锋刃为谁而雪──关于行为艺术与大陆行为艺术

王林
（一）
行为艺术是以身体作为媒介，通过某种行为方式或表演方式，以展示有针对性的文化观念和美学态度的艺术。从形式上看，行为艺术是一种表演艺术，艺术家要把自己经过构思的行为展示出来。但不同于一般表演的是，行为艺术更注重行为在社会现场中的针对性──挑战性、挑逗性和挑衅性，更注重艺术家自身在行为过程中的身心经历和对于经历的精神体会。
由于行为艺术是身体性的，所以它必然与人的生理、心理体验有关。在行为艺术中，身体既是一种符号化的存在，又是一种过程性的存在。儘管每个人的身体都具有最真实、最具体的个别性，但从身体的诞生开始，人就被打上了社会、时代的烙印。身体及其动作既是生理和心理的即时反应，又是文化和经验的必然结果。所以，身体的差异性也就包含着传统与习俗，成为荷载文化身份也成为挑战文化问题的代码。可以说个人身体是精神最初的也是最后的归宿，是艺术最初的也是最后的手段。
在对行为作品进行价值判断的时候，有三个问题是应该加以甄别的：
其一，甚麽行为是艺术行为？
行为之所以成为艺术行为，是因为其具有艺术意义，而艺术意义的产生则在于日常行为的陌生化和反常行为的意图化，也就是说，必须有日常行为的非日常化即意义化的转换。同样是打卡，一个公司职员的行为和台湾行为艺术家谢德庆的区别，就在于后者以每小时一次、连续一年的极端方式使之变得非日常化、变得反常、变得陌生化。而一个精神病人的反常行为则由于缺少针对性即意图性，反而是作为病人的正常行为，与行为艺术家并不一样。
其二，行为艺术的针对性何在？
人的行为在社会中发生，即便是自然行为，比如睡觉，也是有社会性的：和谁睡觉？睡在何处？睡得如何？等等。人的行为总是在一定的社会环境、社会历史和社会规约中发生的，行为艺术正是在行为和环境、行为和历史、行为和规约的相互关係中，敏感到精神意识的某种动向，使之作具有当下文化意义的鲜明呈现，从而让人反省和审视自己建立起来却又反过来压制自己的异化现实。行为艺术不仅仅是关于行为的艺术，而且是关于行为规约的艺术，也因此而具有泛政治化倾向。其意义深浅取决于作为艺术的“行为”与社会环境、社会历史、社会规约的关係如何。其观念与行为的结合要达到睿智的、深刻的思维水准，必须有超越习惯、惯例和既有桉例的难度。
其三，行为艺术有无道德界限？
道德是一个历史概念，行为艺术经常挑战既有道德制约而为精神寻找新的可能性。但精神之于道德的更新，是建立在一个基本出发点之上的，即个体精神需要不断生长、发育、丰富、深化和升华。从这个意义上讲，行为艺术是对人的爱护，是对人的行为自由特别是精神自由的嚮往。自由对任何人来说都不是绝对的，其有限性在于一个人的自由祇能以他人的自由作为界限。因此行为艺术之所谓行为，不能是未经他人同意而伤害他人的行为。比如说你要做一个关于死尸标本的行为艺术，你就应该预先通知作品的参观者，让其有参观或不参观的自主选择，以避免可能对他人的精神心理造成伤害。任何未经他人同意而伤害他人的行为，祇是有问题的行为，而绝不是甚麽行为艺术，即使打着艺术行为的幌子。艺术有突破历史道德的无限可能性，但其最终的伦理边界则在于对人的尊重，对生命、对他人身心的尊重。
（二）
廓清以上问题，我们再来看中国大陆的行为艺术，就不至于在许多无谓的问题上纠缠不休了。
大陆行为艺术初起于八五时期“厦门达达”的艺术活动，至八九年北京现代艺术展可视第一阶段。此一时期出现了不少艺术家包裹自身的东西，如魏光庆模拟卧轨自杀，其作品的抗议性在八九年后诗人海子在山海关卧轨自杀身亡后更值得加以追认。其实在八九年现代艺术展上，真正引起强烈反响的恰恰是行为艺术，如萧鲁枪击电话亭、张念孵蛋、吴山专卖虾以及至今匿名的假装爆炸中国美术馆等等。其中萧鲁的枪击之所以影响巨大，原因是那一声枪响，不仅击碎了伊斯堤思式的电话亭，宣告了中国当代艺术挑战欧美中心的必要性，而且作为一种巫术式的预言，揭示了中国政治专政的铁血现实。
