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作者:杜曦云2012-07-03 15:02:00 来源:中国雕塑家网
中国当代美术在1990年代的重要转折之一，就是关注的视域从乡村向城市的转换，这与文化语境的转变有一定关系。因为，随着从政府到民间的“现代化”求强意志的驱动，整体发展模式转换，重心转移到了城市，农村城市化、城市都市化的经济热潮挟信息网络化、文化全球化的激流奔涌而至。都市的迅速扩展和市民社会的壮大带来了都市文化的兴盛繁荣，也引发和集结了前所未有的众多文化问题，从而使都市日益成为人们关注的焦点所在。90年代初期由新生代艺术家所追求的都市题材，日益成为中国当代艺术的主流。敏感于文化范式转换的艺术家们很自然地转向了都市化创作，其体验由敏锐逐步向深沉发展，并日益多元化和微观化。这种趋势在当下更是愈演愈烈。
但是，王兴刚的雕塑作品却一直以朴实无华的农民为母题，这使他的作品从样态上就与中国当代艺术的主流明显疏离。但是，与那些多年来一直以乡土为题材，却并不关注当代艺术的艺术家们不同，王兴刚一直身处中国当代艺术的中心地带，不但熟悉当代艺术发展脉络，而且主动介入其中。如此，他的这一选择，则既是他个人的文化观念使然，也被他对乡村、农民的感情所驱动。
表面上看，随着都市化成为显象、消费主义文化成为都市的主导文化，乡村、农民已经与当代艺术所关注的主要领域没有多大关系。从而，王兴刚基本处于一个“脱域”状态。但是，稍作观照与对比即可意识到，特定的社会历史背景，使得中国目前农业、工业、后工业社会交错重叠，在城乡之间、地区之间、行业之间的经济收入差距非常大，而且这个差距还在进一步扩大。因为大量资金的投入和政策的倾斜以及地理优势等原因，中国的少数城市发展速度非常迅速，日益接近国际大都市的发展水平。在这些发达城市，呈现出准消费社会景观，消费主义文化的扩散已经是不争的事实。但这种扩散并不局限于发达城市的富裕阶层，消费主义文化的触角也远远不止伸向这些城市，而是尽可能地向所有地域扩展、渗透，包括穷乡僻壤。所以，中国的乡村虽不是一派消费社会景观，但消费主义文化却也早已占据主导地位。那些只能采取观念消费的乡村群体，虽然可能因为经济条件的限制而没有实际消费能力，但高度认同消费主义文化，并往往不顾个人或社会的经济状况，去极力追求和模仿实际消费群体的生活方式，在疲于奔命的仿效中付出代价，为此甚至压抑和牺牲基本需要的满足。
中国农民的数量非常庞大，占据总人数的四分之三之巨。毋庸讳言，他们居于社会阶层金字塔的底层，但从某些角度而言，这一底层群体才是中国当下种种发展、演进的基石与大地。但在当代艺术的主流中，对在当下社会、文化情境中乡村领域、农民群体所涌现的严峻问题的关注，依然为之甚少，这不可谓不是缺失。王兴刚成长于白山黑水之中，对乡村、农民怀有真挚的感情和一定程度的了解，多年来的现世经验和文化反思，也使他意识到当代艺术对这一问题深重的领域的忽视或疏漏。为此，他主动选择和背负起这一文化责任，将视域锁定在这一领域，关注这些被都市化风潮所边缘化的农民。
但是，农民这一母题，不但在往昔的视觉图谱中长期占据主角位置，而且在当下的视觉产品中并不缺席，甚至举目可见。只是，它或者在已流于滥觞的为了讨好和满足都市小资们观光趣味的乡土风情作品中被矫饰化，或者在一路持续而来的“主旋律”文化中被虚假化。那么，王兴刚如欲真切关注和深入表现，必须与矫饰化或虚假化的前车之鉴划清界线。通过他的作品我们看到，他以当代艺术为背景来切入，选择的是对农民在当下文化语境中的价值诉求和心理态势进行考察与反思。
作为一种自觉、主动的文化选择的现代性，其基石是个体主义，是主体性，但中国历来盛行的往往是从众主义，主体性在其中是缺失的。在一波波的“现代化”等举措中，农民追求富裕、丰足的“幸福欲求”被生产和导向了对这些主导文化的期盼和羡慕，但这种主导文化的描述和规范，都往往是被设置好的，农民从而成为被种种权力话语所操控、驱驰的棋子，盲从于是成为其主要症候。而这种盲从，究其根本而言，是被动的。
经过多年来的感受与反思，王兴刚意识到了农民的这一主要症结。这一认识，在他的雕塑中体现了出来。他采用了象征化的语言来表现他们。千百年来样式无多大改变的棉袄、棉裤，外加建国以来生产的解放鞋，将这些依然带有浓郁的前现代农耕文化气息的农民的存在状态呈现出来。有意擦刮、堆塑出的泥土剥落痕迹，以及土黄色的敷施所强化的“泥性”，突出了他们与土地的密切关联抑或生死与共，同时也显露出了眷恋乡土的作者始终挥之不去的“大地”情结。他吸取了中国汉代雕塑举要治繁、复尚简约的造型观念，对动势、韵律、体块加以强调以突出神韵，为此乃至不惜夸张、变形，而其它部分则一笔带过。如此，那种在当下的消费主义主导文化的驱动下盲目跟随的从众心理态势得以突出。在他的雕塑中我们看到，这些农民们目露迷惘，却在被激发、催生出来的欲求之驱动下狂热向前，步调整齐划一而唯马首是瞻。但令人心惊的是——在最前方作为领跑者的农民也是一样的迷惘无际。于是，当他绊、跌、摔、落时，追随者也共进退、同起落地遭遇相同命运。
