transfiguration of Christ ：耶穌顯容；耶穌變聖容：耶穌在世時曾在三位元宗徒面前，顯示祂天主性的榮耀，藉以彰顯其默西亞的使命（參閱瑪十七）。
威尼斯雙年展上的中國困境
2013年06月14日
Courtesy of Zhang Xiaotao
張小濤的數字動畫《薩迦》，重新演繹了西藏薩迦派寺院，這些建築曾被紅衛兵所摧毀。該作品展現中國宗教自由限度的變化。Zhang Xiaotao's digital animation "Sakya," a recreation of the Northern
Temple of the Sakya Monastery in Tibet, which was razed by Mao's Red
Guards. The work explores the shifting limits on religious freedom in
China.
北京——中國文化部的官方立場是，它支持威尼斯雙年展(Venice Biennale)的中國館。但矛盾的是，北京的網絡警察在中國境內封鎖了威尼斯雙年展網站。
每隔兩年，這場藝術盛事就會催生中國文化部與中國館獨立策展人之間的不穩定合作。後者是通過公開競爭挑選的。而藝術家是出了名的難控制。
- 檢視大圖
Miao Xiaochun繆曉春的油畫《無中生有：公敵》描繪了伊甸園中的機械人形象。
一位曾在中國館辦過展覽的策展人說，「政府既希望能在威尼斯展出中國藝術家的作品，以獲取聲望，又害怕有時出現在中國館外的示威活動。而且幾乎不可能找到一個具備國際聲望，又從不批評政府的策展人。」由於害怕遭到報復，這位策展人要求匿名發表言論。
第55屆威尼斯雙年展6月1日開幕，將於11月24日閉幕。其中的中國展由北京中國中央美術學院美術館展覽學研究主任王春辰組織。王春辰在一次訪談中說，此次中國展主題「變位」，是一個宗教詞彙，指的是基督轉變成人的形象，現在「可以完美地描述中國正在經歷的文化變化。」
王春辰說，中國仍然有「集權的、控制的權力體系」痕迹。他在展覽目錄中寫道，同時，「中國藝術家因為中國之變而更加積極和主動。在這個意義上，『變位』成為一種行動，他們力求藝術不再封閉、不再懸置。」
他在訪談中說，在作品目錄中提及政府封殺藝術家，是「一種微反抗。中國藝術家需要更多自主性，更多自由」。
為了展現中國眾多的衝突與轉變，王春辰為此次展覽挑選了七
名藝術家的作品。童紅生的參展作品是六副小型靜物畫，內容是佛教儀式中使用的物體。而王慶松則以三份批評中國社會的攝影作品參展。在《威尼斯的海水》中，
何雲昌展示的是2013個裝着海水的瓶子，海水收集自威尼斯海岸，每個瓶子上都有數字和他的簽名。策展人王春辰說，胡曜麟的《物自體》表現了藝術家「修復
毀於城市化浪潮中的古建築」的努力。
繆曉春談到自己的藝術作品時說，「我在虛擬現實中，創造了一個平行世界，一個烏托邦。」他說他一直沉浸在基於網絡的世界和虛擬的藝術作品中，他有時覺得「被這些機器控制了」。
電影人張小濤把數字動畫作品《薩迦》帶到威尼斯，這部作品
探索了宗教自由界限的變化。張小濤解釋說，在618年到907年間的唐代，「藝術與佛教融合，推動了眾多古代寺院中壁畫及雕塑的繁榮」。他說，但是在毛澤
東時代，文化大革命粉碎了經典藝術和宗教，中國社會及藝術家失去了精神港灣。
現在，張小濤希望幫助恢復佛教信仰與藝術之間的聯繫。西藏
的薩迦寺曾遭到紅衛兵的破壞。張小濤用兩年時間研究該寺的廢墟，並諮詢寺內喇嘛，用3D建模軟件重現了薩迦寺的北廟。在數字影像中，薩迦寺是一個超現實空
間，發光的金色佛像成形，又消失。藏傳佛教曼荼羅旋轉着，變成時光隧道，將虛擬的朝聖者送到新的未來，以及新的生命歷程中。
這段以穿越時空的動畫來宣傳藏傳佛教的影像，與北京將藏傳佛教寺院描繪成藏獨異見人士的堡壘的做法形成了鮮明對比。這位藝術家說，「我的烏托邦就是要見到處在佛教復興時期的中國。」
舒勇的作品也在中國館展出，關注的是改變中國的另一支強大
力量：網絡。為了描繪中國網絡上的時代思潮，舒勇用谷歌翻譯(Google
Translate)把中國微博和網站上最常見的1500句話語翻譯成英文，並在宣紙上寫下了中英對照的字句。這些字句用機器翻譯成英文很奇特，例如
「Towards the Dream Forward」（向著夢想前進）及「Marching Towards Science」（向科學進軍）。
他把這些字句放進半透明的磚塊里，用這些磚塊在中國館外搭
成半毀壞狀的城牆。他將該作品稱為「古歌磚」，代表着互聯網上源源不斷地涌動的，正在重塑中國的思想及圖像的泉流。但是，「古歌磚」城牆也象徵著中國審查
者對谷歌發起的曠日持久的鬥爭。其鬥爭旨在控制人們是否能接觸到北京認為危險的電影、藝術和信息。
舒勇說，「谷歌代表着人們能自由地接觸到全球文化，而不僅僅是美國文化。中國政府主張自己有權在邊境上控制能接觸哪些信息。最終，谷歌別無辦法，只能退出中國。」
他補充道，但是，中國的「變位」並未結束。他預言道，「這座牆不可避免地會消失，就像柏林牆倒塌一樣。」
中國建造的這堵城牆，用於阻擋谷歌、YouTube、Facebook和Twitter，現在也屏蔽了威尼斯雙年展的網站。曾經參加2007年威尼斯雙年展的中國數字設計師曹斐說，這堵牆「與對當代藝術及媒體的審查別無二致」。
艾未未可能是中國最知名的當代藝術家，今年卻不能在中國館參展，部分原因是他與共產黨的對抗不斷升級。但是，艾未未的作品還是會在威尼斯展示——在德國館。
