文/张钟萄
石玩玩生于1981年。他从2009年至今约10年的作品已呈现出自己的特征：作品涉及交换或转译、以组合构成继而表现出碎片化，以及创作过程的去物质化与社会化取向。如果以去物质化与社会化为方法特征，那么石玩玩在中国80后艺术家，以及过去10年的中国当代艺术中具有相对明确的标志。就他过去10年的创作母题而言，广义的社会取向是基本关切。石玩玩的转折点是2011年的《伊斯坦布尔的画家》，其转折意味在于：1.这件作品让他小有名气；2.它汇集了过去10年出现在石玩玩创作中的基本要素，尤其是文字、图像与声音的交互转译，以及社会关系；3.受艺术生态影响而改变的艺术理念；4.直接的政治主题逐渐减少；5.更多。
文字、图像与声音间的相互转译是石玩玩的常用手法，这在2009年的《在艰苦的岁月里》中已出现。《在艰苦的岁月里》围绕小学课本中看图说话的同名文章展开，艺术家剪掉图中的老人，在画旁播放一段朗读文中关于老人形象描述的男孩录音。相关要素延续至《伊斯坦布尔的画家》，艺术家给凭空设想的人写信，竟在9个月后收到同名人的回信，并为这位陌生艺术家画了肖像。《伊斯坦布尔的画家》延续了《在艰苦的岁月里》的基本要素，但其生产过程，在很大程度上脱离了艺术家的创作设定或艺术框架，将艺术的生死存亡交给现实生活的偶然性。石玩玩的创作自此不再囿于工作室。
《望京少年》（2013）进一步推动《伊斯坦布尔的画家》的基本要素，是石玩玩过去10年最具灵性的一件作品，也是他在这段时间内的创作方法走向成熟的标志。《望京少年》同样基于社会关系与社会议题、涉及声音与图像的转译、涉及与艺术家之外的人合作。但相较于《伊斯坦布尔的画家》，这件作品更彻底，也更干净地脱离艺术家的设定与艺术框架：《伊斯坦布尔的画家》的创作之源是艺术家自己，源自艺术家对画廊体系与艺术家工作室相“勾结”后造成同质化审美的不满；《望京少年》的创作之源是街坊邻居，是邻里间关于偷窃少年的传闻。如果说《伊斯坦布尔的画家》中的艺术设定还有50%，那么《望京少年》中的减至0；如果说艺术家在《伊斯坦布尔的画家》中还是“先天”的导演，剧本来自艺术家，那么在《望京少年》中，艺术家只是“后天”的导演乃至场务，剧本出自生活之手。石玩玩被现实生活的偶然“灵性”吸引。或者说，走向现实的社会空间、接纳实际的社会关系，在石玩玩的创作中逐渐取代书斋式的社会观念。
在《清贫》（2013）、《首尔游记》（2013）、《影梅庵忆语》（2016）与《胡志明的风景》（2017）等作品中，艺术家继续面对现实社会空间的偶然性，以碎片形式的文字呈现。2017年以来，石玩玩的创作更大规模地走向社会空间与社会关系：《照沟渠》（2017）中的石节子村民与借用灯泡、《残片：明宣德青花松竹梅纹盘》（2018）中与观众的有偿交换，以及《爱丽丝》（2019）、《西北街的微光》（2019）、《夜将至》（2020）、《月光》（2020）、《街角物语》（2020）等作品中的民众合作创作。《伊斯坦布尔的画家》和《望京少年》中的创作手法，在这些作品中日趋成熟，介于合作与参与型艺术之间。确切说，石玩玩这10年的作品是准合作与准参与型的艺术创作，因为在石玩玩的大多数作品中，合作或参与者都出现在作品的生产过程中：他们以不在场的方式出现，以不在场的方式与艺术家一道完成作品。这与艺术家念兹在兹的某些参与型艺术有所不同，这种差异源自艺术家自身的思考。
2011年，石玩玩意识到，中国当代艺术的艺术趣味逐渐被画廊系统主宰，在惶惑与迷茫中，他被造就了《伊斯坦布尔的画家》的偶然灵性击中。突破艺术体制/机构的框架，以突破自身创作空间的偶然方式实现。或者说，石玩玩看到了由艺术体制划定的艺术边界，它关乎狭隘但高额的利益得失，并约束着艺术创作与审美趣味的自由。艺术边界的局限性，反向约束艺术家的自我意识。如同在发达资本主义国家的当代艺术一样，艺术家的艺术身份在很大程度上被当代艺术所规定，而非相反。
转折点上的社会空间与社会关系，打开了石玩玩反思艺术身份自身局限性的门。他不断践行这种创作手法，并趋于成熟，但这种手法在很大程度上也开始呈现为一种习惯性方法。走向社会空间、接纳社会关系，卷入合作与（准）参与，在一方面是趋于成熟的创作方法，在另一方面，这种方法的方法也渐成习惯。虽然石玩玩在后续作品中仍保有他一贯的可贵之处：譬如以市场交换（价值）之外的交换阐释社会关系、走进社会空间指涉现实议题、并不在中国脆弱的艺术语境中展现西方类似作品中的对抗性，但这种习惯性方法如何超越自身，并形成更系统的方法，却是这位1982年生的艺术家所不得不面对的问题。
根据习惯性方法进行艺术创作本无可厚非。熟稔艺术的媒介、形式、主题，乃至空间，都需要艺术家在找到“初级”方法后反复践行。习惯性方法的日趋成熟，也预示着逐渐构筑完成的艺术自我（及其边界）。在不到30岁时，石玩玩意识到，画廊与市场（交换价值）系统构筑起了审美-趣味的“习惯”之墙；10年之后，横在中国当代艺术中的这道墙，非但没有成为许多年轻艺术家眼中的“障碍”，反而成为兵家必夺之地。换言之，由画廊或当代艺术系统所主宰的艺术趣味，成了艺术自我早熟的催肥剂，有时更是催眠剂：抛开无知，身处其中者要么知之为不知，要么“知其不可而为之”。不过，摆脱习惯法，不仅是艺术家的职责，更广泛的艺术话语、理论与批评系统也无法置身其外。艺术话语与批评本可能协助艺术家形成更为系统的方法——哪怕在让他们警惕习惯法这件事上有所作为，但它们耽溺于习惯的程度，虽非出于蓝却弯道超车胜于蓝。
2011年，石玩玩潜在地感受到围绕艺术体制、画廊审美，以及自我的局限性。这种局限，在更大语境中是艺术身份自身的局限。无论何时，意识到这种局限性都是走出习惯法的第一步——无论何时，都必须有主动意识到这种局限性的意识。就此而言，石玩玩过去10年的去物质化与社会化手法，已经在同批次艺术家中展现了某种持之以恒的“超越”。但等待他以及我们所有人的，还有“被超越”。因为我们很容易就变成自己的障碍。
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张钟萄
哲学博士，关注伦理学、艺术哲学和城市研究，并从事艺术相关研究工作
by Zhang Zhongtao
