物是：當代藝術中的物主題

　　如果説，哲學源於驚異，那麼最初的驚異實際上源自於一個問題“這是什麼？”，“這”的更確切的含義指的是“這個東西”，即某物（物品、符號、身體……）。因此，可以説哲學源於——甚至根本上就是——“物是什麼”這個問題，而對這個問題的回答也已經對“我是什麼”的回答。

　　對物的思考幾乎貫穿了整個哲學史，當然在不同的階段，物有著不同的身份和定義，無法在此逐一詳述。從整體上而言，從古典時期的本體論哲學一直到啟蒙時期的主體性哲學，物都是被派生、被宰制的客體，一直處在某種從屬結構中。這種情形一直到尼采之後的哲學中才有所改變，物逐漸獲得了自身的決定性，伴隨著對形而上學的拆解，人們開始意識到了身體、能指、無意識的在場，也逐漸打破了建立主體形而上學的企圖。如果説哲學史的前半段一直是在建立一種主體的同一性哲學的話，那麼後半段就是在借助於物的力量去質疑、批判、顛覆這種同一性哲學。

　　在藝術史中，也可以發現這樣一種現象，即從現代主義以來，藝術史的歷次變革與調整或多或少、或隱或顯地與對物性的關注與投入有關，對這一現象的梳理足以形成一部藝術史專著。但是在這裡，我們只能嘗試性地在這一主題下討論一部分中國藝術家及他們的作品，而之所以選擇這些藝術家，是因為他們的作品可以引發以下幾個與“物”相關的問題：物是什麼，物如何出場，這種出場與藝術有什麼關係，物與人、物與社會的關係是什麼，這些問題都可以歸納到對物性（Thinghood）的抽象思考與具體呈現上。

　　時間：2008-12-20—2009-2-8

　　地點：北京市朝陽區酒仙橋路4號798藝術區E06瑪吉畫廊

　　開幕酒會：2008-12-20 16：00

　　主辦：瑪吉畫廊（北京）

　　策展人：鮑棟

　　項目負責：艾思

　　藝術家：鄧猗夫、郭鴻蔚、蔣建軍、金江波、金石、劉窗、楊心廣、蘇文祥、王光樂、王思順

[專稿] 瑪吉畫廊——物是

　　Thinghood: Object-related Themes in Contemporary Art

　　If we say that philosophy was born of astonishment, then the earliest astonishment was born of the question, “what is this”. The meaning of “this” is more accurately described as “this thing”, i.e. things (objects, icons, bodies…). For this reason, we could say that philosophy is rooted in – essentially is – the question of “what this thing is”, and the answer to this question is also the answer to “what am I”.

　　Thinking on things has permeated the entire history of philosophy, though of course in different stages, things have had different identities and definitions, which for practical reasons we will not delve into here. Overall, from the ontological philosophy of the classical era to the subjective philosophy of the enlightenment, things have been derived and dominated objects, always a subordinate construct. This state of affairs did not change until after the philosophy of Nietzsche, when things began to gain their own decisiveness. With the disassembly of metaphysics, people gradually became aware of the presence of the body, signifiers and the unconscious, and eventually thwarted the schemes of subjective metaphysics. If we say that the first half the history of philosophy was about establishing a subjective unified philosophy, then the second half has been about using the power of things to cast doubt on, criticize and subvert this unified philosophy.

　　In art history we can also see such a phenomenon in that since modernism, all of the transformations in art history have more or less been about shifting the focus to thinghood; there is enough on this subject in art history to write an entire book. Here, however, we can only dabble a bit in using this theme to discuss certain Chinese artists and their works. The artists under discussion have been chosen because they can open up the following issues regarding “things”: what things are, how they appear, what relation their appearance has to art, and what the relationships are between things and man and things and society; all of these issues can fall under abstract thinking on thinghood and the specific presentation thereof.

　　Dates: December 20, 2008 - February 8, 2009

　　Venue: Magee Art Gallery, E06, 798 Art District, No.4 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing

　　Opening: 4pm, December 20, 2008

　　Presented by: Magee Art Gallery | Beijing

　　Curator: Bao Dong

　　Project Manager: Sun Aisi

　　Artists: Deng Yifu, Guo Hongwei, Jiang Jianjun, Jin Jiangbo, Jin Shi, Liu Chuang, Yang Xinguang, Su Wenxiang, Wang Guangle, Wang Sishun