线行记——谭平艺术创作集评

线行记
——谭平艺术创作集评

Following the Line: Collection of Reviews and Criticisms on Tan Ping’s Works

编者按：作为现当代知名的艺术创作者，谭平几十年如一日地坚持自我诠释世界的方式。他笔下的抽象艺术作品不仅跨越了绘画本身的意图——再现自然，更是深入地探究精神融入图像之后的再生与重塑。在“彳亍——谭平艺术展”中，他不仅展出了抽象油画作品，观看者还惊喜地发现许多熟悉的素描作品融入其中。“彳亍”二字虽合而为行，然亦步亦趋却不经意间流露出犹豫、徘徊的意味。这一名称的情感定位，无疑也反映出艺术家本人对于现今社会飞速发展、信息挤压侵占个人空间的内省与反思。那么，会是什么样的契机，造就艺术创作者再次将关注点转移到线条构筑的黑白世界中去？在这里，我们择取了外国批评家简述、艺术家自述、ASU 美术馆短评与创作者访谈四个部分，来帮助观看者走进创作者的艺术世界，了解一个不一样的谭平。

Editor’s Note: Mr.Tan Ping, as a well-known contemporary artist, has been adhering to his own way of interpreting the world for decades.His abstract art has not only surpassed the intention of painting itself—representing nature, but also is the rebirth and reshaping after his spirit of in-depth exploration is combined with images.At“Follow My Line: Tan Ping’s Solo Exhibition,”he not merely exhibited his abstract oil paintings, but the viewers also found, to their pleasant surprise, a lot of familiar drawings.Although the combination of“”(two characters in the Chinese title of the exhibition) means“traveling”, some overtone of hesitation and wandering is also revealed.The emotional positioning of the title has undoubtedly reflected the artist’s introspection and refection about pressing and occupation of private space by information in the present rapidly developing society.Then, what has caused the artist to shift his focus again on the black and white world composed of lines? Here, we have selected a short essay by a foreign critic, the artist’s self narration, a brief comment by AUS Art Museum, and an interview with the artist, to help the viewers to enter into the artists’ world and learn about a different Tan Ping.

线行记——谭平的素描创作

托尼 · 布朗

第一次参观谭平工作室时，我惊讶地发现他在一张平坦的大桌面上创作素描，而绘画作品则在画架上完成。这两种完全不同的工作方式或许不应该令我惊讶，但因在参观其工作室之前，我一直将谭平的创作归类于西方传统和文脉中的抽象艺术，在我的想象中他的绘画是在平面上进行，而素描应该是在画架上完成。这个意外的发现促使我思考他创作时所采用的全部方法和他所选方法的动因，以及这些方法对于他作品的意义。同时我还发现谭平的素描作品使用木炭条创作，仅有纯粹的黑白两色且大小一致；而其绘画作品则大多色彩强烈且尺幅差异很大。并且尽管谭平的绘画与其素描一样都带有线的元素，但绘画中强烈的色彩显然凌驾于线条之上。恰如马克·罗思科（Mark Rothko）的绘画，谭平的色彩在画布空间中流动，给予观者一种视觉体验，所有的色彩形态似乎都暂时跳脱了物质层面的局限，达到了形而上的境界。然而，那些素描作品则呈现出强烈的线性特征，层层叠叠的线条界定了边界和区块，如同从空中鸟瞰一条条层叠纵横交错的车道与繁忙的交通，充满了强烈的运动感与方向感。与绘画作品相反，这些素描呈现出非常夸张的、强烈而且形而下的物理属性，强化了某种与作品被创作的过程直接相呼应的身体感知。我知道谭平被称作是一位中国抽象艺术家。作为一个西方人，在目睹了他的创作方式之后，我此时第一次自问：应该如何定义一位中国抽象画家？当然，我也知道抽象艺术在中国并不热门，直至最近，社会现实主义与学院派绘画的影响与历史优先性都一直在中国占有重要地位，以致乌托邦社会主义的俄罗斯构成主义艺术家们，如罗琴科（Rodchenko），其前卫作品在俄罗斯和中国仍不被接受。然而，如何定义中国抽象画家这个问题却依然不容忽视。

