2008

 December 2008 Issue of HI Art

Just like how Dickens started his novel A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity….” All in all, this is the age in which everything is changing and everyone loses his direction and feels uncertain.

To tell the truth, only such people, just like you and me, will give lament above: who have accounted for the majority of the society, have nothing to do with good things and good policies, but who will surely suffer from bad things. We call these people unfortunate persons, worthless wretches, or unobtrusive people. Those who can push the age ahead and control the social instability has no time to lament, because it is them who have changed the age into one as it is today.

The biggest event happened this year may be the global economic crisis. We can say this is the most serious economic crisis in one century. It should have been America’s own business, but the crisis developed into a global one when the whole world was going to benefit from it. There are a lot of countries in the world. In the past they confronted with each other, while now they frequently meet together. At first the European meeting was held, then the Eurasia conference and Russian-European conference, and now all countries are having a meeting with America. The American Financial Tsunami resulted from the Subprime Mortgage Crisis of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which then affected the whole American finances. However, the mortgage policy was originally implemented for benefiting Americans. Now real estate industry is thriving and prosperous in China, but who can live in the new house bought with zero down payments, like Americans? Moreover, in America, the pay-back period, which can be extended to as long as 40 years, is warranted by the government, and the fixed lending rate is as low as can be.

Generally speaking, from the formation of human society up to now, there are the following social forms: Capitalist Society, Socialist Society, Semi-capitalist and Semi-socialist Society, Semi-socialist and Semi-capitalist Society, Semi-capitalist and Semi-feudal Society, Semi-feudal and Semi-capitalist Society, Semi-socialist and Semi-feudal Society, as well as Semi-feudal and Semi-socialist Society. All of them are advancing and going to stagger into a new year, but they are different in nature, just like cars of different brands and with different fuels. Superior brands, such as BMW and Benz, differ from inferior ones, such as Alto and QQ, in not only that the former are more prestige, but also the fuel they required. If high-emission vehicles such as BMW and Benz also use poor oil and give out black smoke, then some young people may think that this is the latest foreign emission standard with admiration: this is rather ridiculous and unreasonable.

In my last article for this column I also mentioned three events: Sichuan Earthquake, Olympic Games held in Beijing and Richter’s exhibition, all of which were man-made except for the earthquake. Relieving the victims of the disaster may be the top priority for the following 30 or more years. It deserves attention that whether the government can restore and even increase people’s living standard which has been harmed by the natural disaster and this is also a painstaking task. Last year China’s GDP came 4th in the world, while Per Capita GDP only ranked 104th. In terms of per-capita actual income, the ranking will be even much lower. As to the Olympic Games, I do not want to mention it here at all. Richter’s exhibition is related with the status of contemporary culture and art in a country as well as with the country’s attitude to it. All know what Richter had come across in China, so I will not discuss that again in detail. Recently one of my friends from media sent me an Email, in which some artists who had imitated Richter for years were interviewed. As far as I know, some of them have stopped mimicking him, some are still imitating him to some extent, and others seem to be cannot but live on him in their left years. Their answers to the interview were so indirect and pointless that even Jin Yong may feel surprised about their skills in wording. Indeed, imitation is not a shame, and the giant’s shoulder is doomed to be stepped by his followers. However, one cannot live by stepping on other’s shoulder, and nobody can bear being trod for a long time, not to say an old man in his 70s.

Artistic creation differs from cooking a simple dish. For the latter, as long as you have adopted the proper method and chosen the right flavorings, the dish will not be too bad. However, for artistic creation, originalities in ideas, techniques or materials are essential. To achieve that is fairly difficult: some people have drained their energy to pursue such originality all his life, but they are still confined to what have been created by ancient people or foreigners. We could see the difficulties in painting; therefore, it is not difficult to understand the difference between paintings and simple dishes in their prices.

The year of 2008 will soon slip away, and we see the end of the first decade of the 21th century. We were so exciting when entering into the new century, but now it seems that the new century is nothing special, and we are doing what we ought to do.  I do not know who has made the beginning: although ages are accumulating, people all live their lives in a reversed way: at first we counted the left days to welcom the new millennium of 2000, then we welcomed 2008 Olympic Games held in Beijing, and now we are meeting the global economic crisis occurred once in a century.

