重口味藝術家陸揚談身體宗教與藝術

While the new media artist Lu Yang was studying at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou in the 2000s, she drew up a series of works dealing with mind control. Many were deemed too sensitive, even borderline unethical, and remain unrealized. But with the help of the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan, Ms. Lu was able to obtain dead frogs that had been used in a medical dissection to produce one of the works. The result is a six-minute video called “Reanimation! Underwater Zombie Frog Ballet” (2011), in which frogs wired to electrodes dance in water to a funky electronic beat.

當新媒體藝術家陸揚於2000年代初在杭州的中國美術學院學習時，她繪製了一系列有關精神控制的作品。許多作品被認爲過於敏感，甚至近乎不合倫理，因而仍未實際做出來。但在日本福岡亞洲美術館的幫助下，陸揚得到了曾用於醫學解剖的死青蛙，來創作一個作品。其結果就是2011年的《復活！殭屍青蛙水下芭蕾！》(Reanimation! Underwater Zombie Frog Ballet)。這段六分鐘視頻中，青蛙被連接到電極上，隨着強烈的電子節拍在水下跳舞。

Since graduating in 2010, the Shanghai-born Ms. Lu, 30, has produced a series of boundary-pushing multimedia works that explore neuroscience, mortality and religion.

自2010年畢業以來，今年30歲、出生於上海的陸揚已經創作了一系列突破界限的多媒體作品，探索神經科學、死亡和宗教。

In “Uterus Man” (2013), she collaborated with musicians, manga artists and others to create a project centered on an anime-style character called Uterus Man who rides a “pelvis chariot” and skateboards on a winged sanitary pad.

在2013年的作品《子宮戰士》(Uterus Man)中，她與音樂人、漫畫家及其他人共同創作了一個項目，以一個叫做“子宮戰士”的動漫風格的人物爲中心，這個人物駕駛“骨盆戰車”，並把護翼衛生巾當成滑板踩着。

In “Moving Gods” (2015), which was featured in the China Pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale, Ms. Lu redefines the nimbus — the halo often seen in images of sacred figures — in what is meant to be a “sabotage” of ancient religious icons.

在2015年的作品《移動神佛》(Moving Gods)中，陸揚重新定義了光背——即在神佛的畫像中，背後常見的光暈——它意味着對古代宗教偶像的“破壞”。這個作品在2015威尼斯雙年展的中國館裏進行過展出。

Her latest work is “Lu Yang Delusional Mandala” (2015), presented in September in a solo show at Beijing Commune. It applies concepts like stereotactic mapping and deep-brain stimulation to simulate a “delusion” in which Ms. Lu destroys her own body and work.

她最新的作品是今年的《陸揚妄想曼陀羅》(Lu Yang Delusional Mandala)，9月曾在北京公社的個展中展出過。它應用了類似於立體定向和深層腦刺激的概念來模擬“妄想”，陸揚在作品中對自己的身體和作品進行了摧毀。

In an interview, Ms. Lu reflected on the human body, growing up in Shanghai and her collaboration with a Japanese asexual artist.

陸揚在接受採訪時思考了人體，回顧了在上海的成長，也講述了與一位日本無性藝術家的合作。

Q: How did you become interested in the subject of the body?

問：你是怎樣開始對身體主題發生興趣的？

A: When I was a child, I spent a lot of time in hospital emergency rooms because I had asthma. So naturally I became interested in the idea of medical treatment and the body. The body is fascinating to me because it is totally objective. There is no right or wrong. That’s why in my work I don’t indicate the value or the aim of things. I use a very cold and calm approach.

答：從我還是個孩子的時候就開始了，因爲我有哮喘，我在醫院急診室度過了很多時間。所以我自然而然地對醫療和身體的概念產生了興趣。身體是很奇妙的，因爲它是完全客觀的，沒有對和錯。這就是爲什麼在我的作品中，不表達事物的價值或目的。我會用一種很冷、很平靜的視角。

Another theme in my work is religion. It’s more difficult to get into religion when you’re older because you’re more skeptical. But growing up, my family was pretty religious. I often read my grandmother’s books about Buddhism, which made me really interested in religion.