Following the line: Tan Ping’s Drawing

Tony Brown

The frst time I visited Tan Ping’s studio I was surprised to discover that he drew his drawings fat on a table and the paintings were painted on an easel.I know this is perhaps not very surprising but it was for me as I thought it would be the other way around, because before this studio visit I had seen Tan Ping’s works and viewed them as abstract art that I placed primarily in a Western tradition and context.This made me think about the way he makes his work in general and why he made the choices he does and what they mean about his work.Other than being struck by this I also discovered the drawings were all black and white and all the same size, made with charcoal and the paintings always used color and differed wildly in size.The paintings even though had a strong linear element like the drawings the linear element was overridden by the importance of color.Like the paintings of Mark Rothko, Tan Ping’s colors foat spatially giving an optical experience such that the shapes of color evoke an ephemeral non physical quality to the extent of being metaphysical.In the drawings, however, they are dominated by strong linear quality with overlapping lines that define boundaries and zones almost like looking from a bird’s eye view, viewing an auto route from above with all the different levels of roads and passages overlapping and intersecting and like the auto route giving a strong feeling of movement and direction.Unlike the paintings the drawings have a very strong and defant physical and material sense about them that reinforces a physical almost corporal sense that corresponds directly to the process of their being made.I knew Tan Ping is referred to as an abstract Chinese artist so on this occasion for the frst time I found myself as a Westerner asking, what it means to be described as a Chinese abstract painter.Of course I am aware that abstraction in China was not embraced to say the least and the infuence and historical precedence of social realism and academic painting in China dominated until recently to the extent even the avantgarde works such as the utopian socialist Russian constructivist works of artists such as Rodchenko were rejected in both Russia and China but the question remained what it means to be a Chinese abstract painter.

谭平 素描 炭笔 78.7×109.2cm 2014年Tan Ping,Drawing,Charcoal,78.7×109.2cm,2014

在我看来，西方一般意义上所指的抽象艺术源于欧洲，特别是法国。然而，抽象表现主义中的非具象艺术（nonfigurative art）、非客观艺术（nonobjective art）和非写实艺术（nonrepresentational）等确实起源于美国，如美国艺术家杰克逊·波洛克（Jackson Pollock）被尊称为这场艺术运动的鼻祖，因为大多数人认为杰克逊·波洛克是这场运动中最重要的美国抽象表现主义画家，人们将其风格专门称为滴色画或行动绘画。波洛克说：“我的绘画并非来自画架。”它们其实来自地板，因为他把画布直接铺在地板上，然后把颜料滴落、泼洒、喷溅在上面。波洛克放弃使用画架，把传统的调色盘换成装满颜料的桶，用木棒代替了画笔——当时，这是彻底地背离具象绘画传统的激进之举。具象绘画的目标是将客体、某事或某人现实地呈现出来，而波洛克抛弃了画架的垂直性，他将自己置于画作中心，让观者感受他内心个人化的表达和过程。绘画的过程成为了主体，作品反而是艺术表现的记录。波洛克常常称他好像看到自己在画里，他也确实站在自己作品的精神世界的中心。波洛克对其作品众多的注解中，他提到了美国纳瓦霍族原住民（Native Navajo Americans）的沙画技巧和过程，用沙子在地上绘画的神秘艺术形式与西藏僧侣们的坛城沙画技巧如出一辙。

