從百味舞台到味道
2007 · 香港 / 上海 / 斯德哥爾摩
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2007 · 香港 / 上海 / 斯德哥爾摩
上世紀九十年代初，在偶然的機會，我發現了人生的味道跟吃的味道息息相關。這種契機令我創作了百味舞臺。之后，我做了很多人世間的工作，走了很多人間道，我爲前麗晶酒店創作了很多彩色的書法。不知道是否因爲這個原因，人家稱我爲彩書大師。大師我是不敢當的，在藝術面前，我永遠只是一個學生。至于是彩色還是黑白，并不重要，重要的是我把現代人的精神，即自由的精神，放到這個傳統的藝術上面。國泰航空公司用了我的書法來做航班裹餐單的封面，令很多人把餐單變成了一種收藏品，也有人拿了餐單，向國泰航空公司的機組打聽哪裏可以收藏到我的真迹。
這個也引起了一些傳媒的好奇，包括龍年的時候，CNN的兩道訪問。本世紀初，一家日本畫廊爲我在東京辦了一個個人展覽。有一位日本女士，因爲没有辦法收藏她喜愛的作品(被人捷足先登)，當場下泪等等事例，都使我受到鼓舞和感動。現在，我認爲我應該把我的工作再推向一個新的境界。幾十年來，我一直有一個願望，就是體會到道家思想的精神，因爲道家思想對中國藝術的影響是非常大的。單單魏晋南北朝的藝術，就能清楚反映出來，包括竹林七賢、二王.....都展示了如何把内心的精神狀態跟外在的自然結合起來。這一種藝術的觀念，西方要到二十世紀才能在他們的作品中體現出來。味道就在這種心態下面產生的。「味」就是指用第一身來體會;「道」就是指自然之道。
2007年夏天
In early 1990s', in an unforeseen occasion, I found that the taste of life is highly related to that of food. This gave me the opportunity to complete an art project that I called 'The Stage of A Hundred Tastes'. After that, I completed many more art projects, and went through various stages of life. I created calligraphy in colour for the previous Regent Hotel, now the Inter-Continental. Maybe that is when people started to call me the 'Master of colour Calligraphy'. But for art, I regarded myself always as a student. It is not important whether the calligraphy is in black and white or in colour. For me, the most important is that I have the modern spirit, i.e., the spirit of freedom, and blend it into classical art.
Cathay Pacific acquired the right to some of my work from 'The Stage of A Hundred Tastes' as the covers of their in-flight menu. Those in-flight menus have turned into collectors' items, and there were passengers who enquired about purchasing the original art. This drew the media's attention, which led to interviews by CNN, including one in the year 2000 when people were interested to know more about China in the new century. When I had an exhibition in a Japanese gallery in Tokyo in early 2000, a Japanese lady was very disappointed to miss the chance in buying the art piece she wanted and wept in public. Through this, I realized that my art, which revealed my 'yi' (意) and views of seeing things purely and directly, could touch and move people immensely; this in turn touched and encouraged me.
Now, I think I should push myself to a new phase. Over the past several decades, I always have had a wish. I wish to experience, ever more strongly, the spirit of Tao that has had such a great influence on Chinese art through the ages. In any previous dynasty, say, the Wei, Jin or Northern and Southern Dynasties (魏晋南北 AD220-581), you could see how the great artists, including the 'Seven Masters in Bamboo Woods' (竹林七贤) and the two 'Wangs' (Wang Xizhi 王羲之 and Wang Xianzhi 王獻之), had all demonstrated how they merged their inner spirit with that of nature. Such a concept has only appeared in the Western art as late as the 20th century. My 'Wei Tao' 味道 (the taste of Tao) is born so naturally under such circumstance. 'Wei' (味) (to taste) is a first person's experience and expression; and 'Tao' (道) is the way of nature.
Summer 2007