我作品中的另一個主題是宗教。當你年紀大一些時，就更難信仰宗教，因爲會更加懷疑。但在我的成長過程中，我的家庭相當虔誠。我經常閱讀我祖母有關佛教的書，這使我對宗教非常感興趣。

Q: Does your family have a background in art?

問：你的家庭有藝術背景嗎？

A: My parents were just ordinary workers at a medical company. Now they’re both retired. I don’t talk about my art with my parents. But I think they’ve probably looked up my work on the Internet. They know I make art, and they know I can make a living. I can depend on myself, so for them that’s enough.

答：我的父母只是一家醫療公司的普通工作人員，現在他們都退休了。我不和父母談論我的藝術，但我想他們可能在網上搜過我的作品。他們知道我創作藝術，知道我能以此謀生。我可以依靠自己，所以對他們來說這已經足夠。

Q: Did you know from a young age, growing up in Shanghai, that you wanted to be an artist?

問：你在上海長大時，從很小的時候就知道自己想成爲一個藝術家嗎？

A: I always dreamed of being an artist. But after I entered middle school, I didn’t think it would be possible. I didn’t even know what artists did exactly. I only knew that artists could be creative in their work.

答：我一直夢想成爲一個藝術家。但在我上中學之後，我還不認爲這是可能的。我甚至不知道藝術家到底是做什麼的。我只知道，藝術家們可以在他們的作品中發揮創造力。

I was able to get into the China Academy of Art because I really liked to paint. I was growing up at about the same time that Chinese contemporary art was beginning to emerge, so I learned about contemporary art early on. When I was in middle school, my classmates were interested in the latest trends, but I wanted to find more special things, so I started going to galleries and listening to Japanese music. Later, in high school, I subscribed to some magazines about contemporary art.

我能夠進入中國美術學院，是因爲我真的喜歡畫畫。我成長在中國當代藝術開始萌芽的同一時期，所以很早我就瞭解了當代藝術。我在中學的時候，同學們都對最新的流行感興趣，但我想尋找更特別的東西，所以我開始去畫廊並且聽日本音樂。後來，我在高中時訂閱了一些有關當代藝術的雜誌。

Q: What were some of your early influences?

問：有哪些東西對你產生了早期影響？

A: I used to like Western rock music, but I don’t really listen to it anymore. I was also exposed to Japanese culture at an early age. In Shanghai, a lot of television channels played Japanese cartoons, so they had a big influence on our generation. My favorite thing today is still mainstream culture, like sci-fi movies with really good computer-generated effects and other really good Japanese animated movies. I don’t really like art-house films.

答：我以前喜歡西方搖滾樂，但現在不怎麼聽了。我小時候也接觸了日本文化。在上海，很多電視頻道都播放日本卡通片，對我們這代人影響很大。我現在最喜歡的還是主流文化，像電腦特效非常好的科幻電影，還有其他很不不錯的日本動畫電影。但我不喜歡藝術片。

Q: You often collaborate with other nonvisual artists, like the sound artist Wang Changcun and the composer Du Yun. How do these collaborations come about?

問：你經常和非視覺的藝術家合作，如聲音藝術家王長存和作曲家杜韻。這些合作是怎麼開始的呢？

A: Sometimes I search for musicians and sometimes they find me. I’ve collaborated with musicians who work in opera, death metal, electronic and pop music, and hip-hop. They are usually acquaintances or people I’ve discovered on websites like SoundCloud. The Internet is quite useful, because I don’t really interact with people that much. As long as I have access to a computer, I can make art.

答：有的時候是我找音樂人，有時候是他們找我。我合作過的音樂人有從事歌劇的，有做死亡金屬的，還有做電子和流行音樂以及嘻哈音樂的。通常是之前就認識人，或者是我在SoundCloud這樣的網站上發現的。互聯網很有用，因爲我和人接觸並不多。只要有電腦，我就能創作藝術。

Q: What are the websites you go to?

問：你通常都上哪些網站？

A: One is Bilibili, a website for watching cartoons. I visit this every day.

