此间,我们看见了好几个世界
——杜蒙国内首展《间》在上海玻璃博物馆开幕
2018年4月29日
在2018年的这个春天,上海玻璃博物馆很高兴地宣布将于2018年4月29日至10月29日举办艺术家杜蒙的首场国内个展——《间》。开馆七年以来,上海玻璃博物馆始终坚持并致力于支持国内青年玻璃艺术家的个人发展,并鼓励他们以更加大胆、创新、忠实自我的方式去创作和呈现,从而在推动国内玻璃艺术发展并促使其有所突破的同时,也让展览和作品更加贴近当下的时代面貌及人们的精神世界。对于博物馆而言,我们始终希望借由艺术这一放大镜去观察世界,并期待观众在了解这个世界之后,能再次回到艺术的怀抱去有所思考和感悟。
上海玻璃博物馆也支持所有女性艺术家在这一公众平台上的大胆发声与极致呈现。此次展览的艺术家——杜蒙,同时也是上海玻璃博物馆历年以来合作的艺术家中最年轻的一位。作为一名刚刚学成归国的艺术家,杜蒙在形容她刚回到国内后的感受时谈到:
“习惯了过去几年在美国有条不紊、三点一线慢悠悠的乡村生活,刚刚回国的我经历了一段时间的水土不服才重新适应了信息社会的一些生存技能。有形或无形的边界时刻充斥在我们的身边形成制约,就像用许许多多的容器将日常生活分割开来一样。”
生活轨迹的变化也让杜蒙重新去思考:玻璃,在作为一种艺术媒介时究竟能传达什么样的语言,以及玻璃自身的边界性到底何在?在自己的全新阶段,杜蒙决定透过玻璃,以独特的艺术表现方式,去探索现代社会常见却又被视而不见的隐形墙壁和隔阂。在这一名为《间》的展览中,她便以自身一贯纤敏且充满灵性的方式,对无处不在的“限制”与“边界”进行了戏剧化的解读和阐释。当观众穿行于展览之中,感受到的不仅是玻璃那捉摸不定、介于透明与半透明之间的质感,更是一幕幕奇幻又古怪的小剧场。如果说每组作品含蓄地回应了某种特点类型的“局限”所在,那由数组作品组成的大小不一,风格各异的“房间”,则共同形成了一个巨型的装置和舞台。当观众游走于各个不同的空间中,看到、听到或感触到的是故事、是情绪,也是真切地身临其境。
高墙与牢笼,这些都是物质化可见的限制。而对于每个身处社会中的人来说,还有更多无形的禁锢:约定俗成、规则范围、权威指导,甚至是对故乡的眷恋、对失去过往的不舍、他人的眼光和评判……人生而自由,却无往不在枷锁之中。这种种限制有时候都不能被称为无法走出的“舒适区”,因为它们都不那么令人愉悦。
作为一名用玻璃来讲故事的人,杜蒙总是在琢磨和实践如何用玻璃去编辑生活中的那些零散信息和视觉语言,并以自己擅长的方式将情绪梳理成章传达给他人。最理想的状态,是当观众的目光停留在她的作品上的同时,两者能相互建立一种特殊的联系,进行一场无声的交谈——也许只有在这一瞬间,我们才能透过层层的玻璃去阅读自己的内心世界,一切也才有了存在的意义。
“我通过将生活中熟悉的场景进行解构与重组,编排出了一个看似荒诞却又似曾相识的世界。而玻璃,更像是栖息于这些虚构场景里的角色,游荡在属于它们自己的舞台之间。玻璃那薄薄的空腔就像‘皮肤’,仿佛每一处褶皱都留有生活的印记,这很生动也很真实。”——杜蒙那延续已久的,梦幻的作品气质经由发展和强调,带上了一种超脱现实的、几近诡异迷魅的气息,当光线洒落在作品表面的时候,玻璃所折射出的微光就像一个个神秘莫测的眼神,拥有着属于自己的灵魂和情绪,性格鲜明地牢牢将观者拉入她所创造的世界。
在这个世界里,你看到、听到、感触到的是故事、是情绪,也是真切地身临其境。如同卡尔维诺所著《看不见的城市》为读者营造了一个个不寻常的城市背景。在这个展览中,在此间,我们可以看到画面不断地重现,细节不断堆砌,剪辑在改变,同一个场景上,我们将看见好几个世界。
面对风云变化之快到令人无法追赶的新时代,已有着三百年历史的现代公共博物馆还能为公众做些什么?无论是来自观众们更高更全面的诉求,还是博物馆人的自我要求和职责,今天的博物馆在做好研究、收藏、展示传统职责同时,努力在教育、传播、公众服务甚至娱乐体验功能上做出全新的尝试。博物馆的功能无论如何变化又或是受到了怎样的挑战,它始终必须是开启民智,启迪未来的重要阵地。面对今天的一系列社会问题与文化困扰,博物馆应当要做出符合自身特质和高度的考量与表达。我们期待此次清新面貌的展览能为不仅能为国内玻璃艺术展览带来突破,同时也能唤起每一个人内心的思考与情感。
Ancient Methods and Modern techniques
Here We See More Than One World
The Room, the first solo exhibition by Meng Du in China launched at Shanghai Museum of Glass
April 29, 2018
In the spring of 2018, the Shanghai Museum of Glass (SMG) is delighted to announce that The Room, the first solo exhibition by Meng Du in China, will be held from April 29 to Oct. 29, 2018. Since it’s opening seven years ago, SMG has been dedicated to supporting the growth of young Chinese glass artists. Young artists are encouraged to create their work in a bold and honest way, reflecting the spirituality of people today, while promoting the development of glass art in China. It is SMG’s hope that it presents a lens to observe the world allowing viewers to contemplate and give rise to insights after seeing the world in art.
The SMG supports the voice and expression of female artists at its public platform. The artist Meng Du is also the youngest artist that SMG has ever worked with. She described how she felt shortly after coming back to China from her study abroad as follows.
