罗旭和他的“土著巢”

（文）李小山　南京艺术学院教授，南京艺术学院美术研究所所长、南京艺术学院美术馆馆长

罗旭和他的“土著巢”

（文）李小山南京艺术学院教授，南京艺术学院美术研究所所长、南京艺术学院美术馆馆长

去年夏秋之际，我在昆明。叶永青和毛旭辉都向我谈及一个名叫罗旭的“怪人”。他们用了很多形容词，所以未见面我就有了一个先入为主的印象。初见之下并没有什么特别，一个黑黑瘦瘦的汉子，年龄与我相仿，说话不多也不少，像我结识的许多艺术家一样，说“怪”不怪。--我想等熟悉之后，他的“怪”或许就会如狐狸尾巴一段一段地暴露出来。

终于，等我了解了这位“怪人”的一些想法后，不禁有点肃然起敬，记得当时我脱口而出问到，这么大的范围和地盘，这么奇形怪状的建筑，这么多的艺术创作，这么大的狗全是你的吗？--说实在话，我真的没有料到在中国还有这样的艺术家，在根本不懂建筑原理的情况下弄出几千平方米的“建筑物”，而在其“建筑物”内堆积了无数由他创作的艺术品：雕塑、绘画、数码作品......我简直难以相信一个人能够具有如此旺盛的精力和体力，除非他吃喝拉撒之外从来不睡觉，否则他怎么会做出这么多活？

说起他的“建筑”，罗旭似乎有点腼腆，声称自己对建筑一窍不通，但又立即补充，某位美国建筑学家参观过“土著巢”后，指着高楼林立的昆明市区说，如果发生地震，所有的楼厦全部倒塌，“土著巢”仍然会巍然屹立。他这是在证明，“土著巢”虽不是精确计算和严密设计的产物，却是按人对力学概念的直觉判断完成的。从外观上看去，一撮撮一堆堆乳房样的形状很难与“居住”联系起来，倒像土著的祭祀场所或烧陶的窑炉。我没有数过有多少个参差错落的形状有异的“乳房”，只是设想里面的通风采光如何解决。几十米高，围圈大小不一，主要是形状太让人奇怪了，这叫什么建筑啊！--当我走进去，问题似乎一下子烟消云散，而且我马上就喜欢上了这里：石柱、穹壁、花岗岩地面、四通八达的台阶、高高的穹顶......通风、采光全被恰到好处地加以利用，令人怀疑置身于中世纪的城堡，和神话传说中的异域......我不想过多地对“土著巢”进行描述，因为它的异样已超出语言能够表达的范围。我只想说，它是当今最奇特最怪诞的建筑。当初，它的主人是在没有设计图，没有施工方案的情景下，手持一根数米长的竹竿，领着一群民工，依者高低不平的地势，指到哪造到哪......

罗旭更感兴趣的是雕塑。在他的“土著巢”里，弄不清他究竟捣鼓出了多少作品，成品、半成品、石膏、陶土、油漆、图片、玻璃钢......我看到一堆又一堆的被破坏的作品残骸，--真是惊人的数量。罗旭的雕塑基本上延续了现代主义路数，形式内容很统一，讲究人文内涵，突出作者的思考和感受，手法上显得比较单纯，而表现的精神则十分个人化。罗旭的图式已经形成，女人的腿是他最爱沿用的素材，无论是单个的还是重叠的，红色的还是白色的，都是他用来观照生活及艺术的窗户。另一些作品，同样离不开性别，离不开女人的躯体。当然，他还做过许多烧陶制品，规模巨大。照他的解释，他自己是这些作品的总指挥，就如一个乐队的指挥一样。题材并不决定一个艺术家的思想，但与整个当代艺术的前沿相对照，罗旭在观念上存在着某些距离，他的自我封闭使他高大，也使他迷失。--我不是指他对民间、民俗的迷恋，是指开创性的观念，这是一个玄而又玄的东西，它有个指标：是否具备前沿的性质。

