当爱成为信仰 / 艾敬
2009-06-08 16:43阅读：
当爱成为信仰
——艾敬
我与艺术的结缘是在1994年的巴黎之旅，我游览了法国罗浮宫，看到达芬奇的《蒙娜丽莎》以及桑德罗·波提切利的维纳斯，走入罗浮宫绚丽的艺术世界，那些作品里的人物和风景以及背后的故事都深深吸引着我想要去了解。在蓬比杜当代艺术中心，当代艺术的表现形式也让我怦然心动。徘徊在塞纳河边，我感觉到艺术给我带来的一种难以描述的不安和涌动，我渴望着那种与之交汇碰撞的时刻，就像要恋爱的感觉，对未知充满期待。
从此，我走到任何一个国家都会关注艺术展览，我游历了英国大英帝国博物馆，以及欧洲的建筑和教堂里的雕塑以及壁画艺术杰作。后来在纽约的生活中，美术馆和各大艺术拍卖预展都是我常去的地方。这十几年里，我看过无数重要的艺术展览，毕加索、马蒂斯、路西安·弗洛伊德、蒙克、梵高、吉斯·哈林、安迪·沃霍等等艺术大师的作品回顾展，我与他们一生中最重要的作品，人类的艺术结晶零距离地接触。艺术的魅力在于，即便艺术家已经离开人世，他们的艺术作品仍然在说话，如果能够读懂艺术的语言，就如同打开了一扇绚丽多彩的大门。
纽约是具有多样和包容性都市，街头艺术挑战着人们眼里正常的思维和价值观，他们的作品无拘无束地散发着生命力。纽约，使我的眼界开阔，使我汇集了力量和信心。我相信：艺术以无形的状态早就存在，艺术开启了所有的所有，乃至一切。
以前我写音乐的时候，脑海里有很多的画面，我的音乐形态是流动的，有色彩和线条，我不想做一个普通流行音乐的标准，这是一种直觉，我找到了自己的音乐风格。“我用做艺术的方式做音乐，用做音乐的方式做艺术”。现在，我的每一幅作品对我来说都是音乐，是有旋律的，它们传达着情感的博大，多变和复杂性，我迷恋色彩，并且大胆地使用它们。
“爱”的符号，它在我的画布上刻板地排列，一遍又一遍地涂抹堆积，它们不是一个传统的绘画形态，因为能把形态画得出神入化的艺术家已经在几个世纪前出现，而今天艺术家应该使用这个时代或者下一个时代需要的语言，而并不是追随前人的脚印照猫画虎。那些时代的艺术家告诉我，他们之所以被流传，因为他们完成了超越那个时代的使命。
我常常说自己是在过着“艺术家的生活”，并非是我没
有信心接受一个艺术家的称谓，在我看来，一个艺术家如果没有“艺术家的生活”，那么他根本就是“伪艺术家”。我不想被界定在叫做“艺术家的群体”，这是我内心的清高和狂妄。实际上，我不仅有能力做一名艺术家，我想做一个能够传达出美好，对人们有所贡献的艺术家。
我曾经说过：“我的音乐是给那些精神上先富裕起来的人听的”！同样的，喜欢我的艺术作品的人一定是有一个境界，那就是对爱的追求和肯定，内心的美感和富有。
我的艺术作品不仅仅限于架上绘画，在2000年我用观念的手法跨越四个国家和城市，拍摄了有关关注大熊猫，保护大自然的影像作品《I LOVE
PANDA》。我也在纽约发生不幸的911事件之后，创作了《纽约纽约》这首歌。
我关注社会，我用一个国际的视野和角度去观察，一个全球的世界观，用一种对社会责任感和良知去体恤人类的苦难，一切有关现在和未来人类生存的课题都是我创作的素材。我还准备投入到公共艺术作品的创作，希望把自己的作品带到大众当中去，让人们在每天的生活环境中感受到艺术作品带来的精神上的愉悦。艺术家必须是勤劳的，有行动力的，不能把想法只停留在脑子里，要具有坚定的信念，把作品实现。
现阶段，我借用“爱”的符号，用色彩和构图发挥这个符号的能量，我相信，“情感强壮，则艺术强大”。我不断重复这个“爱”的符号，因为“爱”是这个社会最缺乏的，人们为了达到自己生存和获利的目的，在谎言中生活，不惜去践踏别人的健康生命和尊严。
在中国艺术历史的长河中，很多名画家能够留下来的艺术作品都在使用自己的符号来传达他们的艺术境界，符号是中华艺术给我的传承，而我在色彩上的运用则是因为我的世界观已经被打开，那些异域文化色彩自然地进来。
当爱成为信仰，艺术是主宰“爱”能到达的地方。
写于2009-4月北京
When Love Becomes Faith
Ai Jing
I first fell in love with art in 1994 during a trip to Paris. I
strolled through France’s Louvre, where I admired Davinci’s
Mona Lisa, and Sandro Boticelli’s Venus. While walking through the
magnificent art world in this museum, the people and landscapes in
those masterpieces I viewed , and the stories behind them, drove me
to learn more about art. In the Centre Pompidou, I was incredibly
moved by the display of modern art. Later on, wandering along the
Seine River, I realized that art had given me an indescribable
uneasiness and a rush of feelings. I hungered for that moment when
one comes into contact with art, brimming with hope for the
unknown, much like when we fall in love.
