远的，甚至是终生的。

从肯尼亚回来之后，徐冰开始临摹这些孩子的画——有中国书画临摹经验的人知道，临摹是进入范本作者世界的最佳方式——用孩子们的一棵棵树组成一大幅森林风景画。这些画的身价因徐冰的创作而水涨船高，同样会进入《木·林·森》的拍卖收藏和循环系统。徐冰用他发明的新英文方块字在一幅森林画上写下题记：“我像临摹大师的画一样临摹这些孩子的画。我不敢对它们有任何改变，如果改变，就像砍掉了树木的某些枝干。在我看来，它们像生长着的树木，是自然的一部分。”

iPad上周下載逾百萬應用程式

2010-04-06T20:07:00.001-07:00

關於iPad用戶對應用程式（apps）的需求，蘋果公司日前表示，iPad用戶對應用程式的需求殷切，上周末結束前他們已下載超過一百萬個應用程式。

該公司稱，首三個最多用戶下載的付費iPad應用程式，均可提升iPad的生產力，是蘋果iWork工具的改良版，包括文字處理器Pages、試算表Numbers及幻燈片製作程式Keynote。每個程式的售價為九點九九美元（約七十七港元）。

Star Walk是首十大應用程式中最有趣的一個，售價二點九九美元，是天文學應用程式，可將iPad轉成星圖，只要把iPad面向天空，便可啟動內置數碼指南針，可馬上確定星星、星球及星體的位置。

GoodReader是最常下載程式中的第四位，售價九十九美仙，iPad安裝此程式後可閱讀不同格式的文件，包括PDF檔案及高解像的圖像。

網上下載名單中亦包括SketchBookPro，它是先進的繪圖程式，用戶可用手繪畫草圖，售價八點九九美元。

當然，遊戲也極受用戶歡迎。首十大名單包括賽車遊戲Real Racing HD，售價九點九九美元；航空交通模擬遊戲Flight Control，售價四點九九美元；拼字遊戲Scrabble，售價九點九九美元■

Zoom H2 and H4: Two Handy Recorders

2010-04-06T05:23:00.000-07:00

December 2007 \ Reviews \ Accessories \

by Dan Berkowitz

Two powerful approaches to recording

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Every now and then, someone in my blues/R&B band will bring a recorder to a gig or practice. For a while, it was a Sharp minidisc, but that whole category of recorder is outdated and a bit complex to use – plus, transfering the music in real time is a pain.

We've been known to go to the other end of the spectrum and have hauled a rack case with a high-end digital recorder and top-notch preamps. But that setup is complicated and there’s a lot of gear to haul in addition to our usual PA, amps, etc. In the end, we had the potential to get a CD-quality recording, but were always stymied by something – the wrong level on one of the tracks, bad acoustics in the house, an overly noisy audience – you name it.

I've been looking for a simpler solution to take home the goods – something to toss in the gear bag, plop down on a table and just hit 'record.' Enter two little gems from Zoom that both wear the label “Handy Recorder.”

The Zoom H2 and the Zoom H4 are indeed handy. They're also on opposite ends of the field recorder realm. The H2 – the newer of the two models – is a straight-forward recorder with a minimal learning curve. The H4 is like a loaded burger with everything on it. It has a bigger learning curve but it can do nearly anything you can dream up.

The Zoom H4

The H4 is really three devices in one: a stereo field recorder, a 4-track recorder for songwriting on the road, and a USB computer interface. As a field recorder, it has two mic capsules on the top in an X-Y pattern. The most straightforward application is to switch it on, aim it toward the band and press the record button. To set the level, there is a 3-level sensitivity switch. Pick the right sensitivity and let the H4’s auto-level scan calibrate the appropriate amount of gain. This isn’t an auto-gain function that rides gain during recording but instead a quick way to get started. When you’re ready to record, press the record button again, the red light goes from flashing to solid, and you’re underway.

In the stereo mode, you have four recording options controlled with a set of four buttons that select 96khz, 48khz, 44.1khz and MP3 (at several levels of resolution). The included 512 meg SD card gets around 40 minutes of stereo recording at 44.1 khz. Drop in a 2 gig card instead and you’ll get more than 3 hours worth of recording time (in MP3 mode, you can record for hours on end!). If you’re so inclined, it’s possible to dial in several options – phantom power for an external mic, compression/limiting, high-pass filtering to cut wind rumble, even mic modeling for four popular studio mics.

To navigate these features, the H4 uses a combination of a menu button and a tiny jog wheel. The display was fairly tiny and for my old eyes, reading glasses were needed to get through the menus. Probing the Zoom website (www.samsontech.com), I found a system upgrade that added a few features and also changed the display font to something easier to read. Nonetheless, there were times when I got caught pushing the menu button instead of turning the jog wheel – that meant starting over – but eventually I got used to the routine of starting with one button and shifting to the other.

To give the H4 a whirl, I recorded an old upright piano at home from a few feet away. Running through my studio monitors, the sound was great, with a clear frequency response and a good bottom. At a gig a few nights ago, I ran the direct out from my bass amp directly into the H4’s XLR jack to create some play-along practice tunes for our guitarist. Again, the recordings sounded fine and should be helpful – and if he can figure out the songs from just the bass part, I’ll give him extra credit.

Need a Tiny Recording Studio?

Moving to 4-track mode, the H4 becomes a recording studio in one hand. On the bottom of the H4, you’ll find two input jacks – incredible for a device this small. Each is a combo jack that can accommodate a guitar cable or an XLR mic plug. You can use the built-in stereo mics, too, plugging in a guitar, bass or keyboard, or use the mic of your choice. You can even use both inputs at once. Once you’ve toggled the menu button down to pick an input you can dial in a plethora of effects – essentially, the H4 has a couple of Zoom multi-effect pedals inside, with amp and cab modeling, plus auto-wah, phaser, chorus, reverb, delay, and even more. In addition to the factory presets, you can edit and store your own patches.

Working in 4-track mode doesn’t end with adding effects to your input. I was pleased to find a metronome and a tuner, too. There is also a tiny mixer screen that allows bouncing tracks, panning, setting track levels – even punching in to fix a few muffed notes. Looking through the manual, I noticed that you can only use the 44.1 khz recording resolution in this mode. That makes sense, though, because you’re juggling total recording time with recording quality and 44.1 khz is a viable level to shoot for.

Those same buttons that choose your recording resolution in stereo mode become track selection buttons in 4-track mode, allowing you to select which tracks you record to and which tracks will be playing back. Handy!

In case you feel cramped putting a tune together with the H4’s buttons, menus, and small display, there’s yet another option. With the recorder turned off, you can plug in the included USB cable, hook up the other end to your computer, and voila! – the H4 is powered by the computer’s USB port. In this mode, a new menu pops up with two choices – audio in/out and connect to PC. The first of these two options lets you record through the H4’s guitar and mic inputs right to your computer. Although the H4 includes a version of Cubase, I used it with GarageBand. On its own, a USB interface will cost a good chunk of the H4’s $300 street price, so if you anticipate that kind of use, it’s a definite plus.

Going with the “Connect to PC” option lets you take whatever you’ve recorded onto the SD card and dump it onto your computer. Compared to the old minidisc, this is a real timesaver, with transfer taking place as data rather than in actual recording time. Once in your computer, the standard WAV and MP3 files are available for whatever recording interface you like.

To work with the 4-track mode, I recorded a bass duet. On one track was a melody line played up high on my fretless electric bass – a jazzy version of “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning.” I played a walking bassline on the second track using my electric upright bass. I monitored the sound through studio monitors, which worked fine since no mics were involved. Once recorded, I was able to pan each instrument left and right and tweak the balance between them. Finally, I sent the two tracks to my computer, imported them to GarageBand and added some reverb, compression, and EQ. In all, these tasks were easily done once I figured out the basic working scheme. If you’re writing a song with, say, acoustic guitar, vocal, bass and a lead instrument, the H4 makes it a snap to record and mix.

The Big Picture for the H4

Despite all I’ve written about the H4 so far, this barely scratches the surface of what it can do. Dig into the 100-page manual and you’ll learn a lot more about what it's capable of. On the plus side, you’ll find the Zoom H4 to be a very versatile, do-nearly-everything unit. Although the first few minutes seemed daunting, it soon became manageable, even logical. I was also initially concerned about some of the switches that are quite tiny – I wondered how sturdy they would be. I’m a careful guy, though, and after some time with the unit, I think it should last quite awhile.

The H4's tiny display is one of the key downsides, as is the multi-layered menu system and the need to work between the menu button and the jog wheel to make selections. I wish there was a way to mount the H4 on a stand besides the option they provide – a cradle attached with hook-and-loop straps with a tripod-threaded nut on the back side. The SD card is a little difficult to grasp and remove because the plastic door gets in the way. And frankly, I don’t think I’d use mic modeling, preferring to apply EQ after the fact to accomplish approximately the same thing. Ditto with the effects, because it’s easier to edit and adjust an unaffected track. But for quickly adding in a convincing modeled electric guitar in 4-track mode, this is your baby. Finally, the H4 is a bit bigger than I’d prefer, but given all that it can do, I can live with that.

Buy if...
you're looking for a moderately-priced recorder with a lot of versatility.
Skip if...
a big learning curve will keep you from using great features.
Rating...

MSRP $499 - Samson Tech - samsontech.com

Keeping it Simple with the H2

The H2 Handy Recorder takes the opposite route of the H4. It’s a simple recorder that can be brought to a gig, set up quickly, and forgotten until the end of a set. The H2 is a couple inches shorter than the H4, but about the same width and thickness. When I first brought the H2 to a gig, our guitar player mimed shaving his chin with it – the H2 has an uncanny resemblance to an electric shaver. You might also mistake the H2 for an old-school mic from the ‘50s, at least when looking at it from the rear.

Lurking under that shaver-like screen is something surprising – two pairs of mic capsules that can be used in either a 90 degree angle (on the front) or a 120 angle (on the back). You can also combine them together for recording 360 degrees in either stereo or 4-track sound that can be edited into surround sound.

Compared to the H4, the H2 is more intuitive to operate. After sliding the on-off switch, the H2 boots up in whatever mode you used last (same as the H4). Although it also uses menus, more of the controls are right on the face as dedicated buttons. Two arrow keys let you choose the mic configuration, which is noted by a tiny red LED dot. Another red dot lights on the top of the recorder, showing which side has the active mics.

Rather than using the menu-button-plus-jogwheel method of selecting options, the H2 uses a single menu button and the forward/back membrane buttons for playing back recordings. It’s a bit unintuitive at first to move up and down by arrows that point sideways, but that’s still a problem most of our logic systems can handle. Working this way with the menus, the red record button in the middle becomes the selection key for menu choices. It’s a cleaner approach than with the H4, but it still requires patience to work your way up and down the menu options.

Stripped Down but Nicely Functional

Although the H2 lacks the effects available in the H4 – no reverb or amp modeling, for example – it offers some useful options in their place. There are two levels of auto-gain, plus three levels of compression and three levels of limiting. I found the limiter to be a useful feature for managing peaks while recording at a gig, making the H2 a set-and-forget gig recorder.

Imagine any accessory that you could possibly want – the H2 likely comes with it. In addition to the wall-wart power supply, USB cable, windscreen and carrying pouch of the H4, the H2 has some great conveniences. Rather than a strap-on cradle, the H2 has a tripod socket on the bottom. Besides using a tripod, though, the H2 has a little three-legged screw-on base and a mic clip adapter. There is also a pair of earbuds for listening to what you’ve recorded and a stereo Y cable with 1/8” miniplug to a pair of RCA plugs – great for running the H2 into a mixer, or conversely, going into the H2’s line-in jack from your CD player.