答：一個是嗶哩嗶哩(Bilibili)，是個看卡通的網站。我每天都上。

When I finish a work, I’ll upload it on Vimeo. For me, it’s important what average people online think. They’re not like people in art circles who might be really phony and say, “Oh, I like your work so much.” It’s boring if the only people who see your work are from one circle.

我完成作品後，就會把作品上傳到Vimeo上。對我來說，網上普通人的想法很重要。他們不像藝術圈的人，可能會很假地說：“哎呀，我太喜歡你的作品了”。如果看你作品的人來自一個圈子，就很沒意思。

Q: Do you identify as a Chinese artist?

問：你認爲自己是中國藝術家嗎？

A: It’s kind of inevitable that you’re labeled as one. If I have an exhibition abroad, they always say, “This is a Chinese artist.” But that’s why I say that I want to live on the Internet. That way, nobody knows who you are. People online only care about your work and whether it’s any good. They’re not thinking about who the person is behind the work. By living on the Internet, you can abandon your identity, nationality, gender, even your existence as a human being. I rather like this feeling.

答：其實免不了會被貼上這個標籤。如果我在國外辦展覽，他們總會說，“這是一位中國藝術家”。但這就是爲什麼我想活在網上。那樣的話，沒人知道你是誰。網上的人只在乎你的作品好不好。他們不去考慮誰是作品背後的那個人。在網上，你可以拋棄身份、國籍、性別，甚至是作爲一個人的存在。我挺喜歡這種感覺的。

Q: Can you talk about your 2013 work “Uterus Man”?

問：你能不能談談你2013年的作品《子宮戰士》？

A: The human embodiment of “Uterus Man” in my work is a Japanese man named Mao Sugiyama, who had his genitals cut off and served them in a meal to other people. When I first heard about him I thought he sounded really weird. But then I noticed that he was a painter and that he had said that he hated gender labels and if he was just a painter then why did he need to have a gender? I was really moved so I got in touch with him. That’s how we started collaborating.

答：我的作品裏“子宮戰士”的人類化身是一個叫杉山真央(Mao Sugiyama)的日本人。他做了生殖器移除手術，並將切除的部分做成食物給他人食用。我第一次聽說的時候，覺得他非常詭異。但後來注意到他是一個畫家，而且說過他痛恨性別標籤，還說過如果自己只是一名畫家，爲什麼還需要有性別。我非常受感動，所以和他取得了聯繫。我們就這樣開始合作了。

A lot of people think it’s a feminist work, while others think that it’s a superhero story. People project what they’re already thinking. My own opinion is that you can’t choose your gender when you’re born and it only matters in a social context. When you’re contemplating something, you don’t consciously think, “As a man, I think this” or “As a woman, I think this.” That’s why I think society’s gender divisions are pretty absurd.

很多人認爲這是一部女權主義作品，其他人則認爲這是一個超級英雄故事。人們會投射他們已經有的想法。我自己的觀點是，你出生時無法選擇性別，性別只有在社會背景下才會成爲一個問題。當你在思考一件事時，不會下意識地想，“作爲一個男人，我這樣想”，或者“作爲一個女人，我這樣想”。所以，我覺得社會性別的劃分很荒謬。

Q: You said you basically live on the Internet and your work is influenced by things you see online. Is there any influence from real-world events or politics?

問：你說過你基本上生活在網上，你的作品受到你在網上看到的東西的影響。現實世界的事件或政治對你有什麼影響嗎？

A: The older generation of artists really like to make works concerning politics or the nation. But I think there are limitations to this creative method. If you don’t understand politics, or if you’re not from that country, you can’t understand the works.

答：老一代的藝術家真的很喜歡創作與政治或國家有關的作品。但我覺得這種創作手法存在侷限性。如果不瞭解政治，或者不是來自這個國家，就無法理解作品。

I don’t really understand these kinds of things myself. I’m really scared of going to museums, because I don’t understand a lot of the works. There are things that are common to all human beings and even animals. Basically, I spend my time chasing after those universal things we all have in common.

我自己實際上就不瞭解這類東西。我很害怕去博物館，因爲不理解其中的很多作品。有一些東西是所有人類，甚至動物，共通的。所有人類，甚至動物，存在共同之處。我的時間基本上都花在研究那些我們所共有的，普世的東西上。