Shi Wanwan was born in 1981. His works of about 10 years from 2009 to now have taken on their own characteristics: they involve exchange or translation, composition and then fragmentation, and the dematerialization and socialization of the creation process. If characterized by dematerialization and socialization methods, Shi Wanwan has a relatively clear mark among Chinese post-80s artists, as well as Chinese contemporary art in the past decade. As far as his motifs of the past decade are concerned, in a broad sense the basic concern is social orientation. The turning point for Shi Wanwan was An Istanbul Painter in 2011. Its turning point means that: 1. It made him somewhat famous; 2. It brings together the basic elements that have appeared in Shi Wanwan’s work over the past decade, especially the interactive translation of words, images and sounds, and social relations; 3. Artistic concepts changed by the influence of artistic ecology; 4. The gradual reduction of direct political themes; 5. More.
Translation between words, images and sound is Shi Wanwan's common technique, as shown in "In Those Hard Years" in 2009. In Those Hard Years revolves around an article of the same name in an elementary school textbook. The artist cut out the old man in the text illustration and plays a recording of a boy reading the description of the old man in the text beside the picture. The relevant elements continue in "An Istanbul Painter," in which the artist writes to a visionary and, nine months later, receives a reply from the same celebrity and paints a portrait of the stranger. "An Istanbul Painter" continues the basic elements of "In Those Hard Years", but its production process, to a large extent, is divorced from the creation setting or artistic framework of the artist, leaving the life and death of art to the chance of real life. Shi Wanwan's work is no longer confined to the studio.
"The Wangjing Youth" (2013), which further drives "An Istanbul Painter," is one of Shi Wanwan's most inspirational works of the past decade and a sign of the maturity of his creative approach during this time. The Wangjing Youth is also based on social relations and social issues, involves the translation of sound and images, and involves working with people other than artists. However, compared with "An Istanbul Painter", this work is more thorough and cleanly separated from the artist's setting and artistic framework. The creation of "An Istanbul Painter" originates from the artist himself, which is caused by the artist's dissatisfaction with the homogenized aesthetic caused by the "collusion" between the gallery system and the artist's studio. "The Wangjing Youth" is the creation of the neighborhood, it's a neighborhood tale about a teenage thief. If the artistic setting in An Istanbul Painter is still 50%, then the setting in The Wangjing Youth is reduced to 0. If the artist in "An Istanbul Painter" is still a "born" director and the script comes from the artist, then in "The Wangjing Youth", the artist is only the director and even the scene, and the script comes from life. Shi Wanwan is attracted by the casual "spirituality" of real life. In other words, we should move towards the real social space and accept the actual social relations, and gradually replace the book-style social concepts in the creation of Shi Wanwan.