Inputs and options are simpler for the H2. The H4’s combo ¼”/XLR jacks are gone, with only a 1/8” miniplug mic input and 1/8” line-in/out jacks instead. The output jack doubles for connecting the earbuds, with a rocker volume switch alongside. If you see the H2 as a basic gig recorder, these differences should be no problem. I can imagine using the earbuds or running through my studio monitors, but probably wouldn’t use the line-in or mic-in jacks.

Like the H4, when you connect the USB cable to the H2, you’re ready to transfer files to a computer or have the H2 serve as a computer interface. Again, I wouldn’t use the H2 as an interface through its built-in mics, but the file transfer capability is extremely handy.

Giving the H2 a Gig Test

As with the H4, you can record in WAV or MP3 formats. The MP3 format proved useful at a gig where the H2 was first tested. In part, this was because of the long recording time on a 512 meg memory card, but also because the MP3 format is the standard for online sharing. We were in a noisy bar with poor acoustics, but once the crowd thinned out, I decided to record our last set from a table out in front of the band where a some loyal fans were willing to babysit the H2. Playing the recordings back at home, I thought the quality was excellent and the performances were better than usual.

Using a shareware product called MP3Trimmer (deepniner.net/mp3trimmer), I quickly listened to the tunes and picked out four. MP3Trimmer easily extracted the tunes to separate files and another program, MP3Gain (mp3gain.sourceforge.net) helped me bring up the sound level – I didn’t have a chance to fine-tune the recording level while playing, but the low sensitivity setting on the H2 kept levels in bounds.

You can hear the gig recordings at my band’s MySpace site, all done with the Zoom H2 (www.myspace.com/tornadoesblues).

The H2 went to a second gig where we performed in a small restaurant with a stripped down trio of guitar, bass, harmonica and vocals. I set the H2 on a shelf above a wine rack at the back of the room and let it run. Again, the recordings were crystal clear, so much so that we could understand conversations between the wait staff and the diners – I’ll pick a better recording location next time! The recording at that gig was well-balanced, with clean highs and smooth, focused lows.

Another handy use – one I didn’t take advantage of – is to record a practice where we typically play in a circle. Set the H2 to 2-channel surround and everybody gets into the mix with little fuss. This would be great to record an acoustic livingroom jam, too. And if you’re a podcaster, imagine using the H2 in either 2- or 4-channel mode to record an interview with just one device and no extra mics.

Which Recorder to Pick?

In all, both the H2 and H4 are excellent recorders, chock full of features and priced at a very nice level. With care, both should last quite awhile. The H2 typically sells for about $200 and the H3 for $300. If you want to record your gigs and practices, the H2 is a no-brainer choice. If you envision more recording needs – song writing on the road, for example – the H4 will easily do that, plus record your gigs as you go.

The H2 shows that Zoom learned some things from its first venture with the H4. For many of us, we don’t really need effects, mic and amp modeling, 4-channel recording and all the rest. In their place, we’d like easier, more intuitive controls that get the recording job done with fewer operator errors. By concentrating on the essentials needed in a field recorder, the H2 provides quality recording at a new low price point. The SD card on the H2 is easier to reach through a bottom hatch, and the accessories are nicely functional. For my gig recording needs, the H2 is the Handy Recorder of choice.

Buy if...
you want a value-priced recorder with easy-to-learn basic functions.
Skip if...
you need multi-tracking or convential input jacks for guitars or mics.
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藝術分類

2010-03-17T06:39:00.001-07:00

文化專題蕭坦北京藝術版圖的裂紋

2010-02-24T01:52:00.001-08:00

2010年2月24日

「村裏的院子都沒有門牌號，信只能送到村委會，然後大喇叭通知去領，『方力鈞，掛號信』，就這麼喊。威尼斯雙年展的通知就是這麼送到我們手裏的。」——《萬物生長：宋莊1994～2000》

2月22日北京一個藝術區被強制拆遷，雖然是首都，但拆遷經過和任何一個中國內地城市大同小異——有組織的「流氓」以武器毆打驅趕住戶，拆遷隊瞬間把房子夷平。有人說，真不敢相信這樣的事件竟然在北京發生！

數年前陳冠中在北京被邀請參加朝陽區「文化產業規劃研究」國際研討會，寫的論文《城市建設與創意產業》，苦口婆心哄朝陽區的主事者：「我在北京前後已經有九年，一直都住在朝陽區。……不管我們在過去犯了多少有意無意的錯誤，它（北京）依然是華人世界的文化首都，依然吸引着最多的創意人才，依然是最有條件發展文化創意產業的地方。」（文章收錄於《我這一代香港人》）

朝陽區是北京的主要文化藝術區，中央美院、中央電視台、配套的電視製作公司、使館區、中央商務區全都在這裏，重要的是大山子的798廠也在此。2月 22日的新聞發生在朝陽，這個黑鍋，朝陽的官員算是背上了。藝術家們面臨的租房問題愈來愈尖銳，798的租金漲高了，許多藝術家進不去。政府如果不細緻地為此規劃，類似此次兩敗俱傷（藝術家因為租約糾紛沒有法律保障，政府也背了黑鍋）的事件還會繼續困擾雙方。

最近與一個朋友聊天，說到798的氣氛如何浮躁，朋友很不以為然。她曾在798藝術區最牛的藝術館尤倫斯（UCCA）工作，2007年尤倫斯落到北京，她剛從香港回上海沒多久，馬上收拾行裝投奔這家國際知名的藝術館，以一個上海人忍受了三年多的北京風沙。朋友是堅定的798支持者。和她不同，有另外一些朋友更偏愛北京東面的宋莊，原因是，「宋莊的人給我的感覺更平和，沒有那麼浮躁。」

798，屬於畫家還是雅痞？

798和宋莊，是北京藝術區的兩塊樣板，都是自發形成，但性格和現狀都很不一樣。同是現在北京的藝術家聚集區，798有最好的藝術中心，有豐富的藝術講座和交流活動，幾乎就是一個SOHO區；而宋莊，除了栗憲庭電影基金會在宋莊美術館定期舉辦活動，在對外影響上，很難與798相比。但是，如果以一個創作者而不是觀眾或藝術領域規劃者的立場看，宋莊給創作者提供的空間更平和。如果以「血緣」來說，宋莊的淵源比798更久更純。

說起798藝術區，連香港人都知道，這個藝術區是以工廠為基地建立起來。冷戰時期屬於社會主義陣營的中國接受東德的技術支援，上世紀五十年代末在北京建起了「北京華北無線電聯合器材廠」。當時代號不是798而是718，後來到了六十年代，把718聯合廠的建制撤銷掉，出現了六個新廠，其中之一是 798。負責替中國建築「北京華北無線電聯合器材廠」的建築機構和包豪斯學校在同一個城市，這種建築風格簡潔、靈活，兼顧功能和美感。

直到2000年，朝陽區大山子還是幾個無線電器廠，六個廠重新聯合重組為北京七星華電科技集團有限責任公司。後來集團把部分產業遷出，閒置下來的廠房就出租，租下這些廠房的多是藝術家。比如洪晃和劉索拉，洪晃自己說是看中了這個舊工廠區的「胡同味」，人際關係很親切，見面還互相打招呼，不像住公寓那麼冷冰冰。劉索拉是做音樂，空置的廠房空間大，怎麼練也沒人投訴噪音擾民，非常清靜。洪晃也好，劉索拉也好，和一般藝術家不同，她們很能「搞事」，在哪兒落腳，不管是有意無意，總有種氣場，把熱鬧和話題吸引過去。像幾年前她們的《無窮動》來香港，訪問過的文化記者回頭都說其實悶得要命，但偏偏就是能作話題。

藝術區變名利場始作俑者

798火起來了，非常快。據798圈子內部的人說，因為中央美院在旁邊。其實在1998年，就有中央美院的人把畫廊開進了798，但真正讓798變成現在這樣的，除了五十年代負責建築設計的東德建築師，洪晃、劉索拉和她們這個圈子的人也有一份功勞。沒有他們，798就是外人印象裏藝術家扎堆的地方，閉門修煉，不食人間煙火，不會有新潮時裝秀，也不會有，比如說，2008年的Dior展覽。798不僅靠近中央美院，旁邊還是使館區，自然而然就成了一個不但「藝術」，而且還「國際化」的區域，再加入時尚，說句不誇張的話，全中國找不到第二塊這樣的地方。沒火起來，是時候未到，時候一到，不紅也難。

你可以說他們是把798藝術區變得充滿金錢氣息的始作俑者，也可以說他們是讓798變得熱鬧的功臣。你說這是個名利場，沒錯，你說她們搞事多過搞創作，又對。但放眼香港，找不找得到一兩個能把倒閉的工廠搞成藝術區？梁文道之於牛棚書院算一個，另一個，不好意思，我只能想到蘭桂坊之父盛智文。但不知道該高興還是該難過，798熱起來之後，逐漸變得不是一般藝術家所能承擔。資本主義有原始積累的過程，比如圈地運動，很暴力。北京的藝術圈也在發生類似的圈地運動，2月22日的事件就是這個過程裏的一個悲劇。

以798的經歷來看宋莊就很有意思。宋莊，在北京下轄的通州，北京東面，本身就是一個小鎮，人口近十萬。這個小鎮下轄四十七個村子，其中的小堡村現在成了中國藝術家的另一個聚落。這個聚落和798最大的不同，是商業氣氛淡（幾乎沒有），洪晃劉索拉再怎麼不羈，這種脫離了大城市生活圈的小地方她們還是不會來——畢竟不是一個圈子，當年跑到798去是圖個清靜，到宋莊來可就是隱居了。一個北京朋友很年輕，做傳媒的，很喜歡攝影，給我說：「宋莊的感覺更實在，我在這裏是創作，也是為了賣作品維生。比較成功的藝術家去那裏為了有一個安靜的環境創作，和朋友聚會交流，年輕人去那裏是奮鬥尋找機會。」

大喇叭通知威尼斯雙年展

在798，出了門，打交道的非富即貴。在宋莊，見到的除了藝術圈的朋友，就是當地的村民。畫家們用相對便宜的價錢租下甚至買下一整座農家院子。這地方剛開始真便宜，岳敏君買了一座院子，面積有一畝地，2萬元。內地的《三聯生活周刊》有篇文章很好看，題目是《萬物生長：宋莊1994～2000》，比什麼介紹都有意思，沒有去過宋莊的人看了就能明白畫家們在那裏的生活。其中說到中國當代藝術界的「教父」栗憲庭：「在老栗的敍述裏，宋莊給他的感覺，更接近十九世紀中期法國畫家米勒他們住過的巴黎近郊小村莊巴比松。藝術家的畫室被農民的房子分散在村子的各個角落，畫室大，環境安靜。如同米勒他們在巴比松一樣，宋莊的藝術家同樣過着一種以畫畫為職業的生活。」在這個村裏，有岳敏君，有方力鈞，後來栗憲庭也去了。「村裏的院子都沒有門牌號，信只能送到村委會，然後大喇叭通知去領，『方力鈞，掛號信』，就這麼喊。威尼斯雙年展的通知就是這麼送到我們手裏的。」

