[Date: August 24, 2008] Source: Author: Zhang Tingting [font: large, medium and small]
abstract
Generally speaking, the classical aesthetic-art view (including the modern "classical" aesthetic-art view) emphasizes the distance between art and life, attaches importance to the difference between art and life, and thinks that art becomes art because of its unusual nature; Classical aesthetic criticism always tries to find artistic originality and artists' extraordinary "unique skills". Since the 20th century, especially after the 1980s, this concept has changed, and the so-called "aesthetic life" (artistic life) and "aesthetic life" (artistic life) thoughts have appeared all over the world, which are not only advocated by aesthetic theorists and art critics, but also practiced by creators. The boundaries between art and life are increasingly blurred.
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Art and life, this is a very old topic, but also a very bad and boring topic. Today I will talk about it again, not for boredom, but to see the evolution of aesthetic-artistic concept, especially the new trend of aesthetic-artistic concept in recent years.
From a macro perspective, the relationship between art and life has roughly gone through three stages: the direct integration of art and life in the oral culture period; During the period of printing culture, art and life were alienated and opposed; In the era of electronic culture, art and life are merged again.
In the period of oral culture or the early period of handwritten culture (especially before the invention of paper), art and life used to be chaotic and inseparable. At that time, art was a part of life. For example, people's bows and arrows in the fishing and hunting era were both tools and beloved products of "art" (if there was a so-called concept of "art" at that time), but the boundary between "art" and life was blurred, or art was not divorced from life at that time, and people's aesthetic consciousness was still budding in the mother's womb of life practice, such as jade jade, jade yellow jade and jade cong in ancient China. Even in the era of Confucius, art is still difficult to be separated from life. Poetry, music and dance (as Confucius said, "eight-string dance") are not pure art in people's later ideas. Even the murals and statues of Buddhist grottoes in the Middle Ages (such as Wei and Jin Dynasties) are hard to say how many people used them as "works of art" at the beginning. The same is true in the West. Even the ancient Greek drama was originally a part of bacchanalia's ritual activities.
Later, art gradually became "independent" and art was alienated from life. Paper appeared in the later period of handwritten culture, which greatly promoted the independent development of aesthetics and art; Especially in the period of printing culture, art distanced itself from life with the attitude of "elitism", "nobility" and even "sanctification", and art was enshrined on the top of Olympia. At that time, people thought that art was art because it was different from life. It seemed that the farther away from ordinary people's lives, the higher their status, the better art would be. This period can be called the classical period of aesthetics-art. Elegant classical art is a classical aesthetic concept that worships art as the essence of life, and it is a typical form of aesthetic-artistic phenomenon in the period of printing culture. Corresponding to the social situation and spiritual concept at that time, artistic activities were regarded as creations higher than life, and artistic products were regarded as excellent products beyond vulgarity and sacred fruits beyond secularism. The historical era in which printing culture is located is an era of human inequality and an era in which "hardworking" people serve "laborers". It seems that artistic creation can only be the patent of "industrious" people, while "laborers" are expelled from the elegant hall of aesthetics-art. Even Bai Juyi, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty who claimed to be popular in poetry style and tried to be known to all women and children, could not conceal his aristocratic mentality of aesthetic concept in his bones. There are "folk songs and village flutes, of course, but they are gruff and harsh" in Pipa Xing, which intentionally or unintentionally shows contempt for the literary and artistic activities of inferior ethnic groups. Aesthetic-artistic activities are the activities of elites, people and elegant people, so works of art are regarded as elegant, special and exquisite things different from ordinary life.
China classical artists and art critics especially emphasize the distance and difference between art and life. In their view, art is a miracle, or a kind of magic. Legend has it that Gu Kaizhi's neighbor Chang Yue drew a woman on the wall and nailed it carefully. If the woman is heartbroken, she will sue Chang Kang and pull out the nail, just fine. " It is also said that Zhang Sengyou, a painter in the Southern Liang Dynasty, painted "Four White Dragons in Jinling Happiness House, which have no eyes and fly at the touch of every cloud. People think it's a fake birthday, but please click, lightning goes through the wall. The two dragons fly to heaven by clouds, and those who don't order the two dragons will see them. " These two stories are certainly not credible. However, they show a concept of people at that time, that is, art is a miraculous and wonderful thing different from life; At least they played up the wonder and magic of art.