八九后艺术是中国大陆行为艺术寻求自身价值的转型阶段。如果说，八五时期的行为艺术主要是针对美术史既成话语的反传统行为，以黄永砯在洗衣机中洗涤《中国美术史》和《西方现代美术简史》为总结，那麽，八九后艺术之于行为，一开始就表现出广泛的文化针对性。张隆首先在上海美术馆完成了《苹果的阐释》，其作品以植物学、医学、社会学、美学的种种方式处理苹果，在《大不列颠百科全书》 “苹果”条目的朗诵声和中国幼稚园互让苹果的儿歌声中，作者以故作正经的方式解构了我们对于熟悉事物一本正经的集体认知。这是大陆行为艺术中不太为人所知的优秀作品，也是第一次在官方美术馆正式实施的行为艺术。无独有偶，九十年代初期另一件令人振聋发聩的作品，是孔永谦一九九一年七月一日在北京实施的文化衫活动。“我是党的一块砖，哪里需要哪里搬”；“读毛主席的书，听毛主席的话，照毛主席的指示办事”；“烦着哩，别理我”；“是上班还是练摊儿？”──这些话语印在公开出售的文化衫上，是一个真正的创举。在特定的时间、特定的地点针对特定的现实，其中国智慧的幽默与挑衅至今无人企及。这是政治波普中最为优秀的作品，长期被资本化的相关宣传所遮蔽，是中国艺术批评的耻辱。这种出于话语权佔有、功利性追求以及体制化妥协的批评阐释，是今天必须加以反省的。这裡祇指出两个同样被人忽视的重要史事：
一是一九九三年五月四日在上海华东师大图书馆举办的第三回中国当代艺术研究文献展（装置──环境──行为），展出了一百多位元艺术家的观念艺术作品，其中专门剪辑了八九后行为艺术作品录影带，题为《媒体的变革》，收集了三十多位元行为艺术家的作品，包括张隆、郑国谷、宋冬、佟飙、朱发冬、邱志杰、成力、庄辉、新历史小组等等。这些作品或者针对现代主义的终结，或者批判艺术市场的操纵，或者提示自我意识的迷失，或者反省集体话语的荒谬。从各个不同的方向表现出大陆行为艺术家对当代文化和中国社会的关注。九十年代伊始，大陆行为艺术就具有强烈的现实性和批判性。
二是世纪之交成都行为艺术群体的活动，以戴光郁为主要组织者，成都集结了一大批行为艺术家，除了居住于此的余极、罗子丹、周斌、朱罡、刘成英、曾循、张华、尹晓峰等人，还有来自全国各地的艺术家温善林、宋冬、邱志杰、尹秀珍、苍鑫、张盛泉等等。不仅多次举办了“水的保卫者”大型行为艺术系列活动，而且前后有国内外艺术家上千件行为艺术作品在这裡完成。正是长期持续的行为艺术改变了成都市民的文化意识，同时也推动了西南当代艺术的发展，并从中产生了不少至今执着于行为艺术的优秀艺术家，如罗子丹、周斌、戴光郁、何云昌、朱发冬、李川、李勇等。成都也由此成为中国当代艺术的重镇，成为西南当代艺术的策源地之一。考察与之相关的行为艺术活动，产生了众多优秀之作，如戴光郁《久已搁置的水指标》、尹秀珍《洗冰》、张盛泉《放生》、罗子丹《一半是白鬚一半是农民》、周斌《神六》、朱发冬的《出售》、何云昌的《出逃》、幸鑫的《託运》等等，这些作品以现实追询和精神拷问的方式，给人带来强烈、浓重而富有深度的感受性，其艺术倾向完全不同于世纪之交中国艺术界流行的玩世与调侃，无疑是中国当代艺术交响乐中的重音。
前些年受使馆文化的影响，北京曾兴起一股行为艺术热，出现了一批效倣赫斯特动物标本的作品，其间斗酷、比狠、较残，从杀生到放血，从剥皮到暴尸，虐待动物，嗜食死婴，祇要能引起注意无所不致其极。然而曾几何时，这股风潮就烟消云散，不再有人问津。大概最近已转向“影像北京”，可能也会有一阵影像运动热罢。行为艺术因其挑战性而具有很大的新闻效益，在国际文化资本的操纵下，中国艺术界出现功利共谋的运动潮流，是不足为奇的。这对于真正的行为艺术家不啻是一种考验：一方面、我们需要在当代资讯背景和问题意识中进行国际交流，另一方面，我们更需要在本土文化语境和社会现实中追寻艺术价值。行为艺术作为当代艺术的一个方面，对于中国而言有其特殊重要性。行为艺术的机遇性、偶发性和一次性，使之成为最不容易样式化、也最不容易商业化和体制化的艺术。目前，中国当代艺术正遭遇体制官方化、资本国际化、媒体市场化、学术功利化等等困境，行为艺术的野生性、个体性和当下性，将有助于艺术家磨砺精神锐气和思想锋芒，并从中创生蕴含中国经验和中国智慧的思维方式和艺术方法。
因为澳门美术馆一直致力于追踪、梳理、展示中国行为艺术的历史成果，并且已经做了很有成效的工作。对这一项长期坚持的学术计划，我个人是非常支持的。
二零零八年十月二十一日
四川美院桃花山侧