不過，現在的宋莊也不再是世外桃源，一是村民明白了，房子沒以前那麼便宜；二是畫家們也不再是為了圖個清靜，北京市區內的商業氛圍終究還是染到這裏。朋友說：「我上次去的時候有機會和那邊的一個工作人員聊了聊天，那個女孩和他老公都是八十後，原來都是學藝術出身。她說他們之所以選擇來這裏，房租便宜是一方面，另外這裏機會很好，很多港台或國外的畫廊經紀會來這裏發掘新人，不論出身，只看作品。」

結語　最後呼應一下文首的一個懸疑。宋莊是比798血緣更「悠久」的一個北京藝術區，為什麼？因為有句話：宋莊是圓明園之子。1991年前後，當時的圓明園還處於北京城鄉結合部，畫家們聚集於此租房當工作室。但那時候八九．六四剛剛過去沒多久，當局對畫家們的作品非常敏感，有的說是正常拆遷，有的說是有意趕人，總之到了1995年，公安把畫家村徹底清理完。畫家們做了一些不大不小、後果也不嚴重的抗爭後，來到了宋莊小堡村。

結果公安的眼線也盯到此，不允租房子給畫家們。結果村支書很靈活，軟硬兼施變着法子讓畫家安頓下來，不是為了藝術，也不是什麼自由民主，原因很單純：「我不過想讓村民多點收入。有人租村裏的房子，還不用給仲介費，這是最省事的，為什麼不幹？」

文化專題蕭坦: 火炭，伙炭屋小人多家有聲氣

2010-01-31T19:32:00.001-08:00

2010年2月1日

火炭工業大廈的一眾藝術家最近再度向香港人展示他們的存在。上月「伙炭藝術工作室開放計劃」開放了散落在區內十個工業大廈裏近六十間藝術工作室給市民參觀，並在火炭工業區的沙田商業中心舉辦展覽。

周末，從火炭火車站下車，走在山尾街的路上，你不用看地圖自己去找哪座建築是開放計劃裏的工業大廈，也不用開口問人。身前身後一眼看上去就是同去參觀的人，特徵：年輕、三五成群、背着相機。還有一些看上去是剛看完展覽的人，也是相近的打扮。

所有人互為座標，互相用眼神而不是語言修正行走路線，大家往往能準確無誤到達山尾街的展覽廳。那裏有主題展覽《你停泊在此》，還有導賞團帶領參觀者到訪不同工業大廈各工作室（導賞團是需要的，因為那些大廈太像迷宮）。

不久就看到網上有本地blogger寫道：「香港的工廠大廈藝術家就是跟外國的不一樣。沒有政府支持，只因租金相對便宜而聚集起來，縱使旁邊是燒臘店，又或是成衣批發，仍可以搞藝術。

「沒有配套，沒有天幕，依然招徠觀眾。或許是香港人的特性，一眾年輕人看到喜愛的展品或是裝飾的布公仔，二話不說亮出相機。但不管如何，或多或少會引發一部分人的興趣。因為是第二次看，有部分展品似曾相識，但這亦代表他們站得穩吧。不過，隨着去年政府說要活化工業區，不知道平租的日子還會持續多久。」

藝術不忘消閒

說到最後，亦不忘補上一句：「逛過一輪，當然最好還是嘆一嘆茶餐。」

這位blogger簡單明瞭的話道出香港藝術的悲喜現狀：因陋就簡，見縫插針，沒有政府支持，甚至政府隨便扔個沒有（也不會）把他們考慮在內的計劃出來，他們的生存就岌岌可危，但他們依然我行我素地用各自的辦法生存下來。

政府官員從來不在乎他們的存在，就像陳雲在《走出政府總部》裏嘲笑那些對身前的松鼠視而不見的官員一樣，偶爾有個財團會支持一下——但對他們最大的支持還是普通香港人、年輕人。

也許你說這些年輕的觀眾幼稚簡單到分不清去看藝術工作室和去看戲有什麼不同，然而就是從不拒絕這些年輕的氣息，才給棲身在工業大廈的藝術工作室亟需的一點點土壤。

我在山尾街的一座工業大廈裏看展覽，A、B、C幾座樓裏，三部載貨電梯在哪一層打開都是滿滿的人，都是學生面孔，吵鬧嬉笑。有些是男女朋友，也不乏一個女生帶着一群觀音兵的狀況。

在其中一個studio「耳制涼房」（Cold Ears Factory）裏，一個女生指着一件裝置藝術問藝術家：「唔該，這個可不可以摸的？」藝術家笑起來說：「可以的。」

小「粉絲」帶旺人氣

在電梯裏聽到一個女孩對她的觀音兵說：「剛才那個畫室的人很不好，向我們派兒童繪畫班招生宣傳單，很不喜歡他們那種hard sell的手段。」這樣的男生女生，周末不是去看戲去燒烤去唱K，而是來偏僻的火炭看一個藝術開放計劃，你不覺得很可愛嗎？

套句年尾蔣匡文風水書上的話：「很多人都覺得身份愈高，屋的面積就應該愈大，風水學上認為，屋宇大小應視乎家庭成員數目，屋大人少反而使『家道中落』，家中人口愈來愈少，或家中子孫四散東西。」

所以，火炭藝術家們，別怕，不要嫌棄這些吵吵嚷嚷的香港觀眾又年輕又單純，他們可能暫時不了解你們的藝術，但他們是你們最好的支持者。屋雖小，人卻又多又後生，有聲氣！

煽情結束，理性地看，不論「伙炭藝術工作室開放計劃」有沒有大財團（信和集團「香港藝術」）的支持，這個計劃，還有它背後那麼多大大小小的藝術工作室，漸漸地呈現出香港創意文化的一種出路。

不冒進不虛榮

陳雲曾經在《香港有文化》書裏說過類似「現在的香港缺乏文化政策」的觀點。他回溯了香港的文化政策在港英時期的變化。港英時期，英國人用的是他們慣例的政策制定方法，即不貿然推出一個大的政策，而是先用一些細小的計劃來看民眾反應。

如果是良性的，那就根據社會反應繼續修訂，最後用十年時間出台一個成熟的政策。從上世紀六十年代開始，香港大會堂、演藝學院、文化中心都有這種潛在的軌迹，每一個設施或政策的出現，從無到有，不冒進不虛榮，符合香港實際，扎扎實實。用毛澤東的話說，就是「實事求是」。

在筆者看來，現在香港不僅缺乏一個明確的文化政策來做指引，而且在推出一些大項目時，引出的反應也相當狼狽。一個西九龍文娛區的項目，先不說政府方面在設施建設上有哪些不切實際之處，只看民間社團的反應已經讓人搖頭：每一間機構或者社團都在發表意見，誰都認為自己應該在那個文化區佔有一席之地，有一個館，有一個表演場地。

西九項目成了一個民間社團各佔山頭的圈地運動。各自為戰，卻少有去想一個社區或者整個香港的文化發展需要什麼。這樣一個龐然大物出現，如果沒有這種細部的考慮和磨合，與基層社會的需求不符合，那麼它對提升香港文化的影響，甚至比不上又小又便宜的火炭工業區藝術村——起碼後者是自然出現而且自然生長的。

群眾協力規劃城市

曾蔭權政府推出的香港「六大產業」理念裏也有創意文化產業。但香港的現實情況和創意文化產業理念有一點重要的差距。英國創意城市的研究者Charles Landry說：「創意城市概念建議，規劃者要擴大自身視野與見識，好在了解城市生活經驗能變得更富想像力。另一方面，群眾的想像力與創造力也獲得鼓勵。這需要更廣大的群體，而不單是那些關心土地利用的人，彼此同心協力來規劃整座城市。惟有到那時，才能適當利用由群眾代表的城市資產基礎。」

除了有群眾代表的城市資產基礎外，香港犯了這段話中所有的大忌。責任在政府。

如果說因為租金相對便宜而自發聚集出現的火炭藝術區代表了香港的創意人群，來參觀的人代表了群眾基礎，那麼作為一個創意城市的生態圈中非常重要的「整體規劃者」的角色，香港政府缺席了，遑論那些只知道為大地產商服務的建築和城市景觀規劃類的專業人士。

此外，一個成熟的創意城市，除了創意人群、政府規劃者，還需要管理者、協調者。法蘭克福書展，香港館的策劃因為「外行管理內行」被罵到臭；「伙炭藝術工作室開放計劃」的導遊說她是freelancer，不是專門的藝術導遊，而是接到什麼導賞的工作就臨時擔任。這也是香港創意文化不足的一個環節。

小小的一個火炭，一個「伙炭藝術工作室開放計劃」，如果有心，看到的問題，其實不比一個西九要少。

文　蕭坦

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擠走泡沫擁抱新生

2010-01-10T16:32:00.001-08:00

2010年1月11日

從市場的運作上看，藝術家與畫廊、收藏家及拍賣公司之間的關係是市場生態鏈的重要一環，過去的種種紊亂將會很快地得到完善，因為適者生存，當中國收藏家的視野及資歷日漸提升，對畫廊及拍賣公司的專業及誠信度的要求更加嚴謹，市場機制正在不斷地進行自我優化，汰弱留強是歷史的循環活動，亦是一個市場步向正規化的必然進程。

筆者去年到成都、北京、上海、廣州等地，與多位潛心從事創作的優秀藝術家見面，在他們的工作室欣賞最新作品，很有意思，令我難忘的是他們忠於藝術的狂熱；方少華的專注、肖克剛的冷靜、陳秋林的知性、周軼倫的不羈、陳家剛的深思，原來在他們的作品上，或多或少都留有一些藝術家性格及內心情感的折射。

我又問問他們如何看待當前市況？原來大跌市基本上跟他們沒有太大相干，反而繼續忙於做好展覽，或與畫廊為未來在國內外辦展定好計劃，而作品銷售緩慢中見穩定，並沒有因為市場波動而降價出售，他們亦樂得清靜，還相信中國當代藝術品市場經此一跌，把泡沫及急功近利的錯誤觀念擠走後，將會迎來一個更健康的生態及知性的環境。

筆者曾在文章中介紹自己欣賞的藝術家，包括：馬德升（1952）、師進滇（1953）、方少華（1962）、陳家剛（1962）、劉野（1964）、張恩利（1965）、張洹（1965）、余極（1965）、肖克剛（1968）、陳秋林（1975）、韋嘉（1975）、李暉（1977）、周軼倫（1983）等，在新一年祝願他們繼續創作精彩的作品，贏得更多收藏家的垂青。

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迎接中國當代藝術新景象

2010-01-10T16:29:00.000-08:00

2010年1月11日

二十一世紀的首個十年，中國當代藝術品在國際舞台上發展可謂一日千里，由於有海外消費的積極參與，市場規模快速膨脹，在香港，藝術品拍賣成交額更超逾法國進入前三甲，躍升為全球第三大藝術品交易市場，僅次於紐約和倫敦。資金搶高了藝術品價格，「拍賣價值」與「藝術價值」卻出現比較嚴重的反差，中國當代藝術品市場與收藏環境確實在整體素質上漸漸偏離了正軌，學術界對回歸藝術自身價值及提出中國文化話語權的訴求不絕於耳。現在剛剛踏入二十一世紀十年代，藝術界（美術館、畫廊、策展人、藝術家、收藏家）亦應該趁勢反思。