Zhu Wei

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

二OO八

《HI艺术》2008年12月号

狄更斯在小说《双城记》开头写道：这是最好的时代，这是最坏的时代；这是最聪明的时代，这是最愚蠢的时代；这是信任的时代，这是欺骗的时代……总之，这是一个一切都在变动，使人们失去方向，感到渺茫的时代。

说实在的对时代发出这种感慨的基本也就是你我这些占社会绝大多数，好事没份、再好的政策也落实不到自己头上，倒霉的事肯定能跟自己挂上钩，再背的事也都赶的上的倒霉蛋、窝囊废或简称本分人。真正推动这个时代、操纵社会动荡的是没空儿发出这种绝望的声音的，因为这事就是他们整出来的。

今年最大的事估计就是全球金融危机了，这回的金融危机可以说是百年不遇，本来是美国自己的事，但眼瞅着全世界快受益了，已经演化成全世界的经济危机了。世界上有这么多国家，本来互相都看不上，眼下却不停的碰头。先是欧洲开会，后是亚欧开会，接着是俄欧开会，这几天又全都去和美国开会去了。美国金融海啸起因是两房产生次贷，波及整个美国金融业。但当初两房房贷政策还是为了让全体美国人民受惠，中国这几年房地产业如此繁荣猖盛，有哪个哥们能像美国人民那样零首付就先住进屋子里去了呢，且还钱期限由人民政府作担保，长达四十年，还是固定利率，利息低得还不能再低了。

人类社会发展到现在大致有以下几种社会形态：资本主义社会、社会主义社会、半资本主义半社会主义社会、半社会主义半资本主义社会、半资本主义半封建主义社会、半封建主义半资本主义社会、半社会主义半封建主义社会、半封建主义半社会主义社会。别看也都跟头把式的要迈入新的一年了，就像街上跑的车，都往前走，但品牌不同，更要命的是烧的油还不一样。牌子不同，你是宝马、奔驰，我是奥拓、QQ，这还不要紧，大不了不打招呼，只自己没面子，不害别人。要是奔驰、宝马这样大排量的车愣烧特次的油，车打眼前一过，一股黑烟，过往路人不知情，以为是国外新的排放标准，大姑娘小伙子还投以羡慕的眼神，那可就太损了点了。

我在上回专栏写过今年还有三件事：四川大地震、北京奥运会、里希特的展览。这几件事除了地震基本都是人为的，地震救灾可能是未来三十年乃至更长时间我们要做的重中之重的事，一个政府能否恢复因自然灾害而受损的人民生活水平并且还要恢复到比以前更好，这是最值得关注而且是硬碰硬的工作。中国去年的GDP排世界第四，但人均GDP排一百零四，具体落实到每个人的实际收入，恐怕还要排得更靠后。北京奥运会我懒的提及此事，甚至一笔都不想浪费在这么一件事上。里希特的展览是关系到一个国家当代文化、当代艺术的现状和相应的态度问题。里希特在中国的遭遇众人皆知，我不想再多说。前一阵子一位媒体的朋友转来一邮件，内容是采访几位有目共睹的模仿里希特多年的艺术家，其中有几位现在已经不模仿里希特了，有的还在多多少少的模仿，有的我估摸着这辈子恐怕要吃定里希特了。几位的回答闪转腾挪，左躲右藏，上蹦下跳，估计连金庸看了都目瞪口呆。学就是学了，不丢人，巨人肩膀就是让人踩的，问题是踩一会儿就行了别老踩着，时间长了谁也受不了，何况人家都七十多岁了。

艺术创作和拍黄瓜不同之处就在于拍黄瓜谁都能行，拍的时候拿手护着点，别让黄瓜蹦出去，完了多搁味精调料，吃起来就不错，都一个味。艺术创作不同，艺术创作讲究的是必须是原创，要不在创意上，要不在技法上，要不就在材料上，总之，必须实实在在有新意。有人弄了一辈子也没跳出古人的圈儿外国人的圈儿，还累得要死要活，难就难在这儿了。不然，一张画卖多少钱，一盘拍黄瓜卖多少钱。

二OO八年就要过去了，二十一世纪的头十年也基本上快过完了，当年大家一惊一乍的跨入新世纪的门槛，现在瞅着也就那么回事，该干啥还干啥。不知谁起的头，现在人们过日子除了岁数能倒着过的都倒着过，先是迎接二OOO年新千年的到来，再是迎接二OO八年北京奥运会，现在又终于迎来了百年不遇的全球经济危机。

朱伟

20008年11月16日星期日