音速青春: Animals, Buildings, Cars and People by Julian Opie

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2005-11-16, 3:50 PM

Animals, Buildings, Cars and People by Julian Opie

"Julian Opie":http://www.julianopie.com/index.htm是英國著名的當代藝術家，搖滾迷對他的作品不會陌生。 "Blur":http://pulp.bluecircus.net/archives/002177.html於2000年發行的精選輯"封面":http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000056PXM.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg正出自Julian Opie之手；此次U2的"Vertigo Tour":http://pulp.bluecircus.net/archives/005496.html，其舞台眩目的背景燈簾也是Julian Opie的點子，而漫步其中的人形光幕同樣是他的手筆。如此說來，這名現年四十七歲的倫敦Goldsmith’s藝術學院畢業生，與搖滾世界的關聯還頗為深厚，且都與一線樂隊合作。這學期我修了一門"Media Space/Public Space":http://mediastudies.newschool.edu/projectmsps/index.htm的課，作業之一就是定期拜訪與戶外媒體或公共空間相關的展覽/裝置/藝廊，並寫上簡短心得。之前的"Robert Smithson":http://pulp.bluecircus.net/archives/006191.html與"Transitio NYC":http://pulp.bluecircus.net/archives/006419.html都是這一系列的文章，這次的Julian Opie也不例外。Robert Smithson由於能聊的東西實在太多，加上我自己頗感興趣，除了將原文譯回中文，還補充了不少想法；至於Transitio NYC就直接將原文貼上。這篇Julian Opie原本打算將它譯回中文，但試翻一段即宣告放棄。畢竟用英文寫作的思考邏輯和慣用語法與中文皆相當不同，與其逐字翻譯，其實另外寫一篇中文介紹更快。但懶惰使然，還是將原文直接貼上，省去翻譯的步驟，並附上相關照片。

Julian Opie, an illustrious British contemporary artist, has exhibited his installation artworks in "City Hall Park":http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_things_to_do/attractions/public_art/pa_temporary_exhibits.html#opie since October 2004. These "fourteen works":http://www.publicartfund.org/pafweb/projects/04/opie_j_04.html from nine different series have been made within the past seven years. By using a wide range of mediums and shapes, the artist assigns different meanings to these sculptures. There are two real size, three-dimensional painted aluminum cars parked on Broadway's pavement, called Imagine you are driving a red car and Imagine you are driving a white car, which are two of the most intriguing sculptures in this series. Julian Opie gives these cars garish colors, red and white, which make these cars readily been recognized by pedestrians. The southern part of Broadway around City Hall is one of the busiest areas in the city. By letting these fake cars be able to usurp the public space legitimately, to interfere with people walking on the street intentionally, Julian Opie not only makes people re-discern this kind of tiny changes in their familiar surroundings, but be aware of how public space exploited by lots of commercial activities in their daily life. On the south side of park are two light box sculptures, Nantra pool attendant and Bijou model, which are both two-faced, luminous installation works, located in a spacious field near Broadway. Due to its obscure location, the sculpture is like the haunting ghost to gaze people living in the city. There are also a group of "wooden animals":http://www.lowermanhattan.info/news/farm_animals_roam_in_74335.asp called Sheep Cow Deer Dog Chicken Cat Goat and a bunch of aluminum signs of white sheep, which are located in a small grassy area. But the most extraordinary works from this series are two L.E.D. sculptures, Bruce Walking and Sara Walking. They are respectively male and female animation portraits, walking constantly in the L.E.D. frame in front of the "Tweed Courthouse":http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/html/resources/man_tweed.shtml. For the artist, the purpose of these installation works is to communicate between the art and the viewer. He distills these simple but usually ignored image from the real world, then reducing it to the most basic outline and color palette, to create his signature style - bold line and clean edge graphic. He alters our experiences to walk on the street, and bring a surreal atmosphere around the park. Hence, people would reconsider their relationships with these public spaces.