筆者去年5月18日在本報刊登《沒有雷曼兄弟的ART HK 09》一文其中有這樣一段：「經歷過泡沫破裂的市場洗禮後，最為核心的，是沒有藝術價值體系支撑下的一種隨機性極強的投機市場價值體系不斷走向解體。其實藝術品市場的起伏屬正常現象，這次市場波動反而起到了過濾作用，對認同藝術價值觀的收藏家而言，提供了冷靜思考的機會。」

向「偽」術毒品說不

又在去年6月29日刊出的文章《向「偽」術毒品說不！》內提出：「 2005年開始，投機型收藏主導了中國當代視覺藝術市場，被欽點為天王、大師、新銳的藝術家是市場上的當炒股、概念股、潛力股：大口笑臉的無聊潑皮、神情呆滯的光頭仔、濃妝艷抹的斜視美女、目無表情看似低智的肥頭矮人、被把玩的毛澤東形象、卡通化文革造型的嚎哭小孩、性感妙齡女生等相類似畫面無處不在，它們過去幾年在各大拍賣場或畫廊中曝光率甚高，流通量及交投極活，價位飛漲，被點名為所謂最牛的時尚圖像，西方稱之為中國當代藝術的先鋒代表。收藏家應如何看待這類作品？它們是反映一個怎樣的政治、社會及文化現象？其藝術價值及收藏價值是否如市場所言之高？」

收藏家要不斷提醒自己，藝術本身的價值不可能憑拍賣場上幾搥來定音，反而要去探討一下在這個資金集體參與的藝術品消費市場上，逾百萬或上千萬元成交幕後的支撑點是什麼？作品的當代藝術價值是否得到真實的反映？

一場金融海嘯沖走了大量投機性資金，筆者亦於去年6月8日以《09春拍—四大天王時代終結》作為當日文章的標題，為早前過量性炒賣來一個總結式的前瞻。六個月後的今天，可以再一次肯定地說，「收藏家亦會醒悟，沒有藝術性的、缺乏學術支持的、市場價位與藝術價值出現嚴重背馳的「偽」術毒品不可能有長遠的投資價值。他們（專業認真的收藏家）的着眼點根本不在於拍賣場上的價格，而是回到對藝術本身問題的關注及思考。」（《向「偽」術毒品說不！》文章）

「跌市」後何去何從？在《09春拍—四大天王時代終結》一文內，筆者的看法是：「（一）收藏家現在變得更為謹慎、理智；（二）市場估價與藝術本身價值背馳的作品得不到承接；（三）投機性貨色的價格不斷下滑；（四）以單一符號及圖像作招徠的藝術家將被收藏家嫌棄；（五）四大天王的時代宣告終結，媚俗及波普藝術的疲態畢露；（六）富中國傳統文化及美學素養的抽象派藝術適時崛興…… 09年春拍具標誌性意義，市場開始回歸藝術本身，對中國當代自我內在價值進行反思及審視，及對藝術價值收藏正風的認同。」

上述觀點在剛結束的秋拍得到充分的反映，雖說中國當代藝術品市場風光不再，方向不清，其實已造就了一個反思的機遇，同時亦意味着重新塑造中國當代藝術價值階段的到來。

傳承五千年文化

從1979年星星美展開始，到1985年新潮美術，當代藝術曾經作為一種反叛及革新前衛精神而取得革命性勝利，某些體現高度原創性及批判性的作品的藝術價值得到肯定。現在的問題在於：在藝術商業化及全球化的拜金遊戲中，已經看不到更多的藝術創新或更大的想像空間。

中國當代藝術家的己任不是服務消費市場，而是通過傳承五千年的民族文化，注重藝術本身的表達，並要緊緊地把握住時代脈搏，立足於本土文化和深厚的傳統，從而創造出具精神深度的當代藝術品，筆者曾在《沒有雷曼兄弟的ART HK 09》一文中提到：「中國當代藝術的價值觀應該表達一種人文關懷，對真正的精神世界有一種探掘。在藝術語言上，不是簡單地照搬西方藝術語言，應該與中國藝術傳統有一種內在聯繫，與中國當下社會及文化有一種呼應。在畫作內容上，能為社會提供一種人格力量……長遠而言，藝術市場行情，最終還是取決於藝術創作自身價值，這是其他條件無法取代的。」

市場狂舞十年後，藝術如何回到它自身價值及審美機制裏？已是一個迫切的疑問；如何保持着獨立自省的創作態度、叛逆勇氣和實驗精神去繼續發展，或者是中國當代藝術家在二十一世紀十年代面臨的一次挑戰，亦將會給予藝術家及市場一個重要啟示。

中低價作品仍滯後

中國當代藝術品市場要實現持續的增長性，就需要具質量的藝術資源與大量金錢。中國已成功躋身世界列強之一，國家強大的經濟實力所產生的威力已經無處不在。在現在及可預見的未來，更多中國人的資金將會流入藝術品市場，民族情懷使到在市場上流通性不太高的前輩大師級稀有作品的價值與日俱增，一些名家之作及極具中國歷史文化意義的精品將會締造一個接一個的天價紀錄，同時向全世界展示中國收藏家的豪情和實力。

現在處於滯後的中、低價作品（100萬元以下板塊）將會出現新景象。收藏家對藝術品的口味與傾向，與前幾年由西方熱錢主導的資金市有所不同，尤其是當藝術品收藏視作投資時，更需要耐心地、理性地對藝術品進行挑選，因為大家開始明白到，短期炒作或見好即收的投機心態是不太適合藝術品市場的，藝術品要長期持有才能為收藏家帶來回報。

要找到藝術價值和具投資潛力的作品，必須先從藝術本身的價值出發。市場因此將會更熱切關注、尋找用心從事創作的優秀藝術家，始終藝術價值依然在於它的不確定性，來自藝術家的想像力和作品的原創性；要獲得收藏家的欣賞、認同，就先要經過展覽的檢閱，學術的審視，才能屹立於市場。

文　Calvin Hui

calvin.ecsquare@gmail.com

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What Keeps Mankind Alive? - 11th International İstanbul Biennial

2009-08-12T02:11:00.000-07:00

http://www.iksv.org/bienal11/anasayfa_en.asp

The 11th International İstanbul Biennial takes its title from the song 'Denn wovon lebt der Mensch?', translated into English as 'What Keeps Mankind Alive?'. The song closes the second act of the play The Threepenny Opera, written exactly 80 years ago by Bertolt Brecht in collaboration with Elisabeth Hauptmann and Kurt Weill.

A phenomenal success at the time of its premiere in 1928, the play was written as an adaptation of John Gay's 18th century The Beggar's Opera, and it set out to revolutionise theatre as both an artistic form and a tool for social and political change. The transformation of the 'theatre apparatus' by The Threepenny Opera, based on Brecht's assertion that 'a criminal is a bourgeois and a bourgeois is a criminal,' was achieved through an alteration of the existing notions of theatre 'genres' and the play's relationship with the audience.

Despite countless popular interpretations, undertaken by artists from varying backgrounds (such as Tom Waits, William S. Burroughs and the Pet Shop Boys, to name just a few), the song 'What Keeps Mankind Alive' has lost nothing of its power to unsettle and mobilize. Still, as the title of exhibition, it surely could be seen as being grandiose-not to mention the question mark, implying that the point is in the asking and not the answering-making it even more pretentious. And why not? Isn't the question posed by Brecht equally urgent today? And is it not true that we live haunted by the fears of approaching global changes, consequences of which could have lasting disastrous effects, not unlike those that transformed the world after the economic collapse of 1929? Aren't today's questions about the role of art in instigating social changes equally pressing as they were in the 1930s, when the Left confronted fascism and Stalinism? Or do we really consider them today to be solved within an all-encompassing system of cultural industry and its contemporary malformations, confined to art genres, predictable as cultural trends, and profitable for the purposes of marketing?

However, the International İstanbul Biennial is ahighly representative art manifestation, burdened as such by the usual complexity of dynamics between the local, the national, and the international in all its guises and titles, and a grandiose title seems quite appropriate-sufficiently open to marketing, political, theoretical and artistic uses and misuses.

It certainly seems that, seen from the dominant contemporary perspective(s), Brecht's Marxism and his belief in utopia, utopian potential and open political engagement of art all look a bit dated, historically irrelevant, in dissonance with this time of the crumbling of institutional Left and the rise of neoliberal hegemony. But the real question is, isn't this in fact symptomatic? Doesn't the way in which Brecht is now 'forgotten' and 'unfashionable'-after his immense popularity in the 1960s and 70s and a smooth transformation into 'a classic'-precisely the indicate that something has gone wrong with contemporary society, along with the role of art within it?

The Threepenny Opera thematises the process of redistribution of ownership within bourgeois society and through a literary narrative offers a still valid 'representation of capitalism itself -how to express the economic-or, even better, the peculiar realities and dynamics of money as such'.¹ The play sheds an unforgiving light onto a variety of elements of bourgeois ideology such as charity, judiciary and police system, marriage, romance, fraternal love, religion and sovereign authority, at the very peak of the Weimar Republic in 1928, just before Hitler's accession to power in Germany. Brecht himself pointed out similarities between the time of early industrial capitalism when Gay's The Beggar's Opera was written, and his own time: 'We still have, however, the same sociological situation. Just like two hundred years ago we have a social order in which virtually all levels, albeit in a wide variety of ways, pay respect to moral principles not by leading a moral life but by living off morality.'² The situation continues to this day, with the emphasis sliding periodically back and forth between religious morality and liberal democracy.

The similarities between the influence of rapid developments of liberal economy on the disintegration of hitherto existing social consensus in 1928 and in contemporary times are striking. In this respect it is useful to recall the analysis of another great author of the mid-twentieth century, political economist Karl Polanyi who published his seminal work The Great Transformation in 1944. Through analysis of the development of 'the deregulated market economy' and consequent rise of fascism, Polanyi warned against long-term tendencies of separating social from economical development, which in the end results in social chaos and rise of totalitarian regimes.

Just like Polanyi's, Brecht's analysis of pre-WWII developments bears alarming resemblance to contemporary times. 'What Keeps Mankind Alive?' will serve as a trigger, as well as a certain script for the exhibition. Even a quick look at the lyrics will discover many possible themes, such as the distribution of wealth and poverty, food and hunger, political manipulations, gender oppression, social norms, double morality, religious hypocrisy, personal responsibility and consent to oppression, issues certainly 'relevant' and almost predictable.

Today, biennial exhibitions are elements of cultural tourism through which cities attempt to use their benign and internationally communicative regional specificities to position themselves on the map of the globalised world; they are manifestations tending to 'cultural shopping' in which art is often presented as cool, fun, entertaining... Brecht was certainly critical of what he called a 'culinary' treatment of art solely as a means of entertainment, but he did not shy away from the entertaining role of art. In the popular and mass culture, as Brecht warned us, the problem is not pleasure, but its function. The question is therefore how to 'set pleasure free,' how to regain revolutionary role of enjoyment in a society in which, as Zizek points out, demands of the Super-Ego to enjoy-and not repression of enjoyment-have become the main mechanism of social regulation and repression.

Bringing back Brecht is an attempt to think about the role of artistic endeavour in the conditions of contemporary capitalism, to reevaluate our everyday practices, our value systems and modes of operation. Of course, as Fredric Jameson points out, there would be something "profoundly unBrechtian in the attempt to reinvent and revive some 'Brecht for our times', some 'what is living and what is dead in Brecht', some postmodern Brecht or Brecht for the future, a postsocialist or even post-Marxist Brecht, Brecht of queer theory or of identity politics...³ In taking Brecht as a starting position for developing the Biennial concept, the question of method is crucial. Is it possible to follow Brecht while disregarding his contemporary image of a Che Guevara of the academic Left, or a canonical author of the traditional orthodox Left, nonchalantly paying no attention to 'brechtology' and an apparent cul-de-sac in which countless reinventions of his experiments have ended? Is it possible, instead, to follow Brecht as a kind of (red) thread that leads the way in a search for a form and format for the exhibition, which would be, so to speak, 'beyond looking,' and could transform a viewer into a more productive participant-even accomplice?

