藝術家自述｜賴九岑—走光的紙月亮

紙月覔光．何處成影

Paper Moon

Searching for Where the Light Forms Shadows

1.

It's only a paper moon 

Hanging over a cardboard sea 

But it wouldn't be make believe 

If you believed in me 

剪下一只如月亮的色紙貼在牆上，彷彿月就這樣掛上了天空，牆面上人活動後由時間所積累的污痕漬跡以及數個光影層疊，彷彿夜空輕忽飄散的雲影，盯著望著，這片紙月似隱隱地散放著光……。

A piece of paper the color of moonlight cut and pasted to the wall looks just like the moon hanging in the sky. Traces of human activity having accumulated on the wall over time, along with overlapping light and shadows, look like drifting clouds at night. When I stare at the wall, the paper moon seems to be emanating a faint light.

2.

把觸目可及日復一日所蒐集的材料放進腦中的記憶庫，在偌大的圖像資源中將種種不同文本、類型、時間等等的文化層試圖堆疊成可見的「現實」，並重新剪下隨意地放置，再試著將慣性抽離，讓其緩慢地藴積以獲取該有的風味，就像厭氧發酵的咖啡豆在二氧化碳巨大的壓力下轉化萃取的過程。

空白畫布即是灰白格子相間的空白圖層，層疊的影像交換彼此的訊息，以及在一呼一吸中吞吐著不同年代的空氣、撥弄著飄忽其中的塵絮。物的連結讓物本身的位置確立，構成似是而非的視覺空間以及延伸物與物之間的關係與對話。

The material meeting my eye day after day and collected in the memory bank of my brain consists of cultural artifacts belonging to different texts, categories, and times, and organized from a large pool of resources into a pile in which reality can be seen. I cut these artifacts out and place them at will, trying to remove their familiar qualities as they accumulate and develop the feeling I am seeking. This is just like the process of anaerobic, coffee bean fermentation, in which all oxygen is replaced with pressurized carbon dioxide.

A blank canvas is like the gray and white PNG checkerboard background in image-editing software where layers of images exchange information, issue and absorb atmospheres of different eras, and stir up dust as they inhale and exhale. Connections between things allow them to establish their positions and create illusions of visual space, thus extending the relationships and dialogues between them.

3.

邊界一向是我很在意的地方，無論是畫布邊緣或是圖像之間。它的存在確立了畫面的空間，隔出圖像與色塊交界。以往多大量運用膠帶遮蔽與多層平塗、磨除的技法，讓邊與邊形成清冷多層次的銳利界線，確立物與物寬與深各約0.1mm的物理空間。

近期作品中，物的界線雖然依然清晰，但緩緩流動的顏料自然向著負一兩度的水平方向流動，厚薄的顏料間隱約有著凹凸的光影，流淌交界的邊緣讓作品增加了3℃的溫度。

I have always paid close attention to the borders of both canvases and images. They establish the painting space and separate images from areas of color. In the past, I used a technique employing a great deal of masking tape to apply layers of paint that I polished to remove all traces of my hand. In this way, I formed precise and cold lines at the edges of objects only 100 microns apart.

In my recent works, although the borders of objects are still very distinct, I allow paint to slowly flow at a one or two degree variance from the horizon line. Faint light can also be seen shining through the uneven layers of paint flowing together near boundaries, thus adding 3 degrees Celsius of warmth to the works.

4.

我想，這次的作品應該是最有「人味」的一次了吧？相較於玩具公仔，人的形象姿態讓觀者很容易讀出其中的情感情緒。無論是原始乃至文明，面具是種隱喻的工具，而套上鳥或鹿頭的女人，表情與社交的遮掩，彷彿是神性的替代，但也因為適度的遮掩讓真實的人性更能表達出來。

其他人物的表情笑容則多停留在二十世紀初，那個新藝術迸發的時代，繁花捲葉，鳥獸圖騰、廣告圖紙等等，在在揭示著過往的勝興。而現在我們的笑容是否隨著時代科技的推演而更為燦爛？還是不免摻雜著現實的埃垢？

I think these works possess more human feeling than any I have made. Compared to toy dolls, these human forms and their postures suggest emotions that are easily read by viewers. A mask is a metaphor in all civilizations, and the female figures wearing the bird and deer heads represent being hidden from social interaction. It is as if they have been replaced by deities, but this also allows them to express their true selves because they are hidden to an appropriate degree.

The other figures in these works bear smiling expressions that stopped at the beginning of the twentieth century when Art Nouveau was on the rise. Flowers and curled leaves, totems composed of birds and animals, and advertising posters all revealed the prosperity of the past. Yet are our smiles brighter now in these technological times? Or does reality inevitably sully our lips with dirt?

5.

時間循環創作冉冉，細想我的本體、本質至今不變，總是在搜羅可見之物，只是用不同的眼光審視。從早期的昆蟲、植物、骸骨，到尋找玩具零件、公仔或網路上多不勝數的文化片段等等一直到現在，這是一個關於尋找的旅程，不只是找可畫之物，更多的是覓尋對象物與自身的位置與關係。

也許就像開頭那首1933年的爵士歌曲《It’s Only a Paper Moon》，當悠然沈浸在Nat King Cole輕快旋律並帶著點戲謔的幽默中，不必準備繁瑣沈甸的行李，閒適地跨越到二十世紀初，在有點泛黃、折污、痕漬、磨損、褪色、漏光等等歲月的印記中流連，在某一刻或許也能獲邀進入另一個世界，看到紙月上曖曖約隱的光。

My art production cycle is gradual, and my thinking about the essence of myself has remained unchanged. I am always collecting images, but looking at them with different eyes. From my early period, when I collected images of insects, plants, and bones, to later when the images became toy parts, dolls, or countless cultural fragments from the Internet, and so on until today, my journey has been one of finding; however, not just finding things to draw, but rather more like searching for the position and relationship between the object and myself.

Perhaps it is like being immersed in the playful melody of the jazz standard It's Only a Paper Moon recorded by Nat King Cole in 1933. This song allows one to leisurely travel to the beginning of the twentieth century without the encumbrance of heavy luggage, and enjoy the dogeared, stained, faded and yellowing pages of years past. At any moment you may be invited into another world where you will see the dim light of a paper moon.

賴九岑，1970年生於臺灣九份，臺北藝術大學美術創作碩士。作品深獲國際關注與收藏支持，並獲多所重要美術機構典藏，如龍美術館、臺北市立美術館、臺灣美術館等。有多次獲獎紀錄，囊括臺北美術獎首獎、何鴻燊博士基金會藝術獎、郭柏川美術創作獎首獎、東華扶輪美術獎首獎、巴黎大獎競賽獎首獎等，並曾獲國家文化藝術基金會2004年「透明之光」與1997年「殖入‧健康計畫」創作補助。其重要展覽包括，【禽獸不如─2020臺灣美術雙年展】，臺灣美術館，臺中，2020；【轉動藝臺灣】，首爾市立美術館，首爾，2013；【食飽未？──2007亞洲藝術雙年展】，臺灣美術館，臺中，2007；【當代風景】，台北當代藝術館，臺北，2006；【臺灣當代繪畫的迴旋曲式──愛之維谷】，光州美術館，韓國，2004；【零‧零‧種‧種─賴九岑個展】，臺北市立美術館，臺北，2003；【非常廟展】，臺北市立美術館，臺北，2000；【1997末世漫遊】，非常廟，三芝，1997等。