王兴刚的作品，其实是对一种从众主义意识以及由此种意识所导致的盲从行为的象征性表述。在当下的文化语境中，他的作品所指向的是消费主义文化氛围中的农民。但一路推导和扩延下来，这种缺乏主体性的意识，又不独限于消费主义文化氛围中，而往往是对一切占据主导地位的文化的盲从。它也不独限于当下的农民，而很可能也同样存在于其他人群之中，当然也包括每个观者自身。
现代性是一种在立足于今天的基础上对未来的想象性规划，而这种种美妙规划是乌托邦还是未来实景，又都取决于主体在每一个稍纵即逝的今天的现场中的行动，依赖于主体性。如果说性格决定行动、行动决定命运，那么，等待盲目跟从、追随者的未来、命运是什么？
The Frontage of Conformists -------the Concern and Pondering of Wang Xinggang
Du Xiyun
One of the vital transitions of Chinese contemporary fine arts in 1990s is the transfer of visual field---from the perspective of countryside to city, which is more or less related to cultural context transfer. As the drive of willpower of striving for powerful modernization from government as well as from folks, overall developing mode transferred, the focus moved to city, urbanization of countryside, metropolisization of urban city, the booming economy permeated with the ushering of information network and culture globalization. The rapid expansion of urban city and strengthening of citizen society brings out flourish of urban culture, elicits and attracts many unprecedented cultural problems as well. As a result, the city gradually becomes the focus of public attention. The city topics pursued by new generation at the beginning of 90s increasingly become the mainstream of Chinese contemporary arts. Those artists who are being keen on the transition of culture pattern diverted to urbanized creation spontaneously, accordingly, their experiences developed from purely sensitive to abstruse, and increasingly became diversified and microcosmic. Nowadays, the tendency is becoming even more heating.
However, the sculptures of Wang Xinggang always focus on simple and plain peasants, all this appear to be an obvious deviation from the contemporary Chinese arts. Yet being distinct from those artists who take countryside as their topic whereas caring nothing on contemporary arts, Wang Xinggang has always being the central area of contemporary arts, he is not only familiar with the channel of contemporary arts development, but also can actively get involved in it. As for that, his choice is urged by his personal cultural notion, driven by his affection to countryside and peasants.
