Since Su Dongpo said that "painting is like a child, so we can see our neighbors", the image of China's painting has become a controversial case.
It is true that the art of Chinese painting has a set of quite mature and effective modeling techniques and creative theories. It is seamlessly integrated with the artist's consciousness of actively participating in nature and life.
As we know, an important feature of China's classical art is the unity of knowledge, emotion and meaning. Cao pi advocated qi as the text; Wang Guowei put forward the theory of realm, all of which use a hazy sense of wholeness to carry out artistic aesthetics. Therefore, artists should start from the whole person and attach importance to the expression of emotions when creating. The image creation of Chinese painting also embodies this feature.
The image of thinking
Shi Tao said: the painter's "heart contains tolerance, not in the mountains, but outside the mountains, his spirit is controlled." It is this kind of "tolerance" that makes "mountains and rivers meet gods and trace" and makes the objective naturalized image of a painter. The image here is no longer an imitation of nature, nor a so-called model, nor a subjective fabrication, but a world recognized by the painter.
Zhuangzi turned into a butterfly in her dream, and she was puzzled. Does she dream of becoming a butterfly? Or has it always been a butterfly? This feeling is called materialization.
From now on, this absurd feeling has a strong subconscious. This dreamy mental state is similar to the spiritual life of artistic creation, which can melt the boundary between the material world and subjective consciousness and change the structure of time and space. In obscurity, reality and imagination are intertwined, infiltrated and inseparable. However, there is a fundamental difference between the mental state of creation and fantasy-this "materialized" surrealism is not subconscious, but requires the artist's active thinking activities and concentration.
At the beginning of creation, they "sat in the barren hills and rocks, deep in the forest, watching the rapids and waves." Although the wind and rain suddenly came, the water monster was sad and ignored. When it met a dead rock, the spoon could comb the forest, and they all looked at it with deep affection and cold eyes. "
They immerse themselves wholeheartedly in nature, enter the realm of "things are different", devote themselves to deep feelings and whimsy, and seek "where is its hidden meaning". The appreciation of this artistic conception is the spark of vitality and creativity. Under its observation, everything becomes concise and lively, and red tape is melted by the painter's emotions. The so-called "the interest of a thousand miles", "the brilliance outside the four seasons" and "all the scenery is also sentimental" have made space and time free. The painter created the environment with his heart, moved by his hands, and created the "image".
In Chinese painting, the physical attributes, personality and texture of concrete are unimportant things. What is important is to "move its shape, keep its backbone, and seek its painting and transcend its shape." If you think this is a bit mysterious, then in the present words, the so-called "backbone" is the "living form" constructed by the artist through his keen feeling of vitality. The image of a work is actually the order of things (including the author's thinking movement).
It is undeniable that there is a strong sense of dominance in artistic image. "Even if you don't write, you will always have me." The "I" here is no longer superficial to the author, but includes the unity of the author's subconscious id and ideal superego.
Because the psychological activity in creation is similar to the mental state of dreams and drunkenness, it also has a great compression and deformation effect on the image, which is not controlled and constrained by reason. Therefore, this kind of "thinking image" is often unreasonable and grotesque intuitively.
There are typical examples in classical poetry: "The sour wind in Dongguan shoots at the eyes", "Remembering your tears like lead water" and "The ghost lamp looks like painting a pine flower at the beginning" ... The absurd images of the sour wind, lead tears and ghost lamp are all abnormal images of the author, which are full of the author's wishes. Its artistic effect is plump, straightforward, intense and pure, which awakens the creative nature of each of us.
"Image" is only responsible for thinking logic and edited according to thinking logic. In fact, when we appreciate some Chinese paintings, we are often shocked by images and spaces invisible to the naked eye in the real world! There are "marvelous works", "fantastic works", "fantastic works" and "fantastic works!" Our admiration can be seen everywhere. As for the "Eighth National Congress" and "Eight Eccentrics", they are highly respected for their shocking works.
Another feature of thinking image is "quietness".
Because the image is obtained by strengthening emotional life, the author has complete confidence in creation, mastered the initiative, gained freedom and is confident. The author is no longer a slave to emotions, but as a conductor, he carefully organizes and coordinates everything. Here, "absurdity" becomes obedient and obedient, giving us a calm, decent and concise appearance. There is no doubt that these are due to the most sensitive understanding and the most arbitrary sense of dominance. Therefore, it can be said that the sense of quietness in the works is the strength of the author's intense thinking activities.
The image of "dialogue"
It is said that the road for human beings to know the truth is tortuous. From the change of cognitive style: from begging at the foot of creation to trying to understand the revelation of truth through introspection, external inspection and even exploring the mysteries of mechanical physics, they all take the road of "opposition between things and me"
In China, the ancients revealed the truth through a "dialogue" through a subtle relationship with nature.
Hebo in Zhuangzi's Autumn Water is the representative who takes me as the center. After discussing the uncertainty of infinite things changing in time and space with Hai Ruo, he finally abandoned the original view that "the beauty of the world lies in me". In fact, this is a dialogue about exploring the truth.
People in China believe that art is just one of the social activities to explore infinite truth, the soul window to get in touch with the world to the maximum extent, to breathe and talk, and the process of constantly denying false self, establishing true self and renewing self in round-trip communication.
As far as Chinese painting is concerned, the first condition of creation is the close relationship between man and nature, which are equal and independent. "I think Castle Peak is more charming, and I expect Castle Peak to look at me"; Secondly, the works should also be independent from the painter's spirit. It is neither a natural imitation nor a vivid painter's consciousness. There is a "distance" between artists and nature. Works have their own lives and have become an objective reality.