China ancient art critics often judge the quality of art by how art is different from life and how it transcends the world. Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there has been a strong atmosphere of "judging people with nine qualities and cutting people with seven strategies", which has also affected aesthetics. Calligraphy, painting and poetry are mostly divided into three or six categories. For example, Sheikh of Nanqi said, "People who paint things will cover both sides of many paintings." (3) His Catalogue of Ancient Paintings divides painters into six categories. Liang Zhongrong divides poetry into three categories: upper, middle and lower. After that, many art critics interpreted it and distinguished different standards between art and artists. Compared with painters, Huai divides God, Miao and Neng into three categories, and Zhu divides God, Miao and Neng into three levels respectively. In addition, one product was added, which was: Shen (upper middle and lower), Miao (upper middle and lower), Neng (upper middle and lower) and Yi * * * 10. Zhang Yanyuan is different. The highest artistic character is nature, which is higher than God and can be divided into nature, spirit, beauty, delicacy and exquisiteness. He said: "after the husband's sex, he loses his mind, after the beauty, he loses his mind, after the essence, he loses his essence, and the essence becomes a disease. Natural person is above the top grade; God is among the top grades; Wonderful, under the top grade; Fine, above the middle product; Careful people are the best. I made these five grades to cover six laws. " (4) Although later art critics have their own opinions, some of them put one product first, followed by spirit, beauty and energy (Xiufu's Records of Yizhou Famous Paintings); Some advocate canceling Zhang Yanyuan's view on nature, and putting aside three things for one product (A Word by Wang Mingshizhen). But one thing is the same, that is, insisting that art has a special character different from ordinary life; The more excellent art is, the more different it is from ordinary life. The portrait in the painting should be close to the original. But in fact, the genius of a painter is that what he writes is different from the original truth, and he must be higher and better than the original truth. This is a deep-rooted concept in classical aesthetics. Zhang Yanyuan, a painting theorist in the late Tang Dynasty, once told a story: Gu Kaizhi, a painter in the Jin Dynasty, "wanted to write the truth of Yin Zhongkan, but Zhong Kansu was blind and stubborn. Chang Kang (Gu Kaizhi word) said that the Ming government should hide its eyes and ears. Bright is as light as Yun Zheyue. " Here, art has changed the original face of life. It can not only foster strengths and avoid weaknesses, but also turn shortcomings into advantages and ugliness into beauty. But the image drawn in this way is far from the original "truth" in real life.
If art is to transcend the secular world and become a "sacred object" with strange magic, then the person (artist) who creates art must also be a magical figure with extraordinary ability. Zhang Yanyuan's "Famous Paintings of Past Dynasties" said that Gu Kaizhi's "love writing is not bad. When Liu Yiqing said the cloud, Xie An meant Chang Kangyue, who had never met Qing Hua. Wu Daozi said, "The ancient and the modern are the only ones, and I have never seen Lu Gu before, and I have never seen anyone since. ..... God is made in heaven, and the spirit is not poor. ..... bending arc, column, beam. It's not fake Straight, flying a few feet, with roots and flesh, is more powerful. "7. The description of Wu Daozi in Zhu's Record of Famous Paintings in the Tang Dynasty is even more" divine ":"Ming Di suddenly missed the Jialing River in Shu Road, so he said goodbye to Wu Sheng and wrote about his appearance. When he returned to Japan, the emperor asked him about it and said,' I don't have a chalk book, keep it in mind.' Later, it was announced that it was in Datong Hall, more than 300 miles of mountains and rivers in Jialing River, and it was completed in one day. Guo Song Xu Ruo's "Picture Knowledge" also said: "There was only one person in Wu Daozi's paintings in ancient times." ⑨
The same is true of writers. Li Baixiang, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, is called "Poet Immortal" and "Immortal", which is incomparable to human beings. "Oh, but it is very high and very dangerous! ! It is difficult to get through the Shu Road, and it is difficult to go to the sky "("Shu Road is difficult to get through ")." Have you ever seen how the water of the Yellow River moved out of heaven and into the ocean, never to return? You don't look at the lovely locks in Gao Tingming's mirror. Although it is dark in the morning, it has turned to snow at night (Into the Wine), "The white hair is three thousands of feet, and the sorrow is like a long beard" (Song of Autumn Pus), "The green hills on both sides of the strait are opposite, and the sails are alone" (Looking at Tianmen Mountain). These images, such thoughts and such feelings can only be imagined and written by Li Bai. Du Fu, who is compassionate, and Li He, who is strange and cold, are also called "Poet Saint" and "Shi Gui", but they are beyond the mortal world and are revered and worshipped by everyone?
When describing the relationship between artists and the public, Kandinsky talked about Beethoven's "elite" character: "Spiritual life can be represented by a huge acute triangle, which is divided into several unequal parts by a horizontal line. The top is the narrowest part, and the bottom is wider and has a larger area. ..... There is always a person standing at the top of the triangle. His happy eyes are the mark of his heart. Even the closest people emotionally can't understand him. People angrily called him a liar and a madman. Beethoven is such a lonely man, standing straight and being abused. " The participating artists are lonely, and they pursue the "harmony of heaven and earth" in the cold "high place".