For Whom is the Blade Sharpened?
Performance art in Mainland China

by Wang Lin

Part I

Performance art recruits the body as its medium and certain modes of behaviour or representation as its vehicle for specific cultural ideas and aesthetic attitudes. It is a performing art in form, through which the artist attempts to present preconceived behaviour in a manner that is different to ordinary performance, dwelling much more on the significance of behaviour within a social context (e.g.) by harnessing properties such as challenge, amusement and provocation as well as the artist’s personal and spiritual experience during the process.

Since performance art employs the body as the medium, it inevitably addresses human physiological and psychological experiences. In performance art, the body exists as a symbol and a process. While every human body possesses the most tangible and concrete individuality, each is infused with the effects of society and the times. The body and its actions enacts both spontaneous physiological and psychological reactions, which are also the inevitable outcome of culture and experience. Therefore, in the heterogeneity of the body tradition and customs are embedded, and as such are a code of cultural identity as well as a challenge to cultural issues. It is no exaggeration to say that the body is the first and last resort of the spirit just as it is the first and last channel of art.

In the evaluation of works of performance art, three questions should be examined.

Firstly, just what is performance art?

For behaviour to become artistic, it must possess artistic significance, which comes from the estrangement of commonplace behaviour and the internalising of abnormal behaviour. That is to say, commonplace behaviour must become unusual (i.e.) there must be a change of significance. Take the act of clock-punching. The difference between that of an office worker and that of the Taiwanese performance artist Teching ‘Sam’ Hsieh is that the latter does it with the abnormal frequency of once every hour for an entire year, thus rendering a usual and routine act unusual, abnormal, and estranged. The abnormal behaviour of a psychotic lacks intention, and as such it becomes normal insofar as it is by a patient and is different from that of an artist.

Secondly, what constitutes performance art’s addressing nature?

Human behaviour takes place in society, and behaviour such as sleeping, even if natural, is social. With whom does one sleep? Where does one sleep? How does one sleep, etc? Human behaviour is bound to take place within a certain social environment, history, and norms. It is in this interrelation between behaviour and environment, behaviour and history, as well as behaviour and norms, that a certain spirituality and ideological tendency is sensed and made representative of the cultural significance of the present time, through which one may reflect upon and examine the alienated reality one establishes but which ends up depressing oneself.

Performance art is not merely concerned about behaviour but also about the norms of behaviour, and therefore it tends towards pan-politicisation. The depth of significance depends on the relationship between behaviour as art and social environment and history, as well as accepted norms. For the combination of ideas and behaviour to transform into wisdom and profundity of thought behaviour must go beyond habits and usual practices, as well as the level of difficulty of precedents.