去年9月，艾未未給《衛報》(The Guardian)撰寫評論，痛斥那些未能在作品中表達異議的中國藝術家。他抨擊稱，「中國藝術界其實並不存在。」他寫道，沒有政治立場的創造者不能被稱為真正的藝術家。
王春辰說，他認為艾未未對當代中國藝術的定性非常狹隘。但同時，他認為艾未未的作品在威尼斯德國館參展，積極地「象徵了文化全球化」。他說，正如中國藝術家在被藝術全球化改變一樣，他們也在重塑中國文化的界限。
Special Report: The Art of Collecting
China’s Venetian Quandary: Chinese Artists
June 14, 2013
BEIJING — Officially, the Chinese Ministry of Culture supports the China Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, so it seems paradoxical that Beijing’s cyberpolice are blocking the Biennale’s Web site across China.
Every two years, the
prestigious art event triggers an uneasy alliance between Beijing’s
Culture Ministry and the pavilion’s independent curator, who is selected
via an open competition. And artists are notoriously difficult to
control.
Miao Xiaochun
Miao Xiaochun's "Out of Nothing: Public Enemy,"
an oil painting that depicts robotic figures in Garden of Eden-like
surroundings.
“The government wants the
prestige of exhibiting Chinese artists at Venice, but fears the
demonstrations that are sometimes staged outside the China Pavilion,”
said the curator of a previous China Pavilion exhibition who spoke on
condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. “And it is virtually
impossible to find an internationally respected curator who has never
criticized the government.”
The Chinese exhibition at
the 55th Venice Biennale, which opened June 1 and runs through Nov. 24,
has been organized by Wang Chunchen, head of curatorial research at the
Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum
in Beijing. Its theme, “Transfiguration,” is a religious term referring
to the transformation of Christ, Mr. Wang said in an interview, and is
now “the perfect term to describe China’s ongoing cultural changes.”
China is still marked by “a
centralized and controlled power system,” Mr. Wang said. At the same
time, “Chinese artists have become more proactive because of the
transformation of China,” he wrote in the exhibition catalog. “On this
level, ‘transfiguration’ becomes an action; artists attempt to make sure
their art is no longer blocked out, no longer suspended.”
Including a reference to
government bans on artists in the catalog “is a form of
microresistance,” he said in an interview. “Chinese artists need more
liberty, more freedom.”