“I settled into an organized, slow-paced and simple life in the suburbs of the U.S. over the past several years. After I came back to China, I went through an uncomfortable transition before I adapted to this rapid developing information society. The visible or invisible boundaries are creating barriers around us, just like how our daily life is compartmentalized.”
The change in Meng’s trajectory of life made her consider what glass can express as an art medium and what the boundary of glass is. At this new stage of her life, Meng decided to explore the prevailing but invisible walls and barriers through the unique form of glass. In this exhibition, the artist Meng Du offers a dramatic interpretation of pervasive “limitations” and “boundaries” in her usual, although subtle and intuitive way. Walking through the exhibit, the viewers will experience the transient and translucent nature of glass while looking at the fantastical and strange scenes. Each scene reflects a different type of limitation. Rooms of various sizes and styles function as large installations and a stage. Viewers will have intimate contact with stories and emotions through sight, sound and touch.
Apart from the visible limitations posed by walls or cages, each of us experience invisible restrictions in the society. Just as Rousseau said, “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.” Conventions, rules, authorities, homesickness, nostalgia, and judgement from other people restrict us from true freedom. These restrictions are sometimes referred as the “comfort zone” that is hard to break away from. It is very unpleasant to attempt to break away from social norms.
As a storyteller using the tool of glass, Meng is always investigating daily fragmented information and visual languages, compiling and skillfully expressing them in an emotionally relatable way to others. Ideally, when viewers pause at her work, they can build a special connection with the object while having a speechless conversation. Perhaps, in front of the labyrinth of glass we can get in touch with the bottoms of our hearts and find meaning in a moment like this.
What can modern public museums, with a collective history of three centuries, do for the public to catch up with a too rapidly changing world? To meet the demand of the viewers and fulfill their professional responsibilities, contemporary museums are experimenting with education, promotion, and even entertainment as they perform their traditional roles in research, collection, and exhibition. No matter what changes or challenges the museums are facing in terms of their functions, they must serve as a foothold in enlightening and inspiring the public. The museums should plan their path by responding to social issues and cultural confusions today, relying on their unique characteristics and strengths. We hope that this refreshing exhibition can not only shed light onto the glass art exhibitions across China but also encourage our visitors to think and feel.