Thirdly, does performance art have moral boundaries?

Morality is a historical concept. Performance art tends to challenge existing moral constraints in order to explore new spiritual possibilities. However, the renovation of the spirit as opposed to morality is based upon a fundamental starting point, namely that the individual spirit seeks to continuously grow, develop, enrich, intensify and transcend. In this sense, performance art is a form of love of humanity and a longing for the freedom of human behaviour, particularly that of the human spirit. Freedom is not absolute to anyone; the limit of one’s freedom is the freedom that it allows others.

Acts of performance art, therefore, may not hurt others or what is not approved of in advance. For instance, if one were to produce performance art related to a dead body one should inform visitors in advance so that they have the choice of visiting or not, and thereby avoid hurting people psychologically. Any act that hurts other people without their permission in advance is merely problematic behaviour rather than performance art, even if it is done under the banner of art. While art may offer infinite possibilities to break through historical morality its ultimate ethical boundary lies in its respect for others, for life, and for the bodies and minds of others.

Part II

Having clarified the aforementioned issues, much confusion may be avoided when we look at performance art in Mainland China. Performance art in Mainland China dates back to 1985, when the art exploration of Xiamen Dadaism was in its prime. From then until 1989 - when the Beijing Exhibition of Contemporary Art was held - can be considered its first phase. This period witnessed quite a few incidents with which artists immersed themselves (e.g.) Wei Guangqing’s simulated Suicide by Lying on a Rail. The remonstrative nature of his work was worth further acknowledging after Haizi  committed suicide by lying on a rail at Shanhaiguan in 1989.

At the 1989 Exhibition of Contemporary Art, what truly caused a sensation was performance art (e.g.) Xiao Lu’s Shooting at the Telephone Booth, Zhang Nian’s Egg Hatching, Wu Shanzhuan’s Selling Shrimps - plus the as yet anonymous simulated Blowing up of the National Art Museum of China, etc. Of these, Lu Xiao’s shooting was so shocking - not just because the shot smashed the XXX-styled telephone booth - which declared the necessity of Chinese contemporary art challenging the central position of its Western counterpart - but also because it prophesied the blood-and-iron reality of autocratic Chinese politics.

The post-1989 period was a transitional period in which performance art in Mainland China sought its value.

If the 1985 period of performance art engaged in anti-traditional acts against the existing discourse of the history of art - which concluded in Huang Yongping’s throwing History of Chinese Art and Brief History of Western Modern Art into a washing machine - then post-1989 art, as far as its acts are concerned, demonstrated the nature of addressing a broad range of cultural issues at their inception. Firstly, in the Shanghai Art Museum Zhang Long completed his Interpretation of an Apple, whereby apples were approached from various angles such as botany, medical science, sociology, and aesthetics. In reading the Britannica entry of the apple as well as broadcasting songs of apples for kindergarten children, the author, poised as if serious, deconstructed our collective understanding of a familiar item. This is a lesser known and yet excellent example of performance art in Mainland China, and it was also the first performance art to be incorporated into an official art museum.

It so happened that there was a similar case: another sensational work from the early 1990s was Kong Yongqian’s Cultural Cloth in Beijing, which was made on 1st July 1991. ‘I am a brick of the party, I go wherever it needs me’, ‘Read Chairman Mao’s book, heed Chairman Mao’s words, follow Chairman Mao’s orders’, ‘I’m bothered. Leave me alone’, ‘To go on working for others or to run a small business of my own?’… Having those slogans printed on T-shirts for sale was an act of creativity in those days. At a specific time, in a specific place, and aimed at a specific reality, the humour and provocation in it have yet to be matched. This is the most excellent work in the political pop art of China, which, however, having long been obliterated by capitalised publicity, shames Chinese art criticism. It is this type of criticism and interpretation, made from a dominating position for material pursuits as a result of an institutionalised reconciliation, that we should reflect upon today.