What are Brecht's gestures, approaches and techniques that we, as artists, writers, curators, can repeat today? What could be the result? Collective creativity, epic theatre, Verfremdungseffekt, art as a means of popular education and political agitation... It does not mean that from today's perspective Brecht is offering a deus ex machina solution or a forgotten method that we can directly translate, but exactly the opposite-it is about creating a certain political-aesthetic puzzle that could stimulate us to properly formulate the problems of the present.

Brecht invites us to rethink our position again and again, to see the world as amateur actors, without dulling our critical faculties or our potential for intervention and change by learning the rules all too well. As a writer and a director, Brecht continuously sought to slice open and display, then deconstruct and transform the theatre's 'production apparatus'-it is this approach that should lead us out of the current deadlock of 'contemporary art apparatus.' At this time, the question of 'usability' of Brecht means first and foremost a repeated need to observe the interaction of art and social relations.

'What Keeps the Mankind Alive?' will take place in Antrepo No.3 (Karaköy), Feriköy Greek School (Şişli) and Tobacco Warehouse (Tophane), two of which are sites that were formerly reserved to fuelling the primary economy, nowadays turned into regular exhibition spaces. Becoming a 'space of culture' seems as well to be the best-case scenario for the 're-development' of Feriköy Greek School, an abandoned school lacking pupils. Two of the exhibition spaces (Antrepo No.3 and Tobacco Warehouse) are familiar to the audiences from previous biennials and all three are located in predictable central areas on the European side of İstanbul, where most of the cultural events take place. While many Biennials in recent years actively engage with their 'home-cities', and offer new viewpoints and redefinitions of their urban identity, 'What Keeps Mankind Alive?' will use given parameters of the biennial format to question the potential of a mainstream cultural institution to both impose and contest dominant social frameworks. What are the questions that can still be opened up through an exhibition of such a visibility, and what is the knowledge that can be generated by it?

In İstanbul and Turkey, where 'the conflict between an orthodox left position and contemporary art plays a critical role today in the understanding of contemporary art,'⁴ to exit the impasse of double-bind discourses of global neoliberalism and local ethno-nationalism seems to be the only endeavour worth all the trouble. Yet, to oppose the new forms that the ideology against ideology has taken in recent years⁵, to learn from the inability of the old left to rise from the ruins of the social state and to create new and meaningful alliances, are efforts that go well beyond Turkey.

¹ Fredric Jameson, Brecht and Method (London-New York: Verso, 2000), p. 13.

² Bertolt Brecht. 'On The Threepenny Opera', in The Threepenny Opera, translated and edited by Ralph Manheim and John Willett (Penguin Classics, 2008), p. 92.

³ Jameson, Brecht and Method, p. 5.

⁴ Süreyyya Evren, in Art + Politics. From the Collection of the City of Vienna, edited by Hedwig Saxenhuber for the Department for Cultural Affairs of the City of Vienna 2008 (Springer, Wien, New York: Museum on Demand), pp. 170-183.

⁵ "26 July. Brecht, last night: 'There can't be any doubt about it any longer: the struggle against ideology has become a new ideology.', Walter Benjamin, 'Conversations with Brecht', in Aesthetics and Politics (London- New York: Verso, 2002), p. 97.

Paolo Veronese The Wedding at Cana. A Vision by Peter Greenaway

2009-08-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

06 June 2009 - 13 September 2009

http://www.labiennale.org/en/Home.html

Venice, Island of San Giorgio Maggiore

Peter Greenaway is well-known for his work combining images from art history and the language of film. Now after Rembrandt’s Night Watch and Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, the English artist will tackle Paolo Veronese’s Wedding at Cana and its setting of the Palladian Refectory on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore.
Produced in collaboration with Change Performing Arts, the initiative is part of a larger project which includes the making of a film of the same title (The Wedding at Cana) to be given a world preview at the Venice Film Festival.

The Wedding at Cana facsimile offers Peter Greenaway the opportunity for an innovative and original interpretation via a state-of-the-art interplay of images, lighting, music, voices and sounds that will seem to emerge directly from the painting and the walls of the Refectory. The performance – a true multimedia event lasting about 50 minutes – will make spectators relive the episode of the marriage feast at Cana where Christ accomplished his first miracle, as narrated in the Gospel of John. Greenaway will point out to the public the painting’s scores of characters, from the servants preparing dishes, to the banquet guests, to the guests of honor – Jesus Christ and his mother Mary – seated at the center of the painting’s architectural composition, in an on-going crescendo culminating in the narration’s crucial moment: the miracle of water turning into wine.

In order to truly bring to light this extraordinary painting depicting a throng of over one hundred figures, the British moviemaker will make use of cutting-edge multimedia technology provided by Mediacontech, Italy’s main independent service provider, leader in solutions for the creation and management of content for digital media, museums and cultural industry.

The public will access the event in groups and at a specific time (every hour, on the hour) to share a unique and fascinating experience which – involving theater, art and moviemaking – places Peter Greenaway amongst the greatest artists who experiment unflaggingly with new means of expression for the new millennium.

理性收藏中國當代藝術品

2009-07-12T20:27:00.001-07:00

雖說 2009 年中國當代藝術品市場步入了深度調整期，但相信只是運作模式上的整治，整體勢頭還是向好。這個市場發展仍在剛起步階段，投資收藏此類作品的好處在於：它們未來升值空間大，投資門檻相對具彈性，而且回報率較高。畢竟中國新富不斷增加，他們對當代藝術的理解接受能力强，而且擁有足够的財力，為這個市場帶來龐大的潛在收藏資金。

在全球化、金融化及市場化的速動下，藝術與經濟已全方位接軌，並且駛進了生活各個範疇，藝術品投資也被迅速地納入資本的視野，金融界把收藏中國當代藝術視為一種投資理財項目，跟證券、股票、房地產等商品一樣地操作。藝術投資是可以低投入、高獲利的，但先決條件是具備藝術審美能力及鑒賞眼光，因為藝術品本身是個特殊的文化產品，以短炒圖利的方式來運作既不符合這個獨特市場的本身規律，投資也很容易招致損失。

藝術價值判斷趨理性

現在所謂「洗牌」機遇，就是對收藏家的一次清洗更替，換入更多真心喜歡藝術的理性收藏家，淘汰一群急功近利、企圖出賣藝術文化換取一夜暴富的投機者。特別是藝術價值判斷標準將更趨於理性；之前由資金操作的市場在前面發掘，借學術之名在後面整理並誇大其價值的詬病開始得到了修正。原本抱着投機心態從事短炒的投資者意興闌珊，陸續收隊離場，由西方資金主導的審美體系正步向消解，市場關注點已從「誰的價格會升？」轉移到「現在哪些是保值的藝術精品？」，背後意義是一種體現中國文化內涵及人文關懷精神的審美標準的訴求。

撥開陰雲後，應該如何部署投入收藏中國當代藝術？學術前瞻性及流通廣泛性肯定是重要的考慮，有心的又不妨從價值投資原則出發。中國當代藝術發展的歷史——「星星」、「無名」、「85 新潮」，無疑提示着一種收藏方向。藝術家們在創作內容和審美取向上保留了獨特的本土特徵，重視中國本土學術立場，從中國當下生存語境出發，清晰地呈現出時代風貌和時代精神，彰顯人文關懷及社會學的價值，收藏這些佳作就是一種價值的投資。

提高個人文化修養

藝術品收藏是一門學問，更是個人文化修養的提煉，需要用心地有系統地進行。一是看藝術家的閱歷，其學術地位及參展的履歷，同時是藝術本身的獨創性、思想性、個性化語言的表現、作品反映什麼樣的中國當代情境或者世界內涵。較資深的收藏家可爭取機會到藝術家的工作室造訪，關注他／她的思考、理念、藝術思維、價值觀及作品創作的背景，為自己有效地建立長期性收藏做好功課。

選擇一家信譽良好、堅持藝術專業信仰的畫廊當然是收藏藝術重要之一環，從畫廊的經營方針、負責人的學養與經驗、代理藝術家的名字、舉辦的展覽、出版的藝術書冊、訂定的價格，均可了解該畫廊在學術領域的視野、對藝術的忠誠度及其市場定位，收藏家可主動向畫廊多作了解，按照自己的需要進行判斷。假如畫廊的營業員大費周章地向你分析該藝術家的拍賣紀錄及作出升值保證，明顯地是以投機獲利作為銷售賣點，他們不會太關心藝術家的發展，亦忽略藝術本身的價值，只着眼於短線買賣，除非你很喜歡很享受該作品，否則收藏家應對這類「時尚藝術商品店」多加謹慎。

名家版畫投資門檻低

購買名家的作品需要資本實力，但不妨可考慮買入他們的版畫，其投資門檻較低。目前一些名家的中國當代藝術品都有版畫，作品既有原作的風韻，價格還不算高，而且由於是數量有限，具有一定的保值性，是投資藝術收藏的不錯選擇。但是在購買時一定要認清其版數及製作質素。

收藏當代藝術首要是因應個人的主觀意願（包括喜好、內心需求及一些客觀環境）而進行，但必須具有前瞻性，要有系統地分析，對未來五至十年趨勢把握準確預測。

中國當代一直以架上繪畫及雕塑為主流，但其實攝影藝術是很值得關注的，攝影作品記錄歷史及社會發展留下的烙印，是社會變遷和歷史發展最可靠的視覺文獻，折射出隱藏在社會大背景中的變化，具有社會的現實意義。剛在廣東美術館舉行的《廣州國際攝影雙年展 2009》，試圖梳理及重編中國攝影史，大大提升了對攝影學術研究的關注，同時檢視攝影在中國當代藝術向前的新局面。攝影藝術的闡釋體系將會在內地慢慢地成形，由此帶來學術體系的完善，讓更多收藏家認識到攝影的價值，因而帶動收藏群體的繁榮，使到攝影藝術市場繼續向前發展。到目前為止，中國當代攝影作品基本上仍處於成長期，肯定具投資價值的，除了藝術家知名度及作品價格外，收藏家也應該細心了解有關作品的版數、材料質素、安裝及存放等問題。

現在泡沫已經爆裂，但還需要一些時間恢復過來，藝術收藏先回到原點——鑒賞，認真地審視藝術本身的魅力和價值。中國當代藝術市場的發展肯定是樂觀的，從多方面（如國力的不斷提升、內地收藏家群日漸壯大等）可以期盼着市場健康有序地成長，並在一個新的起點上，用一種新中國文化大背景下的價值判斷，去關注中國當代藝術的精神性、創造性、在全球化及都市化的現實中去反思自己的理念與創作，為市場的生存與進步提供基本的營養。

文：Calvin Hui

calvin.ecsquare@gmail.com

重點作品介紹

李暉《輪迴》，裝置，鐳射、煙霧、金屬、布，200 x 110 x 500cm，2007

李暉是一位新晉藝術家，他的作品具獨創性及前衞性，這件《輪迴》【下圖】裝置，運用科技與不同媒材，表現富戲劇性的場景，營造了詭譎的氣氛，在床上輪迴，令觀眾引來無限聯想，同時讓作品直達人文厚度。