Chinese painting requires the painter to "enter the painting with Zen", which, metaphorically speaking, means "doing Buddhism with pen and ink", and regards painting as a cognitive activity to know the truth and a "pen talk" about objective things and the invisible universe.
This "dialogue" process is complex, profound and multilateral. Painters and nature; Works and painters; Nature and works; There is also the participation of the audience and exchange ideas with each other. What they care about is not who belongs to whom and who obeys whom, but "discovery".
If you want to retell a Chinese painting, it may be difficult to figure out what the plot and theme are (the plot and theme are mostly speculation by later generations, not the author's intention). Only when you face the work, participate in aesthetic activities and put your thoughts and feelings into it can you appreciate what the work shows. You give, you get. We have a similar experience in music appreciation, called "dialogue".
"Until, holding up my cup, I ask the moon, bring my shadow to me, let the three of us" is borrowed to illustrate that the dialogue between nature (moon), painter (poet) and work (shadow) is vivid (of course, it should also include viewers). A group of independent ontologies set off each other and complement each other. No one can live without anyone, and they all see the beauty they have created in each other.
Because of the integrity and freedom of ontology, each has its own independent value, and any kind of "existence" cannot become the dominant authoritative force. Therefore, Chinese painting is different from the general thematic and utilitarian painting, and it is impossible to have similar dramatic integrity and closure.
This kind of "dialogue" is embodied in the image-building, which requires "simplification first", attracting viewers with perspective illusion and fuzzy space, and accepting external participation.
Of course, the inscriptions in the works also enhance the effect of "communication".
Naive image
For a long time, there has been an illusion about Chinese painting, which is a pedantic trick with many repetitive techniques, which is far from the reality of life.
The consequence of this illusion is to push Chinese painting into the abyss of more and more "formalization" and more and more "specialization".
The reason for this drawback is to look for it from the Chinese painting itself. As we know, Chinese painting is produced in a high degree of civilization and is the result of social and cultural trees.
People must have a certain cultural accomplishment when they contact it, and they must start with the artistic symbols created by the predecessors.
Over time, some people gradually became interested in the "symbol" itself and ignored the "information" conveyed by the symbol. As a personal interest, it may be harmless, but as an aesthetic principle, it is extremely dangerous and will inevitably produce many lifeless and lifeless works. Once upon a time, this phenomenon was mistaken for tradition and became evil.
On the other hand, some people rashly try to embarrass Chinese painting with foreign ideas (many of them have lost confidence in mastering techniques) and try their best to deny traditional forms of expression.
Therefore, the fate of Chinese painting always revolves around the skills and forms of expression.
We believe that the ultimate goal of spiritual activities is to return to nature, and all artistic revival will begin in the original place where they were born.
Since painting has the function of cultivating emotions, we should be careful not to let subjective consciousness "swell" too much. We should "fantasize without losing its truth, and play with China without falling into reality."
If this is the crux of some traditional and lifeless Chinese paintings, it should be avoided.
Shi Tao said: "When you draw a picture together, you must know how to be edified." The so-called cultivated people are actually a pair of contradictions. "Meng" probably refers to ignorance and uncivilized, and broadly refers to nature and instinct; "Cultivation" means learning, cultivation, skills, cultural traditions and so on.
He thinks this is an appropriate boundary that painting art must grasp. "Think about it and judge its support. Since you can understand the past, since you can change, you can't change it." We should face nature and test our education, so as to get rid of its ignorance without losing its natural nature and create vibrant art.
Shi Tao's writing is a very valuable experience and a perfect creative thinking method, emphasizing the need to project the artist's ideas into the original natural standard.
At the same time, "nurturing" can also be used as the adjustment mechanism of painting art creation. It requires painters to go to nature to "search for strange peaks and draft", absorb fresh nutrients, sweep away Chen Xiangyin's stale habits of following the ancient road and create a new generation of wind.
Of course, "nurturing" also includes artists entering intoxicating artistic mentality, getting rid of the shackles of rationality, emancipating the spirit, unbuttoning their clothes and forgetting my heart and hands.
Keep the "naive" purity of artistic creation. Based on the simple outlook on life, China artists observe and express things from the aesthetic psychology, so their images are often "simple and naive".
This image has a fresh and wild flavor. It records the most primitive creative impulse and the most conscious inner expression of human beings, and represents the feelings of the most ordinary people, so it has people's nature.
China painters often describe their works as "pen and ink games" to show off their relaxed mood in creation.
This also reveals their social outlook. They don't think art is a great cause, and they hate exaggerated social effects. They think that painting can't be omnipotent. Even within the scope of art, painting only reflects the society in a limited scope. It cannot replace other cultural forms and ideological fields at all, but.
What's more, beauty can only be experienced through communication, and artists can't fully predict and grasp what thoughts and feelings the audience put into their works and what social effects they have produced.
Therefore, they think that painting is a kind of "Tao", and Shuowen interprets painting as "the painter hangs" and is just an ornament that can be hung. What a careless thing it is.
This is obviously contrary to the Confucian thought of "rites and music" and reflects the ideological contradiction of China people towards social life. However, this just brings freedom and the possibility of freedom to artistic creation.
In view of these reasons, China's paintings have always maintained the traditional characteristics of "pictographs with objects" and "colors with classes", instead of becoming an expert or developing towards abstraction and conceptualization, and have always maintained the intuitive, concrete and naive image characteristics.
Maybe it's not all bad.