Below are two important yet overlooked historical events:

The first is the 3rd Edition of the Chinese Contemporary Art Document Exhibition held on 4th May 1993 at the East China Normal University in Shanghai, where conceptual art pieces by more than 100 artists were exhibited. Amongst these, a video tape of post-1989 performance art - titled Transformation of Media - was compiled. It included works by more than 30 performance artists such as Zhang Long, Zheng Guogu, Song Dong, Tong Biao, Zhu Fadong, Qiu Zhijie, Cheng Li, Zhuang Hui, and the New History Task Force. These works addressed the end of modernism and criticised the manipulation of the artistic market to signal the loss of self-consciousness and reflect upon the absurdity of collective discourse. They expressed the different ways performance artists concerned themselves with contemporary culture and Chinese society. From its beginnings in the 1990s performance art in Mainland China occupied strongly realistic and critical ground.

The second is the collective art activity in Chengdu at the turn of the century. With Dai Guangyu the principal organiser, a large group of performance artists gathered in Chengdu. In addition to Yu Ji, Luo Zidan, Zhou Bin, Zhu Gang, Liu Chengying, Zeng Xun, Zhang Hua, and Yin Xiaofeng, etc, artists from all over the country such as Wen Shanlin, Song Dong, Qiu Zhijie, Yin Xiuzhen, Cang Xin, Zhang Shengquan arrived. Not only was the Protector of Water art series held several times but some 1,000 pieces of behavioural works by Chinese and foreign artists were also completed. It is precisely because of these long-term and persistent performance art pieces that the cultural concepts of the Chengdu people has changed and at the same time promoted the development of contemporary art in southwest China, whereby many excellent artists dedicated to performance art such as Luo Zidan, Zhoy Bin, Dai Guangyu, He Yunchang, Zhu Fadong, Li Chuan, Li Yong, etc., have emerged. Hence, Chengdu has become a centre of contemporary Chinese art and one of the origins of South Western contemporary art.

Many outstanding pieces of performance art related to Chengdu have been produced such as Dai Guangyu’s The Long Left-Aside Water Indicator, Yin Xiuzhen’s Washing Ice, Zhang Shengquan’s Freeing the Captured, Luo Zidan’s Half White Beard, Half Peasant, Zhou Bin’s Shenzhou 6, Zhu Fadong’s For Sale, He Yunchang’s On the Run, and Xing Xin’s Luggage Check-in. In the form of the pursuit of truth and spiritual interrogation, these pieces have brought to audiences intense and profound sensations, and, with their artistic tendency completely different from the cynicism and disdain of Chinese artistic circles popular at the turn of the century no doubt put the stress on the symphony of contemporary Chinese art.

A few years ago, influenced by exposure to culture from various embassies, there arose in Beijing a surge of performance art, which featured some Hirst-like animal specimens. Its representative works vied to be most cool, ruthless, and cruel: from killing to bloodshed, from flaying to leaving carcasses exposed, abusing animals, consuming dead babies, etc. Anything went as long as it caught the attention. Soon after, this vogue vanished into thin air, and people no longer showed any interest. Attention might have been turned to Imaging Beijing, where image capturing might have been the vogue.

Thanks to its challenging nature, performance art has huge journalistic value. With the manipulation of international cultural capital, it is not surprising that in Chinese art circles there has appeared a tendency to pursue both effect and profit. To genuine performance artists, this is not only a test: on the one hand, we need to carry out international exchanges with a contemporary information background as well as a problem-wary mentality, while on the other hand we need, more so than ever, to seek artistic value in a local linguistic setting and social reality.

As a facet of contemporary art, performance art has its unique importance to China. The occasional, accidental, and one-off nature of performance art renders it the art most resistant to stereotype, commercialisation, and systemisation. At present, contemporary art in China is experiencing a series of difficult situations (e.g.) the bureaucratisation of the system, internationalisation of capital, marketing of media, materalisation of academics, etc. The wild, individual, and time-specific nature of performance art will help artists sharpen their morale and determination, whereby artistic measures holding Chinese experiences and way of thinking in accordance with Chinese wisdom will be created.

The Macau Art Museum has always been dedicated to tracking, arranging and exhibiting the historical achievements of Chinese performance art, and it has already accomplished significant success. This author is strongly in favour of this long-term, resilient academic project.