For me what is commonly referred to as abstract art in the West has its roots in Europe and particularly in France, however, for me the term abstract expressionism as being nonfgurative art, nonobjective art, and nonrepresentational is strictly American in origin, with an artist such as Jackson Pollock being regarded as the grand farther of this movement.As most people consider Jackson Pollock to be the most important American abstract expressionist painter of this movement, with his style being specially referred to as drip or action painting.Pollock said,“My painting does not come from the easel”, in fact it came from the floor as he placed the canvas directly on the foor and dripped, poured and splashed paint onto it.Jackson Pollok’s abandoning the easel and trading in the traditional palette for buckets full of paint and sticks that he used instead of brushes; at the time doing this was seen as a clear radical step away from the tradition of representational painting.Representational painting is goal oriented with the objective to realistically represent something or somebody, what Pollock did by abandoning the verticality of easel and representational painting was to place himself as the subject object in the center of the art work, leaving the spectator to experience the residue of his inner individualistic expression and process.The process of making the painting became the subject and conversely the painting a record of the artistic expression.Pollock would often state he saw himself as being inside his paintings; he literally was in the center of his inner universe of his artistic production.In one of the few references he made about his work Pollock refers to the technique and process of sand painting used by Native Navaho Americans, a technique of using sand to draw on the ground, a mystical art making practice, which is interestingly the same technique used by Tibetan Monks.

谭平创作过程 摄影：见涛Tan Ping’s Process of Creation,Photography: Jian Tao

谭平创作过程 摄影：见涛Tan Ping’s Process of Creation,Photography: Jian Tao

美国艺术评论家克莱门特·格林伯格（Clement Greenberg）在波洛克的作品中看到了一种与以往完全不同的、全新的绘画形式，因其独特的美式风格而强烈推荐。格林伯格反驳了其风格参照超现实主义画派中自动主义的论点，因为其源头在法国而不是美国，格林伯格认为波洛克的风格体现了美国的表达自由的精神与个性。马克·托比（Marc Toby）的绘画可能是这一时期仅有的参考了中国书法的作品，也许因为他是唯一一位公开谈论此事的艺术家。众所周知，这一时期的美国抽象绘画被用于支持强烈的国家认同感，因此成为支持这一时期（冷战时期）政治议程的政治工具。杰克逊·波洛克这位狂野牛仔于酒醉中因车祸丧生，接着就有演员步其后尘，进一步传播了与波洛克相同的美国神秘形象。因主演电影《无因的反叛》（Rebel Without a Cause）而成为一代偶像的詹姆斯·迪恩（James Dean）也因高速行驶发生车祸，死在自己的保时捷中。直至新表现主义艺术家让·米榭·巴斯奎特（Jean-Michel Basquiat）因吸毒过量而死，这些叛逆的美国艺术家的神秘形象已经成为一个被持续关注的主题。

Clement Greenberg the American art critic saw in Pollock’s painting a new kind of painting that was distinctly different from anything before and he passionately promoted it as uniquely American.Greenberg rebutted any reference made to automatism from the surrealistic school of painting as it was French not American in origin, for Greenberg Pollock’s style embodied the American spirit of freedom of expression and individuality.Marc Toby’s paintings are probably the only artists of this period that had any reference made to Chinese calligraphy, probably because he the artist was the only person who spoke openly about it.As is well known today American abstract painting of this time was used to support a strong nationalist identity and consequently a political tool to support the political agenda of this period (the cold war).Jackson Pollock the wild individualistic cowboy who was killed in a car crash while drunk and later like the actor to follow in his footsteps and further propagate the same American mythical image as Pollock, James Dean the main actor in his most celebrated flm a ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ would also die in his Porsche in a high speed car crash.The mythical image of these American artists as rebel has become an ongoing theme all the way to the Neo-expressionist Jean Michel Basquiat’s drug over dose.

“彳亍”谭平个展 偏锋新艺术空间 2014年“Follow My Line” Tan Ping Solo Exhibition,PIFO Gallery,2014

“彳亍”谭平个展 偏锋新艺术空间 2014年“Follow My Line” Tan Ping Solo Exhibition,PIFO Gallery,2014

然而，这样的形象与谭平作品所表现出的感觉并不相符。谭平作为一位艺术家，其作品并非基于这位美国艺术家的神话或是围绕美国抽象艺术的辩论，而是属于与后者迥然不同的更具冥想性和反思性的方式。

