細節
宮島達男
T.L. SAKURA
發光二極管 鋼框架 玻璃鏡片 電子器材
2005年作

來源
日本 東京 SCAI The Bathhouse
日本 私人收藏

宮島達男藝術創作始於1970年代,他觀察世界各地的藝術改革運動和派系風格,喜歡西方的前衛表演和裝置藝術,也間接影響了他早期的藝術風格。他善於利用具體的物理空間發揮創意,一度從事表演藝術。後來他的創作越來越關注永恆和時間的議題,作品充滿東方氣息和佛教色彩,擺脫了歐洲前衛藝術流派的影子。1980年代,他終止表演藝術生涯,慢慢地轉向具體的裝置藝術和雕塑,作品登躍上國際舞台,聲名大噪。他起初用電視機、機械設備,或是電路來創作,表現時間和永恆的主題;他在1987年發現了發光二極管,也就是俗稱的LED,並以這種簡單的媒介創作,傳達他的藝術概念,立刻受到國際藝術界關注。1990年開始,他前往紐約研習,1990到1991年旅居柏林,後來在享譽國際的卡地亞藝術基金會資助下來到巴黎;單是1983到1994年間,就已經在紐約、佛羅倫斯、東京、倫敦和蘇黎世等大城舉行超過20場個展。宮島達男透過LED的燈光變換,巧妙的把表演藝術變成了永恆的藝術品。他的多媒體作品風格一貫,運用全球共通的藝術語言,用簡單的數字和現代化的機械設備創造出卓越非凡的傑作。 本季拍賣中,佳士得香港搜羅了宮島達男2005年的作品《T. L. Sakura》 (Lot 1037) ,這是他著名的《Changing Time with Changing Self》系列之一,同樣用鏡面和LED燈製作而成,作品中透露著冥想、寧靜的氛圍,而它獨特的動態變化以及構圖設計卻和宮島達男其他的作品截然不同,獨樹一格。

宮島達男企圖使用普世通用的媒介傳達出生命、死亡、時間、歷史、沿革等抽象而迷離的題材。最適合表達這些主題的媒介,莫過於極簡的數字,因為數字比任何語言文字更通用。數字代表具體的數量,是算數、計時的基礎,同時卻也難以捉摸,象徵曖昧不明。他的藝術品和藝術家索利‧萊維特(Sol LeWitt)有種難以言喻的相似之處:萊維特擅長解構各種藝術形態,拆解成基本的幾何圖形,不論用色、形狀和線條都單純而理性,擺脫一切情感,吸引觀者用個人獨到的眼光詮釋作品,萊維特抽象的風格和宮島達男其實殊途同歸,只不過宮島達男用數字這個媒材,帶領觀者探索對宇宙的疑問。數字燈光小而明亮,來來回回的在一和九之間變換,速度各自不同,彷彿每個人的心跳頻率,帶著不一樣的動力。但是,他並沒有使用象徵死亡的0,不過每當數字登從9算到1之後,會稍稍熄滅幾秒,留下短暫的空白,彷彿準備重生,暗示佛教輪迴的思想。

觀者在這短短的幾秒鐘裡,受到迷人的景象感動而反省自己,檢討令人懊悔的歷史事件,並得以在靈性上成長,內心充滿平安寧靜,對過去的不滿和敵意瞬間消失。拿1996年的《Revive Time Kaki Tree Project》來說,宮島達男拿1945年長崎原子彈爆炸中存活下來的柿子樹種子創作,把種子種植在世界各地象徵希望;而在1999年的《Mega Death》中,他使用LED燈創造出一面鋪滿2400個數字的光牆,每個數字都在倒數,象徵死於20世紀戰爭衝突的生命。宮島達男的作品有幾個主要理念:永遠處於變化中、與萬物互動、永不停歇、藝術在於你。他的作品就環繞著這些理念持續而祥和的前進,通往未來。宮島達男深信透過藝術鑑賞和對美的認同,觀者就可以自然而然獲得平安,他的創作中一再強調這個信念,希望喚醒觀者心中的喜樂。


藝術的能量蘊含在觀者的想像裡,……日文裡「想像」這個詞的漢字包含了「像」、「相」、和「心」,這就告訴大家要用同理心為他人著想,……藝術自始自終都在觀者的生命裡,每個人都具有想像力,這與內在的平安息息相關。(宮島達男,引述自 《Art in You》,Esquire Magazine Japan Co. Ltd, 2008年, 第 181頁)