Superficially, along with the dominant position of urbanization and consuming culture, countryside and peasants has nothing to do with the main field which contemporary arts is concerned with. Accordingly, Wang Xinggang almost falls into isolation. Whereas few contrasts and comparison could make us be aware of the overlapping of agricultural, industrial, post-industrial society under typical social historical background nowadays in China, the enormous economic income gap among different cities, different regions, and different industries, and the gap are being expanded. Due to substantial capital input, policy support, geographical advantage, etc., only a small number of cities developed rapidly, and could be matched with international metropolis. In those developed city, the emergence of pre-consuming society idea, pervasion of consuming culture have become an un-debated fact. Whereas neither this pervasion nor the consuming culture is restricted to the wealthy stratification of those developed cities, the antenna of consuming culture has expanded, permeated to overall regions, including remote and backward places. Therefore, although the countryside in China does not belong to single type of consuming, the consuming culture has long been dominant in this area. Those countryside groups who pursue ideal consuming will highly identify with consuming culture despite of consuming incompetence caused by the economic restriction, meanwhile, they will try to pursue and imitate the practical lifestyle of consuming groups regardless of personal or social economic status, pay the price for the desperate imitation, and even inhibit and sacrifice their basic necessary gratification.
China boasts with large number of peasants, which takes up around three fourth among total population. Needless to mention, they are lying on the lowest stratification of social pyramid, whereas from certain perspective, it is those very lowest groups who function as footstone for various advancements and evolution. However, there is less concern, or we may say in great shortage, on social, cultural contextualized countryside field as well as serious problems emerged from peasant group. The artist, Wang Xinggang, who was born in northeastern China bears sincere affection and certain understanding to Chinese peasants, his practical experiences and cultural pondering of many years ignites his awareness on the negligence or oversight of those serious problems in contemporary arts field. In this view, Wang Xinggang initiatively chooses and shoulders this cultural responsibility, confines his vision on this field, focus on those peasants who are fringed by urbanization tide.
However, the topic of peasants not only takes leading position in the past visual schema but also presents in contemporary visual products, or even being prevalent everywhere. But it has either been garnished in order to meet the demand of urban civilian’s sightseeing taste on countryside landscape works or been falsified in the persistent on-the-way thematic culture. Therefore, Wang Xingang’s sincere concern and deep presentation must be based on the clear distinction from garnishing and falsifying. Through his works, we may find that he started from the perspective of contemporary arts background, initiated his observation and thinking on the value appealing and mentality of peasants under contemporary cultural context.
As the modernity of spontaneous and voluntary cultural selection, its footstone is individualistic and dominating. But the prevalent footstone in China is conformism-oriented, which is in lack of dominating peculiarity. During the tide of modernization, the description and norm of those dominating culture have always been well set, and the peasants have been chessman who are manipulated and driven by certain authoritative speech. The blind imitation has been the major symptom, and this blind imitation in itself is passive to its end.
After many years’ perception and contemplation, Wang Xinggang realizes this major symptom of peasants, which is manifested in his sculpture works. He adopts symbolic language to present those peasants. The waded jacket, cotton trousers remained unchanged hundreds of years, together with liberation shoes produced after the founding of P.R. China, present the life status of peasants who bears strong pre-modernization farming atmosphere, the fallen earth traces of deliberate scratching, piling, together with the “earth property” intensified by the khaki coating, embody their intimate relation with the land or life and death, also reveal the “land” complex of the sculptor who is sentimentally attached to the land. He absorbed the sculpt concept of upholding the gist while deleting the minutia, restoring the noble style and being simplistic, emphasizing the momentum, rhyme, and body block so as to give prominence to verve. Accordingly, he adopted the technique of exaggeration, transfiguration, while describing other aspects at only few strokes. By this way, the blind public-oriented mentality driven by dominating consuming culture is standing out. Through his sculpture we may find, those perplexed peasants who are driven by the triggering desire are moving forward in step and following their common lead. Whereas the most surprising point is that even the pacemaker peasant who stands in the foremost frontage is all the same bewildered. Thus when the pacemaker peasant gets stumbled and fallen, all the followers will encounter the same destiny correspondingly.
The works of Wang Xinggang, are actually the symbolic description of the blind behavior leading by conformism consciousness. Under the contemporary cultural context, his works actually gears to the peasants who are surrounded by consuming culture atmosphere. While on the process of deduction and expansion, the consciousness which lacks dominating property is not restricted to consuming culture atmosphere only, but being blind following of every dominating culture. It is not restricted to contemporary peasants, but most probably exists among other groups, including every inspector as well.
Modernity is a kind of plan based on today’s imagination to the future, but whether the super plan turns out to be utopia or future reality will depend on the transient on-the-spot action of the participant, depend on the subject. If we say personality determines one’s action, action determines one’s destiny, then for those blind followers, what the destiny will be?
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