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The Williams Record, the independent student newspaper of Williams College, September 19th 2018
College alum donates 'Star Frog Man' art to biggest fans
By Kaira Mediratta, Arts Editor
Out of the 123 original artworks loaned to students by the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) for their Williams Art Loan for Living Spaces (WALLS) initiative, Zhu Wei's New Pictures of the Strikingly Bizarre #9 was the first work to go this year: claimed by Zach Babat '21, who camped out overnight beginning the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 8.
Wei's biggest fans, however, would have to be Richard "Cros" Saint '19 and Andrew Wallace '19, who met the piece not long after they met each other. Saint and Wallace, who were roommates in their first year and continue to live in the same house in their senior year, chose this work during their first semester at the College. Some may recall their first moment of fame in the Record when they were featured in a photo box on the front page getting this exact piece. Throughout the past four semesters, excluding their study abroad ventures in St. Petersburg and Paris (respectively), the duo braved the interminable WALLS lines again and again just to borrow Wei's piece, which they came to think of as a "pet," or their "third roommate – the cleanest roommate we've ever had!" as they described it.
This journey seemed to come full circle when Jack Wadsworth '61, donor of the artwork, in fact gifted two original prints of the piece to Saint and Wallace – to keep! – on Sunday, Sept. 9. "We were astonished and emotional to learn that we would be receiving prints of our own," recalled Wallace. "We could never have anticipated getting to own copies of the piece of art with which we fell in love as freshmen. Now seniors, we dreaded leaving our painting as we dreaded leaving Williams next year – now, we get to take with us the former, and with it a piece of the latter."
Mr. and Mrs. Wadsworth's generosity extends far beyond this event; in fact, Wadsworth has purchased eight additional original works by Wei from his series Pictures of the Strikingly Bizarre, which he is gifting to past student borrowers of Wei's works who have shared special connections with the artworks in their WALLS notebooks – namely Abby Brustad '19, Mikhayla Armstrong '19 and three other alums.
As any student who has participated in WALLS will know, a small notebook is given to each student with their respective artwork, the idea being that each borrower will add a small message, creating a collection of personal anecdotes throughout the years. The notebook for New Pictures of the Strikingly Bizarre #9 in particular tells a multi-year saga of a growing friendship between two boys and their "Star Frog Man," as they came to call the piece. The journey is a heartfelt one – beginning with first impressions (they were drawn to "the sad, maybe inquisitive look on the Star Frog Man's face, and the face of his friend in the background" said Wallace) to the work becoming a sort of "calming and reassuring" presence in the duo's lives.
"Star Frog Man" took on another form back in May of 2017 when Saint and Wallace created t-shirts with the artwork featured on them, gifting one to Wadsworth himself. Underneath the image, the shirts read: "Star Frog Man / Donated to WCMA WALLS by Jack Wadsworth '61 and beloved by all." Beyond Wei's pieces, Wadsworth has in fact donated 10 works to the WALLS collection, including intricate Japanese woodcuts by Kitagawa Utamaro and Torii Kiyonaga.
Wei, however, would have to be the most provocative artist of Wadsworth's collection. As one of China's most notable contemporary artists of the post-Tiananmen period, Wei is also known for his critique of politics and society in a rapidly evolving China. As renowned Chinese art historian and critic Lu Hong points out, "The wisdom of Zhu Wei's works lies in showing us that when one is pursuing a contemporary expression, the most important thing is to retain the means of a traditional rendition, to produce innovative results. It is especially crucial to retain a point of uniqueness in one's artistic output in this time, when the development of contemporary art is under the threat of homogenization."
Indeed, Wadsworth's admiration for Wei's work was made obvious during the giving-over ceremony of the artworks that Sunday, where he stressed not only the importance of protest artists like Wei, but also of programs like WALLS that facilitate relationships between students and the artworks themselves. "The work they [Mr. & Mrs. Wadsworth] have done with the museum has clearly been successful in allowing more students to actively engage with pieces of art, and allowing art to filter into their daily lives," added Wallace.
And perhaps the most memorable moment of all was when Wadsworth ripped open his shirt à la Clark Kent to reveal none other than his "Star Frog Man" shirt.
