「再會歷史」或許是這個時代才獨有的特權,一方面,它意味著與歷史招手,小心翼翼地歡迎它來到我們面前,與我們再次相遇;另一方面,這句話也意味著跟歷史揮手道別,兩兩相忘,不再相見。「再會」始終是個矛盾的說法,不僅透露出語言的兩義性,同時也說明了在真實的歷史之中,同樣也存在著這麼兩條交錯的路徑,但是唯一能夠決定這兩種姿態對人們所代表的真實意義,則取決於我們從此時此刻出發,對於過去跟未來的凝視與想像。
“To represent history” is perhaps a privilege unique to this era. On the one hand, the title evokes an image of us waving at history, welcoming it cautiously as it comes into contact with us again; on the other, the title that is a double entendre also bids farewell to history, expecting to part ways with it. The underlying paradox in the title not only reveals the ambivalence of language but also points out that the reality of history does indeed harbor these two diverging paths. The only way to decide what the two positions truly mean to people is contingent upon us the viewers, in our observation and imagining of the past and the future, as we embark upon the journey from the here and now.
在創作的領域裡頭,陸續有不同的藝術創作者也在思索著類似的問題—站在古今中外歷史的十字路口上,究竟我們可以擺置自己、或被擺置的位置何在?站在歷史的終結點,或者將歷史暫時懸置,蔡志松透過一系列藝術創作建構了這樣的一個觀想平台,將古今中外各家各樣的作品與文化邏輯撮合在一起,讓它們互相交流、撞擊,從而與身在此時此刻的我們,展開一段漫長的對話,這整個過程充滿神秘,給人的感覺始終像一道美麗而正謹的謎語。
In the realm of artistic creation, many other artists have been considering a similar question: at the crossroads of history, where will we position ourselves, or be positioned? Working at the ending point of history, or perhaps temporarily suspending history altogether, Cai Zhisong constructs an observation deck on which to consider the above question via a series of artworks. He brings together references of works and cultural discourses from different times, allowing them to clash and interact, so that those of us experiencing his creation may begin a long conversation with it. The process of the encounter is full of mystery, as though trying to solve a beautiful, discreet puzzle.
受過學院正規教育的蔡志松,結合個人化的作風和後現代的複合語言,有意觀照和突顯古今中外美學之間,究竟誰主導?誰從屬?的文化課題。本次他在台北當代藝術館的個展,不難發現許多對話的元素和辯證的語境,除了顯露出創作者和中外歷史交手的個人野心,此展也重新提醒了我們有關於主體思維和語言建構的藝術議題。
As a classically trained sculptor, Cai marries his idiosyncratic style to a complex postmodernist vocabulary with the intention of reflecting upon and emphasizing a cultural subject matter: amongst the different aesthetics of the past and the present, of the east and the west, who is in the lead? And who is following behind? From the artist’s solo exhibition at MoCA, Taipei, it is not difficult to see various elements in dialogue and dialectical contexts. Aside from revealing the artist’s ambitious attempt to go a few rounds with history itself, the exhibition also re-focuses our attention towards artistic discussions about subjective thinking and linguistic construct.