在谭平最新的展览中，他的纸上黑白素描第一次摆在不同高度的展台上展出，其中六十厘米高度的展台让观者可以体验艺术家作画时的视角。观者可以自由穿行于素描的迷宫，探索画面在各种不同高度和视角下的转变，而这些视角无一不在揭示创作的过程。这并非谭平第一次决定以一种创新的方式来展示作品，他曾经在中国美术馆个展上展出过只有一根40米长的粗犷线条的版画作品。而在此次展览中，将素描作品置于通常用于展示雕塑的展台上，谭平从观念上和视觉上强化了其素描的形而下特性。与此同时，以这种方式展示作品，便有力地认可了中国画与中国书法在水平面上进行创作的传统，在这种传统中，自然的重力和人的力量扮演了重要的角色。在记录谭平素描创作的视频中，可以看到他作画时炭棒破裂，碎片落到纸上。我们看到了运动的规律性和连续性，他的手随心所欲地控制着压力和强度，在纸面上匀速而有规律地移动着。这既不是波洛克在画布上的疯狂移动和起舞，也不是罗伯特·赖曼（Robert Ryman）的过程艺术中的机械动作，在他的画中，他尝试用蜡画颜料画一条完美的直线。这是完全不同的创作方式。

多年前当我第一次在中国的大街上看到有人拿着大毛笔蘸水往地上写字时，我曾感到相当困惑：他们是在表演还是在练习？这是在做什么？我的第一反应是，不管这是什么，看他们认认真真写了半天到最后却不留一点痕迹，实在是一件极有意思的事情。直到后来我了解到，他们既是炫耀自己的才艺，也是在练习。每当我看到有人这样写书法时，我总是会驻足观看，就如有机会邂逅一位书法大师一样。我知道他们的姿势体现了他们多年的练习和一种高度结构化体系的具有千百年历史的传统。谭平不是一位书法艺术家，但他的姿势也体现了他多年的练习和一种高度结构化体系的具有千百年历史的传统，不过我相信，其中的区别是，他将这一体系加以再造并重新定义为他自己的视觉语言。谭平常被人称为色彩大师，然而在我看来，他也是一个扎根于中国传统、具有高度视觉构建能力、追求丰富艺术创作过程的大师。

This image does not correspond to the sensibility of Tan Ping’s work.Tan Ping as an artist and in his work as they are not rooted in either the American artist’s myth or the polemics surrounding American Abstract painting but is of a very different more contemplative and refexive manner than the latter.

In Tan Ping’s latest exhibitions for the first time his black and white paper drawings are presented on pedestal giving the spectator the same vantage point as the artist when the drawings were made.The spectator can freely walk through this maze of drawings, discovering the shifting visual elevations in the drawings, with each drawing’s elevation reveals the process of its making; lines drawn and then whipped away to leave; traces, residue, phantom lines turned into gray zones.Tan Ping’s decision to present his work in an innovative way is not new for this artist, as he had presented a bold single line 40 meters long print for his personnel exhibition at the National Museum.In choosing to mount his drawings on the pedestals which are usually reserved to the domain of sculpture, he has conceptually and visually confrmed the physicality of the drawings.Concurrently, presenting the works in this manner strongly acknowledges the Chinese traditions of drawing horizontally as it does with the tradition of ink calligraphy drawing, a tradition where the use of gravity and force play an important role.In the documentary video of Tan Ping’s drawing we see charcoal sticks fracture and shards of the stick shatter off falling onto the paper as he draws.We see the regularity and consistency of movement, his hand moving at the same even regular strong speed with his controlling the pressure and force varying it as he desires.This is not Jackson Pollock frenetically moving and dancing in the middle of his canvas, neither is it the mechanical movements of the Process Art of Robert Ryman paintings where he tries to paint a perfectly straight line with encaustic paint, it is something else.

When I first saw calligraphy painting on the street painting with water I was totally bemused.Were they doing a performance were they practicing what was this all about? My frst reaction was, whatever it is, it is very interesting to see an act of painting that left nothing behind.I was to learn it was a combination of both showing off their skill and practicing.When I see these painters I always stop to watch as I do if I have the chance to see a master calligraphic artist.I understand their gestures embody year of practice and hundreds of years of tradition of a highly structured system.Tan Ping does not make calligraphy but his gestures embody years of practice and relate to hundreds of years of a highly structured system but I believe the difference is he has recreated and redefined this system into his own visual language.Tan Ping is often referred to as a master of color but for me he is also a master of a highly organized visually rich process of art making rooted in a Chinese tradition.