《T. L. Sakura》就是這樣一個精緻獨特的作品,它兼具繪畫和雕塑的美感,傳達出宮島達男對藝術的概念。藝術家在巨大的鏡面上嵌入個位數的顯示裝置,LED燈從9跳遞到1,數字不停的變換,象徵生命永續不息。一旦燈光亮起,這兼具科技感與藝術性的裝置就喚醒了觀者的視覺,鑲嵌在巨大鏡面上的數字召喚著我們探索內在的美感,看著自己的倒影以及數字更迭,冥思自己的內在改變。作品上閃爍的數字彷彿鏡花水月,在鏡面下發光卻不影響觀者自我觀察。我們不只可以在鏡面中看到自己臉部的每個細節,也可以更深入的體驗一場靈性的洗滌。從遠處看,它像是一片閃耀光彩的銀色亮面,誘人而浪漫;觀者一旦走近,更可以看到自我的倒影,甚至經歷內在的甦醒。宮島達男也曾用鏡面創作一系列探討個人與時間變換的作品,並在霧島藝術森林(Kirishima Open Air Museum)展出,不過作品上的數字配置卻是靜止的,依據幾何形狀平均分布;然而《T. L. Sakura》中的數字散發著淡藍色的光彩,隨著時間變換,角度歪斜,沒有道理可循。

從作品的名稱可以看出來,每個數字都象徵櫻花在春天掉落的花瓣,也象徵樹木的生命循環。日本人認為櫻花好比人生,稍縱即逝,儘管櫻花的生命短暫,卻散發著無與倫比的美麗,鼓勵人們把握生命,把日子過得更美、更充實。宮島達男刻意用藍色作為《T. L. Sakura》的主色,他曾說「不同的顏色暗示不同的形狀和意象:紅色是方的,黃色是三角,藍色是圓的,也因此藍色沒有特定的形態,藍色是混沌。」(宮島達男,引述自《Tatsuo Miyajima Big Time》,1996年, 第29頁) 如果藍色確實是圓的,那麼它或許是宮島達男作品中最重要的色彩元素,因為圓形象徵天堂、象徵偉大的宇宙動力,也象徵從生到死的生命循環,甚至可能象徵輪迴。當我們肅穆的看著這個探討時間的作品,我們彷彿來到了櫻花亂綻的季節,讚美它活躍的生命力;宮島達男用一年綻放一次的花朵,訴說著對未來的希望與期待,並召喚觀者內心細膩的美感。
來源
SCAI The Bathhouse, Tokyo, Japan
Private Collection, Japan

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拍品專文

Tatsuo Miyajima's prolific career began in the 1970s where in observing international revolutionary arts movements and styles, Miyajima was drawn to Western avant-garde performance and installation artists whose exploration of physical space influenced Miyajima's early career as a performance artist. But in becoming increasingly concerned with permanence and time and wanting to steer towards a clear Eastern and Buddhist expression free of European influences, he halted his performances in the 1980s and morphed his works into site specific installations and sculptures which propelled him into international fame and prominence. As such, he began creating sculptures with TV monitors and machinery and electronic circuits to convey his interest in time and performance and finally, in 1987 discovered a compact electronic device named the light emitting diode (LED) that enabled him to convey his artistic concerns in an exciting minimalist approach. His new works were immediately embraced by the international art community; while studying abroad in New York (1990); Berlin (1990- 1991) and finally Paris under a grant from the prestigious Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain (1994), he held over 20 solo exhibitions in cities such as New York, Florence, Tokyo, London and Zurich between 1983 and 1994 alone. In using these LED and its movements, Miyajima adeptly re-creates performances into an everlasting piece. Consistent throughout his multimedia pieces, Miyajima demonstrates a maintained universal artistic vocabulary through implementing mathematical numbers and modern mechanisms into masterpieces greater than the sum of its parts. This season, we are delighted to present T. L. Sakura (Lot 1037) of 2005, a similarly introspective and serene work to his notable mirror and LED Changing Time with Changing Self series, yet T. L. Sakura's unique movement and composition marks it as a remarkably exceptional piece in Miyajima's oeuvre.