毫无疑问，罗旭是一位被埋没的优秀艺术家，是一个创造力极其旺盛的怪才。他身上有一种天然的素质：民俗、民族艺术和现代艺术巧妙地熔为一炉，达到了相当的高度。我在结识他的第一时间内就产生了这个强烈的念头，要把他介绍给更多热爱艺术的人，热爱人生的人和懂得人生的人。

I was in Kunming sometime between last summer and fall. Both Ye Yongqing and Mao Xuhui mentioned a “weirdo" named Luo Xu. They used a lot of adjectives to describe him. So I had a pre-established impression of him before we met. At frst sight， there was nothing special about him， who is a dark and thin man about my age. He talked neither too much nor too little， and just like many artists I knew， there was nothing “weird” about him. I thought his “weirdness" would probably be revealed little by little like the tail of a fox after we became acquainted with each other.

Finally， I was filled with respect for this “weirdo” after getting to know some of his ideas. I remember that I blurted out “are this large area， these buildings with strange shapes， these artistic creations and this big dog all yours？” To be honest，I never thought there would be such an artist in China， who managed to create these “buildings” of several thousand square meters， without knowing anything about architectural principles. Inside these “buildings”， there are countless artworks created by him: sculptures， paintings， digital works… I could hardly believe that a man could have so much energy to create so many works， unless he never sleeps in his life.

When talking about his “architectures”， Luo Xu seemed a little shy， claiming that he knew nothing about architecture， but he immediately added that an American architect， after visiting the “Earth Nest”， pointed to the urban area of Kunming full of high-rise buildings， and said that if all buildings collapsed in an earthquake， “Earth Nest” would still stand as firm as a rock. What he tried to prove is that although “Earth Nest” is not a precisely calculated and strictly designed product， it was completed based on intuitional judgment about mechanics. In terms of appearance，it is hard to associate the groups of breast-like buildings with “residence”， and they look like sacrifcial places for aborigines or kilns for making pottery. I did not count the number of these unevenly-distributed “breasts” with diferent shapes， and only wondered how the ventilation and lighting inside was resolved. These buildings are dozens of meters high， with enclosures in diferent sizes， and the strangest thing about them is their shape. What kind of architecture are these？

When I walked inside， my doubts seemed to disappear all of a sudden， and I began to like this place right away: stone pillars， dome walls， granite foor， steps extending in all directions， high dome…Ventilation and lighting is appropriately utilized， and one would get the feeling of being in a medieval castle or an exotic land from myths and legends… I do not want to describe “Earth Nest”too much， because its weirdness is beyond words. All I want to say is that it is the most peculiar and bizarre architecture nowadays. It was built by its owner extemporaneously， who held a bamboo pole several meters long， and led a group of migrant laborers to build the houses according to the uneven terrain， without a design drawing or a construction plan…

What Luo Xu is more interested in is sculpture. In his “Earth Nest”， it was impossible to figure out the exact amount of works， finished products， semifinished products， gypsum， pottery clay， paint， pictures and fiberglass he had made. I saw piles of destroyed works， and the amount was astonishing. The sculptures of Luo Xu basically follow the approach of modernism， and are unifed in terms of form and content. They emphasize humanistic connotations， and highlight the thoughts and feelings of the author. The techniques seem to be quite simple， while the spirit is very personalized. The schema of Luo Xu has taken shape. Women's legs are his favorite element. Whether separate or overlapped，in red or in white， they are a window through which he observes life and arts. His other works are also closely associated with sex and the female body. Of course，he has also made many pottery products on a huge scale. He explained that he was the commander-in-chief of these works， just like the conductor of a band. The theme does not determine an artist's thoughts， but compared to the frontier of contemporary arts， Luo Xu's ideas lag behind in some way. His reclusiveness makes him tall， and makes him lost. What I mean is not his infatuation with folk and folk customs， but pioneering ideas. It is a mysterious thing， for which there is an indicator: whether it is of a cutting-edge nature.

Without a doubt， Luo Xu is an outstanding artist unknown to the world， and a maverick genius with endless creativity. He has a natural quality: he ingeniously integrates folk customs， folk arts and modern arts to a considerably high level. Immediately after I met him， I had a strong intention to introduce him to more people who have a passion for arts， and who love and understand life.

Luo Xu and His “Earth Nest”