Through the above examples, I want to say that in the past, people always regarded artists and writers as "geniuses", called their works "miracles" and emphasized the unusual differences between art and life. Philosophers also gave solid theoretical support. The most influential is Kant's theory, which is still quoted by people today. Kant's definition of genius is: "Genius is a gift (endowment) that provides rules for art". Because of this talent, as an artist's innate creative ability, it belongs to nature. We can also say that genius is an innate internal quality (ingenium Latin: talent), which naturally provides rules for art. "1 1. Kant emphasized that genius is born and cannot be directly taught, learned, imitated, inherited or replaced; Genius is unconscious, "beyond his (artist's) control"; Genius is original, there is only one, there is no branch, "originality must be its first characteristic" and "at the same time, it must be a model"; Moreover, genius belongs only to art, not to science. " Genius issues rules not for science, but for art "12. Schelling has a similar saying, "Genius is only possible in art" 13. Schopenhauer also emphasized that genius is a kind of "superhuman thing", and the genius figure is "shining the sun all over the world" 14. It is pointed out that in their view, especially in Kant's view, artists (geniuses) and ordinary people are "category differences" 15, which draws an insurmountable gap between geniuses and ordinary people.
In short, classical art and classical aesthetics always separate artists from ordinary people and give artists the crown of genius; Always trying to distinguish between art and life, emphasizing the "distance" between art and life (although Bloch's "distance" theory is a psychological problem, it can also be understood as aesthetics-art should be separated from secular life). Some art schools also deliberately create a kind of "alienation" effect, so that readers and audiences always realize that they are appreciating "art" and watching "drama" instead of life; Let readers and audiences always keep a clear head and draw a clear line between art and life. The Brecht School in the West is like this, and so is the Mei Lanfang School in China.
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From the end of 19 to the beginning of the 20th century, the situation changed gradually, especially in the last 20-30 years. The general trend of this change is aesthetic-artistic life and aesthetic-artistic life, or aesthetic-artistic life tends to be consistent.
The obvious sign of this change begins with the publicity of film art to visual culture. Vision, relatively speaking, is a feeling that human beings have the most extensive contact with nature and social life. Whether it is a nation, a country, a city or an enterprise, its culture is first displayed through its visual image characteristics. Compared with literature, drama, painting, sculpture, dance, music, etc. Film is undoubtedly a more popular, active and graphic art, which takes the images of life as materials and means, strengthens the graphic expression of art, activates the audience's vision and approaches the "representation" of life itself in form. When the audience enters the movie, they are immersed in it, just like entering life. The appearance of movies marks the coming of an era of "reading pictures" and the beginning of an era of art popularization and life.
Daniel bell turned his attention to film and television and thought that visual culture originated from the birth of a "new aesthetics". He said: "I think that contemporary culture is becoming a visual culture, not a printing culture. This is an absolute fact. The origin of this change is not so much film and television as mass media, but the regional and social mobility that people began to experience in the middle of 19 century, and a new aesthetic came into being. " 16
What daniel bell said is not unreasonable. Different from classical aesthetics, "new aesthetics" and corresponding cultural changes are produced with "social mobility". Tracing back to the source, it is the product of the great change era that began in the middle of19th century. When describing the changes of that era, Marx and Engels said: "All fixed ancient relationships and concepts and viewpoints respected according to them have been eliminated, and all newly formed relationships will become obsolete before they are fixed. Everything fixed has disappeared, and everything sacred has been desecrated. " 17 If this is the case in the19th century, it will double in the 20th century and 2 1 century.