谭平 素描 炭笔 80×152cm 2015 年Tan Ping,Drawing,Charcoal,80×152cm,2015

观看的方式——谭平自述

对我现在这个阶段来说，其实既不是画我所看、所知的，也不是画我内心所想。画我所“什么”是有对象的，无论是“画它”，它是一个实物，还是一个概念，象征性的东西；还是“画我”，是一个想象的东西。“它”都是有对象的。

没有对象，就不再是画什么。画什么，是一个投射的状态。而“我画”，“画”是一个动词，一个过程，是一个很主体和个性化的过程，是一种认同感。在当代艺术的范畴里面，有非物质化的趋向，取消一个物质化的结果，要一个过程的体验。

The Different Experience of Seeing: Self Narration of Tan Ping

Now I’m painting neither what I see nor what I know or what I think about.To paint what I see, look or think about, I have to fnd an object which can either be a real object or myself, something imaginary or my concept.There has to be an object.

When there is no object for me to paint, I should not say I’m painting something but I’m painting.To paint something means to project.It was what I used to do.Now when I say I paint, I mean it is a process of subjectivity and individuality, involving identity as well.In contemporary art there is a trend of dematerialization, that is, to replace the materialized result with the experience of the process.

谭平 素描 炭笔 80×152cm 2015 年Tan Ping,Drawing,Charcoal,80×152cm,2015

做展览就想交流，和观众交流。想要观众通过观看体会更多。听起来有点玄虚，但我一直强调把作品当作一个现成物，或者是一个介入物，放入不同的环境当中时，它会因空间环境的不同而呈现出不同的意义。这次展览我特意把素描放在平台上展示，观众看的时候与挂在墙上观看的视角，获得的是不一样的感受。摆放作品的时候，相互之间有近有远，整体有一个大的结构关系。比方放在六十厘米高的平台，与我画画时的状态一样，观者就可以体会到我正在画画时的感觉；一米二的高度，有点侧视去看作品，线条也具有一种动感；作品摆放越低，越稳定，放置十五厘米高的时候，就给人以永恒的感觉。我希望观众在观看这些线条时，也会因为距离的变化，体验到不同视觉与心理的感受，体验到我在画和看的状态……

The end of an exhibition is to communicate with the audience.I wish they can have a lot to think about and understand more.It sounds impractical, but I always stress the importance of taking an art work as something ready-made, or an intervention, which will take on different meanings in different contexts.Put on the platform, my sketches at this exhibition are to be viewed from four sides, which will allow the audience a different feeling from watching them on the wall, as is the case for most sketch exhibits.The distance between sketches has a lot bearing on the overall structure.When they are put on a 60 cm high platform, as high as I was doing them, the audience can share how I felt while working on these sketches.If they are put as high as 1.2 m, the audience will look at them sideways and get the visual experience that all the lines were moving.The lower they were placed, the more stable the lines look.At 15cm, they give a sense of eternity.When the audience look at these lines, I hope, they can have multiple visual and psychological experiences due to the changes in distance, sharing the moment when I painted and watched them...

谭平 素描 炭笔 78.7×109.2cm 2014年Tan Ping,Drawing,Charcoal,78.7×109.2cm,2014

ASU美术馆短评：艺术家和观者之间重新建立起一种联系

谭平说他的作品是对灵魂的直接映射。“我们去亚利桑那州立大学设计学院看学生上课，同学们似乎都试图在自己的作品中去表述外部世界；而在阅历经过多年积累后，我想表达的世界是关乎我本身的。”谭平如是说。

在《彳亍》中，谭平与其媒介的互动、交融，淋漓尽致到即使他本人的签名都成为其作品中浑然天成的一部分。谭平作品中的黑白二色和不同的灰度，让其每一个手势和炭笔的一笔一画都清晰可见。

Comments: Follow My Line Exhibited in ASU Art Museum

Speaking through an interpreter, Tan told me that his work is a direct reflection of spirituality.“We went to see students at the design school at ASU, but they were busy refecting the world outside,”he said.“After years of practice and experience, the world he wants to refect is about himself.”