In his works Poverty (2013), Seoul Travel (2013), The Reminiscences of Tung Hsiao-Wan (2016) and The Landscape of Ho Chi Minh (2017), the artist continues to face the contingency of the real social space and presents it in the form of fragments. Since 2017, Shi Wanwan's works have moved on a larger scale into social space and social relations: "But The Moon Shines On The Ditch" (2017) of Shijiezi villagers with borrowed light bulbs, the paid exchange with the audience in “Fragments: Blue-And-White Plate With Pine, Bamboo and Prunus Xuande Reign, Ming Dynasty” (2018) , as well as the people in the work collaborate in " Alice " (2019), northwest street light (2019)," the night will come " (2020)," moonlight " (2020)," street corner monogatari "(2020). The techniques used in "An Istanbul Painter" and "The Wangjing Youth" are maturing in these works, and are somewhere between collaborative and participatory art. To be exact, the works of Shi Wanwan in the past 10 years are quasi-collaborative and quasi-participatory, because in most of the works of Shi Wanwan, the cooperation or participants are present in the production process: they appear in an absent way and complete the work with the artist in an absent way. This is different from some of the participative art that the artist is obsessed with, and this difference comes from the artist's own thinking.
In 2011, when Shi Wanwan realized that the artistic taste of Contemporary Chinese art was increasingly dominated by the gallery system, in bewilderment and confusion, he was struck by the accidental spirit that made "An Istanbul Painter." Break through the framework of the art system/institution, by breaking through their own creative space by chance. In other words, Shi Wanwan sees the artistic boundary defined by the art system, which concerns the narrow but high profit and restricts the freedom of artistic creation and aesthetic taste. The limitation of artistic boundary restricts the artist's self-consciousness in reverse. As with contemporary art in developed capitalist countries, the artist's artistic identity is largely defined by contemporary art, not the other way around.
The social space and social relations at the turning point opened the door for Shi Wanwan to reflect on the limitations of artistic identity. He kept practicing this creative technique and gradually matured, but this technique also began to appear as a habitual method to a large extent. Moving into the social space, embracing social relations, getting involved in cooperation and (quasi-) participation, on the one hand, is a mature method of creation, and on the other hand, the methods of this method have become habits. Although Shi Wanwan in subsequent works still retain the beauty of his usual: such as the exchange market (value) exchange interpretation of social relations, going into social space refers to practical issues, it does not show the antagonism of similar western works in the fragile artistic context of China, but this kind of habitual method how to transcend itself, and form a more systematic method, that's the question the artist, born in 1981, has to face.
There is nothing wrong with making art in a habitual way. Mastering the medium, form, theme and even space of art requires the artist to practice repeatedly after finding the "primary" method. The growing maturity of habitual methods also presupposes the gradual construction of the completed artistic self (and its boundaries). In his late twenties, Shi Wanwan realized that the art gallery and market (exchange value) system built a wall of aesthetically interesting "habits". Ten years later, this wall in Chinese contemporary art has not become a "barrier" in the eyes of many young artists. Instead, it has become a place that must be seized by military strategists. In other words, artistic interest, which is dominated by galleries or contemporary art systems, becomes a precocious aphrodisiac, and sometimes a hypnotic, of art itself: leaving ignorance behind, those who know as don't know or "you can't do it but you do it anyway". However, it is not only the duty of the artist to get rid of the habitual method, but also the broader system of artistic discourse, theory, and criticism cannot be excluded from it. Artistic discourse and criticism might have helped artists to develop a more systematic approach -- even if they had done something to alert them to habitual method -- go beyond the original system and create new working methods.
In 2011, Shi Wanwan was potentially felt around the art system, the gallery aesthetic, and the limitations of the self. Whenever this limitation is recognized, it is the first step out of habitual method -- there must be an active awareness of this limitation at all times. In this sense, the de-materialization and socialization techniques of Shi Wanwan over the past decade have demonstrated a certain persistent "transcendence" among the same batch of artists. But what awaits him, and all of us, is "be transcended". Because we can easily become our own obstacles.
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Zhang Zhongtao
Ph.D., focuses on ethics, philosophy of art and urban studies, and engages in art-related research