To explore China’s myriad
conflicts and transformations, Mr. Wang selected for Venice the works of
seven artists. Tong Hongsheng is showing six small still-life paintings
of objects used in Buddhist ceremonies, while Wang Qingsong
is contributing three works in tableau photography that critique
Chinese society. In “The Water of Venice,” He Yunchang presents 2,013
bottles filled with seawater collected off the Venetian coast, each with
a number and his signature. Hu Yaolin’s “Thing-in-Itself” showcases the
artist’s efforts “to restore ancient buildings demolished during the
urbanization drive,” Wang Chunchen, the curator, said.
“I create a parallel world,
a utopia, in virtual reality,” Mr. Miao said of his artworks, adding
that he is so constantly immersed in Web-based worlds and virtual
artworks that he sometimes feels “controlled by the machine.”
The filmmaker Zhang Xiaotao
brings to Venice a digital animation titled “Sakya,” an exploration of
the shifting limitations on freedom of religion. Mr. Zhang explained
that during the Tang Dynasty, from 618 to 907, “there was a fusion
between art and Buddhism that gave rise to great frescoes and carvings
across ancient temples.” But during Mao Zedong’s reign, the Cultural
Revolution crushed classical art and religion, and Chinese society and
artists lost their spiritual moorings, he said.
Now, Mr. Zhang wants to
help restore a link between Buddhist beliefs and art. After spending two
years exploring the ruins of the Sakya Monastery in Tibet,
which was razed by the Red Guards, and consulting with lamas there, Mr.
Zhang used 3-D modeling software to recreate Sakya’s Northern Temple.
In its digital incarnation, Sakya is a surreal space where glowing
golden Buddhas take form and disappear; Tibetan mandalas spin and become
time tunnels that transport virtual pilgrims to new futures and
lifetimes.
The time-bending, animated
promotion of Tibetan Buddhism stands in stark contrast to Beijing’s
depiction of Tibetan lamaseries as fortresses of pro-independence
dissent. “My utopia would be to see China in the middle of a Buddhist
renaissance,” the artist said.
Shu Yong, whose works are
also at the China Pavilion, focuses on another powerful force
transforming China: the Internet. To depict China’s cyberzeitgeist, Mr.
Shu compiled 1,500 of the most common slogans to appear on Chinese
microblogs and Web sites. He painted the Chinese slogans on rice paper,
along with their English equivalents, provided by Google Translate. These machine translations produced quirky slogans like “Towards the Dream Forward” and “Marching Towards Science.”
He encapsulated the
writings in translucent bricks used to build a wall, partially in ruins,
outside the China Pavilion. The artist calls the work “Google Bricks,”
which represents the seemingly endless fount of Internet-channeled ideas
and images that are remaking China. But the “Google Bricks” wall also
symbolizes the protracted struggle Chinese censors waged with Google
over access to films, art and information that Beijing deemed dangerous.
“Google represents free
access to not just American culture, but global culture, and the Chinese
government demanded the right to control that access at its borders,”
Mr. Shu said. “In the end, Google had no option but to withdraw from China.”
But transfiguration in the
country is not over, the artist added. “This wall will inevitably
disappear, just as the Berlin Wall fell,” he predicted.
The barricades
that China has erected against Google, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter,
and that now also block the Venice Biennale Web site, “are the same as
the censorship of contemporary art or the media,” said Cao Fei, a Chinese digital designer who exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2007.
One Chinese artist whose works will not be shown at the China Pavilion this year is Ai Weiwei,
perhaps the country’s best-known contemporary artist, in part because
of his escalating confrontations with the Communist Party. Mr. Ai’s work
will, however, be on display in Venice — in the German Pavilion.
In a commentary
he wrote for The Guardian newspaper in September, Mr. Ai lashed out
against Chinese artists who fail to embed dissent into their works. “The
Chinese art world does not exist,” he charged. Creators who are
apolitical, he wrote, cannot be called true artists.
Mr. Wang said that he
viewed Mr. Ai’s characterizations of contemporary Chinese art as
narrowly restrictive. At the same time, however, he views Mr. Ai’s
participation in the Germany Pavilion in Venice as a positive “symbol of
cultural globalization.” Just as Chinese artists are being transfigured
by cultural globalization, he said, they are reshaping the boundaries
of Chinese culture.
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