Tan’s interaction with his medium is bar none in this exhibit.Even his signature plays a part in the way the work is created.With white, black and shades of gray, the viewer can see every movement of the hand, every stroke of charcoal.

在谭平的创作中，他从来不会因为擦除而更换纸张，而是在同一张纸上保留所有创作中擦除过的痕迹，体现着只有黑与白的世界。

谭平说：“人们在画画的时候，总想快些结束。但于我而言，过程非常重要。”加之对身体的运用，谭平的创作甚至可以被称为行为艺术。

展览还包括两件影像记录，其中一件是谭平的访谈，另外一件则是对他创作过程的记录。这些影像记录不仅讲述了艺术家及其创作的背景，也更加向观者证明这些画作绝不仅仅只是静止的艺术品。了解艺术创作背后的故事和了解艺术作品本身一样深具意义。

Rather than leave a piece of page clean, Tan will erase lines and use the same paper, giving a depth where there was only black and white.

“When people draw, they want to fnish quickly,”Tan said.“With (me), the process means a lot.”You can call it performance art, because he uses his body.

Also included in the exhibit are two videos, one an interview with the artist and another showing the process he uses to create each work.Watching these brings context and more awareness that these drawings are not just static pieces of art.Thinking about the context of production is as important as the fnal piece of work.

“彳亍”谭平个展 亚利桑那州立大学美术馆 美国 坦佩 2015年“Follow My Line” Tan Ping Solo Exhibition,Arizona State University Gallery,Tempe,USA,2015

谭平的作品被置于分散在美术馆画廊周围的基座上，于是，作品中不同的灰度开始作用于观者和艺术家之间，建立起一种强烈的内在连接。然而，一件艺术作品向展品的过渡总是指向一个假设：这件艺术作品完成了，完整了。而谭平却不这么想。“艺术品的最终结果并不是艺术的最终目标，”他说，“如果作品通过不同的方式呈现，那么观者和艺术家将得以角色互换。艺术品成为展品之后，作品本身与观众之间就产生了距离，而这次的布展方式是要试图消除这种距离感，从而让艺术家和观者之间重新建立起一种联系。”这种强烈的互动方式打破了传统平面艺术作品的局限，使人们得以围绕着每一个基座360度地欣赏艺术作品。

The intense connection between the viewer and the artist only just begins with the shades of gray, however.The works are presented on pedestals scattered around the gallery.“The fnal result is not the fnal goal,”he said.“If you present the work in a different way, you can play (my) role.(The audience) is like the artist.They can replay that role.”There’s an assumption that when an artwork is hung on a wall, that means the artwork is finished and complete.“That creates a distance between the artwork and audience,”Tan said.“This tried to cancel the distance, and reconnect the audience and the artist.”

“彳亍”谭平个展 亚利桑那州立大学美术馆 美国 坦佩 2015年“Follow My Line” Tan Ping Solo Exhibition,Arizona State University Gallery,Tempe,USA,2015

彳亍之间 我之如我——听谭平说《彳亍》（节选）

受访人：谭 平

采访人：蒋岳红

蒋岳红（以下简称蒋）：从什么时候开始你想要把这些素描作品拿出来展览的？

谭平（以下简称谭）：从2000年以后，我做作品都是分阶段的，一个阶段做铜版，一个阶段做木版，再一个阶段画画，然后又开始做木版或者铜版。2013年开始集中到素描，画到现在，差不多两年了，语言本身已经非常完整了，完全可以作为独立的表达形式存在。我觉得大家看完展览之后，会把“素描”这个词改成“作品”，它不单单只是一个训练的方式。