Miyajima's attempts to find the most universal way to communicate the most abstract and mystifying subjects of life, death, time, history and its ramifications. He found his best suited medium were simply minimalist numbers for they are more universal than any alphabet or language. Numbers are concrete and the fundamental building blocks of calculations and measuring time, but also intangible and representative of uncertainty. There is an uncanny resemblance to Sol Lewitt's deconstruction of forms into their basic geometric shape, stripping emotions and seeking unique visual interpretation of his work by the viewer. Rational in their basic colour, shapes and lines Lewitt's works (Fig. 1) are equally abstract and embody the same principles as Miyajima's use of numbers as a medium to allow viewers to contemplate questions they have for the universe. These small yet powerfully lit numbers count back and forth between 9 and 1 at independent speeds, carrying with them a momentum like rhythmic heartbeats of an individual. The number 0 which signifies death is never used; instead the numbers go blank for several seconds before count from 9 to 1 again, leaving a small 'void' for the preparation for the number to reincarnate, as Buddhists believe, and re-begin their renewed existence.

In that short instance viewers of this captivating scene are enabled to reflect upon themselves and any negative, historical events, and consequently enlist confidence on how to move forward in a spiritual, peaceful fashion, negating hostility and aggression associated with those events. For example, for Revive Time Kaki Tree Project (1996) Miyajima took seeds from a persimmon tree which survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 and planted them around the world in a seeming representation of hope, while Mega Death (1999), an overwhelming wall of 2400 LED numbers each counted down, signifying the lost souls in wars and conflict of the 20th century. His main concepts "Keep Changing Connect with Everything Continue Forever Art in You", encompass these ideals and urge a continual, peaceful movement towards the future. Miyajima strongly believes that through art appreciation and recognition of beauty peace inevitable follows and strives to draw these qualities out from each and every one of his viewers.

" One of the powers of art is in imaginationKK Indeed, the Japanese word for imagination is written with characters representing 'image', 'the other', and 'heart'. It's the power to sympathize with and feel compassion for othersK Art is within your life and always has been Imagination sleeps within us all And that is connected directly to peace. "

(Tatsuo Miyajima, as quoted in "Art in You", Esquire Magazine Japan Co. Ltd, 2008, p. 181)

T. L. Sakura is an exquisite and unique piece that embodies such ideas that is at once painterly as it is sculptural as one would hang this piece on the wall. In the large mirror Miyajima has carved numerous numerical configurations of single digits which serve as the basis for the changing numbers. Behind each shape lies a blue LED programmed to count from 9 to 1 and instigate the life cycle. When lit, this extraordinary technical and artistic feat awakens and stimulates the visual senses in the viewer. The numbers embedded into the surface of the large reflective mirror in T.L. Sakura implores us to search for our innate sense of beauty in our reflection, watching time progress and at the same time, perceive change in ourselves. As though watching the numbers glide over a pool of cool water, the numbers shimmer under the surface without overwhelming the reflection of the viewer. It allows us not only to perceive the details of our own face but our surroundings and the reflection of the pale blue light upon other surfaces, extending the spiritual quest in all that it reaches. From afar, it is a silvery sheet covered with luminescent lights, alluring and romantic; it draws the viewer closer, with the promise of self reflection and spiritual awakening.
While other mirrored works in his series Changing Time with Changing Self found in collections such as the Kirishima Open Air Museum, Japan, also utilize this reflective surface, the position of the numbers is static and evenly distributed and rather geometric. In T.L. Sakura, the numbers quickly ticking away in luminescent pale blue are not placed in neat grids but are at arbitrary slanted angles.
As implied in the title, each number resembles a plethora of falling petals of cherry blossoms in the spring and at once, each represent the full life cycle of the tree. Considered a symbol of the transience of life in Japan, these small pink blossoms are short lived but bloom with an unrivaled intensity and beauty, encouraging living one's life to the fullest. In T. L. Sakura, Miyajima purposefully uses the colour blue as "colour has the suggestion of form and image: red is a square, yellow is a triangle, blue is a circle. So blue is like no form. Blue is like chaos" (Tatsuo Miyajima as quoted in Tatsuo Miyajima Big Time, 1996, p. 29). If blue is indeed circular, then perhaps it is the most important colour in Miyajima's vocabulary as its very shape signifies the heavens and a greater universal force and the 'circle' of life- the cycle of birth to death with possible reincarnation. In awe we watch this time sensitive sculpture perform as though we have arrived the instant the flowers bloom and must celebrate its vitality. Within these small flowers which bloom only once a year, Miyajima movingly illustrates how in hopefully anticipating the future, exquisite beauty can form.

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