余極《洗腳圖誌》，數字攝影，200 x 120cm，2002-2003年

余極的《洗腳圖誌》，是中國當代攝影藝術中具代表性作品之一，相片中記載並賦予了洗腳女階層一個特別的意義，圖像陳述主要通過複製來強化畫面的視覺效果。洗腳女面對鏡頭時千差萬別的反應得到豐富的呈現：自然和不自然、勇敢與羞澀、欣然接受與慌張拒絕等不同態度，但都是統一於藝術家本人被洗的雙腳，透過這種洗與被洗的互動關係，突出了洗腳女的面部神情。

余極企圖以此「揭發潛藏於人們內心深處的權力欲望、享樂主義、虛情假意，暴露中國改革開放以後社會中的享樂主義、拜金主義，如何打破禁忌，讓濯足修身原本神聖之事變成通俗文化、商用文化以至泛性文化。」

投資收藏中國當代藝術品入門建議

1. 首要是遵照自己內心，對藝術品真心喜歡和熱愛；

2. 建立一個適合自己的收藏系統（以歷史性或收藏類別等為線），為長期投資設置做好準備；

3. 事前多花些時間了解相關的藝術家及作品，如廣泛地閱覽書籍、網站、數據分析、參觀展覽等；

4. 與信譽良好的專業畫廊及藝術界朋友多作交流，了解作品的歷史與創作內涵；

5. 要用眼睛決定，而不是用耳朵去購買藝術品；

6. 不用着急；

7. 有足夠及明確的資金預算。

余極《洗腳圖誌》，相片記載並賦予洗腳女階層一個特別的意義。

【列印文章】

字相矛盾終極紀念碑 What is Missing ? 劉向陽

2009-07-07T22:11:00.001-07:00

2009年7月8日

寫「大地．藝術」系列，猶如進入一個「倒行」的旅程，開始有一個起點：可是，開步後就是往後行，像一個 infinitely regressive 的旅程。一切從紐約開始，大都會博物館和現代美術館這些國際級的藝術場所，不知何時開始，已經變成一個遊樂場，整天人來人往，很有嘉年華的味道。逃出曼克頓跑到 upstate 的 Storm King Art Centre，剛好碰上策劃多年的林瓔 Maya Lin 的作品 Wave Field 開展，Wave Field（1995-2009）系列令人聯想到於施工上與它同出一轍的先行作品 Earth Mounds（1955）和它的創作人 Herbert Bayer。有研究現代藝術的學者，認為 Bayer 是大地藝術的 precursor，但是，這個說法還是有人爭議，不單是研究藝術的學者，就是 Bayer 自己也抗拒被定位為大地藝術的一份子。又或者，再退一步說，林瓔也同樣反對自己被定性為大地藝術家。

這當中是否反映有關大地藝術的一點什麼﹖

自從設計華府的越戰紀念碑 Vietnam Veterans Memorial（1982）以後，林瓔不斷面對兩個掙扎─一是擺脫做一個專門設計紀念碑（memorial）的藝術家，另外就是堅持遊走於藝術與建築之間，決不選擇。當然，這是個人取向問題，但有趣的地方在於觀察她如何為自己的藝術生涯導航。在過去的四分一個世紀，她還是創作了多個著名的紀念碑，包括亞拉巴馬州首府蒙哥馬利的民權紀念碑 Civil Rights Memorial（1989），還有在母校耶魯大學內的 Women's Table （1995）。但是，她於較早前宣布，今年9月在三藩市的熱賣博物館加州自然科學館（California Academy of Sciences）揭幕的新作 What is Missing？（2009）將會是她個人最後一個紀念碑設計項目。

這個由三藩市藝術委員會委約的作品，林瓔把悼念的目標放在自然世界裏因人類文明生活而湮滅的生物、景觀和地方。根據作品的介紹，目前地球上每二十分鐘就有一種生物絕種，林瓔刻意架空「紀念碑」的形式，只是把玩「紀念碑」的悼念精神，以文字、圖片和錄像紀錄這些將會滅絕的大自然生態，藉此教育人類意識到大自然生態所需要的平衡。

9月在加州自然科學館揭幕的 What is Missing？是一個混合聲音以及多媒體錄像裝置的「紀念碑」，於未來一年，還會推出以此為題的網站和多媒體裝置，於世界不同的地方出現。林瓔今次的創作，於形式上是徹底顛覆紀念碑的本質，讓它從一個「single, stationary object」的模式解放出來，於時空上，林瓔刻意把「紀念碑」從歷史的框架中抽出來，放到未來。What is Missing？不單讓人悼念失去的，還教人如何活到未來。透過公眾紀念碑去悼念大自然生態的湮滅，可說是把大自然與人類等同的象徵儀式，讓人類明白文明發展要與大自然共存。

從林瓔的個人藝術生涯以及藝術的詮釋角度來看，她運用於這個「終極紀念碑」的創作手法，那就是說：架空「紀念碑」傳統的模式，把玩「紀念碑」的意義到近乎荒誕的境界去令人面對和接受失去，打破社會上對「紀念碑」的種種理所當然，這也是現代藝術家對抗建制規範的一種手段。某程度上，大地藝術（land art）於上世紀六十年代，也是在同樣的哲理精神下產生。如果說大地藝術是因美國藝術家 Robert Smithson（1938 - 1973）而生，相信也不會有什麼爭議。於飛機意外喪生的 Smithson，是當代藝術的一個重要的人物，他的影響不單在於他留下的經典之作 Spiral Jetty（1970），更重要的是他探索藝術的理論和他透徹的思維。下周續談。

「大地．藝術」系列之五

【列印文章】

駐場團體搬遷藝穗會場館待善用李志榮

2009-07-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

2009年7月8日

藝穗會最近進行內部裝修，當大家將目光集中在M at the Fringe的搬遷時，在藝穗會的地庫，駐場二十多年的樂天陶社，亦遭藝穗會要求撤離該座二級歷史建築物，而且沒有交代重新遷入的安排。樂天陶社社長鄭禕質疑，此舉無疑是借機將樂天陶社踢出藝穗會，以便藝穗會擴展自己的餐飲生意，與當日政府將這座建築物租予藝穗會的原意，有所違背。

鄭禕質疑，藝穗會老早便開始計劃將駐場藝術團體逐一趕走，例如 1986 年他們不續約予「天台畫室」的藝術家黃仁葵、麥顯揚、楊東龍等。至今，樂天陶社已是唯一一間駐藝穗會的藝術組織。

樂天陶社 1985 年在香港藝穗會成立，為陶藝家和愛好陶藝的人士提供欣賞陶藝及製作陶藝的空間。 2002 年，他們將組織活動的經驗帶往上海，及後並得到景德鎮當局邀請，在景德鎮設陶藝工場推廣陶藝活動。他們現在於上海、景德鎮、北京均設立分社，在中國及國際陶藝界甚為活躍。

得不到應有尊重

例如在景德鎮的樂天陶社，不只舉行陶藝班，還曾經籌辦創意市集，讓他們的學生擺賣自己的設計。他們將當地的老式廠房改建成陶社基地，從世界各國邀請陶藝大師來此駐場，現在每年駐場藝術家達到二百餘人。在香港和上海，樂天每月為超過二百名學生提供陶藝課程，二十年間，已積累了一大批「樂天之友」。在被拒續約一事上，樂天在 Facebook 成立討論區抗議，亦有接近五百人參與以表支持。

「自 1995 年開始，每逢續約時藝穗會都會詢問樂天陶社的遷出事宜。我們感到很奇怪，既然我們按時交租，亦沒有闖禍，藝穗會憑什麼要我們離開？他們說需要地方興建消防設施等等，藝穗會是一個推廣藝術的地方，為什麼不能使用餐廳其中一部分，而要犧牲樂天陶社？」鄭禕忿忿不平地說道，在藝穗會內部裝修期間，M at the Fringe 和樂天陶社一樣，需要遷出，但藝穗會曾邀請 M at the Fringe 回巢，但遭拒絕；相反，樂天則沒有獲得挽留。「從前藝穗會租予藝術團體的空間，過去數年間逐漸變成食肆及酒吧。有這麼多的餐飲設施，政府不需要你加建防火設施就奇！」

樂天陶社在中國得到的待遇與在香港得到的差天共地，令鄭禕覺得不是味兒。「連景德鎮也要邀請樂天陶社在當地開設分社，他們給予方便，也給予偌大的地方讓我們開設基地。反觀香港，我們卻得到如此遭遇。我們努力在本地推廣陶藝，卻連一點生存空間也沒有，藝穗會要我們走，政府卻沒有主動理會，我會考慮應否在香港繼續我的陶藝工作。」鄭禕稱，明年將會樂天陶社成立二十五周年，他們已經開始籌辦多項展覽、慈善和外展活動，他們的工作不能停頓。她覺得，如果得不到社會重視，樂天陶社寧願花精力在內地推廣陶藝，放棄香港這一個大本營。

藝穗會：要大裝修

在先前提及過的 Facebook 抗議討論區內，藝穗會發表了一封英文回應信，反駁鄭禕的指控。信裏面提及不與樂天陶社續約是因為需要加裝消防設備、走火通道、公共廁所等，沒有提及要在原址興建黑盒劇場。在信件的末端，藝穗會呼籲樂天陶社不要抗爭，「做一些正面的事」，找地方建新址。似乎，對於樂天陶社續約一事，藝穗會已經關上大門。

藝穗會總監謝俊興提出，藝穗會的宗旨是要協助正在冒起的藝術家或藝術組織，給予他們機會展現自己的作品。可是，樂天陶社已是一個發展成熟的藝術組織，他認為，樂天陶社應該走入社區，繼續推廣陶藝。「我曾經和石硤尾創意藝術中心打過招呼，他們有偌大的空間適合樂天陶社。深水埗是全港最窮的社區，如果樂天陶社可以搬往石硤尾，便可以接觸深水埗社群，更可將陶藝推廣予與藝術絕緣的社區。」

謝俊興指出，要收回樂天陶舍現址純粹為了加添基本設施。「這是藝穗會搬入二十多年來第一次有機會作大型裝修。當日藝穗會搬入現址，沒有想過會待這麼久，很多裝修也是臨時性的。而且這二十多年來屋宇安全標準不斷更改，例如藝穗會很多房間沒有灑水裝置，建築物裏亦只有一條樓梯往來地面，我們沒有足夠的廁所，亦沒有提供傷殘人士使用的設施。最緊要的是，藝穗會裏面沒有合標準的走火通道。若不改裝，藝穗會將不獲續牌。我預計，要擴建這些設施，大概會需要一千三百方呎的地方。樂天陶社現址有一千多方呎，大概都會作為擴建這些設施之用。」

雖然謝俊興這樣解釋，但仍不足以消除眾人心中疑慮，因為藝穗會早有「前科」。當年藝穗會亦曾經以類似原因趕走天台畫室。陳清華當時在天台畫室學畫。她說：「當時藝穗會說他們的寫字樓不敷應用，需要我們的畫室作辦公的地方。我們合作地遷出，藝穗會卻背棄原意，將原址變成一所餐廳。藝穗會有自己的發展方向，這無可厚非，但既然政府提供建築物予藝穗會，那麼，藝穗會應以扶助藝術工作者為原則，不應以商業理由，將藝術空間抽掉，變成用來賺錢的地方。」