蒋：在这一些素描作品中，你会对哪一张作品印象特别深？

谭：有一张素描，是一个交叉的线。我记得当时画完之后，我突然感觉找到了一个方向。我原来一直是画圆圈的，我在中国美术馆圆厅做了“1划”，画那么长的一根线，也可以说是一个大圆，是不能重复的体验。这一张素描，上面有很多直线，当时的感觉就是把中国美术馆那一“划”，变成无数段的线的感觉，实际上还是一“划”。

蒋：感觉是有一部分只是没有在落在纸上，有“顿”？

谭：有“顿”。但是笔笔相生，它们相互之间是连接的，还有一脉相承的体验和意味，只不过视觉上是一段一段的。

蒋：这是线画完之后又把它……

谭：擦掉了，擦掉再画。用的是木炭条。还是覆盖的概念。擦掉如同覆盖，会有一层一层的效果，在擦掉的层次之上再画线，就产生了节奏。同时木炭给我的感觉更直接。粗、细、轻、重的变化，都是你我的手在把控。

蒋：什么时候开始你就是画，而不再是画所想？

谭：一旦你没有了预设，“画”这个行为本身就变得很重要了。有预设时，画是在帮你实现，画什么可能会比怎么画要重要。关系正好相反。

蒋：画这些画，你的兴奋点在哪？有什么会让你自己被吸引？

谭：有很多画，看起来挺好看的，但是不兴奋，也不特别。这些素描，里面有一部分属于这一类。但还有一些素描，是你根本不知道这样的结果是如何形成的。画完之后擦掉，又开始画，又擦掉，最后一遍，忽然另外一个东西就出来了，这个东西特别令我兴奋，它就留了下来。我这两天选作品的时候最能感受最初令我兴奋的东西。

Following My Line and Finding Me There: A Dialouge Between Tan Ping and Jiang Yuehong

Jiang: When did you finally make the decision to show these sketches at an exhibition?

Tan: After 2000, in each period I concentrated on one particular kind of works, seldom doing more than one during a certain period.In one period I might be doing copperplate and in another painting, and then woodblock or copperplate.Since 2013 I’ve been doing sketches.It is about two years now.It is more or less an integrated system in terms of language and can stand on its own as a means of expression.After seeing the exhibition, the audience, I hope, can understand“sketch”as“work of art”in the real sense of the word, for it is more than mere training or something preliminary.

Jiang: Among your sketches which one impressed you most?

Tan: There was one with crossed lines.I suddenly found what I needed the moment I fnished it.I had been drawing circles.Then came my“A Line”at the National Art Museum.Drawing such a long line, like a big circle, meant that experience could not be reproduced.There were some lines in the sketch.I felt fairly confdent then, I should say, but I still struggled a lot because“A Line”, though having multiplying visual effects, was a stroke only, nothing more.

Jiang: What the audience saw on the paper was just part of the sketch.Is it what you mean? Were there pauses?

Tan: Yes.But from one pause came another, so the pauses were connected with each other.There was a sense of connection, although they looked discrete.

Jiang: You drew the lines, and then…

Tan: I erased them.Then I drew them with charcoal bars.They were still sketches, conceptually speaking.There were layers in a sketch.On the basis of these layers, lines were drawn, and then there would be rhythm.They give a sense of directness.You can handle it with ease for any effect.You can draw line as you wish, thick or thin, light or heavy.

Jiang: When did you begin to paint without planning what to paint?

Tan: Quite long ago.When there is nothing planned, painting, as an action, becomes important.When you have something in your mind to paint, painting helps you to bring it into reality, so in this case what is more important than how.They are opposite.

Jiang: What interests you most while doing these paintings? What is the most attractive?

Tan: There are lots of paintings that look nice but not exciting, not special.Some of the sketches fall into this group.Others become what they are without your knowing it.You draw the lines, you erase them, then you draw them again, then you erase them… again and again until something strikes you.Here it comes.It makes me very excited, and I decide to keep it there.I’m making selections for the exhibition these days.The moments of selection take me back to what once excited me most.