After that, whenever I traveled to any country, I would visit art
galleries. I visited the British Royal Museum in the United Kingdom
and I observed classic sculptures and frescos in buildings and
churches in Europe. Later on while living in New York, I frequently
went to see art exhibitions and art auction previews. Over the past
decade, I’ve seen countless major art exhibitions, including the
retrospective works of Picasso, Matisse, Lucian Freud, Edvard
Munch, Van Gogh, Kith Haring, Andy Warhol, as well as the
exhibitions of other master artists. I feel these important works
of those artists are the property of humanity, and while looking at
them, I felt that there was no distance between myself and the art.
The charm of art lies in the fact that even after these artists
have left the world, their art continues to speak to us. If you can
understand the language of art, it’s as if you’ve opened up a
wonderful door of colors and lights.
New York is a diverse and inclusive city. Street art challenges our
normal thoughts and value systems. The art of street artists is
full of unrestrained vitality. New York expanded my field of
vision, helped me to gather my strength and confidence. I believe
that the intangible nature of art has long existed, and that art is
everything, and existed before everything.
In the past when I wrote music, I had a lot of images in my mind.
The nature of my music was flowing, with colors and lines. I didn’t
want to create ordinary music. I had an intuition to find my own
style of music. I wanted to use the method used to create art to
also create music, and use the way of creating music to create art.
I feel that each piece of art that I create is a piece of music
with its own melody. My art communicates the broadness of emotion;
it is changeable and complicated. I’m enamored with colors and
moreover, I use them boldly.
The symbol for love is dabbled repeatedly across my canvas, piling
up line after line. This is not a traditional form of art. Because
artists who could paint perfect forms have been around for
centuries, artists today should use the language that will be
needed today or tomorrow; they should not follow in the footsteps
of those who came before and copy randomly without capturing the
real spirit of that art. The artists of these past ages told me
that their art has lasted until today because they succeeded in
surpassing the mission of the era they lived in.
I often tell myself that “I’m living the life of an artist.” It’s
not that I don’t have the confidence to accept the title of artist,
but in my opinion, if an artist does not live the life of an
artist, he is basically a pseudo artist. I don’t want to be defined
as a member of what is called “the art community.” Maybe this is
because inside I feel aloof and proud. Actually, I’m not just
capable of being an artist, I also want to be an artist who is able
to transmit beauty, and one who can make a contribution to the
world.
I once said: “My music is for the enjoyment of those who became
spiritually rich first. Those people who enjoy my art have reached
a certain level, they believe in love and have beautiful
minds.
My artwork is not limited to just paintings that you hang on the
wall; I also use other different media to express myself. In 2000,
I traveled to four cities and across four countries using
conceptual art to make a video related to pandas and the protection
of nature titled “I Love Panda.” After 911, I also wrote a
song called New York, New York, which expressed my concern for
society.
I use an international vision and perspective to observe the world.
Feeling a sense of social responsibility and having a conscience, I
feel an empathy for the troubles faced by people. Everything
concerning the survival of people now and in the future is a source
of my art. I am preparing to throw myself into the creation of
public art, hoping to bring my art to the masses, in order to
enable them to enjoy the delightfulness of art each day in their
own environment. An artist must be hardworking and have power. He
or she cannot let his or her thoughts remain in the brain, but
should have a resolute determination to create works of art.
In my current stage, I am making use of the symbol for love, using
colors and composition to give free rein to the energy of this
symbol. I believe that emotions are powerful and that art is
formidable. I will continue to duplicate this symbol for love
because love is what society lacks the most these days. In order to
survive and prosper today, there are people who are living in lies,
who trample on the lives and dignity of other people.
In the long history of art in China, many famous artists were able
to pass down their art because they used their own symbols to
express the level of art they had attained. Symbols are my
inheritance from Chinese art. I also learned to use colors because
my world view has been opened, and those colors from a different
world have naturally come in to my mind.
When love becomes faith, art dictates how far love can reach.