本報收到政府財經事務及庫務局的回覆，根據租約規定，藝穗會只可把物業用作藝術創作及文化交流場所，免費供藝術工作者展覽及表演。在用作藝術創作之餘，物業可擁有非牟利性質的輔助設施。至於何謂藝術創作文化交流，租約沒有詳列。

藝穗會現址既有 M at the Fringe 一類的餐廳之外，亦有如 Fringe Gallery 一類藝術與餐飲合一的場地。鄭禕指摘：「這是以藝術為名，賺錢為實。」謝俊興解釋，藝穗會需要餐飲設施以留住觀眾。觀眾大都在放工之後就趕到藝穗會觀賞節目，在他們觀賞節目後，有一個地方給他們歇一歇，一慰五臟廟，不足為過。何況，藝穗會一直都免費將場地租予藝術團體展覽，餐飲的收入全數撥入藝穗會的營運資金，仍然不足以收支平衡。藝穗會有 3.5% 的收入（主要是行政費用）仍然依靠藝術發展局的資助。

鄭禕稱，從藝穗會不續約予樂天陶社一事，可以見微知著發現藝穗會推廣藝術的方向出現問題。

坊間亦有聲音表示，藝穗會處於香港的黃金地段，理應為香港的本土藝術作出更多貢獻。鄭禕則認為，藝穗會純為場地提供者，對推廣藝術的工作不勝任。「你看他們做了幾多推廣文化的工作？藝穗會舉行的乙城節，有一半亦是由上海的藝穗雙周這個機構策劃。」

謝俊興解釋，藝穗會最大的特色是沒有設立評審制度，只要搞藝術活動的，藝穗會都會將場地借出。這種 open access 的制度，大概使人誤會，藝穗會沒有推廣藝術的大方向。

「藝穗會主要輔助冒起的藝術家和藝術組織，我們甚少古典藝術，所以會將機會給予地下樂隊等。如果要數我們的關注點，也許是本土歷史。例如先前我們搞了一個名為『審判胡志明』的表演，這個故事就是我們發掘出來的。我們亦帶領本地藝術家往外國交流，例如我們的默劇實驗室在 8 月會到台北。」

謝俊興指出，很多指摘藝穗會的人都不常參與藝穗會的活動，如果留意藝穗會的，就會知道藝穗會的展覽場地年中無休。他甚至指出：「我們會將自己的活動出版成宣傳小冊子，但往往就是拿不到樂天陶社的活動資料。」

黃金地段為人重視

九十年代在藝穗會搞過多場展覽，現在駐場牛棚的裝置藝術家甘志強指出，他現在位於牛棚的工作室即將被政府收回，現正四出找尋工業大廈搬遷。他肯定藝穗會的工作，藝穗會為新晉藝術家提供很多機會。他建議，在許可的情況下樂天陶社宜自置工作室，令到發展更為自由。「租用政府的場地有很多限制，而且『今日唔知聽日事』，只因為政府不作理會，我才可以在牛棚駐紮九年。政府有權收回物業作其他用途，既然這麼朝不保夕，不如找處地方作安穩發展。」謝俊興亦指出，現在政府有活化歷史建築夥伴計劃，是樂天陶社申請一工作室的良機。

不過，正如鄭禕所言，樂天陶社的遷出不只是地方的問題，這亦帶有一深層意義，是藝穗會這個地方，應該如何運用。觀乎政府的租約，大概在這件事上，藝穗會的做法沒有違規。問題是，藝穗會身處的是一個黃金地段，特別惹人垂涎，人們的期望亦會特別高。正如陳清華所言：「所謂 Fringe，根據英國愛丁堡的解釋，應該是指一些邊緣、非主流的藝術，但餐飲設施明顯與場地原意相違背。倒不如將 Fringe Club 易名。」黃金地段的藝術場地特別稀有，若將場地用作餐飲，旨在避開政府資助，夾硬維持收支平衡，未免有點可惜，美食佳餚熱點俯拾皆是，用不着犧牲這些藝術空間。另外，究竟在黃金地段的藝術空間應否給予藝術團體駐紮，還是全部用作出租，為不同的藝術團體服務？駐場藝術團體和租場團體是不同的，駐場團體還會和社區有一種特別的聯繫。筆者感到，藝穗會駐紮已二十多年，它改變的空間已經不多，甚難作出翻天覆地的改變。這一連串的問題，還是留給在旁的中央警署，繼續思量吧。

記者：李志榮

攝影：黃俊耀

【列印文章】

又貴又Cheap：藝術館的名牌推銷展何慶基

2009-07-06T04:49:00.001-07:00

2009年7月6日

上海美術館2006年搞《Giorgio Armani回顧展》，Armani給了美術館八百萬元人民幣，我們反過來送場地兼賠近600萬，為人家搞《路易威登：創意情感》展覽，而且連展覽命名也送了出去。2000年陷經濟危機的紐約古金漢藝術館，獲 Armani捐贈1500萬美元，隨後搞了Armani的回顧展，被文化界狠批，指為了錢出賣策展尊嚴，把無數有心人出錢出力建立，同時也享稅務寬免的公共藝術機構（古金漢屬典型的美式博物館，主要由基金會、私人和商業機構資助，惟仍享受稅務優惠），變成商品推銷店。古金漢藝術館當時一窮二白，賣身求存也可體諒。但我們的藝術館反過來倒貼逾半其全年節目／購藏開支來賣身，倒令人費解。

太貴

據報這展覽十分昂貴，開資達2000萬港元，我們送600萬實「濕濕碎」。筆者也曾參與策劃跨國大型展覽，橫看掂看也看不出這展覽怎可花上2000萬？有搞過無數國際展的策展朋友剛好在港，看過展覽後也認為展覽沒可能花2000萬。業內人不難發現這展覽其實頗便宜，因展覽主要的昂貴部分（即基金會藏品），絕大部分是平面作品，當中不少更是攝影和錄像。展覽最貴是運輸和保險，由於展覽有法國政府參與，按慣例會由法國政府承擔保險，而錄像和攝影作品，裝箱運輸也不昂貴。特別是錄像作品，寄光碟過來便行，最貴是現場的投射裝置，但這些裝置費用是由本地機構承擔。當然，巨額開支可用於行政費、旅遊、藝術工作者費、邀請巨星嘉賓等，這些費用可大可小，視乎主辦機構有多闊綽。開幕夜請來Gilbert & George、村上隆等巨星，他們除接觸官商名流和傳媒外，並無任何與本地藝術界和公眾交流的活動，唯一的對話，是找來本地學者來談「文化旅遊」。請那麼多人來，都是為了開幕酒會。

展覽主要分成兩主要部分——「路易威登珍藏與精選」和「路易威登與藝術」。Frank Gehry的模型和「香港七賢」部分，無論擺放位置和展覽模式，均顯示它們只是附屬展覽，特別是「香港七賢」，連策展人是誰也不清楚交代，怎能叫人認真處理。如果「路易威登珍藏與精選」的展品已是從基金會珍藏中精選出來，這基金會的收藏應是極之平庸。展覽明顯欠缺策展思維，各類作品炒成一碟，策展導言空無一物，完全缺乏嘗試與本地社群、文化對話的基本誠意和尊重。展覽沒一流的藝術巨作，不過例牌地仍有一兩件「撐場」作品，如Gilbert & George的攝影拼貼，事實上也相當悅目，但他們二人這類追求藝術平常化的作品，放進時裝、香檳的上流環境，倒有點諷刺。展覽有個別優美作品，如 Richard Prince的攝影和Jean-Michel Basquiat的畫，但亦不乏一流藝術工作者的二、三流作品，如Jeff Koon的畫作便甚差勁。

太cheap

但最難看的是「路易威登與藝術」部分。說穿了，只是借藝術之名，徹頭徹尾的品牌大推銷。村上隆好好一件趣緻熊貓雕塑，卻偏要站在路易威登旅行箱上。有些地方乾脆放棄掩飾，直接展出產品。行內有不成文規矩，不讓贊助商商品在展場展出，現在商界變成主辦機構，商品化身藝術品，大可大搖大擺地推銷。《路易威登：創意情感》開了危險先例，讓商業活動肆無忌憚的進佔公共藝術館。

展覽重頭戲是Richard Prince的大型戶外裝置，切切實實地「包起」藝術館。一張又一張雜誌封面的圖像拼貼，如亞裔女郎半垂胸圍供男士觀賞，盡是蘇施黃式東方主義。我們的衞道之士水平確低，只懂批判任何赤裸身體，然而如斯公然羞辱、剝削女性的作品，放在市中心竟毫無反應。最要命的是這作品滿布路易威登的典型圖案，藝術館變成了人家的大手袋。

在商言商，商家搵到藝術館贊助賣廣告，去到盡合情合理。但畢竟賣的是優雅高品味，節度矜持、適可而止始是品味。現在無處不在的硬宣傳，猶如在街市推銷地拖清潔布的阿叔，唯恐街坊聽不到不斷以擴音器嘶叫，實在太cheap了。

太搵笨

名牌商品透過贊助（別忘記，是人家贊助不是藝術館向人家貼錢）舉辦與其牌子相關的展覽，也並非鮮見。畢竟品牌時裝在現代時裝設計中扮演重要角色，但處理可以有濃厚商業味道的展覽，藝術館必須嚴謹把關，力保專業尊嚴。一旦失去這尊嚴，便很難在行內立足。2000年紐約大都會博物館取消了Chanel的展覽，便因為員工認為卡爾．拉格斐Karl Lagerfeld太多指指點點，影響專業自主。英國博物館協會的「操守指引」，指出博物館必須捍衞其目標和聲譽，贊助人沒權影響展覽的設計、內容和演繹。美國博物館協會就與商業機構合作的指引列出，「博物館須小心審閱和控制節目、展覽和活動的內容和尊嚴，這對獲取公眾信任有決定性影響」。（原文來自美國博物館協「道德指引」，見下列網頁：http://www.aam-us.org/museumresources/ethics /bus_support.cfm）

試看路易威登展覽的序言，劈頭第一段是「路易威登，一個擁有超過一百五十年歷史、標誌着優雅格調與精緻法式生活風尚的品牌，多年來與藝壇建立了長久緊密的關係。作為推出旅行皮具用品的先軀……」，由這段文字為年輕觀眾提供指引去欣賞這展覽，他們會首先學到什麼？藝術館出錢贊助，展覽變成人家的宣傳玩物，這安排太搵笨，是藝術館太「水魚」欠講數對拆經驗？或是放棄專業堅持？或是有不為人知的苦衷？

情況跟十年免租給薩凡納學院同出一轍。殖民教育的結果，是不問好醜接受西方來的便是好東西，賠錢送禮在所不惜。任何反對聲音，即被視為排外文化保護主義。我們不是排外，實際上需要謙卑下來，承認有很多東西要跟人家學習。但另一方面，為何如斯鄙視自己？為何總想着向外購買，不試試給自已機會？究是什麼東西，令我們不敢有「給我們600萬元，讓我們砌個國際級展覽你看」的野心？講本土創意又不尊重本土。不要忘記，全世界沒有一間著名藝術館，是靠買人家的展覽來建立自己聲譽的。

