物體的感悟

— 詮釋林悅棋的物象創作

(策展人｜張正霖 中央美術學院藝術管理與教育學院教授)

如何賦予物體新的生命，尤其是給予它們精神的力量及再生，一直是林悅棋教授創作方法的重心。藉之，他開創出了自身十分獨特的作品語彙及藝術世界。其中，物體將不再是物體，而是人的主體性的載體，煥發出難以置換的奇魅力量。

從2008年起，在經歷過12年的思索與淬煉後，林悅棋的物體已在臺灣的造形藝術社群中找到了自身獨特的位置。物體如何脫胎成為藝術的對象，同時又能保有及彰顯藝術家本人強烈的個人面貌，一直是許多創作者追尋的目標。在林悅棋的作品中，我們則清楚看到了兩者淋漓盡致的結合。如在他此次《超神棋 — 林悅棋再生創作》個展中，那些個由消費符號中轉化而出的鋼鐵人意象與《英雄》系列，即被注入了全新的意義。在幽默跟精湛的轉喻技巧背後，是創作者本人對於生命更深刻的體悟。藝術家自身的思索、耕耘跟心力，為作品帶來了不可或缺的美學光暈。

另一個系列作品《涅槃-蝙蝠俠》，我們所看見的仍是面對著生命考驗的主人翁，或者說是在真實生活中，散發光芒的人性主體。由此思考，林悅棋的創作無疑是擁有存在指涉的。亦即，他的作品總是指向某個在言語之外更完整的生命意義，後者使原來的物體蛻變為飽滿著意境的存在之物。涅盤之後的物體，才可能開啟一個更開闊而自由的意象之境。對此，我們或可以「物象」一詞來捕捉和描述其中的藝術變化。物象，向著兩個世界同時開放，一個是客體的世界、一個是精神的世界，藝術家居於其中點石成金的讓物體娓娓述說著人的故事。

林悅棋經過多年的創作鍛煉及苦心孤詣，世事跟人生的體驗更讓他在面對社會物件（social objects）之前顯得更犀利、更為遊刃有餘。此次同樣展出的《元寶軍隊》一作，在臺灣社會通俗可見的元寶造型上爬滿了青苔，彷佛指出人的欲望在時間的耗蝕下，終將成為帶有寓言性質的人間悲喜劇。軍隊，更聯繫起每一個觀者的欲望追尋經歷，它們將與物質及光陰共同異變。林悅棋強烈的人本美學觀，於此間展現無餘。世界與物體總是圍繞著人而存有的，一同生存於生活中、相互交織。在他的《三太子》、《花瓶供養》等作中，俗民生活中的宗教造像，事實上也是人間哀樂際遇的象徵。人生逆旅，經常只有藝術家能透過審美之眼說出他獨特的本真敘事：物與現實世界，唯有通過美的感悟才能使其獲得意義的圓滿。

物體和精神、客觀和主觀的相互辯證，將生存的意義帶向了更開闊的場域及意境。創作則是將感官的勞動與心靈的創造，有機的結合起來。林悅棋在他的物象及再生創作中，意蘊豐沛的為你我證明了此點。造形上的綰合、轉換和重置，使這樣的結合顯得更加意味深刻。在《花瓶供養》系列中，所有物件的集合，共同轉化為一個新的審美的世界，點滴契入人生的體會。人是事物意義的開拓者，而藝術家更將意義的深層性揭露在眾人之前。物體可以說是異化了的精神，藝術家所做的，則經常是將之逆寫，讓世界重新鮮活、豐富了起來。林悅棋的系列作品，可以說正帶領我們走向這樣的重尋之旅。

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The Feeling of Things : The Interpretation of Yue-Chi Lin’s Object Creations

To give objects new lives, especially to equip objects with spiritual power, is always the thesis of Professor Yue-Chi Lin’s creative works. By embodying this thesis to his art works, Lin has created a unique form of artwork, as if an unparalleled language. In Lin’s world of arts, objects are no longer merely things, but the carriers of human subjectivity. Those artworks cast spectacular glows.
Since 2008, Lin has been working constantly for twelve years. After a long process of thinking and refining, Lin’s art works has been placed a significant role in Taiwan’s modeling and arts community. To transform an object into a piece of artifact, at the same time embodying an artist’s own characteristics, is a common goal for a number of artists. In Lin’s works, we can clearly see the successful combination of those two notions. In his solo exhibition Transcendence: Yue-Chi Lin’s Arts of the Rebirth, Lin has transformed the symbols of consumerism to the figure of Iron Man and other pieces from the Heroes. New meanings are generated. What stand behind the humorous, precise metaphors, are the life lessons of the artist himself. The thinkings, efforts, and mental labors brought indispensable aesthetic brightness onto the artist’s own works.
What we see in another series of work, Nirvana-Batman, is also the human subject that constantly engaging the harshness of human conditions. Lin’s creation undoubtedly signifies something. That is, his works always refer to larger meanings beyond the realm of language. The objects, after the realm of nirvana, are brought to a broader and freer state. The objects are facing two distinct worlds: that of the others on the one had, and that of the spiritual on the other. The artist’s job is to place himself in between these two worlds, and tell the stories of such worlds to other people.
After many years of practice, refining, and life experience, Lin’s art works appeared to be a lot sharper while dealing with social objects. In the exhibition The Ingots Army, the often-seen ingots are covered with moss, as if pointing out that all desire will eventually turn to sand in a certain period of time. Army, on the other hand, further connects the audience’s life pursuit and desire, as they change along with the passing of time. Lin’s humanitarian aesthetics is shown in this work. The world and objects are always surrounding humans, in our lives and daily scenes. In his Santaize and The Vase, the elements of ordinary Taiwanese folklore and religion symbolize the meetings and leavings in human lives. Life journeys are often expressed uniquely through the eyes of the artists. The living world and daily objects are also refined by artists.
The dialogue between objects and minds, subjectivity and objectivity, has bring life to a meaningful ground. To create is to practice mental and spiritual labor, organically combining the materials used. In his creations of objects and rebirths, Lin proves that to equip ordinary objects with meanings is possible. To rebuild, reshape, and to transform objects makes the process of meaning-equipping even more vivid. In The Vase, the combination of objects enables the possibility to generate new views of aesthetics. If it is fair to say that humans are the generators of meaning, then artists often rewrite the meanings, as artists usually refresh what people perceive. Lin’s works are capable of leading us on to the path of the search of new meanings.