Link: https://williamsrecord.com/2018/09/college-alum-donates-star-frog-man-art-to-biggest-fans/
美国威廉姆斯大学学报《威廉姆斯学报》2018年9月19日刊
校友捐赠"星蛙人"艺术品予其忠实粉丝
艺术编辑 Kaira Mediratta
威廉姆斯大学美术馆的"艺术进入生活"（WALLS）项目为本校学生提供了原创艺术品租借的机会，在可供出借的123件艺术作品中，朱伟的版画"新二刻拍案惊奇九号"是最早被借出的一件。租借者是21届（注释1）学生扎克·柏巴特，为获取这件作品，柏巴特从九月八号星期六下午起便已开始彻夜扎营排队。
朱伟最忠实的粉丝却无疑是19届的理查·克罗斯·圣特和安德鲁·华莱士。圣特和华莱士从入学至毕业都是室友，在新生入学后第一学期，他们就为自己的寝室选择了这件版画作品。有些读者可能还记得这二位，因为他们和该作品的合影曾登上过本报的头版。在过去四个学年中，除了分别奔赴圣彼得堡和巴黎留学的日子，两人总一次又一次冲过WALLS项目的层层关卡，只为了租借朱伟的作品。这件作品后来渐渐成了他们心目中的"宠物"，或是如其本人所述，他们的"第三个室友——前所未有的最爱干净的那个！"
当61届校友杰克·华兹华斯，也是该艺术品的捐赠人，在九月九号这个周日将两件原创版画赠与圣特和华莱士（永久性的哦！）时，这趟旅程似乎变得圆满了。"得知我们会收到属于我们自己的版画时，我们非常吃惊而且感动，"华莱士回忆道，"在身为新生的我们迷上这件艺术品时，根本想象不到有朝一日我们也会获得属于自己的它的版本。现在我们是毕业班的学生，想到明年要离开这幅画，离开威廉姆斯，就觉得挺可怕的——现在至少我们能继续和这幅画在一起，就好像继续和威廉姆斯的一部分在一起一样。"
华兹华斯先生和太太慷慨地拓展了本次捐赠的内容，实际上，华兹华斯先生又购买了八张这件朱伟作品的原创版画"新二刻拍案惊奇"，它们会被赠予过去在朱伟这件作品的艺术品笔记中分享过他们与该作品之间特殊关联的校友——另五位受赠者是19届的艾比·布鲁斯塔德、米凯拉·阿姆斯特朗、以及其他三位校友。
参与过WALLS项目的学生都知道，成功租借到艺术品的人同时会收到一本专属于此作品的艺术品笔记本，每位租借人会在笔记本中添上一则新的信息，由此经年，便创造出一本个人化的艺术品轶事集。"新二刻拍案惊奇九号"的笔记本尤为显著地记录了两个男孩和被他们称为"星蛙人"的这件作品之间日益增长的友谊，一个历经数年的传奇。这段旅程从一开始便真挚动人——华莱士说，第一眼他们就被吸引住了，"星蛙人脸上有种忧伤的神情，也可能是好奇，背景上是他朋友的脸"，到后来，这件作品成为了二人生活中某种"宁静和安心"的存在。
2017年5月，"星蛙人"有了另一种形式。圣特和华莱士将作品印在T恤上并送了一件给华兹华斯本人。图案下T恤上印着："星蛙人/由61届杰克·华兹华斯捐赠给威廉姆斯大学美术馆WALLS项目，并被所有人喜爱。"事实上，除了朱伟的这件作品，华兹华斯还捐赠了另外10件作品给WALLS项目，包括喜多川歌麿和鸟居清长的木刻版画等。
然而朱伟是华兹华斯收藏中最令人兴奋的艺术家。作为中国后天安门时代最著名的当代艺术家之一，朱伟同时也因其对快速变化中的中国社会现实的批评而闻名。如著名中国艺术史学家和艺评家鲁虹指出的，"朱伟给我们的启示是，在寻求对于当代生活的表达时，重要的是要努力沿续传统的表达方式，并有所创造、有所丰富。而在当代艺术有着全球同质化发展的情况下，这种保持异质化表达显得特别重要。在艺术史上，即使最有创意的艺术家，也不得不从传统中选择若干样式与惯例作为自己在某个阶段的出发点。然后再按照需要予以偏离、重构。除此之外，别无它法。"
确实如此，在周日的捐赠仪式中华兹华斯对朱伟作品的推崇显而易见，他不仅强调了如朱伟这样的异议艺术家的重要，也强调了WALLS这样的项目能够促进学生与艺术品间的联系。"他们（华兹华斯先生和太太）为美术馆所做的事显然成功地让更多学生积极接触艺术品，让艺术渗透到他们的日常生活中，"华莱士说。
也许最值得纪念的一刻就是当华兹华斯像超人般扯开衬衫，露出里边的"星蛙人"T恤的时候了吧。
注释： 1. 美国大学以毕业年份为学生届数，因此21届学生应为2017年入学的学生。
原文链接：https://williamsrecord.com/2018/09/college-alum-donates-star-frog-man-art-to-biggest-fans/ |