望着變成大手袋的藝術館，不禁唏噓。如此下去，香港會否成為二流外國藝術的堆填區？

【列印文章】

藝術製造的世界鄭傳鍏

2009-06-23T23:41:00.000-07:00

2009年6月22日

6 月初的威尼斯陽光普照，聖馬可廣場上遊人如鯽，在這個旅遊指南推介最適合遊意大利的時間，湧進這裏的除了來自世界各地的觀光客，還有不少是因着世界上歷史最悠久的藝術雙年展之名而來。從聖馬可廣場沿着海岸往東行，不多久就來到軍火庫（Arsenal）──這個中世紀威尼斯海洋霸權的中心，如今的藝術雙年展主場館。波蘭藝術家Aleksandra Mir以名為《威尼斯》的作品參加今屆雙年展，這是一百萬張免費派發的風景明信片──由北國雪景到赤道海灘，共有全球一百個不同地方的風景，全部都印上了「venzia」的字樣。參觀者被邀請寄出這些明信片，讓這些刻板印象的創作在全世界流通。藝術家希望有朝一日，或者是百年之後，有一張從這裏寄出的明信片能夠成為塞納河邊某藝廊的收藏品。

這種對人類熟悉的生活空間進行再創作的作品，正好吻合威尼斯雙年展史上最年輕的策展人Daniel Birnbaum為今屆雙年展提出的主題「製造世界」（Making Worlds）。雖然在龐大的軍火庫展館之中，到底有多少作品是根據這個命題來創作令人成疑。但在軍火庫入口正對面，由香港藝術發展局主辦的香港館，雖是由獨立策展人策展的場館，卻有一個和主場館呼應的主題──「製造（完美的）世界：海洋、香港、異邦的城市和夢」。這是香港首次以個人展覽形式參加威尼斯雙年展，展品包括白雙全因應威尼斯本身的環境及展場而創作的新作，以及部分舊作精選。顧名思義，作品分為四個主題：海洋、香港、異邦的城市與夢。作品包括不同創作媒介如：雕塑、攝影、行為藝術紀錄，以及一些富幽默感且充滿挑戰意味的作品的文本展示。

展覽的場刊稱：「白雙全善於在平凡的物件及地方中尋索箇中潛藏獨特且深層的意義。他取材自日常生活點滴及周遭環境，重新探索大多被人遺忘或不被注視的「意義」。白雙全沒有停留於將其看似隨意、沒有計劃的行動視為當代藝術之合法性的討論中，而是透過自省式及富哲學性的態度實現其具智慧及富有詩意的概念及思想，成功打破私人空間及政治的分野。白雙全亦挑戰社會對形體及精神層面的界定，面對當代社會中存在的許多不明文的規範及複雜性，創出了一種全新且具強烈共鳴的詮釋方法。」充滿語言遊戲、把玩概念的介紹未必能夠幫助參觀者了解藝術家的創作。反而在開幕式的講話上，讓我們了解多一些藝術家的創作心路。

威尼斯時間6月4日下午，香港館開幕。白雙全介紹自己的創作，談到每一件作品他都加上了創作的日期，乃至時間。而場中最後一件完成的作品，不見於場刊的介紹，是二十個載浮載沉的黑色氣球，藝術家說這件作品完成於2009年6月4日，概念來自他太太，二十個氣球代表二十年，作為二十年前六四事年的紀念。話聲一落，引來在場觀眾的一片掌聲。

雙年展印象．一

【列印文章】

2009-06-14T06:21:00.000-07:00

09春拍四大天王時代終結

2009-06-08T07:26:00.000-07:00

2009年6月8日

在藝術拍賣場上，拍賣官一舉手一投足，好像在施展魔法，指揮着台下的情緒，在手起搥落的神聖一刻，牽動了觀眾和競投者的每一根神經，接下來是雷動般的掌聲，為一件藝術品得到了高價成交而喝采。此情此景，盛況空前，在2006至08年的藝術拍賣專場中常見，置身其中真的很牛，很振奮。

直至 2008年入秋，金融海嘯橫掃全球，經濟環境逆轉，藝術品市場當然不能幸免，秋拍成交銳減(以當代藝術首當其衝)，出現了崩盤險象，整個包括一級及二級當代藝術市場無可奈何地進入冬眠。信心危機、收緊錢包一時成為市場的共識，持貨的憂慮、欲入市的又戰戰兢兢，藝術品市場好像被下了魔咒，一夜間由歌舞昇平的繁華跌落黑暗恐怖的萬丈深淵。

2009中國及亞洲當代藝術市場走向如何？冬去是否真的會春來？

今年現當代藝術品春季拍賣會由蘇富比於4月6日在香港舉行之「20世紀中國藝術作品專場」及「當代亞洲藝術專場」打開序幕，接住是5月9日北京翰海把內地春拍的大鑼敲響，然後5月底香港佳士得上演了今季重頭戲，而壓軸就由國內龍頭拍賣行北京保利、嘉德及誠軒等包辦。

金融海嘯後市場回暖

筆者勉強稱得上是一名收藏家，亦會跟蹤拍賣行情，且為09春拍的中國現當代藝術專場的成交結果作個回顧。用一句話來作總結：09春拍是中國收藏家實力的展現，根基穩固的長青樹無懼金融海嘯的巨浪，前輩大師的市場及藝術價值被高度肯定，藝術品市場撥開泡沫烏雲後看到的是春暖的陽光。

打逆境波本來就是一場整體實力的全面較量。今年嚴峻的市場環境確實在考驗拍賣公司對市場的判斷和應變能力，他們在09春拍的策略與布局上，均從傳統智慧出發：一、貴精不貴多；二、誠實地整頓價格；三、回歸對藝術價值的追求；四、尊重優良的傳統文化。

在 5月24日舉行的香港佳士得「亞洲當代藝術中國20世紀藝術夜場」上，每一件都是非常難得的上品，引起收藏家熱烈地競投。成交前四名的拍品均是中國第一代油畫大師的作品。常玉在1950年創作的《猫與雀》，將詩、書、畫三種藝術融於同一架上，是藝術家的重要代表作，以4210萬港元高價成交，打破藝術家拍賣價格的世界紀錄。抽象派宗師趙無極的一系列精彩作品也是該拍賣場的亮點，其中在1957年創作的 Nous Deux（We two）《我們倆》以3538萬港元創造了藝術家的拍賣第二高價。另外他的兩張佳作亦順利落搥，成交價合共逾2000萬元。

薑愈老愈辣

如果在香港舉行的拍賣會是中國及亞洲現當代藝術市場的風向標，北望神州，首都的龍頭拍賣場就是中國大收藏家彰顯財力及氣派的主舞台。北京保利的「中國繪畫藝術夜場」的第一件拍品是陳逸飛1979年創作的名作《踱步》，從1000萬元人民幣起拍，經過六十多次的叫價後，以破紀錄的4043萬元高價成交，令全場嘩然，同時為藝術家摘下今個春拍最高成交價作品的頭彩。

《踱步》是表現陳逸飛對歷史反思之佳品，也是中國美術史上的重要作品，曾經與羅中立的名作《父親》一起，代表中國美術界進入美國古根漢美術館展覽，使海外藝術界重新認識中國油畫，把中國的當代藝術家作品價格推向了一個新高度。

雖然2008年下旬金融海嘯捲走了很多富豪的資產，同時引發前所未見的信心危機，但以寫實派為首的中國前輩名師作品的市場價值在此時就顯得份外堅挺，真是「實力」勝於雄辯，證明薑愈老真的愈辣。

因為收藏家們都清楚知道，中國寫實派的先鋒畫家擁有深厚的藝術內涵，畫功扎實而且出神入化，體現一種對人性精神的表達和審美的祟高追求，作品的「美」總有一種懾人的魅力，令人感悟感動。另一位在09春拍擠身上千萬成交價的王沂東，他的古典寫實畫作表現一份含蓄之美，楚楚動人，贏盡了觀眾及收藏家的讚譽。

著名畫家沈嘉蔚在1974年創作《為我們偉大祖國站崗》，在今季北京嘉德拍賣場中經過近二十輪叫價，最後以795.2萬元人民幣成交。北京翰海推出另一幅「紅色經典」革命題材的油畫—靳之林的《南泥灣》，以1344萬元人民幣高價落搥。此類作品題材專，畫功精，創作態度嚴謹，存世流量極小，有一種高度的歷史價值，是拍賣場上的珍品。

如此驕人的成交結果，顯示拍賣行的變陣得到收藏家的認同。見識了大藏家展示雄財實力的風範後，令人欣喜的還是市場對稀有經典精品的藝術價值投下神聖一票。拿蘇富比「20世紀中國藝術專場」為例，精選的五十五件作品，成交率達80%，總成交金額9269萬港元。上拍作品數量銳減，但成績卻直逼08春拍水平，當中推出中國當代油畫先驅，享譽國際的一代名師林風眠多件重要作品，其中五幅是逾半個世紀未曾曝光，以京劇人物為主題的油畫成為今季的焦點。林風眠繪畫構圖簡潔優美，色彩豐富，抽象的場景，集東、西方藝術美學元素，借用畢加索與布拉克的立體主義，將剪紙、皮影戲等中國傳統民間藝術之精髓融合其中，創出了自家的藝術風尚。藝術家的上拍作品在今季得到4500萬元人民幣超高總成交額，彰顯了藝術品珍、稀、精的至上魅力。

投機貨色大幅跌價

另外「蘇富比的當代亞洲藝術」專場中推出了五件觀念性裝置藝術，其中黃永砯的代表作《六十甲子車》以338萬港元成交（估價為100萬至150萬港元）及隋建國的作品《衣缽》（與在香港藝術中心門外展出的中山裝雕塑屬同一系列）成交價為314萬港元，均刷新藝術家個人拍賣紀錄。從拍賣行的策略轉移及整個春拍的成交結果來看，當代藝術正在進行自身內在的淨化過程。真誠的收藏市場需要的是藝術生命的本源及藝術美的內涵，在傳統審美的標準基礎上尋找優秀的藝術品。

相反地，在大量投機性資金撤離後，一群一味追求無聊低俗、只為迎合(西方)市場口味而創作的當代藝術「天價打針雞」頓失了沒有良知的靠山，很快地被打回原形，成交惨淡或屢遭流標。

看看北京嘉德的「中國油畫及雕刻」專場，上拍作品數量大，但良莠不齊，最終換來低於45%成交率的慘況。再細味附表，發現一些近幾年曾被西方追捧為藝術界叱咤風雲的千萬級天王，此刻已風光不再。蔡國强的代表作《為外星人做的計劃第七號：再建柏林牆》成交價為741萬元人民幣，與他的另一件作品《apec景觀焰火表演十四幅草圖》在兩年前同一個佳士得拍賣場創下的7350萬元的世界紀錄比較，跌價真的非常恐怖。無論是曾梵志、岳敏君、唐志剛等的大額作品流標，或是新晉藝術家作品屢遇流拍，都反映了：一、收藏家現在變得更為謹慎、理智，二、市場估價與藝術本身價值背馳的作品得不到承接，三、投機性貨色的價格不斷下滑，四、以單一符號及圖像作招徠的藝術家將被收藏家厭棄，五、四大天王（通常指張曉剛、方力鈞、岳敏君及王廣義）的時代宣告終結，媚俗及波普藝術的疲態畢露，六、富中國傳統文代及美學素養的抽象派藝術適時掘興。

2009年春拍具標誌性意義，市場開始回歸藝術本身，對中國當代自我內在價值進行反思及審視，及對藝術價值收藏正風的認同。是這樣，才能拾回收藏家的信心。

文 Calvin Hui

calvin.ecsquare@gmail.com

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