蒋：你是用什么标准去选的？

谭：标准就是“不同”。有的作品，很干净，画的时候，一定是非常清晰的、自信的状态，那些线看起来就是很肯定的。还有的作品，很多遍，一层一层的，意味着当时处在比较纠结、比较困惑的状态。

蒋：你找到的是你作画时的十种不同状态？

谭：没那么多。我感觉大的区别会有三四种，再加上一些小的差异。我们都希望能够不停地突破自己，但事实是，你想完全跳出个人受到的限制，非常不容易。比如，毕加索，那么有创造性的一个人，现在看来，从早期到晚期的脉络也很清楚，并没有太大的变化。我也问自己，对于画面自身我们还有多大的突破？也可能这一张，那一张，不同的画面组合，不同时间的作品相互之间组合，看起来会显得更有意思。同样用炭笔画的线条，不同时间画的都不一样。“画”时不同的状态，放在一起对比更加明显。回头再看这两年的素描作品，你会发现冬天的情绪和夏天的情绪都不一样。当我决定哪些被保留，哪些被擦掉时，我会把它们放在地下看。当作品平铺在地上的时候，那些被保留下来的作品，上面的线条具有一种“永恒”的感觉，当然这是我个人的选择和判断。我希望的是观众在观看这些线条时，也会因为距离的变化，体验到多种视觉与心理的感受，感受到我当时画和看的状态……

蒋：你说过，你突然发现我不是要画一根线，我是在“画”线。如何理解这句话？

谭：我突然间发现，我其实没有画我所看，也没有画我所知，也没在画我所想。画我所“什么”是有对象的，无论是“画它”，它是一个实物，还是“画我”，是一个想象的东西，还是一个你的概念、象征性的东西，它都是有对象的。当你已经没有对象，就不是画什么，而是我画。原来是画什么，是一个投射的状态，现在是画，是一个动词，是一个过程，是一个很主体和个性化的过程，是一种认同感。在当代艺术的范畴里面，有非物质化这样的一个趋向，取消一个物质化的结果，要一个过程的体验。

（本篇集评感谢艺术家谭平先生本人搜集提供）

Jiang: What is your standard?

Tan: Being different.Some of the works are fairly clean.I must have been in a very clear and confdent state of mind then, as the lines show that they are the result of deep thinking.In other works there are traces of reworking and layers, indicating that I was struggling in confusion.

Jiang: So you’ve found ten different states of mind when you worked?

Tan: Not that much.There are three or four that differ a lot, I believe.Then there are minor differences.Everyone wishes to make breakthroughs and to go beyond himself, but it is actually very hard.It is what I learn from my experience.To get released from all the restraints is by no means easy.No one can change completely.Take Picasso for instance.In this creative talent we fnd a very clear clue to his art.Not much has changed over time.What do I need from the work? Sometimes I ask myself.I looked at one and then another, finding that different combinations contrast differently.It will be more interesting when there is contrast.The same approaches and techniques are used, but we can fnd the artist was in different moods while painting.When an artist“paints”, his state of mind is of primary importance.It is the state of mind an artist has when he paints and observes.Looking at the sketches I did in a year, I fnd my state of mind in winter is different from that in summer.When I want to decide which one to keep and which one to erase, I will place these sketches on the foor.When spread on the foor, those to be kept show lines of“eternity”.It is of course my own choice and judgment.I hope the audience can share my experience when looking at these lines.By changing the view distance they can get a fairly clear, confdent and justifed experience, I hope.

Jiang: You said that you suddenly found you didn’t want to draw a line but you were“drawing”a line.How to understand this sentence?

Tan: I fnd suddenly that now I’m painting neither what I see nor what I know or what I think about.To paint what I see, look or think about, I have to fnd an object which can either be a real object or myself, something imaginary or my concept.There has to be an object.When there is no object for me to paint, I should not say I’m painting something but I’m painting.To paint something means to project.It was what I used to do.Now when I say I paint, I mean it is a process of subjectivity and individuality, involving identity as well.In contemporary art there is a trend of dematerialization, that is, to replace the materialized result with the experience of the process.

(We thank the artist Tan Ping for providing these reviews and criticisms he has collected himself.)

Tan Ping: vice president of and professor at China Central Academy of Fine Arts