Since this new trend of aesthetics-art is the product of the changes of the times, its influence is not limited to movies, but also includes other aspects, and it will also have its theoretical form. First of all, it involves the issue of "artistic boundary". Croce, an aesthete, said: "Every real work of art destroys a certain established category and overturns the critics' ideas. Critics have to expand those categories, so that even the expanded categories are too narrow in the end. With the appearance of new works of art, new jokes, new subversion and new expansion inevitably follow. "18 The original artistic types are constantly being broken, and the original artistic boundaries cannot be kept. Moreover, how to define art is becoming more and more uncertain and even impossible to grasp. Wittgenstein, a philosopher, thinks that the classic definition of art has failed and put forward the theory of "family similarity", arguing that there is no unified essence in beauty, art and games, but only the relationship of family similarity: "I can't think of a better way to express these similar characteristics than' family similarity'; Because the similarities between family members are so intertwined: figure, face, eye color, gait, temperament, and so on. -I want to say that all kinds of' games' constitute a family. 19 in this era of changing aesthetic concepts, art seems to have no boundaries, and those vulgar "ready-made things" that used to be considered impossible to touch art have become art. Duchamp, one of the most rebellious artists in the 20th century, said in his article "About ready-made things": 19 13 years, I had a strange idea: put ..... When the word "ready-made goods" appeared in my mind, I also pointed out this form of expression. The argument I am eager to establish is that the choice of such ready-made items is not dominated by aesthetic enjoyment. It is based on the indifferent visual response, and at the same time, no matter whether it is good or bad, it is impossible to talk about it ... In fact, the whole feeling is numb, and one of its important features is the short ruling; I accidentally carved the title on these' ready-made items'. This kind of ruling replaces a title work to describe things, which means to convey to the audience another field richer than words. "From 19 13, Duchamp adopted the geometric method of industrial design drawings, and made bicycle tires with the so-called' ready-made material method', that is, fixed an ordinary bicycle wheel on a bench for kitchen use. 19 17 years, he sent a urinal engraved with the name "Spring" to an American art museum for exhibition-he asked people to look at it from a new angle and put aside its original practical significance, so the urinal gained new content and became a work of art. 19 19 years, he created it. These shocking behaviors dumbfounded people with traditional aesthetic concepts. However, some theorists with advanced ideas have made explanations. Brock said: "those who regard all kinds of ready-made things as works of art are actually engaged in a very serious cause." They are actually expanding or recreating people's artistic concepts. Those who don't think the above-mentioned objects are art are defending the existing artistic boundary and resisting various attempts to change it. " 2 1
The secret of turning ready-made objects into works of art lies in "aesthetic attitude". According to these theorists, any object, whether artificial or natural, can become an aesthetic object as long as it adopts an aesthetic attitude. However, when everything can become art, art will become anything, and art will disappear in life or be integrated with life. As daniel bell said, "In the past, art was an experience. Now, all experiences must become art. "
Xie Deqing, the performance art of Taiwan Province Province who sneaked into the United States in the 1970s, has four works of "performance art": (1)1978 September 30th to1979 September 30th, and kept himself in a self-made wooden cage in new york apartment for one year without reading, writing, watching or listening to anything. (2)1980-1981locked himself in a cage for a whole year, but he played cards every hour, 365 days a year, and played 8760 times. (3)1981-1982 for a whole year, he let himself spend it completely outdoors and was not allowed to enter any covered place under any circumstances. (4) 1983- 1984 for a whole year, he lived with Linda Montano, an American female artist, and was tied at both ends of an eight-foot rope without touching each other.
Whether or not readers admit that the above-mentioned behaviors are art, at least some people today highly value the level and value of this kind of "art": they "enable us to get close to a person, see his' suffering' and patience, and see his breakthrough and challenge to the limit of life. It is really important for us to see that he is really involved in such a state of life, and his experience and participation are so pithy and dedicated. Only in this case can life be finally recognized, experienced and cared for as an object. ...... The development of western art in modern times suddenly opened up a new direction: art no longer only serves the retina, but should become the expression of ideas or thoughts. ..... So the object of performance art is life, the material is life, and the purpose is life. Artists regard themselves as "tools" and show life as an objective object. If Xie Deqing's four works are superb works of art, then "Standing on the Roof of the World in 2003" climbing Mount Everest, Tour de France, Zhang Jian swimming across Bohai Bay, English Channel, Tianchi Lake and Qinghai Lake in Changbai Mountain, "Dan Ke" (Ke Shouliang) flying over Hukou Waterfall of the Yellow River, Spider-Man climbing skyscrapers with his bare hands, Xinjiang acrobats walking a tightrope across the Yangtze River and sinkholes ... are of course the most fashionable art today.
In the classical period, art was pulled down from the altar. In the past, only a few "elites" were able to "do" and "play" art. Now, everyone is an artist, can be an artist and can "play" art. American scholar fredric jameson described it this way: "In the post-modern world, it seems that there is such a situation: thousands of subjectivity suddenly voiced, and they all demand equality. In such a world, the artist's personal creation is no longer so important. Art has become a process in which everyone participates, not just a Picasso. " Earth art, conceptual art, advertising art, performance art, pop art, Kara 0K, mass concerts, and various mass literary evenings, audiences and actors often mingle. Network literature, everyone participates in creation. Electronic cultural media almost directly overlap physical objects with visual images. It is difficult to distinguish between reality and reality. The boundary between creation and appreciation has disappeared, the boundary between author and reader has disappeared, the boundary between art and life has disappeared, and the distance between aesthetic activities and practical activities has also disappeared. So life is aesthetics, and aesthetics is life.